MBTA says to expect Red Line headaches for the foreseeable future

BOSTON — A Red Line derailment Tuesday damaged a signal box, causing service to be suspended for three hours on Wednesday morning while they worked on it.

The disabled train car was removed from the tracks within 24 hours, but the MBTA says to expect Red Line delays for the foreseeable future. There will be reduced service until the repairs to signals and tracks are complete making the ride to and from work a slow one.

The MBTA shut off power to the third rail between the North Quincy and JFK/UMass stations around 11 a.m. Wednesday morning after massive damage was done to what’s called the signal bungalows just under the Columbia Road bridge.

Service was suspended for three hours while dozens of workers made repairs to the third rail and track switches, signals and power lines. Coach buses were brought in as part of the shuttle service.

"I took an Uber this morning because I was expecting a lot of work being done on the tracks and that would just slow everything down," Jonathan Crawford told Boston 25 News.

Some riders reported having to pay as much as $100 on the app per trip. But, for the most part, the debacle just cost commuters their time.

The T told Boston 25 they still do not have a cause of the Red Line derailment and the operator is out of service, but not suspended.

"We do know that there are fare hikes coming up soon and just a lot of people I know who commute every day, we’re not happy about it," Crawford said.

Tuesday marked the fourth derailment this year and the second in less than a week for the T.

Despite this, Governor Charlie Baker told reporters Tuesday -- just an hour after the derailment -– the T is moving in the right direction.

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