Keolis, Massachusetts Department of Transportation, MBTA, Stephanie Pollack, Transportation

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SANDWICHED BY BACK-TO-BACK-TO-BACK winter storms, commuter rail officials had one more challenge to deal with last week: The highest one-day ridership in the history of the service with fans coming into Boston for the New England Patriots Super Bowl parade.

MBTA Acting General Manager Brian Shorstsleeve told an informal meeting of the oversight board on Monday that 215,000 people rode the trains into town, a 60 percent increase over the average daily ridership. Shortsleeve said commuter rail operator Keolis added 24 extra trains to accommodate the heavy traffic, which coincided with a rainy and snowy day. While ridership was heavy on other MBTA services, T officials did not have numbers for any of those.

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Shortsleeve said the parade of champions on Tuesday was just one of several challenges the agency faced as a heavy snowstorm swept through the region on Thursday followed by another on Friday and then icy conditions with some sleet on Monday. It was the first extended test for the T’s emergency preparedness since the chaos of the winter of 2015 that resulted in weeks of cancelled and delayed service, especially on commuter rail lines, and the resignation of then-general manager Beverly Scott.

The T spent more than $140 million on winter resiliency, including replacing older third rails and switches, adding heaters to more than 50 switch locations, and repairing and replacing engines on Orange Line cars. Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack and the two members of the Fiscal Management and Control Board who were at the meeting showered praise on the T. The board was created at the urging of Gov. Charlie Baker as part of the overhaul of T operations in the wake of the fiasco.

“It doesn’t feel to me anything like 2015,” said Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack. “These storms felt like there were professionals in place with a plan. There has been an immense change in the organization in the last two years.”

Board Chairman Joseph Aiello said the response to the storms and the flood of parade-goers was “really, really terrific.” Aiello focused on the commuter rail performance reports that showed there were only five cancellations across the lines all last week, none on the day of the parade. While on-time performance lagged, T officials attributed that to the crush of passengers that made boarding slower.

The day of the parade was “all hands on deck” for the agency. Even MBTA General Counsel John Englander, who usually wears a suit and tie in meetings, was out at one of the subway stations in a yellow vest assisting riders with the ticket vending machines.

Meet the Author Jack Sullivan Senior Investigative Reporter , CommonWealth About Jack Sullivan Jack Sullivan is now retired. A veteran of the Boston newspaper scene for nearly three decades. Prior to joining CommonWealth, he was editorial page editor of The Patriot Ledger in Quincy, a part of the GateHouse Media chain. Prior to that he was news editor at another GateHouse paper, The Enterprise of Brockton, and also was city edition editor at the Ledger. Jack was an investigative and enterprise reporter and executive city editor at the Boston Herald and a reporter at The Boston Globe. He has reported stories such as the federal investigation into the Teamsters, the workings of the Yawkey Trust and sale of the Red Sox, organized crime, the church sex abuse scandal and the September 11 terrorist attacks. He has covered the State House, state and local politics, K-16 education, courts, crime, and general assignment. Jack received the New England Press Association award for investigative reporting for a series on unused properties owned by the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, and shared the association's award for business for his reporting on the sale of the Boston Red Sox. As the Ledger editorial page editor, he won second place in 2007 for editorial writing from the Inland Press Association, the nation's oldest national journalism association of nearly 900 newspapers as members. At CommonWealth, Jack and editor Bruce Mohl won first place for In-Depth Reporting from the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors for a look at special education funding in Massachusetts. The same organization also awarded first place to a unique collaboration between WFXT-TV (FOX25) and CommonWealth for a series of stories on the Boston Redevelopment Authority and city employees getting affordable housing units, written by Jack and Bruce. About Jack Sullivan Jack Sullivan is now retired. A veteran of the Boston newspaper scene for nearly three decades. Prior to joining CommonWealth, he was editorial page editor of The Patriot Ledger in Quincy, a part of the GateHouse Media chain. Prior to that he was news editor at another GateHouse paper, The Enterprise of Brockton, and also was city edition editor at the Ledger. Jack was an investigative and enterprise reporter and executive city editor at the Boston Herald and a reporter at The Boston Globe. He has reported stories such as the federal investigation into the Teamsters, the workings of the Yawkey Trust and sale of the Red Sox, organized crime, the church sex abuse scandal and the September 11 terrorist attacks. He has covered the State House, state and local politics, K-16 education, courts, crime, and general assignment. Jack received the New England Press Association award for investigative reporting for a series on unused properties owned by the Catholic Archdiocese of Boston, and shared the association's award for business for his reporting on the sale of the Boston Red Sox. As the Ledger editorial page editor, he won second place in 2007 for editorial writing from the Inland Press Association, the nation's oldest national journalism association of nearly 900 newspapers as members. At CommonWealth, Jack and editor Bruce Mohl won first place for In-Depth Reporting from the Association of Capitol Reporters and Editors for a look at special education funding in Massachusetts. The same organization also awarded first place to a unique collaboration between WFXT-TV (FOX25) and CommonWealth for a series of stories on the Boston Redevelopment Authority and city employees getting affordable housing units, written by Jack and Bruce.

Board member Steve Poftak said the round-the-clock management of the trains and the weather response showed a sea-change in the mindset not only of T workers but how the public views the agency.

“The public doesn’t often get to see the number of challenges you face on a regular basis,” said Poftak. “This is an MBTA that’s ready for challenges. We have an MBTA that is resilient.”

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