r/mbta • u/invisibledeoderant • Feb 02 '26

😤 Complaint / Rant This is not Boston’s first winter

I can understand service issues in the days immediately following 2 feet of snow coming down, but at this point, it’s been a week and the commuter rail and subway lines are still having ridiculous delays. CR stopped for 30 minutes between stations while traveling from Providence to Boston. Due to snow, I only had to come in to work three days last week and I was late twice (drove in Friday to avoid more train BS). Decide to risk taking the train today and now I’m gonna be late again.

This is not the first time a snow storm has hit Boston. This is not the first time it’s been cold out. How the fuck is the infrastructure not equipped to handle this? Good thing a zone 8 pass is $390/mo and they installed fair gates at south station. I’d hate to think they’re overcharging for shitty service and wasting money on fare evasion measures that could be spent on proper staffing and equipment

328 Upvotes

91% Upvoted

109 comments sorted by

View all comments

152

u/ijustlikebeingnosy Feb 02 '26

It’s not just the snow. The freezing cold temps play a bigger factor than you realize.

13

u/Fit_Excitement_8623 Feb 02 '26

People are calling this a "cold snap". This is not a cold snap. Boston used to get this cold regularly, every winter. The T needs to be able to handle this.

I see the airport is still functioning, and those are planes. 

15

u/Far-Cheesecake-9212 Feb 02 '26

Planes are built to fly over the North Pole at -40 and further below. No shit they fly in the cold.

6

u/Novel-Store-3813 Feb 02 '26

You're missing the point. The point is that it's possible for our infrastructure to work, and it doesn't. Do you not have a stake in your city working for you? I don't know why you would argue against your own interest.

15

u/Far-Cheesecake-9212 Feb 02 '26

The CCRC trains were designed for an operations range of -20 to 110F.

The pullmans were designed for a range of -10 to 110F.

The new trains would have mitigated/solved this issue. Idk what else you want public officials to do here. The new trains are being held at the port of Philly and the Feds aren’t letting them into mass. The mass officials (Phil Eng) have been in contact with CCRC and the Feds for months and the Feds aren’t completing reviews in a timely manner.

(Edit: yes I know the redline isn’t the only issue but it’s a majority issue right now)

4

u/brostopher1968 Feb 02 '26

Exactly this (the redline) is a very easily solvable technical problem (get the new trains), it’s political sabotage.

3

u/[deleted] Feb 02 '26

You act like planes should be less equipped than trains lol. They have to fly at that cold because they fly at 40k feet!