WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 7, 2019 The Boston Globe Metro B
It was even better on the
Ashmont line that morning:
about 25 minutes to Downtown
Crossing.
Those times reflect repairs
the MBTA has madesince the
derailment, which heavily dam-
aged threeshedsoutsidethe
JFK/UMass Station containing
electronics for the signaling sys-
tem. For weeks, the T has run
trains at lower speedsand used
workers to manually direct traf-
fic, promptinglengthy delays
whiledrivers wait for clearance
to move forward.
The T said the repairsand
additionof several trains dur-
ing rush hour have reduced the
longer commutesby 10 min-
utes, and it expects additional
repairs to cut another five min-
utesoff by mid-August. The
agency said recently that it is
now “targeting” October to fin-
ish the repairworkand return
to normal service.
But thoseflashes of the old,
semi-reliable service are like a
tease, with the T seemingly un-
able to put together a run of
trains that Red Line riders can
consistently rely on. An analysis
of MBTA data shows a pattern
of improving times on both the
BraintreeandAshmont
branches since the June 11 de-
railment, followed by persistent
relapses of slow tripsor long
waits.
For example,an hourbefore
Korb arrived at Braintree that
Thursday morning, there was
nearly a 25-minute gap be-
tween trains leaving the station,
according to MBTA data; the
following week there were
waits of 20 minutes or longer at
both Braintreeand Ashmont in
the middle of the morningrush
hour. An Ashmont train that
took25 minutesto get to
DowntownCrossing one morn-
ing took 35 minutes a weeklat-
er.
The service seems even
more erratic after rush hour,
withmidday waitsof 20 min-
utes or morenot uncommon,
according to MBTA data.
“It’s an added stress because
you don’t want to thinkabout
what timeyou’re going to get
into work,” said DabotaWilcox,
an architect who takes a bus to
the AshmontStation, and then
another fromSouthStation,to
workevery morning. Any dis-
ruptionson the Red Linecan
unravel her plans for the day.
“I like to imagine I rely on
the public transportation to be
efficient and get me thereon
time,” she said. “Rightnow, it’s
just the situation you have to
deal with.”
Wilcox beganher commute
around 7 a.m., boarding the
240 bus in Randolphand arriv-
ing at the Ashmont Station a lit-
tle before 8. The train sat at the
station for about five minutes
before whirring into life and
rumbling forward. Before the
derailment, she said,trains
would whiz through Ashmont.
At one pointshe glancedup
at the station’s countdown
clock, which said the next train
was due sometimebetween
nine and 16 minutes.
“It’s just a waste of time,” she
said with a sigh.
By FieldsCorner, the stand-
ing roomwas all claimed, and
Wilcox reflexively tucked in her
legs. A towering man holding a
large iced coffee inadvertently
stepped on her feet as he braced
himselfagainst the moving
train.
“Sorry,” he muttered.
On slow mornings, Wilcox
often sends a text to work: “I’m
late. The train’s not running.
Sorry, I’ll be therewhenI get
uREDLINE
ContinuedfromPageB
in.” Wilcox said her supervisors
are sympathetic; most of her
colleagues also commute on the
T.
There was no need for a text
that morning. Oncethe train
barreled intoSouth Station,
Wilcox wasthrough the
crowds, heading for the 7 busand the last leg into the office,
where she arrived, as usual,
tired from the ordeal.
Overon the Braintree
branch, Saba Ghaffar settled in-
to a seat a little after 8 a.m. and
prepped for the uncertain jour-
ney, queuingup musicon her
phone.It usedto take 30 min-utes to get to her job at a law
firmnearSouth Station;now
it’s 45 minutesor longer, with
trainsfrequentlystopping
alongthe tracks for minutes at
a time.
“I would have thought it
would take maybe a week or
two to fix it,” the 27-year-oldfromRandolphsaid. “I don’t
know what’s taking so long.”
Korb, sittingacrossfrom
Ghaffar throughout the ride,
said his commutecan now take
more than an hour.
“I just wake up earlier,” he
said, sippingcoffee from
Dunkin’ Donuts.“When I getup, the morningis based off of
basicallyhow longit tookfor
me to get to workthe day prior,
so it’s constantly evolving.”
As the train approached
JFK,the site of the derailment
and now frequent lengthy
stops, Korb bracedfor the an-
nouncement that would deter-
mine the rest of his commute.
“Ladiesand gentlemen,I
apologize for the delay,” a T
worker said over the loudspeak-
er. “We’re waitingfor the train
in front of us to depart from
JFK, so the dispatchers will give
us permission to proceed. This
is the areawherewe have all
the signal problemsdue to that
derailmentlast month.”
Korb nodded grimly. “It’s
like, ‘Here we go again.’ This
has become part of it now.”
He and his fellow passengers
caught a breakthat morning:
The train stopped for just five
minutes.Somedays, Korb said,
it’s more like 15.
Meanwhile, at Davis Square,
26-year-oldSammiBureboard-
ed an inbound train for what
turned out to be a quick ride to
Kendall— about a dozenmin-
utes.Indeed,the Alewife side
has largely remained on sched-
ule sincethe derailment. The
MBTA sets a benchmarkof 19
minutes for a ride from Davis to
DowntownCrossing during
rush hour; in recent weeks, the
trips averaged 18 minutes, ac-
cordingto a Globeanalysisof
MBTA data.
