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CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Rush hour Red Line riders dealt with hour-long delays on the MBTA Friday morning, due to what the T is calling a "mechanical issue" at Central Square Station.
They originally made the announcement before 9:30 a.m..
Cambridge Representative Mike Connolly, who lives around the street from Central, tells WBZ NewsRadio he arrived to the square this morning to find no less than a dozen emergency response vehicles, and an MBTA ambassador on-scene told him there had been an electrical fire.
"I was told there was a fire on the inbound platform. By the time I arrived, I was told the fire had been put out and that it was, quote, 'smoky as hell down there.'"
Some reports say there was smoke but no fire, but the MBTA has not responded to our requests for further information.
Connolly says he's frustrated with a lack of transparency.
The representative says he's been encouraged by recent changes made by the Healey administration to increase safety at the T, but today's incident shows the uphill battle the state faces.
"This is another morning, another day, in the ongoing MBTA disaster," he said. "As someone who works on these issues every day and as someone who's deeply committed to public transit, I'm sorry to say that we're now in a state of disaster."
As of 11:45 a.m. Friday, the MBTA says "shuttle buses are being phased out and train service has resumed with delays." Earlier, the T said it was moving the train in question to the rail yard and inspecting the third rail and track for any defects.
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