American Horror Story: MBTA Edition

Outage hits Blue Line; Alewife garage crumbles

Commuter comfort levels were cramped yesterday as the MBTA was forced to evacuate a Blue Line train after power problems, and separately shuttered 500 parking spaces at the Alewife garage in response to falling concrete.

“I’ve never seen the MBTA like I did today,” said North Shore resident Erinn Larson, 27, who was headed to her marketing job in Boston on an inbound Blue Line train when the lights went out as she and her fellow commuters were approaching Maverick Station.

“I told people I feel like it’s ‘American Horror Story: Boston’s Subway Edition,’ ” Larson said.

“People were obviously hot, but people for the most part weren’t overly grumpy or complaining. The thing that was really kind of not pleasant was how dark the stairwell was. ”

T spokesman Joe Pesaturo said the Blue Line’s westbound third rail between Maverick and Aquarium stations lost power at 8:30 a.m. The breakdown came at the height of a hot and humid morning commute. Service resumed shortly after 10:30 a.m., Pesaturo said.

When the train ground to a halt, Larson said the conductor told “everyone to stay calm and that we were going to have to evacuate. One of the cool things he did was — because it was wicked hot down there — he opened the doors in between the cars.”

Larson said the lines for the shuttle buses in East Boston were “insane,” so she hailed a ride from Lyft.

The garage at Alewife Station in Cambridge will be short 500 of its 2,500 parking spaces until further notice while the MBTA makes spot repairs on the second-floor deck after a chunk of delaminated concrete fell onto a commuter’s car Wednesday.

No one was injured. The MBTA said engineers have determined the garage is structurally safe for use.

The repair work began yesterday, but state Department of Transportation spokeswoman Lisa Battison said, “Out of an abundance of caution, the MBTA will also be conducting assessments on each of the remaining floors of the garage and performing spot repairs as necessary. As work crews shift locations, the MBTA will ensure the path of travel remains open to the rest of the garage.”

The MBTA was already in the process of developing a long-term plan for upgrading the garage and is poised to award a $5.7 million contract for the initial work.

The garage services Red Line and bus riders.

STAFF PHOTOS BY MARK GARFINKEL; ABOVE RIGHT PHOTO COURTESY OF @INTORILEX VIA TWITTER OUT OF THE BLUE: Commuters headed into the city on the Blue Line yesterday morning got an unexpected underground tour, above right, due to power problems between Maverick, below left, and Aquarium stations. After the trek through the tunnels, commuters waited for shuttle buses, above left, in East Boston.

STAFF PHOTO BY PATRICK WHITTEMORE GARAGE BANNED: The garage at Alewife Station in Cambridge is short 500 parking spaces for repair work after chunks of cement fell, with one hitting a commuter’s car Wednesday.