Maintenance mishap cuts power to T

[AllieB]

As someone who suffers through delays on the commuter rail and Green Line everyday, this is just one more travesty that we had to put up with this morning. :grr:

And what a LAME response from the T: "We'll do better." :eyes:

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An MBTA maintenance crew inadvertently tripped a breaker during the morning rush hour, causing a massive power outage that literally stopped the subway system in its tracks.

Crews had begun restoring electricity to the system after just seven minutes, but the outage had already sent a transit system loaded with 60,000 riders on 132 trains and trolleys into chaos. The mishap cut power to stations, fare collection systems, and left tunnels dark.

Electricity fortunately continued flowing to the air conditioning system on a day with temperatures in the 90s and the third rail and overhead catenaries stayed live through much of the network. But the outage threw automated dispatching offline, forcing the MBTA to use an arduous manual system with radios that slowed trains to a trickle.

"I'd like to apologize to our customers," said Richard J. Leary, chief operating officer for Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, speaking this afternoon at a press conference. "We'll do better."

http://www.boston.com/news/local/breaking_news/2009/05/power_outage_de.html

[Mopar151]

1. An outrage!

A T maintainence crew, working? Did Dunkie's run outa coffee? Or were they stealing copper wire?