Officials encounter glitch as they unveil Mattapan trolley line AC

By Globe Staff

During the summer months, cool air has often been in short supply on the Mattapan Trolley Line. Now, MBTA officials say, that's going to change: It will outfit the 10 trolleys with air conditoning.

But the debut of the first cooled-down car didn't go smoothly today as the temperatures headed into the 90s. With the media waiting expectantly, T officials announced that the AC on the car had broken down.

The officials said the AC had been tested repeatedly and just picked today to fail. They said they were trying to figure out what went wrong.

The MBTA has 2,635 passenger vehicles. All of them except the Mattapan trolleys have air conditioning.

All of the 60-year-old trolleys on the line will be retrofitted with air conditioning over the course of the summer, MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said in a statement.

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