The driver of an outbound trolley that derailed just past Lechmere at the start of the afternoon rush hour on Oct. 1, sending seven passengers to the hospital with minor injuries, barreled through the equivalent of a red light at more than three times the speed limit and derailed on a switch that was still shifting into place to get the train to a new track, the National Transportation Safety Board says. Read more.
The MBTA says it's once again running trolleys north of North Station, even as the National Transportation Safety Board, the Federal Transit Administration and the state Department of Public Utilities continue to investigate how the front wheels of one trolley came off the tracks Tuesday afternoon, sending six passengers to the hospital. Read more.
The MBTA reports this morning it is running shuttle buses along the Union Square and Medford/Tufts branches of the Green Line Extension as it continues to investigate yesterday afternoon's derailment near Lechmere that sent six people to the hospital.
The National Transportation Safety Board announced it has sent a team of investigators to Cambridge to also try to figure out what failed and made the front wheels of a trolley slip off the rails.
Not supposed to bend that way: Alexander Taylor was on the Community Path just after the derailment.
The Cambridge Fire Department reports several people suffered non-life-threatening injuries when a trolley came off the tracks near 10 Morgan Ave.
Oh, come on! The day after the T general manager acknowledged massive track problems on the Green Line Extension, a trolley died between Science Park and Lechmere - and then the T kept the riders onboard for 90 minutes. Read more.
You can laugh or you can cry about Green Line Extension service this afternoon.
At 1:51 p.m. Jill Rodgers sent a Green Line cri de couer from a trolley sitting motionless on the viaduct between Lechmere and Union Square, you know, the part of the Green Line that was shut down for a month to make it work all nice and smooth and stuff. Read more.
Adam Nichols captured some of the action tonight on the Union Square stub, where Green Line operators have begun driving trolleys to test things out and get familiar with the new line. Read more.
Nathaniel Stinnett watched some of the demolition of the steel part of the Lechmere viaduct this morning. It's coming down for the realignment of the Green Line towards the new Not-Lechmere station being built as part of the fabled Green Line Extension.
Tim Murphy took some before and after photos of Lechmere, specifically, what it looked like just before it was shut and then again over this past weekend: Read more.
Lechmere station sometime after 1922. Source.
Tonight marks the last time the T will use the current Lechmere station for anything trolley related. It shuts tonight and in 11 months or so, there'll be a brand-new station nearby as the current tracks are extended towards Somerville.
Of course, what comes down must have gone up. Read more.
Tim Murphy got a bird's eye view of the work on the Green Line Extension at Lechmere:
Lechmere Station taking shape. In this “Dissected” style view, you can see what will become the center island platform with the eastbound track to the right and the westbound on the left.
The MBTA is running shuttles between Lechmere and North Station due to a trolley that had some sudden issues getting power down from the wires. Here are some T workers doing some emergency repairs to the trolley as it sits on the viaduct.
As the front came through this afternoon, a gust of wind near Lechmere station took down a street-light pole, which fell on the hood of a car making a turn, after which the light bounced into the street, as Lisa captured.
She reports the driver and somebody in the back seat appeared to get out physically OK. Read more.
UPDATE: Transit Police report the suspect turned himself in.
Transit Police have issued a BOLO for a guy they say started screaming at a group of young kids and their chaperone on a Green Line trolley to Lechmere yesterday afternoon - and then physically attacked their chaperone at the station. Read more.
Ka-blam! Northpoint resident captured the flying sparks. See the entire photo.
The T's started Lechmere-North Station bustitution; could take several hours to repair the damage. Passengers on a trolley up on the viaduct had to be walked down to the station when one of its pantographs suddenly lost contact with the overhead wire in a shower of sparks.
The T is running shuttle buses to and from Lechmere because of what Greater Boston Radio calls a minor fire. Nani, who took the photo, reports:
green line stopped right between lechemere and science park - saw a tiny electrical explosion from above - scary!
She adds that about 30 minutes after the trolley stopped, passengers disembarked and walked down the viaduct to Lechmere.
Emily Weisberg is waiting for a bus at Lechmere because, she reports, there's a live wire down on the Green Line tracks.
Brendan Kearney reports he'd just gotten off a trolley at Lechmere when the trolley failed to navigate the curve to turn around and came a bit off the tracks. The T is now busing passengers.
Cambridge Police say a local 17-year-old walked up to a man waiting for a bus on Cambridge Street around 9:30 p.m. yesterday, then stabbed him and ran towards the Lechmere T station.
The victim sustained two stab wounds to his lower back and buttocks area. He was later transported to a local hospital for non-life threatening injuries.
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