T woes have commuters feeling blue

With the region’s transit system firmly clutched in winter’s grip, Hildreth Curran understands “extreme circumstances” are delaying trains, but the Lynn commuter said she is losing faith in the MBTA’s ability to get her to her job in Boston on workdays.”It seems to be crumbling in front of us. My expectations are lowering by the day,” Curran said.Curran has been offsetting the MBTA’s tardy trains by leaving her house earlier to get to the Central Square train platform. On Tuesday, she monitored the “transit time” app on her phone while she waited for the 7:58 a.m. train to arrive.”It seems to be moving very slowly down the tracks,” she said.After on-again, off-again service delays and breakdowns, the MBTA is operating on what General Manager Beverly Scott, quoted in a State House News Service story, called “reduced core service.” An electronic sign on the Lynn platform Tuesday described commuter rail service operating under a “modified winter schedule.””I don’t remember it being this bad,” said Lynn resident Erik Hansen.The downtown resident fondly remembered on Tuesday walking out his front door on warm days five minutes before his Boston-bound train pulled into Central Square. Hansen isn’t sure how state officials and legislators should fix the MBTA, but Laurie Kennedy had an answer on Tuesday.”You have to have patience; it’s an old system. Everything else runs slowly in winter, why not the MBTA?” she asked.Lynn resident Mark McManus commutes to Manchester-by-the-Sea on workdays. He could not get a train north on Monday but he maintained a forgiving outlook Tuesday in the face of tardy trains.”Only six minutes late – that’s not bad,” McManus said.Allison Labbe of Lynn wasn’t in the mood to share that view as she shivered on the commuter rail platform waiting for a train. Her commute to her job in Boston on Feb. 3 following the post-Super Bowl snowstorm turned into a 90-minute wait.Labbe isn’t happy to hear Scott quoted as saying it could take the MBTA more than a month to restore full service.”I understand it’s hard to catch up but I feel there is some action that could be done sooner,” she said.The consensus among MBTA passengers at Wonderland Station in Revere Tuesday was that the MBTA is doing the best they can, but work still needs to be done.According to the State House News Service, 56 out of the 72 usual Blue Line cars were down Monday, which caused delays.Lisa Cobbett, of Lynn, said the delays don’t concern her as much as the lack of information.”I’m here, because the Swampscott commuter rail on Railroad Avenue never came at 7 a.m. or 8:30 a.m.,” Cobbett said. “They just told us they’re experiencing delays, but they should say for how long, so we can plan our day. The MBTA staff is standing there, and they could be giving us this information.”Cobbett works as a paralegal near the Bowdoin stop in Government Center. She said although Wonderland has a nice parking garage, traffic is congested in the inside parking garage 10 to 15 minutes.Cobbett has tried driving into work at 6 a.m., but it takes nearly three hours with traffic.But Jessica Gapsie, of Revere, hasn’t experienced any delays.”My friends who take the Green Line (Brookline) and Red Line (Braintree) are fed up, but I haven’t had any problems as of yet. For me, it’s been running on time. The MBTA is doing an OK job and doing everything they can.”Gapsie said she doesn’t think it’ll take a month to get everything back on track literally – unless Mother Nature brings a ton of snow.Yet, Jerome Kanoni, of Lynn, waited a half hour Monday.”It’s tough,” he said.Sabrina Delance, of Lynn, takes the train to East Boston Savings Bank, where she works as a senior teller.”It’s been a nightmare, but it’s not all their fault,” Delance said. “They’re doing the best they can. I’m not complaining too much.”She said the 441 and 442 buses from Central Square in Lynn are in worse shape since they are on the roadways and have to be plowed prior.”I wouldn’t be surprised if it takes a