Alert for Boston-area Commuters

[theodosia]

The Red Line is going to be CRAZY this AM, and possibly into the evening rush -- thanks to farwing for the alert.

Here's the text from the Boston Globe story:

T explosion will delay service on Red Line
By Amanda B. Pinto and David Abel, Globe Correspondent and Globe Staff | February 3, 2005

Commuters using the Red Line this morning should expect packed trains and hefty delays, after an explosion at an MBTA power substation in South Boston last night cut power to the transit line and led crews to axe power to thousands of area residents, officials said.

The electrical explosion, which rocked the substation between Old Colony Avenue and the JFK-UMass T station, occurred after gas leaked into a manhole on Old Colony Avenue and traveled through pipes to the substation, said Joe Pesaturo, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.

The 6:05 p.m. explosion, which caused no injuries, occurred when the substation's generator activated automatically, he said.

"The building itself looks like a bomb hit it," said Scott Salman, a spokesman for the Boston Fire Department, noting the explosion was contained in such a way that the substation sustained mostly internal damage. "It was actually made to break away on explosion."

The South Boston barracks of the State Police less than a mile away shook from the explosion, said Trooper Brian Dunn.

"They don't know how far the gas leak extends, so they had to shut down all the power in [the] Mary Ellen McCormack Housing" development, Dunn said.

Sheri Paleo, 35, a resident there, estimated that hundreds of units lost power, heat, and hot water at about 8 p.m.

The Fire Department directed NSTAR to cut power around the same time, said Kate Arsenault, an NSTAR spokeswoman.

The utility restored power at about 11 p.m.

The substation provides power to the section of the Red Line from Andrew to North Quincy, and through Dorchester, Pesaturo said.

To run the trains today, the MBTA will borrow power from other sections of the train system's electrical grid, which Pesaturo said would cause a "ripple effect" and result in delays throughout the Red Line.

"We will be operating with significantly reduced electrical power," he said. "We won't have the capacity to run as many trains."

Crews were working "feverishly" last night to fix the problem, he said, though he could not estimate when full power would be restored.

I think I'm going to take the bus to Lechmere and walk along the Charles over to the Back Bay. It's picturesque and going to be a deal less crazy....

Comments

[brooklinegirl.livejournal.com]

gah! thanks for the warning. Uh. Getting to work this morning should be - interesting.

[dxmachina.livejournal.com]

Huh. You'd think they could arrange things so that the Alewife end of the line would still have the usual number of trains. All the damage is on the other side of Boston.

[theodosia.livejournal.com]

To quote from further down in the article:

"To run the trains today, the MBTA will borrow power from other sections of the train system's electrical grid, which Pesaturo said would cause a "ripple effect" and result in delays throughout the Red Line."

It's going to be crazeeee.

[farwing.livejournal.com]

This is the MBTA we're talking about here. You expect too much. *snort*

[vwbug.livejournal.com]

Eek! Maybe this gives me a good excuse to skip group today. It's not till 3:45pm, but it goes till 5pm, and I bet it'll still be a crazy evening rush hour too. Grrr...decisions, decisions.

Huh.

[ellenbs.livejournal.com]

I got to work in 35 minutes (door-to-door - go me!) and had no delays outside the general wonkiness of the Red Line in recent months. The train didn't even take a short nap between the MIT and Charles stops like it often does.

The one time I could have been late to work with a great excuse, and I'm on time!

Re: Huh.

[vwbug.livejournal.com]

Silly Ellen!

So, are things going to quiet down next week? Want to try to have Tuesday lunch?

(Sorry for using your LJ for this, Theo. I'm just lazy.)