Better yet for Bure, was that
the train that pulled into Davis
still had a few seats open; often-
times,thecarsareso crowded
she has to let a train or two go
by before one has room.
“By the time I get to Davis, I
sometimes still have to wait 10,
15 minutes for the first T to get
there,” Buresaid. “It’s morefre-
quent at night fromKendall
comingback to Davis that I’ll
have to waitmaybe even two
trains, because they’re so
packed.”
Same,too, on the Braintree
and Ashmontbranches.
“As bad as it soundsgoing
in, for me the experienceis al-
ways worse when I’m coming
back,” saidWilcox, the Ash-
montcommuter. “The delays
are even more.The trains are
even more crowded.”
This has led to someunwel-
comechanges in routine for
Wilcox. She often findsherself
shopping for essentialsand
grabbing a quick dinnerdown-
town at places such as Chipotle
if she expects a long journey
home and a late arrival.
“It’s annoying because your
diet is fast food and you’re very
inconveniencedby the train,”
Wilcox said. “I wishI couldbe
home to cookdinner – it’d be
better.”
The MBTA saidriders
should expect to see “incremen-
tal” improvements in service as
it continues to bring more dam-
aged equipmentbackonline,
and add more trains during
rush hour.
It’s not gone unnoticed. As
she joinedthe crushof people
disembarkingat South Station,
Ghaffer threw a quickassess-
mentof her trip in fromBrain-
tree that morning.
“Not bad — today.”Kellen Browningcan be reached
at [email protected],
or on Twitterat
@kellen_browning. Alison
Kuznitz canbe reachedat
[email protected].
Follow her on Twitter at
@AlisonKuznitz. Diamond
Naga Siucanbe reached at
[email protected].
Follow her on Twitter
@diamondnagasiuBranch decides timing for Red Line commutes
can favor theirconstituentsor
politicalsupporters really un-
dermines a key themeof the
government’s case,” Goldberg-
er said.“The government may
persuade the jury that their
view of the case is correct that
Brissette and Sullivan were
just tryingto get jobs for the
unionsand didn’t careabout
the event and still end up with
a not guilty verdict becauseof
the law as Judge Sorokinin-
structed.”
During closing arguments,
AssistantUS Attorney Laura
uTRIAL
ContinuedfromPageB
Kaplan said Brissette and Sul-
livan were motivated to break
the law by their commitment
to Walsh, who had beenelect-
ed to his first termone year
earlier.
The two menstrong-armed
Crash Lineofficials Brian Ap-
pel and Michael Snow “for no
otherreason to curry favor
witha unionthat helpedelect
theirpro-unionboss,” she told
jurors.“When someoneis tak-
en hostage, you may negotiate
how much you want to pay in
ransombut that doesn’t make
it any less criminal that you
took the hostage.”Prosecutorshave said Bris-
sette and Sullivan exploited
the promoters’ fear that the
city mightshutdownthe pop-
ular concert to forcetheminto
hiring union workers just days
before the festival.
Defenselawyershave said
Brissette and Sullivan wanted
to keep the unionfrompicket-
ing the festival, a protest that
wouldhave beenhighlighted
by a large inflatable rat. But
Kaplan ridiculed the idea that
the rat was a serious threat.
“Really, do you thinkthe at-
tendees would have noticed an
inflatable rat?” she said. “Theyprobably would have beentak-
ing selfies with the inflatable
rat.”
Kaplan wentso far as to say
Brissette and Sullivan “made
up” the threat of the rat to in-
timidate festival organizers.
Sullivan’s lawyer, William
Cintolo, said the threat of the
rat was very real and remind-
ed jurorsof e-mailsthat union
officials tradedthat summer,
saying members wereso angry
at Crash Linethey wantedto
bringthe inflatable rat.
“They madeit up?” Cintolo
said,his voiceneara yell.
“Does[Kaplan] not readherown document?”
The closing arguments fol-
lowed testimony by the de-
fense’s key witness,former
Boston police commissioner
William B. Evans. He testified
that he pushed for restrictions
on alcohol salesat the 2014
festival on his own behalf, not
as the result of any interaction
withBrissette or Sullivan.JohnR. Ellementof theGlobe
staff contributedto thisreport.
MariaCramercanbe reached
at [email protected].
Follow heron Twitter
@globemcramer.Judge in Boston Calling case sets high bar for conviction
JESSICA RINALDI/GLOBESTAFFNIC ANTAYA FOR THE BOSTON GLOBEDAVIDL. RYAN/GLOBESTAFFALEWIFEBRANCHASHMONTBRANCHBRAINTREEBRANCHOn July 25,the
Globefollowed
several riderson
allthreebranches
of theRed Lineto
comparetheir
morning
commutes.Above,
a ridermadeher
way downthe
escalatorat Alewife
Station.
Commutersthat
begantheirtripsat
Alewifespent 20
minutesonthe
trainto Downtown
Crossing. Middle,
passengersona
trainthat
originatedin
Ashmontexitedthe
Red Lineat
Downtown
Crossing. The trip
fromAshmontto
Downtown
Crossingtook
about 25 minutes.
Below, riders
startedtheir
commutesin
Braintree.The trip
fromBraintreeto
Downtown
Crossingtookthe
longest that day: 47
minutes.‘Seekingto obtainrealworkforqualifiedpeopleisnota wrongfulpurpose.’JUDGE LEOT. SOROKIN
USDistrict Court