Green Line, Orange Line and Blue Line trains experienced significant service disruptions due to a power issue Thursday morning. General Manager Phil Eng said that the MBTA’s subway lines would be free from 3 to 7 p.m.
Around 6:30 a.m., trains on all three lines stopped at stations due to a faulted cable that affected signals, station lighting and public address systems. Though trains were allowed to proceed manually, the problem resulted in delayed service all across Greater Boston.
"The outage at North Station was unexpected, and it is one of the MBTA's primary power feeds. As a safety precaution, protective systems opened related circuit breakers, temporarily discontinuing power flow," Joe Pesaturo, director of communications at MBTA, said in a statement. "We apologize for the inconvenience and disruption during the morning commute."
Power was restored to the Green and Blue lines around 9 a.m., the MBTA said, but work continues on the Orange Line between Forest Hills and Stony Brook.
Eng said at a press conference Thursday afternoon that it was due to a failure on the National Grid feeder cable to a T substation at North Station. He recognized the T’s issues with public confidence.
“This incident that occurred this morning was outside of our infrastructure,” Eng said. “We’re looking to identify where that cause was. But at the same time, I understand regardless of the cause, it impacts our riders. What we’re doing, is to continue to rebuild our infrastructure that's in our control.
“I’m going to keep working hard to rebuild our infrastructure and give the people taking the T a preferred option,” he added. “Reliability, safety is paramount.”
While frustrating, some riders said this disruption was just the latest on their list of complaints about MBTA service.
"The trains are infrequent, and lately the train is very slow. It's an inconvenience," said Eben English, an Orange Line commuter waiting at Forest Hills. "You know, I'm a little bit used to it at this point, I would say, but it's irritating,"
Jerri Strickler, a Green Line commuter, felt similarly. She planned to walk the half-hour trip to work if the train wasn't operating.
"You just roll with it," she said. "We all discuss how the MBTA is imploding, and we have no backup plan unless we are fortunate to drive into work."
At Forest Hills, Portia Wooten laughed it off. Thursday was her first time using the T in four years, and she was on her way to get paperwork at the RMV for a new car.
"I'm a single mom, and I'd always be late getting my kids from after-school programs and stuff like that. So I decided that driving would be best."
