Today I made my way to Reservoir station, hoping for a quick trip downtown, only to find this:

The MBTA employees on site were as surprised as I was – they had only found out about it shortly before my arrival.

Later this afternoon, I made it home and took a look at the MBTA transit advisory site:

Beginning Saturday, July 7, 2007 at the start of service until the conclusion of service on Sunday, July 8, 2007, a diversion of service will take place on the (D) Riverside branch of the Green Line between Riverside and Fenway (Kenmore on Sunday) Stations. During this time, substitute bus service will replace regular train service between Riverside and Fenway (Kenmore on Sunday). This work is part of the ongoing improvement effort on the Riverside Line. Please allow extra time for your commute.

There is no mention of when this was posted, which means that you can never really claim that it was truly a last-minute thing, even if it was.

Like many others, I have an account at MBTA.com and have my preferences set to monitor the Green Line for any service disruptions. Unfortunately the site requires you to log in every day if you want to be sure that the trains will be running. I’m not sure why a simple mailing list feature is not available so riders could receive up to the minute notifications.

Then again, we’re still waiting for the ability to register CharlieCards so they can be replaced if they’re lost or stolen. That was due right about now, and we haven’t heard a thing about it in seven months or so. Don’t get me started on the iPod-compatible schedules too…