Planning to take the T today? Prepare to bundle up - and wait.
Commuter rail and subway passengers are experiencing major delays this morning as crews struggle to deal with complications from a record-breaking cold.
"MBTA personnel worked very hard all night on preventative measures, but the coldest morning in decades has had an impact on aging vehicles and infrastructure," spokesman Joe Pesaturo told necn in an emailed statement. "Some trains have experienced mechanical problems, resulting in delays on the Green, Red, and Orange Lines. Crews have also had to make repairs to rails which cracked in these Arctic like conditions. The MBTA apologizes for the inconvenience, and urges customers to check for service updates on MBTA.com and on Twitter @mbta."
Passengers on the Orange Line saw significant delays after some track problems at Assembly. There, crews applied a controlled kerosene burn to correct the tracks and allow trains to pass. Trains are also not stopping at Ruggles.
A picture set the Internet on fire - no pun intended. Orange line crews are using a technique called a "snake kit," a widely-used practice during cold weather around the world on railroad lines when the tracks get off kilter because of cold weather.
Workers soak a material in kerosene and lay it at the base of the track, light it on fire and warm the track up to get it back in alignment - a chiropractor for a railroad track, if you will.
As soon as the MBTA got the Orange line track back in alignment, it restored business usual. For MBTA riders who spoke with necn, commuting wasn't bad despite the frigid conditions.
