2015 Commuter Rail Delay Discussion Thread

[octr202]

I'm on 215 right now. We're sitting at WJ. Announcement now is we'll be sitting here until 213 and 687 can unload onto buses, then we'll move up to Ballardvale and do the same.

[Type 7 3684]

Sounds like fun. Of course, it had to happen during rush hour!

[GP40MC1118]

The train being bussed are 213 (from Ballardvale). 222 looks to be cancelled.

EDPO's power is rescuing LA-3's disabled power and going in at CPF-FY (Frye) around 640PM.

Amtrak 685, 215, Amtrak 687, 217 all in a conga line to go east!

D

[octr202]

Yup! About 1830, Amtrak (687?) Joined us here at WJ. They moved about 1840, we're now underway at 1849 on 215.

[octr202]

213 cleared up onto the freight main at LJ to allow the conga line to head east. Kinda unusual seeing an HSP sitting on that leg of the wye.

[eustis22]

Initially, the 213 conductor sounded like they were trying to repair LA3 in Andover. I'm thinking, "you have 4 EB commuters coming..why aren't they pushing it into Lawrence yard?" As the last bus got there they reported they were moving the freight.

[BostonUrbEx]

Track outages tonight for Fitchburg Route (Swift related work for GLX from the looks of it?), NH Route (Medford St OH Br for GLX), and Eastern Route (utility pole relocation for SLG).

[dbperry]

This text message was sent out earlier Sunday night:

All #WorcesterLine Trains will operate 10-15 minutes behind schedule due to a signal problem near Newtonville.

So I replied to @MBTA_CR with this comment:

Huh? There are no trains operating in Newton. #Construction. Why would signal prob there be a prob?

To which they replied:

This is anticipated for tomorrow due to an ongoing signal issue.

Talk about poor communication! I replied with:

ALL trains tomorrow? That's not what msg said - may want to consider edit and resend. Is this related to Bost landing const?

So then they posted this on twitter (but did not post anything via e-mail or text message, both of which have much better distribution / penetration):

Framingham/Worcester Line: A signal problem may delay trains 10-15 minutes as they pass through the Newtonville area tomorrow.

My guess is they screwed something up with the signals at CP 4 during this weekend's construction (see my post in the "Boston Landing" thread). I tweeted at some news stations to encourage them to chase down details...

[diburning]

I was trying to get home around 6 tonight. They said that there will be buses between Boston and Wellesley Farms. I asked if passengers who want to get to stops east of Wellesley Farms would be SOL. I was told that there would be a van. No van ever showed up, and reading the alert, it seemed that there is no outbound service between South Station and Wellesley Farms, (the alert was worded in such a way that it seemed to indicate that bus service will originate at Wellesley Farms inbound and serve the three Newton stops only), so I took the red line instead... only to sit there for ~20 mins because of a medical emergency at Park st.

[BostonUrbEx]

Signal issues on the Worcester Line seemed to hit the Lake Shore Limited first. Was early into Worcester, shockingly, and then lost 30+ minutes into South Station.

[dbperry]

... and, as predicted, the delays hit the Framingham Worcester line hard this AM.

Turns out that CP 4 is under control of C&S (not in dispatcher control) and every train has to:
1) first receive permission through work area from track foreman at Boston Landing construction site;
2) then, once stopped at CP 4, get a rule 241 permission past stop signal.

Using the rule 241 permission means restricted speed all the way through Beacon Park for inbound trains, so delay is not just stopping and getting permission.

Wasn't too bad for trains originating in Worcester (delay of 10-15 min), but trains that originate in Boston and then turn at Framingham or Worcester got double delayed - outbound and inbound.

No response from @MBTA_CR on expected duration of this situation...

What was really odd was that based on engineer's response to dispatcher over radio, it appeared that engineer wasn't aware of new track configuration at CP 4 once my (see shoo fly track diagrams on my blog). I can't believe a bulletin wasn't published...I may have just misunderstood the conversation...

[dbperry]

at 3:00 PM MBTA_CR posted this:

Framingham/Worcester Line: The signal issue causing delays today through the Newtonville area has been resolved.

[Rockingham Racer]

This thread is 33 pages in length. What a poor testimony to the quality of service in the Boston area. And I think it's the only part of the country that has a thread on this forum dedicated to delays. Get with it, Boston.

[Type 7 3684]

The last one had 89 pages and the one before had 100 pages!

[ns3010]

This thread is 33 pages in length. What a poor testimony to the quality of service in the Boston area. And I think it's the only part of the country that has a thread on this forum dedicated to delays. Get with it, Boston.

Amtrak: http://railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=160547

Metra: http://railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=61&t=25150

Metro-North: http://railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=67&t=158729

NJT: http://railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=69&t=158639

SEPTA: http://railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=72&t=53078


This forum is the 3rd busiest on this entire site (behind Amtrak and LIRR). However, the MBTA board has some of the most active users, and everything is closely watched and discussed. Many times, there will be several posts focusing on a single delay (or root issue to a set of delays). I don't think it's quite the sheer number of delays, but more our posting habits.

That said, there still are a lot of delays, and hopefully they drop as time goes on.