green line

Service Resumes on MBTA's Green Line After Smoke Fills Park Street Station

Crews had to make repairs to overhead wires that had become damaged

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Service has resumed on the MBTA's Green Line after smoke due to a power issue consumed Park Street station Tuesday afternoon.

MBTA officials first tweeted at about 1 p.m. that service was impacted between Park Street and Haymarket stations. About an hour later, officials said service between Kenmore and Haymarket was also impacted due to the power problem.

At about 3:30 p.m., service resumed after crews completed repairs to the overhead wires that MBTA officials said had been damaged.

Commuters who had been in Park Street when the smoke filled the station said their visibility became blurred.

"It was so smoky in there you couldn't even see the source. You couldn't even see into the tunnel," Kyron Owns recalled. "Normally you can see into the tunnel, I couldn't see anything."

Owens, an employee of Boston's Emergency Management Department, said he rides the Green Line daily.

"It's only moving up y'all. This is about to flood out this station. Don't come to Park Street," he said during the incident.

As confusion amongst commuters ensued, MBTA crews and EMTs directed passengers out of the station.

"It was really just a burning smell and it was really hard to breathe down there," recalled one passenger.

Commuters were told to take the Orange Line instead in order to get to downtown Boston while the issue was fixed.

Boston Mayor Marty Walsh said the increased spreading required to improve the MBTA are indeed necessary.

"Hopefully we can continue to make investments in the T and the investments that are needed. Not just investments on the infrastructure but clearly the structure of the T as in the trains and buses to make sure that they're safe," Walsh said.

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