‘Absolutely ridiculous’: Bus mistakenly shuttles passengers to North Shore, instead of North Station

BOSTON —

The MBTA apologized to passengers after the driver of an Orange Line shuttle bus took them to Stoneham on the North Shore instead of North Station, 10 miles away.

The incident happened Thursday morning, the first day of an 11-day Orange Line suspension between the Oak Grove and Back Bay stations.

The MBTA released a statement on the matter:

“The MBTA apologizes to these shuttle bus passengers for this inconvenience. The matter has been addressed with the shuttle bus vendor, and the driver of this shuttle is no longer working on this service,” the agency said.

One rider who was on the bus said it was packed to the brim.

“We were suddenly going north on I-93. And he’s asking us ‘Am I going the right way?’ No, no, everyone is saying no,” said Eamon Marchant. “And then all of a sudden we’re directing him. He’s asking us where we’re going and we’re saying North Station. He’s like, ‘ What’s the address?’ I’m like North Station. That’s it.”

Marchant said the driver eventually turned around, but the trouble did not end there.

“He’s not using the HOV lanes; he’s not using the bus lanes,” Marchant said. “We keep having to direct him and it’s to a point where it’s absolutely ridiculous. For all of us who had to deal with that, it was a little ridiculous.”

Passengers who were on board the bus took to Twitter to air their complaints:

“I mean, with the MBTA, nothing surprises me with them,” said commuter Nick Caruso. “I can totally see that happening.”