|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
More than a week after a major snowstorm, winter weather continued to impact service on the MBTA’s Fall River/New Bedford Line into Monday.
The line ran on a special modified storm schedule Monday, relying heavily on shuttle buses, though it’s unclear why. New Bedford and Fall River trains were back to their normal schedule on Tuesday with minimal reported delays.
Keolis, the company that runs the commuter rail network on behalf of the MBTA, did not make officials available for an interview and did not explain why the Fall River/New Bedford Line specifically was running on a modified schedule Monday after a minor snow event the day before.
“Snow, ice buildup, and extreme cold all have negative impacts on critical railroad infrastructure such as switches as well as on engines and doors on board trains,” Keolis spokesperson Jake O’Neill said in an emailed statement.
O’Neill used the hypothetical scenario of a Fitchburg-bound train leaving Boston in single-digit temperatures with three feet of snow on the ground to illustrate how winter weather affects trains: “Doors freeze, horns/bells freeze, and there are regulations that require repairs to be made when the train gets back to the facility before it can safely go back out,” he wrote.
The South Coast was spared any significant new snow accumulation this past weekend. On Monday, temperatures in New Bedford did not reach the single-digit lows that were seen late last month.
All commuter rail lines have standard storm schedules used during major storms. The MBTA went a step further for the Fall River/New Bedford Line on Monday, releasing a different storm schedule that replaced most train service south of East Taunton with buses.
“The modified schedule offered more service than the full winter storm schedule, providing the maximum level of service for passengers while ensuring enough time to clear critical switches and prevent cascading delays,” O’Neill said in his statement.
The MBTA system has struggled to recover from the Jan. 25 snowstorm. Extremely cold temperatures and accumulated ice and snow have strained the system’s equipment, transit officials said, leading to widespread delays and cancellations across the network.
Across Eastern Massachusetts, commuter rail lines were heavily disrupted as recently as Monday. Some trains on the Fall River/New Bedford Line were delayed by more than an hour because of traffic management issues and mechanical problems related to the weather.
Last week, one inbound Wednesday afternoon train was already running late when it had an engine breakdown near JFK/UMass. Riders waited for about two hours as crews tried to fix the problem. They were ultimately transferred to another train, which continued to face delays cascading from other delayed train traffic as it approached South Station.
Boston’s Red Line, a key connector for South Coast riders arriving at South Station, has also experienced major delays because of its aging equipment.
After the snowstorm dumped more than a foot of snow in much of Massachusetts last month, frigid temperatures with lows in the single digits lasted for much of the following week.
“For the love of GAWD @KeolisBoston,” one X user complained on Monday, “how hard is it to make late train announcements for passengers? New Bedford line has been late every day for a WEEK straight!”
The MBTA and Keolis “have been working around the clock” to address the disruptions, said O’Neill, the Keolis spokesperson. He wrote in an email to The Light that crews have dug equipment out of the snow, thawed frozen trains, and cleared parking lots and train platforms.
In an interview with the Boston Globe on Thursday, MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng asked riders for patience. He said the agency was working hard to address the delays and improve the way it responds to future storms.
Maria José Membreño contributed reporting.
Email Grace Ferguson at gferguson@newbedfordlight.org.
