mbta

MBTA reveals cause of last week's massive power outage, work progress

The MBTA is also making improvements at all the stations, including maintenance, painting and repairs

NBC Universal, Inc.

The MBTA is hoping to bounce back after a turbulent week for riders. Frustration is reaching a boiling point for those who rely on the T — and it's not just shutdowns.

Commuters were crammed into buses Wednesday after a Red Line train caught fire and multiple lines were shut down last week because of a massive power outage.

That power outage, MBTA officials said, was caused due to a "failed joint" in a roughly 7-foot-long feeder cable, which lead to disruptions on the Blue, Green and Orange lines. Engineers said the issue has been fixed.

Still, the T's issues are rearing its head again after a fire at a Red Line station in Cambridge.

The fire occurred just before 3 p.m. and wasn't resolved until two hours later. Shuttle buses replaced trains between Harvard and Park Street stations.

Officials apologized and said that the T "remains committed to maintaining and upgrading critical system infrastructure to provide reliable public transit services to our riders."

Work has been done on the Red Line to remove eight speed restrictions from Alewife to Harvard stations. On the Green Line, work is currently being done to remove nine speed restrictions on several pieces of track.

The Green Line work began two days ago and will go on until March 8.

The MBTA is also making improvements at all the stations, including maintenance, painting and repairs.

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