At 11:08 a.m., the MBTA reported delays on inbound Green Line service due to a deceased trolley at Kenmore.
Earlier in the morning, the T reported similarly pining-for-the-fjords status on the Mattapan Line due to a no-longer-functioning trolley there - but that one was bad enough that the T was advising riders to just forget about it and take the Route 24 bus instead.
Mattapan Line riders had to take a bus for most of the day because of a cavalcade of trolley problems today. WCVB reports that when a trolley died at Butler this morning, the T sent out another trolley to try to push it to the Mattapan yard. But then that trolley died. So the T sent out a third trolley to push the two newly deceased trolleys down the short line. It died, too.
Transit Matters runs the numbers and finds that two-week shutdown of the Red Line's Ashmont branch and the Mattapan Line seems to have worked: The trains are back to their 2018 trip times.
Happy days are here again, rider tells MBTA's Phil Eng.
The T reports the 16-day shutdown of the two lines worked, at least so far: All 38 slow zones on the Mattapan Line and the Red Line's Ashmont branch have become normal zones again.
Martin Owens noticed this unusual bus at Ashmont this morning doing shuttle duty as part of the MBTA's Mattapan/Red Line shuttle service.
The Dorchester Reporter urges riders to plan ahead - and consider the Fairmount Line, which will be free to CharlieCard holders during the shutdown.
The MBTA announced today that the Fairmount Line will be free between Oct. 14 and 29, at least to people with CharlieCards - as a possible replacement for the Mattapan Line and Ashmont service on the Red Line, which will be shut then for track repairs. The T will also be running shuttle buses along the Mattapan and Ashmont lines then.
The MBTA announced today it's shutting the Ashmont branch of the Red Line and the Mattapan Line between Oct. 14 and 29 for "critical track work." Read more.
The Dorchester Reporter provides an update on the MBTA's plans to replace the current 1940s trolleys on the Mattapan Line with more recent Green Line trolleys: It could take a decade to get everything ready and would involve the elimination of the current loop track at Ashmont.
Two 18-year-olds and a younger teen were arrested at Mattapan station Sunday afternoon after they allegedly beat up two men - one who asked them to stop smoking on a trolley and one who tried to break up the fight - the Suffolk County District Attorney's office reports. Read more.
Interim MBTA General Manager Jeff Gonneville says the T is continuing to work through a morass of track defects across all four subway lines and that he hopes to lift the "global" speed restrictions on the Green Line with the start of service on Saturday. Read more.
The MBTA announced this morning it's lifted most of the speed restrictions on the Mattapan Line, but adds it still has "block restrictions where necessary," so not quite 100% back to being the Mattapan High-ish Speed Line.
Fans of more leisurely trolley rides can still hop on the Green Line, which remains a "global" slow zone as inspectors continue to look for both new track problems and old ones that the T isn't sure if they were actually fixed.
In 1875, Richard Doyle anticipated the T in "Triumphal March of the Elf-King."
The T sounded the alarm tonight: Nearly a third of the tracks on the Red, Orange and Blue Lines remain subject to snailish speed restrictions, which are in place along all the tracks on the Green and Mattapan lines. Read more.
Rapid transit back in the day. See it larger.
The MBTA began slowing down all its subway trains around 5:30 p.m. yesterday after state inspectors filed reports that they found track problems on one Red Line stretch this week and the T couldn't assure them that repairs had actually been made because of problems with paperwork and decided it needed to check all its tracks. Read more.
Open, non-functioning Green Street station at 7:44 a.m. Photo by Sunsan Ellsbree.
Update: GBH reports a transformer in South Boston failed, triggering a power surge that tripped a circuit breaker.
In the middle of rush hour, the MBTA lost power to the signaling systems on all its subway lines - and at some stations - leaving some riders stranded and others breaking out their phones to call a ride-share to work. Read more.
A man walking on the Mattapan Line tracks between Capen Street and Mattapan Square on Tuesday night died after he was hit by a trolley, Transit Police confirm. Foul play is not suspected, they add.
Most of the T excitement today is over the new service past Lechmere on the Green Line, but Mattapan High Speed Line fans are loving this morning's reintroduction of car 3265, the first ever modern PCC car, and the first to finally get back on the rails as part of an MBTA refurbishing program.
CommonWealth talks to MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak, who says the T will likely hire 80 to 120 new employees to roam bus lines and above-ground trolleys to make sure they're paying their fares. The new system could speed up buses and trolleys by allowing people to board through both front and rear doors, but will mean a level of trust that people are boarding in the back with actual CharlieCards. The new workers will make random spot checks to make sure people are doing that.
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