Tunescribe

All morning long, Pats officials were on the radio urging people to take the train to Gillette, carpool, etc., because of the weather. So what happened? The *****ing train filled up at South Station and couldn't make scheduled stops at Back Bay, Dedham (where I was waiting) and Norwood. BOTTOM LINE: THEY WEREN'T PREPARED TO FILL THE DEMAND THEY SO URGENTLY GENERATED.

So they finally scrambled a second train to pick up all the folks left waiting. We finally got to Gillette, but not until the game is well into the second quarter. This included an unanticipated stop at Walpole station where they emptied the train and we had to stand in snowdrifts waiting another 20 minutes for a train coming from the other direction.

It's fiascos like this that prevent people from doing something sensible, like taking public transportation to Gillette. I know that next time it snows I'll be thinking twice about driving instead of putting myself in position to miss the game because the MBTA is asleep at the proverbial wheel. I hope the Krafts are aware of what happened.

danny88

The t has a long spectacular record of suckiness. Honestly you should have known how it would be. I feel for you though.

primetime

Usually the train is the best way to get to the stadium, especially if you're located in Boston, Providence, or the suburbs. Far cheaper than parking and it deposits you a mere 10 minute walk from the gate... and usually demand isn't so ridiculously high. In this weather, the MBTA should have anticipated this.

alamo

Ah, that explains why they announced during the 4th Quarter that there would be a second train going north leaving 20 minutes after the first one. They probably expected gratitude that they didn't just strand you!

Tunescribe

They even contradicted themselves during the game! First, they announced that two trains would go north (Boston), one 30 minutes after the game and the second one 20-30 minutes after that. Then later on they announced there would be only ONE northbound train leaving 30 minutes after the game (presumably with extra cars to handle the bigger crowd), same as always. If you didn't hear the second announcement and got there after the train left expecting a second one to roll in, you were SOL.

Hardboiled

Well put. I took the train once for the Bears game last year and wondered if it would be full at Back Bay. That they encouraged people for this game and didn't prepare for the increase ridership is wrong. Sorry Tune.

pats1

Wasn't there a report last week that the Commuter Rail is one of the worst in the nation?

Fahrenhype

I can empathize with this because I almost went to Back Bay instead of south station. Back Bay was the original plan because I live north of the city and it would be more convenient to just stay on the orange line but when I saw the number of people at oak grove that were dressed appropriately for a football game in horrid weather conditions, I knew I'd have to go to south station.

Every week I feel more and more hosed as a tax payer in this state. I spent five hours getting home thursday because they couldn't send out some snow plows and left people dodging abandoned cars on bridges and in tunnels. Thank god for the sports teams or this place would completely blow.

DarrylS

The function of any bureaucracy is to perpetuate itself, not meet the needs of the people.. in this case there will be a rash of false promises, investigations etc all to give us the illusion that somehow they care and will make things different in the future. In reality they will not.

__________________
"Being the best doesn't mean you always win. It just means you win more than anyone else".. tweet from Kurt Warner to Tom Brady.