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Train in vain: For riders, headaches and adjustments

E-mail|Link|Comments () May 21, 2009 01:46 PM

By Stewart Bishop, Globe Correspondent

The best-laid plans of T passengers were derailed today when a power outage wrecked havoc on their schedules.

A Boston kindergarten class was on its way to a much-anticipated puppet show in Brookline when the T intervened and brought the plans to a halt, literally. The students from the Josiah Quincy Elementary School in Chinatown were stuck at the Boylston Street MBTA station as they waited for a D train that never came

An electrical problem delayed service this morning and stopped some trains in their tracks. Service has been restored.

"We were waiting for over an hour," said Heidi Boulogne of the South End, who was chaperoning the group of about 15 children along with other parents and teachers. "But now we're too late. It's too bad; we were looking forward to this. Maybe the T will pay for another show," she said, laughing.

All across the metro area, commuters faced agonizing delays.

Joe Junaniec of the North End was about to catch the Red Line at Central Square in Cambridge for an appointment when he saw that trains were out of commission.

"It was all bottled up," he said. "So I left and got a cup of coffee and came back later."

Junaniec said everything was fine when he returned, until he got on a C train bound for Brookline, which took about 20 minutes to go to the next stop.

At that point, Junaniec decided enough was enough. "I said forget it," he said. "Luckily, I was able to reschedule for another day."

On his way downtown from the South Shore, Jordan Clark was also sidelined on the Green Line. He got stuck in a cramped car for more than 20 minutes, he said, while the train apparently experienced signal problems.

Like other passengers, Clark gave up on the T and set off on foot down Boylston Street.

"I've got to go unload a truck full of comics," he said. "I might be late."

As for the kindergarten class, they decided to salvage the field trip and take advantage of the beautiful day with a trip to the Frog Pond instead.

"They took it well," said Boulogne, as the children walked hand in hand, two by two down a path on Boston Common. "They're happy. They're not in school, they're outside."