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BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — It has been determined that a faulty power cable was to blame for the outage that left thousands of commuters stranded on MBTA trains and platforms last Thursday morning. According to MBTA spokesperson Joe Pesaturo, the joint that failed is located underground and is only accessible by a manhole. Backup power systems are now keeping the system running while the T works to replace it.
“While the exact cause of the cable joint failure is still under investigation, we have confirmed it was not related to any external factors”, said Pesaturo. “Teams continue working to uncover the specific internal factors within this cable section that led it to fail”. Pesaturo’s explanation for the failure contradicts statements made earlier last week by T General Manager Phillip Eng who said that the failure occurred outside of the T’s infrastructure.
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This interruption to T service comes on the heels of a similar shutdown last month which was attributed to a failure on the Red and Orange lines’ third rail. At that time, most of the Green Line was already temporarily out of service to fix components of the track.
According to the Boston Globe, "an MBTA assessment from last year found that it would cost $24.5 billion to repair and replace its decrepit assets, including about $5 billion for power infrastructure. The assessment found that 76 percent of the T’s power assets needed upgrades."
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