Here’s how the MBTA did during and after the snowstorm

Local News

The MBTA said services resumed to “very close to normal across the entire MBTA system” Monday, “the exception being our ferry service.”

The MBTA’s service mostly continued through the weekend’s snowstorm, transit officials said Monday, as crews work to dig stations, signals, and switches out of the snow ahead of Tuesday’s commute.

“They worked well in advance of the storm. They worked through the storm, and they’re continuing the work today as we speak, continuing to clean up our roadways, continuing to fix the infrastructure and clear snow from the MBTA system,” MBTA General Manager and Interim Transportation Secretary Phil Eng said. “We’re seeing improvements as we go.”

The Sunday night snow — which dumped at least 16 inches in Boston — “impacted all of MBTA services,” COO Ryan Coholan said at a press conference Monday, but said services resumed to “very close to normal across the entire MBTA system today, the exception being our ferry service.”

The Hingham/Hull ferry suspended service Monday due to slush and ice in the harbor, he said. Updates on ferry service for Tuesday will be announced as soon as possible in the morning.

As snow continued to fall Monday, the Commuter Rail operated on its reduced storm schedules, which provides about a third of regular weekend service across all the lines. 

Buses ran on normal weekend schedules on Sunday and normal weekday schedules on Monday, the T said. Dozens of buses routes, however, operated on their snow routes to avoid steep hills, tight corners, and narrow streets.  

How did the Red, Green, Orange, and Blue Line run on Monday?

The service on the Mattapan Line — an aboveground light rail that runs between Ashmont and Mattapan — was replaced with shuttle buses on both Sunday and Monday. The MBTA said the switch would protect the nearly 80-year-old trains from damage.

The Red, Orange, Green, and Blue lines were all expected to run on their normal weekday schedule. According to online alerts, the Green Line branches saw the most delays. 

At the beginning of the storm at around 2 p.m. Sunday, commuters first experienced delays at Dean Road on the C Branch due to a disabled train. The same stop had more trouble around 6 p.m. when there were delays of nearly a half-hour “due to an auto blocking the tracks.”

Multiple vehicles also blocked the tracks along Huntington Avenue, suspending the E Branch service between Brigham Circle and Heath Street at around 6:30 p.m. Sunday night. 

As the storm picked up, “autos” also blocked the B Branch tracks near Washington Street around 9:40 p.m. and on the C Branch near Kent Street just before midnight.

On the Red Line, shuttle trains operated on a single track at JFK/UMass around 7:40 p.m. “due to an obstruction on the tracks,” although it was unclear if the obstruction was snow or other weather-related issues.

The Blue and Orange Line appeared to run more smoothly. The Blue Line’s weekend scheduled construction was “accelerated” so service could be restored before the storm, Eng said.

“This has been a huge storm,” Coholan said, “but we’re here, we’re running and we’re looking forward to seeing you all back on board tomorrow.”

Molly Farrar is a general assignment reporter for Boston.com, focusing on education, politics, crime, and more.