MBTA working to address aging infrastructure in the wake of Blue Line train evacuation in Boston
Passengers were forced to walk through a dark tunnel in sweltering heat and humidity after the Blue Line train broke down. Dramatic video shows riders navigating the tunnel on foot, with some telling WBZ-TV they saw a cable dangling from the side of the train.
At a press conference on Wednesday, MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng said that a 50- to 60-year-old cable caused the disruption.
"Last night, the teams went in, they made interim repairs to the cable. They re-spliced some, we removed some, but while we were in there, we also saw that there's other areas of cable that we want to proactively address," said Eng.
While Eng did not give an exact timeline for all the planned repairs, he advised riders to expect possible overnight maintenance work.
Regular MBTA riders say incidents like these are part of the daily commute in Boston.
"I leave home an hour before work, usually the commute's only half an hour," said MBTA rider Grogan. "I either get to work way too late or way too early. And that's just sort of the magic of Boston, Massachusetts."
She said that each line has its own laundry list of problems.
"The Orange Line regularly catches on fire or floods, the Red Line stops because people are causing problems at Red Line stops, a lot of stabbings happen at the Red Line," Grogan said. "The Blue Line is just sort of never there when it's supposed to be, the Green Line gets hit by cars. And I think the Commuter Rail is haunted in some capacity. There's never any consistency."
The MBTA has faced criticism in recent years over aging infrastructure, delays and safety concerns. Eng said the MBTA is working to address these issues.
"This is not a flip of the switch to just say tomorrow everything's running perfectly. What we need to do is continue to invest in our workforce, continue to invest in our infrastructure," Eng said.
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