Blue Line back in service after small fire on tracks

John Blanding/Globe Staff/File/Globe Staff

Service resumed on the Blue Line Wednesday morning after an electrical fire forced riders onto the streets and into shuttle buses.

Shuttle buses replaced the Blue Line between Government Center and Logan Airport Wednesday morning for over an hour while the Fire Department worked to extinguish the small fire and replace the cable on the inbound tracks, officials said.

An operator on an outbound train spotted the fire on a third-rail insulator on the inbound side of the tracks at the MBTA’s Aquarium Station, said Joe Pesaturo, a spokesman for the T.

The fire was quickly extinguished, but because the wires needed to be replaced the MBTA shut down power to several stations and shuttle buses replaced the Blue Line to and from East Boston around 9:45 a.m., according to Boston Fire Department spokesman Brian Alkins.

At Airport Station, Jennifer Paz said she was more than an hour late for work because of problems on the Blue Line, which she had boarded at the Orient Heights station in East Boston.

“It’s always something every week,” Paz said as she waited for an MBTA shuttle. “They’re raising the fares, but they’re not fixing anything. There’s always issues.”

Bryan Donahue said he was headed to his job at the House of Blues near Fenway Park. He boarded the Blue Line at Orient Heights Station.

“I sat there for a half hour before we even moved and then we get kicked off at Airport Station,” he said. “It’s annoying. They’re raising fares.”

Passengers were able to exit the trains without any evacuation from officials because the trains were already at the stations and passengars self-evacuated.

Shuttle buses were being phased out around 11 a.m. as regularly scheduled service resumed following the cable replacement.

#MBTA #BlueLine Update: Shuttle buses replacing service between Government Center and Airport due to fire department activity at Aquarium.

Expect delays as buses are dispatched or consider Silver Line service between E Boston and Downtown. pic.twitter.com/R3NfZ7KBH1

— MBTA (@MBTA) June 26, 2019