More Than Double The Protesters The MBTA Planned For Showed Up To The Boston Women's March

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BOSTON (CBS) -- MBTA officials were prepared for the 70,000 people they expected to show up for Boston's chapter of the Women's March, a protest in reaction to President Donald Trump's inauguration. When 175,000 people showed up, it made for the T's busiest day in a long time.

Brian Shortsleeve, general manager of the MBTA, said the T was running at full peak service Saturday, meaning it could move more than 400,000 people. A lot of planning came before the march, but the unexpected numbers of people nearly blew all that preparation out of the water.

Riders flooded the red line Saturday. (WBZ-TV)

"It was equivalent around 10 a.m. to a Boston College football game and a Red Sox game hitting up at the same time," Shortsleeve said.

There were a few issues on the D branch of the green line, but overall, Shortsleeve said things ran smoothly. The MBTA ran free express buses from Copley Square to the Riverside station in Newton, along with buses from the Maverick T station to the airport. On the commuter rail, officials said there was capacity for an additional 10,000 people.

Massive crowds arrived in Boston for a Women's March on Saturday, Jan. 21. (Kim Tunnicliffe/WBZ)

On top of planning how to move masses of people from one place to another, officials were tasked with how to do that safely. Shortsleeve said transit police were out in force to get MBTA riders to and from the march in a safe way. Even as the numbers grew throughout the day, Shortsleeve remained confident the MBTA was ready to handle the flux.

Screens show speakers to the crowd during the Boston Women's March. (WBZ-TV)

"We're watching the situation very closely and we're confident we're going to be able to move everyone home this afternoon," he said.

The MBTA's busiest days of the year are typically New Year's Even and the 4th of July. Saturday's march exceed the numbers of those days. No incidents were reported as of Saturday evening.