MBTA General Manager Mike Mulhern at Ashmont Station this week.

By Jim O'Sullivan

During the day, Michael Mulhern would study the more theoretical side of civil engineering and construction management, enrolled at the Wentworth Institute to earn his sheepskin from the world of academia.

But at night, his education was in the chilly tunnels of Boston's subway system, where he worked as a track laborer to put himself through school.

And today, Mulhern uses the skills and wisdom he learned in those days to serve him as general manager of the MBTA. Logging 24 years with the T, he's chief of the whole sprawling system, from the ferry dock in Hull's Pemberton Point to the commuter rail station in Worcester, the bus stop in Roslindale Square to the Wonderland Blue Line terminus in Revere.

He drove a bus out of Ashmont in the '70s and '80s, worked as supervisor of the Red Line from 1989-1995, held down the deputy GM post, and even met his wife, Linda, in Codman Square - thanks to a fellow driver. The man knows the system.

And, after almost a year as permanent GM (he was named acting GM in November 2001 and dubbed permanent in February 2002), Mulhern says his focus is on rehabbing the MBTA's central nexus of facilities.

"When I leave, when my day comes, I want people to point and say, 'Listen, this guy made a commitment to the urban core and he accomplished that'," Mulhern says. "That's what I would want my legacy to be."

The theme of "the urban core" is one to which Mulhern returns often, emphasizing that the most heavily-trafficked stations are sometimes in the worst condition, and demand attention from the T if the system is to hold together.

"I'm placing a high priority on the core system, on modernizing our stations," he says. "Improving the bus system is my biggest objective, taking it from a fleet that lags the nation and making it one of the best, most efficient fleets in the country.

"The stations really need it, they're showing the signs of age."

In Dorchester, Mulhern is most visible for the ongoing Red Line project (see accompanying article). He says he's satisfied with the project thus far. "It's been a good process, I've heard openly expressed concern and criticism that the community has but all in all I think we've been responsible people would agree it's been a good process."

Well-liked by local elected officials, Mulhern mentions repeatedly their roles, pointing to state Rep. Marty Walsh, state Sen. Jack Hart, and Speaker of the House Tom Finneran.

"He's always there to make the project stay on course," Mulhern says of Finneran, whose district includes Ashmont Station and who, in turn, talks highly of Mulhern. "He's not out in front there looking for headlines, but he works behind the scenes to make sure the project continues with the momentum that it started with."

Walsh credits Mulhern, who was born in Jamaica Plain and grew up in West Roxbury, with his involvement and commitment to the revitalization of the Greater Boston area's T system.

"It means something to me and to a lot of people, both residents within the MBTA jurisdiction and the elected officials, that he has truly come from the ground up," says Hart. "The most important attributes that he has, I think, are his ability to reach resolutions, and ability and willingness to communicates with the neighborhoods and the elected officials, and, maybe most importantly, his vision."

With cooperation from the pols and the community, the modernized "urban core" that Mulhern envisions can begin to develop. He points to the '80s as a time when the city's subway stations were rehauled - albeit not the Dorchester branch. Then, in the '90s, the T focused on beefing up the commuter rail, partially due to Big Dig construction, partially to cut down on vehicle pollution, and partially to expand support for the T by broadening its service reach past Rte. 128 and out to the Rte. 495 area.

"There were good decisions and for the right reasons," Mulhern says now. "But when the time comes to invest in the urban core, we've got to invest in the urban core. And for the first half of this decade, we need to concentrate on the urban core. We just cannot continue at the rate of expansion that we have without attending to the needs of the urban core."

"You have a core urban system that's crumbling and needs attention and Dorchester is symbolic of that. People living in the urban corridors are our most loyal customers and have been for the last 100 years."

"He's done well by the people of Dorchester," says Hart.