Riders forced to walk on tracks, take shuttles after electrical problems shut down service on part of Green Line – Boston News, Weather, Sports | WHDH 7News

BOSTON (WHDH) – Dozens of riders needed to walk along the tracks of the brand new Green Line Extension Friday after electrical problems shut down service along both the Union Station and Medford/Tufts branches of the Green Line. 

Regular service had resumed with some residual delays as of around 7:30 p.m. Still, the issue was another blow to the MBTA which just this week announced the Union Station and Medford/Tufts branches are in need of major repairs. 

“It’s frustrating,” said T rider Rick Jones. 

The MBTA first announced delays on the Green Line in a post on X around 3:45 p.m. Friday

The T did not say what exactly went wrong with the overhead electrical system, only saying the delays were the result of a train with a pantograph problem near Lechmere station.

In an update shortly after 4 p.m., the T said shuttle buses were replacing service between North Station and Union Square station as well as between North Station and the Medford/Tufts station. 

During the disruption, some riders waited for more than an hour before they were forced to walk along the tracks and take shuttles to their final stops. 

“I’d be where I was going by now in Jamaica Plain if it wasn’t for this,” said T rider Alex Taylor. “I’m about a mile from home right now and I should be at my destination. There’s dinner waiting for me.”

Friday’s issues came one day after MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng announced major repairs would need to be done to a majority of both Green Line Extension branches. 

The problems stem from faulty construction and a lack of oversight that Eng said could have been caught more than a year before the $2.3 billion Green Line Extension project was completed. 

Eng on Thursday did not share specifics on the upcoming work to repair Green Line Extension tracks, as reported by the State House News Service. 

“It’s not going to be years, it’s not going to be months,” he said. “The proposal that we have is weeks, and it’s something that we’re still reviewing.”

A day later, on Friday, riders were upset about what has become another troubled section of the T. 

“Yesterday, it took me an hour to get from Arlington to North Station,” Jones said. “Now, we’re going on three hours, at least.”

(Copyright (c) 2023 Sunbeam Television. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)