Power outage leaves MBTA Blue Line riders in the dark
BOSTON - The MBTA finds itself apologizing to riders again after commuters were left in the dark late Thursday night.
The MBTA said the Blue Line experienced a "power issue" around 11pm that brought trains to a crawl and in some cases, completely stopped.
William Woodring is a 21-year-old student at Suffolk University and said he uses the Blue Line almost every day to get to and from his apartment in Orient Heights.
Woodring said he was on one of the last trains to leave the State Street station Thursday night. He said it took him more than 35 minutes to go the two stops to Maverick Station.
"Every 15 feet between State Street and Maverick the trains would start and stop again," said Woodring. "And it was going so slow."
When he got there, Woodring said Maverick Station had no electricity, no back up light, no MBTA employees, and no first responders helping people on and off the trains.
"It is pitch black out," Woodring said. "You cannot see your own hand in front of you it was that dark out.
Those delays created a ripple effect up the line. People were seen packing the State Street platform after midnight waiting for a train some riders told WBZ never came.
"I am not even sure how those folks got home. This is just an absolute failure. An absolute failure," said TransitMatters' Executive Director Jarred Johnson.
The public transportation advocacy group is calling for sweeping changes for MBTA leadership, highlighting what he calls systematic issues plaguing the T's progress for years.
"It's not just one thing that is going to fix these issues," said Johnson. "It is going to have to be this plus a suite of policies and measures to raise revenue."
For its part the MBTA released this statement Friday afternoon:
"The MBTA apologizes for the disruption in service. The MBTA Power Department is working to identify the root cause of the problem and take whatever corrective actions may be necessary."
The MBTA said service was restored in time for the start of service Friday morning.
Riders like Woodring said they are left wanting more.
"Obviously you want the train to work and the lights to be on, but I also just want more reliable service," said Woodring.