Issues on the Commuter Rail and Red Line Thursday morning caused trouble for commuters going in or out of South Station.
An Amtrak signal problem caused delays on the Commuter Rail.
According to the MBTA’s website, affected lines include Framingham/Worcester, Needham, Franklin, Fairmount, Providence/Stoughton, Middleborough/Lakeville, and Kingston/Plymouth.
We urge passengers to please take alternate transportation as the Commuter Rail is experiencing major delays due to an Amtrak signal outage.
— MBTA Commuter Rail (@MBTA_CR) February 18, 2016
Thursday afternoon, Amtrak released this statement:
This morning Amtrak lost electronic control of the signals and switches that allow trains to enter and exit Boston South Station. Engineering forces were immediately called in to assess and fix the problem. In the meantime, crews are now manually operating the switches on the ground which has led to delays for arriving and departing trains. Manual operation of the switches significantly limits the amount of trains that can enter and exit the station. Right now customers are advised to expect delays of 1 to 2 hours. Amtrak apologizes for the inconvenience.
While Amtrak continues to work on the signal issue at its Tower 1 at South Station, the following commuter rail lines are providing free transfers to commuter rail passengers at these locations:
- Greenbush commuter rail line transfers are occurring at Quincy.
- Kingston commuter rail line transfers are occurring at Braintree.
- Middleborough commuter rail line transfers are occurring at JFK.
- Worcester commuter rail line transfers are occurring at Back Bay.
- Fairmount commuter rail line transfers are to shuttle buses located at New Market.
- Needham commuter rail line transfers are occurring at Forest Hills and at Back Bay.
The subway isn’t faring much better; a disabled Red Line train northbound near South Station caused severe northbound and moderate southbound delays.
Many outbound trains are delayed and many are leaving out of the Back Bay station.
Prepare for tough ride home commuter rail riders. Keolis spokes tells me no idea when problems will B fixed #7News pic.twitter.com/mAN64VhaiQ
— Dan Hausle (@dhausleon7) February 18, 2016
Big Board at South Station. "Info to follow" for most commuter rail trains after signal issue disruption #7News pic.twitter.com/LXqYusMAAs
— Dan Hausle (@dhausleon7) February 18, 2016
Stay tuned to 7News for continued updates.
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