Reminder: It's the Orange Line that's getting shut down for a month on Friday

By adamg on Wed, 08/17/2022 - 12:25pm

The T made the Ashmont branch slow its roll this morning because of a "disabled train" at Shawmut. Or as Erica Warner, who was on the train, puts it:

So our MBTA train started smoking at Shawmut station and had to be taken out of service…long wait till the next one.

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Comments

They should shut down each

By Scratchie on Wed, 08/17/2022 - 12:36pm.

They should shut down each line for a month and they'll have the whole T fixed by New Year's!

You joke

By BostonDog on Wed, 08/17/2022 - 12:50pm.

But the Orange shutdown is probably a good sign that they are taking the problems more seriously.

Whatever the T had been doing in the past clearly isn't working. So the options are try a serious intervention (close for a month) or just keep decreasing service until it's effectively gone.

If once every ~5-10 years they shut down a branch for a month for deep maintenance and in return the system operates better for a few years, that's a reasonable price to pay. Hopefully next time the closure is planned a year in advanced and not out of sheer desperation.

But the Orange shutdown is

By Scratchie on Wed, 08/17/2022 - 2:19pm.

But the Orange shutdown is probably a good sign that they are taking the problems more seriously.

Or a worrisome sign of the level of desperation at the MBTA, but potato po-tah-to, right?

Whatever the T had been doing in the past clearly isn't working. So the options are try a serious intervention (close for a month) or just keep decreasing service until it's effectively gone.

I think there are probably other options but they would require a state government that's actually interested in improving the quality of public transit, so I understand why they're off the table.

Such as?

By BostonDog on Wed, 08/17/2022 - 3:10pm.

I think there are probably other options but they would require a state government that's actually interested in improving the quality of public transit, so I understand why they're off the table.

Let's say you become Governor today. What is your first course of action to get the Orange Line in good shape? What options do you have?

If I became Governor I would probably do the same thing: Switch to busses for a few weeks and plan on having crews work 24/7 fixing major things that have been neglected in with the goal of improving safety and reliability in short term.

Going forward I wouldn't starve the T for money and support but that's not going to solve the immediate problems.

If I were Governor...

By Don't Panic on Thu, 08/18/2022 - 1:26am.

I would shutdown the current Orange Line completely and would replace it with a hybrid monorail down Washington Street from JP to wherever it ends now.

The last time I rode the Orange Line to the end from Forest Hills, Everett was the last stop.