Today was a great morning for riders of the MBTA's Blue Line subway line. The T replaced the Blue Line's 4-car trains with 6-car trains. Read all about it in this article from today's The Boston Herald. Over the next few months, all the Blue Line's trains will be running with 6-cars with 84 cars operating during rush hour by early 2008.
In other news, The Boston Globe reported that Governor Deval Patrick and his administration will unveil a bailout plan for the Mass Pike and MBTA. Eight cost-saving measures are outlined in the proposal, which requires outside approval. The $13 million cost-sharing program includes changing who actually inspects the bridges and who pays to maintain roads and T stations.
The biggest proposal would shift responsibility to inspect almost all the state's bridges to MassHighway, saving the MBTA $3.5 million in its annual budget and the Turnpike Authority $2.5 million. MassHighway would also cover about $1.2 million in costs for hiring flaggers at bridge construction projects over MBTA tracks.The plan also calls on Massport to cover the $3.7 million in annual maintenance for the tunnel that connects Interstate 93 and the Tobin Bridge in Charlestown. Massport would also pick up more costs for portions of the Silver Line and Blue Line that bring travelers to Logan, relieving the MBTA of about $1.6 million in expenses.
2 comments:
This mornings P508 was a cake-walk from where I sat. They announced that we were one car short, but my car had the typical crowd, no more no less.
The one noteworthy thing was when we stopped leaving Southborough. There was a guy sprinting for the train, which had already started moving. He, unfortunately was 1/2 way across the parking lot when he started his attempt. He managed to jump on, but against the advice of the 2 conductors at each end of the cars screaming at him not to. As soon as his feet landed on the first step, the train stopped and the conductors kicked him off. He stood and jawed at them the entire time we pulled away.
While I feel for him (hey, we're all late one time or another), it is against the rules to jump on the moving train. Everyone else managed to get on in a timely fashion, so sometimes you just have to accept the fact that you're out of luck.
I missed the p508 this morning, as I was parking, the train was already here and there was no way I would have made it onto the train ... unless I tried to jump on ... but I'm not THAT crazy! I ended up driving in, so I missed this drama at Southborough.
Just imagine if this guy had gotten hurt? He would have sued the MBTA left and right. The conductors did the right thing by telling him not to board and then also making him get off of the train. Good for them for taking a stand ... there are rules in place for a reason people ... safety!
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