The Grease Hits the Catenary

The state auditor released a report today blasting the T for its ineptitude surrounding the purchase of the Breda-manufactured "Type 8" streetcars. (See Boston Globe article)

"Ill-advised decisions by the MBTA directly contributed to the faulty acceptance design of these vehicles and their propensity to derail," noted the report, which slaps an "accurate and conservative" figure of $101 million that will be spent in the next 20 years by the MBTA to keep the trolleys on the tracks.

The MBTA argues that the forecast cost is more like $54 million if you subtract routine maintenance costs.

Regardless of the anticipated cost, this is a major blow to the MBTA.

What is most important about this entire debacle, which has dragged on for a decade now, is that the MBTA learn from their obvious mistakes, whatever they may have been, and that such a disaster never happen again.