Historic Boston: Things to Do on the 4th
Photo of the day, July 3, 2009: After Hours
Two MBTA trains collided at Boylston this morning. The "minor" accident (according to the MBTA) caused major transportation delays throughout the Green Line. Seven individuals on the cars that collided were taken to local hospitals, but no serious injuries have been reported. The trains were not derailed. Non-injured passengers got to walk through the subway tunnel to the Boylston station, which was shut down along with some surrounding stations. The MBTA alert advises that bus shuttle service is offered offered from Arlington to Government Center. This Bostonist, after a fun half hour stuck between Hynes and Copley, saw bus shuttles at Copley as well, but rejected them in favor of walking, which was probably a smart move. Anyone else have a nightmare commute this morning?
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wow nothing like a 2 hour commute to start your Friday. What a "minor" disaster...
In fact I did! I was on one of the T's that collided, and luckily I was sitting because it definitely did not feel like a "minor" collision (as some reports say). I am very unhappy with the MBTA. After the collision we sat in the T for 15 minutes with no announcements as to what was going on. Then a shouting voice came over the PA and we shook AGAIN as if there was another collision Assumably this was because the T was being hooked up to another train so that we could be dragged into the Boylston T stop. Again no explanation of that. When we did start moving again, I noticed that all of the passengers were holding onto the grips so hard that their hands were white--no one was sure what was going on, but the safest thing to do seemed to be to hold on. Physically I am fine, but I am ANGRY! Why couldn't we get just a little announcement telling us what was going on? Would it have taken too much time to reassure the hundreds of passengers trapped underground that nothing else was going on? I for one think that the MBTA should stop being so concerned with money and liability and start concerning themselves with public safety. Grrr....
wow, it was bad enough to be on a delayed train forever with only intermittent announcements saying there was a "disabled train ahead" (why not admit it was "disabled" by the MBTA driver who RAN INTO IT?), but i can't imagine actually being in the affected trains and not getting an update! the MBTA doesn't appear to have learned anything from previous poorly handled incidents, that's for sure.
I was on the train as well. The lack of announcements was indefensible. After we sat for ~20 minutes without being told a single word, people were (again) not holding on. the train lurched forward to resume. Are they that stupid that they thought they could resume after a crash w/o telling people. Total incompetence. And when we disembarked, there was still no one to tell us what the hell had happened.
Everytime I think to myself, "nothing could top the jackassery of the CTA," I remember the MBTA. For the first time today, I am glad I had to come into work an hour early; my chances of being on a green line train in the tunnel between Park and Arlington at 8:45 on a weekday are nearly 100% otehrwise. Inaecis, your experience is indeed indefensible. The MBTA is bad at communicating when a train is delayed--by minor incident, by a track fire, or by this less-minor collision; gourd save us if there is a catastrophe.
Well, a possible reason why there were no immediate announcements could be that two of the operators were injured in the collision, according to news reports. Now this doesn't excuse nobody coming into the cars and checking on everyone and making a clear announcement, especially before moving the train again.