T Q+A with General Manager Dan Grabauskas

I am a fairly new rider to the T. I’ve got a question — I am a D Line on the Green Line rider, I ride to Government Center. In the morning, it’s not unusual to have a termination of service at Park Street, one stop early. The D Line nominally ends at Government Center. From a rider’s perspective, the train is going to go to Gov’t Center anyway, so the T saves, what, a minute at best? I’ve lost at least five to ten minutes. Why the need to balance your schedule on my time? Thanks!    Mark Garber
 
Mark,
First and foremost, thank you for choosing the MBTA as your mode of transportation.

The MBTA is the oldest subway system in the country, born in 1897, and we have some inherent limitations due to the age of the system. The Green Line’s four branches travel on a single track in each direction, sharing the same central subway; we do not have the added benefit of additional routes to allow us to bypass a problem and/or obstacle blocking service.  

Every attempt is made to run service at scheduled intervals; however, at times, as you have experienced, trains have terminated at Park Street in an effort to best serve the needs of our customers. Please know that on-time performance is a priority, and customer feedback from those actually experiencing the service is vital to ensuring customer satisfaction. I have directed operations personnel to revisit the procedures on this practice and limit the number of trains that terminate at Park Street station. In addition, Green Line Chief Deborah Gies and staff will monitor service closely over the next few weeks to ensure compliance.