All the commuter-rail lines in and out of South Station - save the Worcester and Kingston lines - are now reporting delays, possibly because a train slipped just a bit off the rails. Based on the delay times posted by the T, we're guessing it's the 1:17 p.m. outbound Fairmount Line train, which the T reports "remains stopped after South Station and is 45-55 minutes behind schedule."
Amtrak reports "lengthy delays" due to "a disabled commuter train blocking the tracks in the area."
The MBTA announced today that New Bedford, Fall River and other South Coast points will get commuter-rail service starting on the morning of March 24 - for the first time in 65 years. Read more.
Tonight was not commuter rail's finest hour, or in the case of one frustrated rider, four hours. The T reported "severe delays" on the Needham, Franklin/Foxboro and Providence/Stoughton lines due to both "a switch issue" near Ruggles and "an equipment shortage," because you know how hard it can be to get good trains on short notice. Read more.
The MBTA reports scads of problems on commuter-rail lines into South Station this morning due to trains with "mechanical issues," and switches with unspecified issues.
It's a nightmare getting home on commuter-rail trains out of South Station because of an Amtrak train that took out one of the overhead power lines near Back Bay. Or as the T puts it:
Framingham/Worcester, Needham, Franklin/Foxboro Line & Providence/Stoughton Line passengers are experiencing severe delays in both directions due to a downed catenary wire & earlier disabled Amtrak train. All trains must operate on one track at Back Bay.
State officials report the feds have awarded the MBTA $472 million to replace the current 100-year-old drawbridges that connect North Station to points north and west over the Charles River. Read more.
The MBTA board today approved a $54-million plan to replace the diesel-powered trains on the Fairmount Line with more climate-friendly battery-operated cars within four years, which could mean almost subway-like train frequency - and some relief for Readville residents who live near the yard where diesels now loudly vibrate, hum - and have their horns blared - into the early morning hours. Read more.
Transitadvocate highlights some of the trains on various lines out of South Station that were canceled yesterday because of "crew availability issues." Read more.
At 1:13 a.m., HoofbeatsEqualZebra, who lives in Readville, reported that an engineer on a commuter-rail or CSX diesel in one of the Readville train yards had blared his air horn more than 60 times. Yes, of course he counted, what else are you going to do at 1:13 in the morning with an air horn blasting through your house? Read more.
A Michigan woman who says she still suffers severe pain from being tossed to the commuter-rail platform at Back Bay by an escalator that suddenly went into reverse in 2021 last week filed the latest suit against the MBTA and Kone, Inc. over the disaster. Read more.
Transit Police report they are trying to find who set a car ablaze at Readville station, off Milton Street in Hyde Park, early Tuesday, and why.
Police say the vehicle, fully engulfed in flames around 5 a.m., had been stripped of plates and other possible identifiers.
Keolis pairs some video of celebrating Celts players with this advisory for Championship Duck Boat Day, i.e., Friday:
We'll be operating on a weekday schedule with service changes. Please avoid traveling into the city on this day!
WHDH reports on a multi-vehicle crash on the Massachusetts Turnpike Friday night that sent a truck over the Jersey barriers and onto the Framingham Line right of way, where it stopped right at the tracks.
The MBTA this week sued Hitachi Rail, hired to install systems to keep commuter-rail trains from slamming into each other for $50 million for delays in finishing the system on routes in and out of North Station. Read more.
The Boston Fire Department reports firefighters responded to North Station around 1:30 p.m. after a locomotive on Track 4 began belching fire. Firefighters quickly knocked down the fire, which caused no injuries but which did cause some delays on service into the station.
HoofbeatsEqualZebra lives on Fairmount Hill, just perfect to catch all the sound from the train yards and tracks of Readville, including the now infamous 22-minute stuck-on-blast hornshow late in the evening of April 16. He even recorded part of it (only 40 seconds, but for full effect, just let it keep looping for 22 minutes).
Frustrated residents from Readville, Dedham and Milton told the MBTA and state Rep. Rob Consalvo (D-Hyde Park) this evening they are fed up with the overnight vibrations, humming and train horns from Readville's two train yards that they say have especially bedeviled them since 2020. Read more.
A group of Rockport residents yesterday filed a federal lawsuit against the way their town is planning on moving forward with rezoning to comply with a state mandate to increase allowable housing density near MBTA stations (federal courts let people file suits even on Sundays). Read more.
Hitachi Rail, hired by the MBTA in 2015 for what is now a half-billion-dollar project to install a network of devices designed to prevent trains north of Boston from running into each other or getting up to unsafe speeds, yesterday sued the authority for what it says are $158 million in overruns and delays caused by alleged T bumbling. Read more.
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