Power back on after outage at Worcester's Union Station

WORCESTER — Union Station was put on partial lockdown Tuesday afternoon after a power failure affected the station's air conditioning, ticket purchasing and bathrooms, according to the city.

Power was restored shortly before 7 p.m.

The outage is believed to have been caused due to a faulty main circuit breaker, according to a city spokesperson.

The breaker had tripped a few times starting Sunday night until power was lost completely on Tuesday. The station is now running on a temporary breaker.

During the outage, the station's train lines and parking garage were not affected, but passengers were rerouted to use the Shrewsbury Street entrance to reach the train platform. The path is handicap accessible, according to posted announcements on the station's doors.

All of the station's entrances were blocked with yellow tape throughout the afternoon, while power company vans filled the station's roadway. Police officers directed passengers to an alternate path to board the train.

The city said tenants including the Cannabis Control Commission and Luciano's Restaurant were also without power.

The station offers Amtrak and MBTA Commuter Rail lines, and also serves as a station for Greyhound, Peter Pan and WRTA bus lines.

Since March 2022, the station has been busy with construction work to build a pedestrian bridge that allows riders to cross from the platform to the parking lot, new elevators and stairways among other renovations, according to city plans.

Work is slated to cost $45 million and is expected to be completed at the end of the year.

This coming weekend, shuttle-bus service between the Worcester and Grafton train stops will be in place for two days to accommodate the latest phase of construction at the Union Station platform. Buses will transport train passengers each way, in coordination with the train schedule.

This article originally appeared on Telegram & Gazette: Power failure at Worcester's Union Station