(The following article by Mac Daniel was posted on the Boston Globe website on August 3.)
BOSTON — Many commuters were slowed, soaked, and stressed as the scorching heat worsened what was already a tough go getting around Boston by public transit, with tunnel detours, commuter rail delays, and overheated cars.
Delays on some commuter rail trains reached nearly an hour. Despite the heat-related setbacks, MBTA officials said that the system functioned well, even though the heat forced officials to limit operating speeds on commuter rail and subway trains to 40 miles per hour to avoid possible derailments because of heat-warped rails.
Delays occurred much of the day on the Orange Line, the Red Line, and the Silver Line’s Washington Street branch , and commuter rail slowdowns continued into the evening as thunderstorms played havoc with the southern part of the system.
The Red Line was hit worst by the heat, with commuters stranded in steam-bath like morning temperatures after workers took at least 45 minutes to remove a disabled train from Fields Corner station. Later, officials also issued a speed restriction of 10 miles per hour between Charles/MGH and Kendall stations after a 300-yard section of track on the Longfellow Bridge warped in the high temperatures.
Green Line surface routes were also limited to 20 miles per hour during most of the daylight hours. The Orange Line slowdown was due to a signal problem near Oak Grove.
Commuter rail service began failing in the afternoon, with the Old Colony and Providence lines temporarily shut down because of downed trees and lightning strikes affecting Providence power lines. Amtrak service was also affected.
Earlier in the evening rush, a Providence-bound commuter train reportedly lost all air conditioning and lights at the Route 128 station, with one rider complaining via e-mail that there was no explanation from conductors as to what happened.
A downed tree between Canton Center and Stoughton halted service on the Providence/Stoughton line, with shuttle buses being used to pick up passengers. Other trains on the line were running 20 to 45 minutes late because of the evening thunderstorms.
An inbound train on the Worcester line was reported running nearly an hour late last night because of mechanical problems.
Closer to downtown, would be Red Line rider Kelley Connolly, 29, eventually gave up waiting for a train at Fields Corner station and had her roommate drive her to work after two Red Line trains dumped about 200 passengers on the unsheltered platform with no word from the MBTA about what was happening.
“They do all these renovations, but there is no communication,” she said. “I don’t think people care if their train is 20 minutes late. They just want to know.”
Two people were taken out of South Station for what EMS officials said were heat-related illnesses, though T officials say the Red Line train on which one person was removed had air conditioning. The other person apparently contacted EMS personnel somewhere inside South Station and complained of not feeling well.
Paul Massari and his wife got on a Red Line train at North Quincy Station shortly after 8 a.m., only to be met by a wall of hot air when the doors opened.
“People hustled out of the car, into other cars, which were already packed to the teeth,” he wrote in an e-mail. “We got to JFK/UMass, and they held us, due to the disabled train. They decided to take the last car out of service. Unfortunately, while we were sitting there, the rest of the train lost AC. We crawled from station to station after that.”
During the afternoon commute, North Station’s usually crowded corridor was almost empty, and none of the peak outbound trains were delayed, a huge change from just a week ago when commuter rail service was suffering from canceled and late trains, due to an equipment shortage.
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority general manager Daniel A. Grabauskas met with officials from rail contractor Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad last week and was promised that mechanics would work overtime to fix problems. Yesterday, commuter rail service was operated with 54 of 56 locomotives and a reported 32 coaches, which officials said averaged less than one per train set, without air conditioning. MBTA officials credited the meeting with the contractor for yesterday’s improved service.
Christiaan Stone, 33, a lawyer from Westminster, was pleasantly surprised on the Fitchburg line. Only one coach on his train had no air conditioning, and seats were plentiful in the cooled cars.
“At least in the hot cars, you’re guaranteed a seat,” he said.