2014 Discussion for Commuter Rail Delays

jboutiet wrote:

jaymac wrote:It apparently didn't lead to a Service Alert, but the 01-13-2014 412 needed a 241 from D-3 at 0707 to get out of the yard and onto 1 to get to GL.

I read this forum every day and I confess that I could only parse 60% of that. Stuck on D-3 and GL.

D-3 is the Pan Am Railways District 3 dispatcher. CPF GL is the control point where the Fitchburg Station Track diverges from the No. 1 track. And although you didn't mention it, NORAC Rule 241 allows a dispatcher to give a train verbal permission past a stop signal.

TrainManTy-
Thanks for translating!

Yeah, surprisingly, I actually knew rule 241... I had just seen it in another thread. And it's Google-able. The others weren't. Thanks!

I see north side is a mess tonight. Delays and cancellations galore. Lowell train 335 was delayed indefinitely, and finally boarded at 6:20. Unsure the fate of 337. No T alerts issued for either, much to the disdain of delayed passengers.

I'm sure this is winter related...2 locomotives Southside have layover issues...unknown as to what that means, but ik it means that they must return to Southampton St. yard as of Thurs....they are the 1120 and 1056 IIRC

deathtopumpkins wrote:I see north side is a mess tonight. Delays and cancellations galore. Lowell train 335 was delayed indefinitely, and finally boarded at 6:20. Unsure the fate of 337. No T alerts issued for either, much to the disdain of delayed passengers.

In addition, it seemed like some consists were getting reduced too. I was on what had to be the lowest capacity set in a while on Friday night. 227 (usually a little busier on Friday nights as people leave early) was down to four cars, three flats and an R-cab.

Worcester line getting whacked this morning. P503 is delayed 35 minutes, p510 cancelled and p512 is now covering p510's stops inside 128. Needless to say p512 is packed to the gills and we haven't even reached the Wellesley stops.

Last weekend I got an earfull from an operating employee about MBCR trying to skimp on maintenance, such that equipment reported with cab signal failures was assigned for another run rather than being fixed, repeated HEP failures on consecutive days due to consists that weren't repaired overnight, etc. These stories were from the Old Colony the week of the 20th.

We have been dealing with issues like that for quite some time now.............

jbvb wrote:Last weekend I got an earfull from an operating employee about MBCR trying to skimp on maintenance, such that equipment reported with cab signal failures was assigned for another run rather than being fixed, repeated HEP failures on consecutive days due to consists that weren't repaired overnight, etc. These stories were from the Old Colony the week of the 20th.

Isn't most of the work being performed by unionized employees that will transfer to KCS? If so, will the new company be able to effect rapid change? Don't the employees have pride to get the work done, or is MBCR management purposely sabotaging maintenance, or are we just talking about MBCR just understaffing? If so, should the MBTA terminate the contract earlier than scheduled & bring in Keolis on an emergency basis?

The place to discuss MBCR leaving or Keolis coming on board is here: http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... 5&t=154098" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Last night, many of the short-turns (Reading, Beverly, Anderson) got the axe in favor of keeping the rest of service running. Looks like the T got rid of the "winter storm reduced schedules" (http://mbta.com/winter/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) too soon. The alerts were coming out late in some cases even though I suspect the decision to cut some of those runs might have been known for some time.

Good idea to protect service overall on a day like yesterday, but needs to be communicated better.

octr202 wrote:Last night, many of the short-turns (Reading, Beverly, Anderson) got the axe in favor of keeping the rest of service running. Looks like the T got rid of the "winter storm reduced schedules" (http://mbta.com/winter/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;) too soon. The alerts were coming out late in some cases even though I suspect the decision to cut some of those runs might have been known for some time.

Good idea to protect service overall on a day like yesterday, but needs to be communicated better.

I saw a tweet-exchange between MBCR_info and a rider where the rider asked why they were all canceled due to "mechanical problems." MBCR replied it was actually due to low ridership - and said they'd list the reasons more accurately in the future. OK...?

Yesterday (Wednesday, January 5th) was fantastic -- despite being the day of the storm. Today was dismal, with switch and train failures on multiple lines. The Red Line got absolutely walloped on the Braintree Branch this morning, and the Green Line was a bit rough too.

Today, 1405 terminated at North Leominster. I was going there anyway, so I wasn't one of the ones that were stuck there. From what I heard, Pan Am train EDPO had their train separate at the interlocking where the commuter goes into the siding at Fitchburg.

When I got off, the train didn't leave the station. We all had to trespass around the train and fence to leave the platform because the crew didn't come out to tell us what was going on, and didn't walk back to at least let us board and exit the door where the pedestrian crossing was. We stood there for a good half hour in the cold. The lack of announcements and courtesy was just shameful.

From what I was told, EDPO didn't get moving until 2PM. 1405 was terminated at North Leominster and the passengers going to Fitchburg were bused there. I'm assuming that the train turned as 1408 at North Leominster.