Keolis Commuter Services and the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority are seeing extraordinary ridership levels across the entire network, notably higher than seen for previous parades and almost certainly the highest ridership ever seen on the network. Early estimates suggest ridership is much more than double a typical weekday. In anticipation of the expected crowds on February 5, the MBTA and Keolis deployed additional coach cars to increase capacity as much as resources allow – more passenger capacity than the network has ever operated.
This additional capacity includes seven additional coach cars on select scheduled trains, as well as 16 extra trains on top of the normal schedule. Today’s commuter rail capacity level is more than ever before even for previous parades, and service provides additional capacity for approximately 26,000 people.
Keolis will continue with increased capacity for the afternoon when the parade ends and fans return home. With very large volumes of passengers likely to want to leave the city in a very short time period, we ask passengers to be patient and expect to wait to board trains.
Passengers planning to take commuter rail for their return trip after the parade are encouraged to expect lines at major stations, if possible take trains after 4 p.m. and please be patient. Lines at North Station are expected to extend outside the building to allow for boarding inside the terminal to be as efficient as possible given the large crowds expected.
Franklin Line Incident
At approximately 8:13 a.m. a trespasser strike occurred near Norwood Depot on the Franklin line. Emergency officials, Keolis personnel and MBTA crews were on the scene immediately to respond to this incident. This incident occurred on a section of double track, and at approximately 9 a.m. one track was re-opened for service. This incident caused delays on the Franklin line this morning and will continue to do so as trains can only pass this area at low speeds. As a result, delays are expected to continue on the Franklin line throughout the morning.
