Riders at the southern end of the Orange Line brace for another longish shutdown

By adamg on Fri, 10/04/2024 - 2:51pm

The Orange Line will be shut between Forest Hills and Back Bay Oct. 8 - 20 for some more of the repair work the T couldn't get to - or discovered it needed to do - during that month-long shutdown back in 2022.

Shuttle buses, natch. The T also suggests commuter rail or, closer to town, the Green Line.

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Comments

We are paying the price now

By Kinopio on Fri, 10/04/2024 - 3:46pm.

We are paying the price now for how bad Charlie Baker sucked when it came to public transportation. His shutdown accomplished nothing so now we have to suffer again so someone who is actually competent can clean up the mess.

True

By Cleary Squared on Fri, 10/04/2024 - 4:37pm.

In 2022, the T sang a song of "give us an entire month, and we'll fix this so we have 50mph trains, clean stations, etc." and then after several other promises and oopsies, the T and the federal transportation commission discovered that the T was telling tall tales by exactly how unsafe those rails were, so they implemented slow zones everywhere.

I wouldn't lay all the blame at Baker (some may vigorously differ, and I respect those who do), but I think he should have been more forthcoming and willing to put a few MBTA managers on blast once the incompetency was evident. At least with Maura Healey's hiring of Philip Eng (who whipped the LIRR into shape), things are improving. Or more accurately, Eng is doing things that the managers at the T couldn't or wouldn't do.

I would

By Ari O on Fri, 10/04/2024 - 7:31pm.

I wouldn't lay all the blame at Baker (some may vigorously differ)

I mean, fine, not all the blame. He only came up with the funding scheme in the ‘90s to load the T up with debt and then fired competent management when he was Governor and brought in pioneer institute cronies and political hires (remember luis?). But sure along the way other people were involved.

But the orange line shutdown stunt really took the fake. Phil was throwing him under the bus recently by talking about how much more track they’d replaced on the red line than 2022, and it’s clearer than ever what a joke that shutdown was. Only cost us $37 million in buses to fix nothing. Baker should be put in stocks at forest hills for that.

A month into healey’s term the new head of the DPU asked for paperwork and was told they didn’t have any. Baker had been running the show for 8 years talking about how much work they were doing to fix the T, meanwhile they weren’t even competent enough to keep their paperwork in order, and his own DPU never asked questions.

Whenever you’re sitting in traffic remember that baker spent a quarter century starving and fucking over the T so he could impress his Republican friends and we’re all paying the price.

Baker is not alone to blame.

By anon on Fri, 10/04/2024 - 8:11pm.

Baker is not alone to blame. He had plenty of help from the State House, besides Who was the Massachusetts attorney general during his reign? If he was breaking laws he would have been punished. The justice system is blind(sarcasm)

If he was breaking laws?

By brianjdamico on Fri, 10/04/2024 - 10:18pm.

Who said anything he did was illegal?

Touché

By Cleary Squared on Sat, 10/05/2024 - 7:58am.

I've been a long-time rider, and if I had been working at my old company in Watertown the same time they were doing the month long "repair," and nothing happened from it, I'd gladly hand out the rotten fruit to toss at Baker.

If there is anything we can learn from this, it's that any time the T does something of this magnitude, an independent board should follow up with inspections to be sure they're done.

Who was Governor before Baker?

By Waquiot on Sat, 10/05/2024 - 10:10am.

Patrick knew about the problems and had 8 years to fix things, but instead he left Baker with a bit of a shitshow. In turn, Baker had 8 years to fix things but instead passed on a shitshow to Healey. I wish Eng the best, but I don't have confidence that Healey will hand a functional T to her successor.

We have actual, measurable results

By Plen-T-Pak on Sat, 10/05/2024 - 11:01am.

It's clear Eng has things going on the right path. Why would you lump Healey in with those other do-nothings? Will it all be done by the time she's out the door? No, it will be a constant effort. But progress has been made and she'll surely leave it much better than she found it.

My prediction

By Waquiot on Sat, 10/05/2024 - 10:34pm.

Despite Eng's claim, there will be slow zones on the Red and Orange Line come January 1. There are still slow zones on the "fixed" north end of the Orange Line.

As for Healey, yeah, I'll lump her in with Baker and Patrick and Romney. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't see that. The fact she's a Democrat won't shield her from blame when the dumpster fire is passed on to the next Governor.