MBTA froze subway service after power failure

Train service stopped on all subway lines yesterday morning after a power surge caused signal issues throughout the system.

The MBTA halted service for roughly half an hour “out of an abundance of caution,” with trains beginning to move again shortly after 8 a.m. with delays.

“At approximately 7:30 a.m. this morning, a power surge caused issues on all rapid transit lines, and at some locations, in-station power was affected, including elevators,” said MBTA spokesperson Joe Pesaturo.

“The power surge occurred when a transformer failed, and it tripped a circuit breaker at the MBTA power facility in South Boston. The root cause of the transformer failure is under investigation.”

Pesaturo said trains were directed to stand by and await clearance to move again during the power outage.

Power was restored approximately 10 minutes later, and signal systems came back online about 25-30 minutes after, Pesaturo said.

However, signal problems persisted on the Orange and Green Lines, with delays seen on the latter light rail line until 10:47 a.m., according to an MBTA tweet.

Riders voiced their frustration on social media, with some saying they were stuck outside in chilly temperatures during the power outage.

“Could we at least get cover on the E Line?” one Green Line rider tweeted. “People are stuck standing outside.”

Another rider, Mike Champagne, tweeted that he opted to walk home rather than wait, saying that he had early meetings.

“Unfortunate that I paid a fare, too,” he said.

Susan Elsbree, who works for a Boston-based consulting firm, tweeted a photo of the power outage at Green Street station, which services the Orange Line, with a simple query to the T, Gov. Maura Healey and Mayor Michelle Wu.

“Any chance I’m getting to town?” she said.

Other riders didn’t seem surprised by the continued problems on the T, but complained about the lack of transparency from the MBTA, which didn’t explicitly state all subway lines were impacted by the outage or provide an explanation until hours after it occurred.

“Great ‘transparency’ about the affected lines and stops,” one rider tweeted.

Anna Yugova noted that many Green Line riders impacted by the delays were frontline workers, including doctors and nurses.

“What a joke,” Yugova tweeted. “Usual everyday stuff. Half the people on B/D are hospital employees and they get to stand in the rain and (be) late to see the patients, all because MBTA is so phenomenal.”

Pesaturo said customers were alerted during the outage via T-Alerts, Twitter, in-station and in-vehicle announcements. The MBTA issued an apology for the inconvenience.

The 15-minute power outage impacted seven of the MBTA’s 65 stations, which have fare gates. The T has no estimate on fare revenue loss, Pesaturo said.