The MBTA 'A Trundling Mess': U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton

SALEM, MA — Calling the MBTA a "trundling mess" in need of "top-to-bottom transformation" U.S. Rep. Seth Moulton (D-Salem) said on Monday that newly named MBTA chief Phillip Eng brings a promising signal of hope for the future to the country's oldest public transportation system.

"The T is a mess," said Moulton, a longtime critic of MBTA management and operations, in a statement. "It's simply unacceptable for a world-class state like Massachusetts to have a barely functioning public transit system."

Gov. Maura Healey and Lt. Kim Driscoll were set to make the public announcement of Eng as the MBTA's new leader at a news conference at Newton's Riverside Station Monday afternoon.

Moulton praised Eng's experience managing a large and diverse workforce with New York City Transit as its interim president and the Long Island Rail Road as its president, as well as the benefits of his background as an engineer and his experience with technology-focused modernization projects.

"Which gives hope for the beleaguered MBTA," he said, "which desperately needs innovation.

"The MBTA's problems are deep and systemic. They go well beyond just one person, but leadership at the top will set the tone for everything the MBTA does moving forward."

Moulton said the MBTA must fix its staffing shortages by making it a more attractive place to work and more closely resemble the efficient services of major European cities.

Moulton has been a proponent of making the MBTA and commuter rail "a true regional rail system" that connects the North Shore to the South Shore and makes daily commuting to Boston from as far as Springfield viable as a way to help solve the state's affordable housing crisis.

"I am heartened that Gov. Healey and her team took this search so seriously and I look forward to working with Mr. Eng," he said. "It's time to transform the MBTA from a trundling mess to the pride of the region it deserves to be."

(Scott Souza is a Patch field editor covering Beverly, Danvers, Marblehead, Peabody, Salem and Swampscott. He can be reached at Scott.Souza@Patch.com. Twitter: @Scott_Souza.)