The Red Line was telling people not to take the Red Line but to go North Station and walk. So I did.
Between Porter Square, Cambridge, and North Station, Boston, the young conductor sat down near me. I said, “How’s it been going for you?”
He said it’s OK, but he doesn’t like it when passengers start screaming at him like it’s all his fault. He said one day the train had to stop because snow was packed around a switch, and a passenger was angry with him. He got out in the snow, came back with snow up to his chest, and said, “I cleared the switch.”
He wishes passengers could take the same two-month class he took before he started. They would be amazed about all the rules and regulations. Our route passes through three track jurisdictions (I think he said three, maybe more.) At each one, the engineer has to ask permission to pass, and he has to write down the interaction in a book. Sometimes he asks the conductor to come help.
The conductor pointed out a light low down in the snow-covered track. Someone had dug it out. He told me that if the engineer can’t see a track light, he is obliged to treat it as malfunctioning and just stop.
I asked how long the conductor had worked for the system. He said he started New Year’s Eve. It’s been a real trial by ice. But he says he thinks it will get better and he actually likes it. I told him most passengers don’t blame the conductor for snow or aging train equipment.
The walk to work took longer than it should as the sidewalks were not equally clear. Charles Schwab did a lovely job with its sidewalk. Fidelity not so much. I’m thinking of switching my account.
Railroad track near my home.
Suzanne's Mom's Blog 
Great story. I imagine the conductor really appreciated the interaction as it was one of the more pleasant ones of his day. There is more to his job than most people see, but you could say that about many jobs. Let’s hope the Sunday storm is not another dumping.
There was another young conductor on the train in the evening, which was standing room only. He looked stunned.
I can’t imagine what those workers are facing! It must be difficult not to fire back at the riders who are so rude.
Of course, some riders have big anxieties about being hurt in hourly pay or picking up at day care or missing chemo appointments. But the people with real problems aren’t the ones who lash out I don’t think.
Thank you for humanizing — and adding some illuminating details/examples — to what has been a very frustrating situation for many of us. I use the T with little thought for all of the complexity of the actual operations (similar to how I tend not to think about everything that is going on inside my body each day as I/it digests food, filters my blood, repairs damage, etc.)
… or how we think about the plumbing unless we live or vacation somewhere with a well that could run dry and a septic system making the grass too green.
“It’s been a real trial by ice”–nice way of putting it! And very true. Poor guy….
Most of the conductors look beaten down, even the experienced ones. There are still a lot of delays, and more snow coming. Because they interface with the public, the conductors get to hear all the commuter anger. I told the young guy his union should have an information campaign for the public.