MBTA Communication Issues Delay Trains In And Out Of North Station, Some For Hours
BOSTON (CBS) - Commuters on trains going into and out of North Station saw long delays Saturday.
Trains on multiple lines experienced what the MBTA called "significant delays" due to signal and communications issues.
The communication system failure causing disruptions on train lines on the North Side is still ongoing. Our agents are working to solve it as soon as possible. Real-time location and prediction information remain unavailable but we are investigating the root cause of this outage.
— MBTA Commuter Rail (@MBTA_CR) November 9, 2019
The MBTA said on Twitter that the issue began Friday night and crews were still trying to fix it Saturday. Trains were announced as running anywhere from 15 minutes to 45 minutes behind schedule, with some stopped for hours on the tracks.
The Newburyport/Rockport line was especially impacted by the issues, with the 2:20 p.m. Rockport train from North Station reported as being stopped in Swampscott at about 4 p.m. Saturday. At about 4:30 p.m., the MBTA reported in a Tweet that Newburyport/Rockport trains were still "holding in place."
All Newburyport/Rockport Line trains are continuing to experience significant delays due to signal and communication issues. Trains are currently still holding in place, but we're working on a solution to get them moving as soon as possible.
— MBTA Commuter Rail (@MBTA_CR) November 9, 2019
The MBTA tweeted that most trains were moving around 6 p.m., but that all trains in and out of North Station were still delayed by the communication issue.
The Lowell line was also affected by the communication problems, with the MBTA tweeting that shuttle buses would replace the entire line.
The MBTA said it was working to find the cause of the issue and get commuter rail service back on schedule as quickly as possible.
It was nearly 7 p.m. before the MBTA confirmed that service would resume with "residual delays."