The MBTA reported at 11:14 a.m. it had suspended all Providence Line service "until further notice due to debris on the tracks from severe weather in the Mansfield area. At 11:37, Keolis reported a train to Boston had left Wickford Junction but would hold at Attleboro because some of that debris remained on the tracks. Read more.
Off track. Photo by MBTA.
T.J. Winnick was on an inbound train from Haverhill that derailed in Wilmington this morning. Read more.
For the second day in a row, riders on the Haverhill Line will be way late getting into Boston, thanks to train 200, which proved to be the little train that couldn't and had to be "assisted into Boston," as the T puts it, by train 202.
The T reports it's now busing passengers from Andover south due to a train that grappled with death, and lost.
Train 204 from Haverhill is sitting in Malden going nowhere fast.
Meanwhile, west of town, a locomotive sighs and dies in Wellesley, leaving riders on train 506 out of Worcester wondering when they'll get into town.
Both the Haverhill and Greenbrush lines are having "track" issues this morning; in the case of the Haverhill Line, that involved an out-of-service train derailing. One Haverhill train, the 204, left Andover like 45 minutes late. Tim the Enchanter reports:
I'm sitting on the Haverhill line right now. We've traveled half a stop in 90mins. "Winter Happens", per MBTA signs.
"We have two seasons - winter and construction" doesn't just apply to highways. Got this e-mail from Keolis regarding pending track work on the Haverhill line. In summary, riders should expect delays and bustitution.
To All of Our Haverhill Line Customers
TRACK WORK NOTICE - Effective May 4th- June 26, 2015Due to necessary rail improvements, the MBTA Commuter Rail will be providing bus service between Reading and Haverhill for midday trains, Monday through Friday beginning Monday, May 4, 2015.
The following Inbound trains will have bus service between Haverhill and Reading*:
Photo by MBTA.
Updated with info from the MBTA, including the fact the device was a sterilizer, not a pressure cooker.
The Bradford stop on the Haverhill Line was shut for two hours today as police investigated what turned out to be a sterilizing device just sitting there. A spokesman says:
There was no explosive device found. It was a sterilizer type device, not a pressure cooker, and was empty. It was placed near the trash bin. The MBTA Transit Police Explosive Detection Unit responded to the scene and inspected the item to make sure it was safe. Transit Police worked in conjunction with Haverhill Police and Fire Depts. Two commuter rail trains were affected by the incident that lasted approximately 2 hours.
Mass Transit reports the first of 40 new commuter-rail locomotives is scheduled to pull out of North Station at 10:30 a.m., as part of Train 213 on the Haverhill line.
The locomotives, built in Idaho, will replace locomotives with an average age of 35 to 40 years, providing more reliable service, less pollution and better fuel efficiency.
Transit Police report arresting a Plaistow, NH man trying to get on a train at North Station yesterday on charges he waved a knife at a conductor on the line last week.
According to police, Eric Foster's ire was raised on the evening of Aug. 9 when his Haverhill train reached the end of the line and a conductor tried to rouse him from his sleep:
A dead trolley at Reservoir, dead trains at Kendall and somewhere on the Ashmont line, signal and track problems on the Fitchburg Line and, oh, yeah, a freight-train derailment on the Haverhill line meant all sorts of fun for commuters this morning.
Shortly before 8 a.m., the MBTA sent out an alert that an outbound Haverhill Line train was delayed 10 to 15 minutes due to "train congestion."
A worker at Conover Tuttle Pace downtown came into work this morning rather distraught because she lost her engagment ring on the train into work. But a conductor found the ring and turned it in and now it's back on her finger.
The MBTA reports that commuters on the Worcester, Fitchburg and Haverhill lines should expect delays tomorrow morning due to storm damage.
Matt Hrono reports he dashed into the restroom in an empty car on the 8:40 p.m. train to Haverhill tonight. Turned out to be a mistake:
They should fix those doors so it doesn't take 10min & brute force to open.
He adds:
Yeah, it was pretty funny once I actually got out. It didn't help that car was completely empty, so nobody to help.
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