Hundreds of Boston-area commuters endured public transit delays today as they embarked on their first full week of work in the New Year, and it looks like tonight may not be much better.
A downed wire in Forest Hills got this morning’s commute off to a bad start around 5 a.m., when it caused a New York-Boston Amtrak train to lose power and block a highly trafficked track connecting to South Station.
Dozens of trains saw delays of up to one hour this morning, and though crews were able to fix the downed wire, commuter trains still saw residual delays of up to 15 minutes throughout the day.
The Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company released an update around 4 p.m. today that said, “Due to an Amtrak infrastructure issue that took place early this morning, commuter rail customers traveling out of South Station on all lines are advised to anticipate 15 to 30 minute delays during this evening’s peak hour service.”
Scott Farmelant, a spokesman for the MBCRC, said a medical emergency also caused problems on a commuter rail line this morning.
“The bulk of the delay (46 minutes) reflected the issue with Amtrak that caused widespread delays this morning, but a female passenger was removed from the train at Back Bay station for treatment of an unspecified illness, adding 16 minutes of additional delay while EMTs responded,” Farmelant said.
Despite the MBCR’s warning of delays this evening, a spokesman for Amtrak said he did not expect any rush hour trouble.
“As of now, we are not anticipating any issues for the evening commute.
Our crews are finalizing their work on the affected track and the work
is scheduled to be completed in advance of the evening rush hour,” said
Clifford Cole, a spokesman for Amtrak. “At (3 p.m.), Amtrak is experiencing 10 to 15 minute delays on travel through the area,” he said.
The commuter rail wasn’t the only part of the transit system’s woe’s today. A spokeswoman for the MassDOT said the outbound Green Line train was held at Bolyston Station around 9:30 a.m. due to a door failure.
As usual, flustered commuters took to Twitter to vent their frustration.
