From Jan. 27 to Feb. 2, Boston received 40.5 inches of snow, the most it received on record in a single week, according to the National Weather Service. The snow played havoc on the MBTA and Amtrak. The effects seemed to be worst for the MBTA, which experienced almost universal commuter rail delays and problems on the South Side. I am not sure what happened out of North Station, but I am sure it wasn't much better. The first storm, an actual blizzard, seemed to slow the MBTA but not stop it. There were travel bans and the trains were halted by Governor Charlie Baker for a day.
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| Control car on an inbound train to Boston powers through a snowbank at Norwood Depot. |
The second storm, however, seemed to break the agency's back. By the time I headed home on Feb. 2 every train leaving South Station was delayed or cancelled. When I went to work on Feb. 3 things weren't much better. The 9:30 a.m. train didn't arrive until well after 10:30. It wouldn't have been bad on a nice spring day but Feb. 3 wasn't a nice spring day. The air temperature 12 degrees Fahrenheit, according to the weather service. Neither the signs in the station or the website noted a problem until the train was 30 minutes late. As people said in the 1940s regarding the Boston & Maine: "That's a hell of a way to run a railroad.''
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| Acela trainsets in Boston's South Station await their next assignment. |
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I wonder if the MBTA will respond the way the Boston & Maine did? The public relations man for the B&M seized on the criticism and used it to teach the public about how difficult it is to run a railroad and to apologize at the same time. According to accounts from the time, he won the public over. If the MBTA or its contractors had a bit of sense, they would use his methods as a playbook to save their own skins. I won't be holding my breath.
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| A lot of snow for a Monday night. |
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