T riders brave slow zones and crowds to get to Southie's St. Patrick's Day parade

The MBTA's widespread slow zones did not stop hundreds of thousands of people from descending upon South Boston for the neighborhood's annual St. Patrick's Day parade over the weekend.

Red Line trains packed with people crawled into Broadway station Sunday morning. The passengers, who were wearing green leprechaun hats and wielding cases of beer,  could barely get out onto the platform and up the stairs.

"It's like you see in the videos in Japan and stuff, with them pushing people in," said Sebastian Britto of Plymouth.

Portions of the Red, Orange and Blue Lines remained under speed restrictions throughout the weekend as crews continued to work through a backlog of inspections for state regulators.

The T had hoped to lift the slow zone covering the entire Green Line on Saturday but was unable to.

Riders who rode public transit to the parade took note.

Jake Burkhead of Brookline said the Red Line was so slow he got off early at South Station and walked. "Probably got here in the same amount of time as if I had stuffed on with the rest of everyone," he said.

Kate Reidy is originally from Ireland and said she hoped Massachusetts politicians could find more support for Boston's beleaguered transit system.

"We love the T," she said. But she said she wants to see "more investment in public transportation in America."