T says 447 evacuated from Red Line tunnel; regular service set for PM commute

By Laura J. Nelson, Globe Correspondent and John R. Ellement, Globe Staff

CAMBRIDGE -- The MBTA said this afternoon that a total of 447 people were evacuated from two Red Line trains that had become stuck in the tunnel near the Porter Square station as the morning commute was winding down.

The last people on board the stalled trains walked out of the Porter Square station around 12:30 p.m., officials said.

Cambridge Deputy Fire Chief Gerry Mahoney estimated 700 passengers were evacuated and said that priority was given to pregnant women and senior citizens.

However, T spokesman Joseph Pesaturo said the T’s counted 447 passengers on board at the time of the train breakdown. Mahoney said none of the passengers needed hospitalization, but a handful of people did seek some medical assistance from the triage tent set up by Cambridge emergency health responders.

The breakdown, which took place around 10 a.m., shutdown Red Line Service between Harvard and Alewife stations until 1:25 pm, according to the T. MBTA spokeswoman Lydia Rivera said two six-car trains were stuck in the outbound tunnel near the Porter Square station when one train broke down.

The breakdown -- and evacuation -- forced the T to use buses to shuttle commuters between Harvard Square and Alewife stations while attempts were made to haul the broken down trains out of the tunnel and during the evacuation.

Power to the third rail between Alewife and Harvard was shut off during the evacuation, the T said.

The cause of the breakdown is under investigation by the MBTA.

One passenger said that air conditioning units operated on her train for about an hour. But when the MBTA tried to couple two trains together, air conditioning was shut off for the second hour.

Still, Tanisha Janbaptiste was upbeat as she and the people she befriended during the two hours underground walked into daylight.

“We knew we were all in this together,’’ she said of the generally patient attitude she encountered during the ordeal. “And we couldn’t get out.’’

Janbaptiste said she tore her skirt while clambering down a ladder at the end of her train as she prepared to exit. She said she and other passengers were surprised to discover that the tunnel was comparatively clean. Using painted measurements on the side of the tunnel, Janbaptiste said they walked 970 feet along the tracks into the station.

“We thought it would be rough,’’ she said. “It was cleaner than we thought.’’

Michael Newman, 40, of Lexington said he spent two hours on the stuck trains. Like Janbaptiste, he said passengers were genial, rather than furious, during their enforced time together.

“We got to be laughing and talking because we realized we were going to be stuck for a while,’’ he said.

When evacuation finally did begin, he said, the T directed all passengers to the last car on the train. The T put a ladder at the doorway, and then helped passengers down onto the tracks.

“I think some of the ladies were glad they didn’t wear their heels,’’ he said.

Cambridge dispatched police officers, firefighters and emergency medical crews to help with the evacuation, said Daniel Riviello, spokesman for the Cambridge police.

David Hou, 25, and his friend, Bilo Wang, 26, spent their time inside the trains taking photographs of the situation with their cellphones so they could provide proof to their bosses why they were late arriving in their downtown Boston office.

“I’m just glad to be out,’’ Hou said.

On May 11, a Red Line train halted short of the Davis Square Station in Somerville at 6:38 p.m. and stayed in place for the next 2.5 hours, the Globe’s Brian McGrory wrote May 13. Passengers were freed only when the T pulled the train -- to the Porter Square station.