State officials, MBTA workers celebrate the end of T slow zones (photo by governor's office).
State officials this morning officially celebrated the removal of the last official slow zone on the MBTA, on the Green Line specifically - after more than 20 years of subway slow zones. Not all riders were able to join in the celebrations, though, because they were outside shivering in the cold waiting for a Red Line shuttle bus due to a cracked rail near Wollaston. Read more.
Kristin MacDougall spotted what appears to be a hawk inside Airport station on the Blue Line this morning.
Earlier:
Watching the Green Line like a hawk - and riding it like one, too.
MBTA starts new rodent-control program at Haymarket.
Hawk takes up perch in Green Street Orange Line station.
A Boston man faces felony charges, including a civil-rights violation, for the way he allegedly yelled slurs at a woman who identifies as transgender before physically attacking her on a Blue Line train at Maverick station, causing injuries that included a fractured wrist, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports. Read more.
The tracks are getting better and better, but, oops, something blew out all the power on the Red, Orange, Green and Blue lines around 1:30 p.m. The MBTA reported about 15 minutes later that Johnny plugged the power cord back in, except, oops, briefly not on the Orange Line between Stony Brook and Forest Hills.
Except: Read more.
A Boston man with a history of whipping it out in public was ordered held without bail for at least 90 days his arrest for outbound masturbating at Beachmont on the Blue Line in full view of a woman heading inbound Tuesday morning, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports. Read more.
Transit Police report arresting a 56-year-old man they say "committed a lewd act" in the direction of women at both Beachmont and Maverick on the Blue Line yesterday morning - and that he's been pulling the same stunt since at least 2016.
East Boston Municipal Court records show that Francis Costa, Jr. was scheduled for arraignment today on a charge of open and gross lewdness, subsequent offense.
Innocent, etc.
A line of blue people waiting for the Blue Line at Government Center. Photo by Boston's Leslie Knopes.
A transformer at Orient Heights on the Blue Line blew this afternoon, bringing firefighters running and trains to a halt.
Boston firefighters responded around 5:50 p.m. and the MBTA shut down power in both directions. Firefighters then doused the flames. But delays due to problems related to the transformer continued through the evening; the T only announced at 9:15 p.m. that things were back to normal.
And he's off!
If you spot Heshan de Silva-Weeramuni on the T today, say hi, but understand if he doesn't have time to chat: He's on a race to see if he can set a record for the fastest time ever for visiting all T subway stops in one day. Read more.
The MBTA has gone full bustitution between Maverick and Suffolk Downs because of a wire problem at Airport, the nature of which they don't specify, but that's where the trains put up their connectors for those wires.
TransitMatters reports that while, yes, Blue Line trains now trundle along in less without slow zones, the peak-times trip between Wonderland and Bowdoin still takes longer on average than in February, 2023, before the T announced zillions of slow zones everywhere.
TransitMatters says that's because while the tracks are now in good shape, the Blue Line is still suffering "due to a switch issue, a signal issue, or a more significant ops issue altogether."
The MBTA reports more delay-inducing signal problems on the Blue Line, this time at Airport.
Bright and early, well, early at any rate on this rainy day, like 5:21 a.m., the MBTA announced delays on the Blue Line due to signal problems near Orient Heights. Fortunately, the T updated at 5:46 a.m. that the problem had been fixed.
The MBTA has scheduled a press conference at Orient Heights at 3:45 p.m. to go over "the completion of critical track work" on the Blue Line. T officials might want to find another way to get there than the Blue Line itself, because at 12:46 p.m, it reported delays of up to 20 minutes due to a Blue Line that kicked the bucket at Aquarium.
Roving UHub photographer captured workers waiting for a signal to work on signal at Wood Island this morning.
A couple hours after the MBTA told an inquiring rider that, yes, it has removed all the slow zones on the Blue Line, it reported delays on the Blue Line due to some sort of signal problem near Wood Island.
Abandon all hope - or take the ferry between Maverick and downtown - the T advises.
The MBTA reports all is now as close to well as it gets on the Blue Line, after a switch problem between Orient Heights and Suffolk Downs that was bad enough to require a little holiday bustititution.
H/t Rob for the headline.
At Kendall Square Red Line entrance, sign would go under the red-and-white "Kendall" sign
The MBTA and the company that handles its electronic ad boards inside subway stations have begun a program to bring the boards above ground, at the entrances to stations. Read more.
WCVB reports MBTA General Manager Phil Eng said today that the power cable that shorted out or blew up or something that tripped all the other power cables at North Station to shut down, taking the Blue, Green and Orange lines with them didn't belong to National Grid - it was the MBTA's own cable. Read more.
Update: T blames National Grid feeder cable.
The MBTA reports the Orange, Green and Blue lines all died this morning due to some sort of power and signal problem. The power is back, but trains are moving like molasses (in the traditional sense, not the Boston sense). Read more.
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