Unusual events of Memorial Day.
Monday Morning, Memorial Day, the local news mentioned that the MBTA would be running extra service from 2pm to 9 pm because of the Red Sox (4pm start time), Bruins (8pm start time), and the pep rally at City Hall plaza.
I boarded Green Line car 3823 at Newton Center a few minutes after 4pm. The operator had his hand over the fare machine and told everyone it was broken and they should just get on board. My first thought is: Why would the T put this car in service?
The same thing happened at Chestnut Hill. However, at Reservoir, he did not hold his hand over the fare machine and it did its usual "ding" whenever someone passed their Charlie Card against the fare box. Between Newton Center and the subway, only those that boarded at Reservoir, Brookline Village, and Fenway paid their fare. (At Brookline Hills and Longwood, no one entered the car at the front door.)
The other unusual thing was the frequency of one-car trains. Normally, I'd estimate that 5%-10% of green line trains consist of a single car. I'm estimating that 80% of the Green Line service that afternoon was one-car trains. Yes, the wait times were a lot less than normal, but the cars were packed to the walls, especially at Kenmore when the Red Sox game ended.
Monday Morning, Memorial Day, the local news mentioned that the MBTA would be running extra service from 2pm to 9 pm because of the Red Sox (4pm start time), Bruins (8pm start time), and the pep rally at City Hall plaza.
I boarded Green Line car 3823 at Newton Center a few minutes after 4pm. The operator had his hand over the fare machine and told everyone it was broken and they should just get on board. My first thought is: Why would the T put this car in service?
The same thing happened at Chestnut Hill. However, at Reservoir, he did not hold his hand over the fare machine and it did its usual "ding" whenever someone passed their Charlie Card against the fare box. Between Newton Center and the subway, only those that boarded at Reservoir, Brookline Village, and Fenway paid their fare. (At Brookline Hills and Longwood, no one entered the car at the front door.)
The other unusual thing was the frequency of one-car trains. Normally, I'd estimate that 5%-10% of green line trains consist of a single car. I'm estimating that 80% of the Green Line service that afternoon was one-car trains. Yes, the wait times were a lot less than normal, but the cars were packed to the walls, especially at Kenmore when the Red Sox game ended.
