MBTA resumes limited service after storm; riders relieved

By Brian Ballou and Evan Allen, Globe Staff and Globe Correspondent

The MBTA restored limited service Sunday afternoon, with the entire Orange and Red lines and the Blue line between Government Center and Orient Heights up and running.

On the Green Line, the C and D branches were operating normally.

Five bus routes went into service, including the Silver Line on Washington Street and lines 1, 23, 28, and 39. Limited service also resumed on bus route 111.

Those lines are among the busiest in the city and crews, both with the authority and contractors, have been working “around the clock to restore service,” said General Manager Beverly A. Scott.

Just after 2 p.m., people began trickling in to the JFK T station in Dorchester. For some, it was the first time they had ventured out of their homes since the storm hit Friday afternoon.

“Oh my God, I would have gone crazy if I’d been stuck in there any longer,” said Casey Lebbossiere, 15.

Lebbosierre was on her way to meet her friends in Neponset Circle to go sledding. They had planned to go to the movies together over the weekend, she said, but when the train shut down Friday afternoon at 3:30 p.m., she had no way to meet them.

“It was so bad, I’ve never been stuck in my house before so long in my life,” she said.

For those who rely on the T, going without public transport them house-bound.

“It was devastating,” said Barin Brahmantya, 24, a UMass Boston student. “That’s the only transportation to go downtown.”

Brahmantya was headed out with his friend Son Hoang, 20, who was visiting him from UMass Dartmouth. Hoang had arrived Friday to do some sightseeing in the city – and the two promptly found themselves shoveling instead.

Hoang was supposed to leave on Sunday, but extended his visit by an extra day. The two were off to pack in as much of Boston as possible – beginning with MIT and Harvard.

The weekend wasn’t a total wash.

“It’s an experience. We don’t have snow in my country,” said Brahmantya, who is from Indonesia and who has been in Boston for one year.

Hoang is from Vietnam and has been here for two years. This was the first major snowstorm either had ever seen, thanks to the relatively warm winter last year.

“It’s quite amazing,” Brahmantya said.