BOSTON (WHDH) - Rail service has resumed for part of the Green Line after downed wires at the Park Street station created sparks and smoke, prompting an emergency response and a switch to shuttle buses on Sunday.
Video filmed by a local photographer, Arthur Mansavage, caught some of the sparks going off, which soon sent people on the platform running.
“When it (sparked) again, and even bigger, is when the workers in the station started yelling at people to get off,” Mansavage told 7NEWS. “And then when it happened, like a third time, rapidly, then there was, I think, maybe some police officers, too, who were yelling to evacuate the whole station.”
Mansavage, an Emerson College student, said he was able to hide behind a railing and avoided being trampled as passengers fled the platform. He added that Sunday was only his third time using the rail service since coming to the Boston area.
MBTA officials said an overhead wire on the westbound Green Line track at Park Station came down around 3 p.m., creating smoke, but no fire. No injuries were reported, according to a spokesperson.
Temporary shuttles picked up Green Line riders while the MBTA Power Department made repairs. Rail passengers-turned-shuttle riders could be seen filling the sidewalks of Tremont Street during the early evening hours, waiting for buses to arrive.
“It’s time-consuming and we’re needing to plan out our route with buffer time for all of this,” said Rutuja Dhanawade, who spoke to 7NEWS while waiting for a shuttle. “Now, since like, last month, there are many issues with the Green Line so it’s causing us problems. We hope it gets resolved fast.”
During the repair work, Park Street remained open for Red Line customers.
Around 9 p.m., the MBTA sent an alert stating that work had wrapped up and that service was resuming between Kenmore and Government Center. Riders were asked to expect residual delays of up to 20 minutes as service returned to normal.
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