Weekly roundup - Bypass mode
Trump and the runaway train
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An unpredictable and volatile magnet for headlines, seemingly impossible to manage or control, forced Gov. Charlie Baker to break from his preferred script to reassure a jittery public.
And then there was Donald Trump.
More on the Republican presidential frontrunner later, but first, despite every effort to paint a rosier picture of the MBTA and its preparedness to handle the snow (unseasonably warm temperatures offering only false comfort), T officials who thought they saw it all last winter were left gobsmacked again.
"In the memory of folks at the T, this has never happened," Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack said.
Around 6 a.m. on Thursday, a Red Line train carrying about 50 passengers pulled out of Braintree Station en route to Boston, the only hiccup being that no one was driving the train. Investigators would later say that the conductor climbed out of the cab to put the train in "emergency bypass" mode due to a faulty signal on the line, but was left standing on the platform when the train pulled out of the station.
What came to be known as the "Ghost Train" made it through four stations before T operators were able to bring it to a stop just beyond the North Quincy station by moving all other trains out of its path and killing power to the third rail. But of all the things that could happen to a transit system buckling under the weight of mismanagement, ancient equipment and public distrust, a runaway train had to be low on the watch list.
"We all understand the fear, the shocked surprise, that those 50 passengers must have experienced," Baker said, describing it with confidence as "an isolated incident" due to the conductor failing to follow "multiple safety procedures."
T officials will not yet confirm that the train operator had tied off the throttle to avoid having to shift it into drive, but at the very least Pollack said neither of the two braking systems were engaged as they should have been when he stepped off the train to switch into bypass mode.
The runaway train became an easy punch line on social media, but only because nobody ended up injured, and MBTA officials, after the colossal ooops, were able to take actions to coast the train to an uneventful halt. Still, after weeks spent by Baker and his team reassuring riders about their preparedness for the winter, giving riders another reason to be skeptical of the T was not part of the messaging strategy.
It also did little to instill confidence in the MBTA's ability to oversee an expansion of the T system, as was pointed out on the radio by former state treasurer-turned-pundit Tim Cahill. Dialogue continues over what to do with the Green Line extension project, but at the very least the MassDOT and Fiscal and Management Control boards decided the status quo won't do.
T General Manager Frank DePaola notified the Green Line construction firms that their contracts were being terminated after estimated costs ballooned by 50 percent, or about $1 billion, to complete the project.
The question now is whether the MBTA can save enough money by simply rebidding the contracts, or if the scope of the new service and specs on the new stations in Somerville and Medford will have to be curtailed. The third, but seemingly more remote, option of cancelling the project altogether remains on the table, Pollack said at a meeting Wednesday.
The week started innocently enough with Baker flanked on the Grand Staircase by a legion of local officials backing the governor's newest piece of legislation that only a municipal wonk could love.
Described by the governor himself as "200 pages of total weed-whacking," the package of municipal government reforms delved deep into the world of double utility poles and revolving funds. Perhaps most notable, Baker revived a proposal put on the table last year by former Gov. Deval Patrick to give local leaders the authority to decide how many liquor licenses can be awarded to bars and restaurants in their own communities.
Pitched as an economic development spark, House Speaker Robert DeLeo, who currently wields considerable control over liquor licenses, has been cool to the idea of taking the approval process out of the hands of the Legislature after communities hit their caps.
"That's great, but we're not going to do it. Bob already said so," quipped one House Democrat when told it had made it into Baker's muni-reform bill.
Maybe the municipal reforms weren't going to generate banner headlines for the governor anyway, but GOP firebrand Donald Trump made sure of that when in the late afternoon he released a statement saying proposing to ban all Muslims from entering the United States until senior leaders can "figure out what's going on."
Baker was approached by reporters after lighting the Hanukkah menorah at the State House about Trump's comments, and did not hold much back. After his usual spiel about not liking to comment on presidential politics, Baker called Trump's rhetoric "ridiculous." Then he asked to read the actual wording of the full statement, and appeared to grow even angrier as he slapped the paper and offered more commentary on a policy of religious exclusion running against the very foundation of the country's origins.
Needless to say, Baker's takedown of Trump - who continues to lead the polls nationally and in New Hampshire - led the papers the next day rather than liquor license reform.
With the holidays in full swing on Beacon Hill and little in terms of actual legislating to be concerned with, much of chatter revolved around who might run to fill Sen. Anthony Petruccelli's seat, assuming the Senate does set a date for a special election next year.
No fewer than eight Democrats have expressed interest, including three House members, but many appear to be holding out see what North End Rep. Aaron Michlewitz decides to do.
Michlewitz, who as co-chair of the Financial Services Committee this year raked in $136,000 in six months and a campaign account already stocked with more than $177,000 at the start of July, is likely to decide sooner rather than later with the rest of the pieces falling into place after that.
STORY OF THE WEEK: Runaway train, never coming back.
About the Author »
Matt Murphy covers major media, lobbying firms, government agencies, political junkies as well as towns Statewide. He likes to cover politics and campaigns.
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