Fitchburg Line Upgrade Discussion

Hasn't been bad using the #1 track so far. Very confused boarding though. The gates are all being protected from the willows to PAR in Ayer

#404 was running about 10 minutes late this morning east of South Acton-not too bad.

tvachon wrote:Hasn't been bad using the #1 track so far. Very confused boarding though. The gates are all being protected from the willows to PAR in Ayer

What's confusing? The new #1 track is the only one in service unil further notice...

Do current plans still call for a speed increase from 60 to 79 on the Fitchburg Line? I know this was in the original project outline (as were cab signals, which are not happening) but I haven't heard anything since.

Probably eventually down the road it will happen, cab signals will come in time also with the required PTC.

TrainManTy wrote:Do current plans still call for a speed increase from 60 to 79 on the Fitchburg Line? I know this was in the original project outline (as were cab signals, which are not happening) but I haven't heard anything since.

It is going to 79 because 79 is legal on CTC wayside systems that use track circuits. Which is what's happening now. South Acton-Fitchburg should get uprated when the last of the double track is connected because that signal work is done. Brandeis to SA is next for signal replacement, which is why the weekend shutdowns start this fall. Then Somerville-Brandeis goes last.


Fitchburg is getting the same wayside signals that allow 79 MPH operation without cab signals north of North Beverly (where the single track starts) on the Newburyport Line, and on the wayside-only Franklin Line. It's only the lines that still use pole line signal transmission instead of track circuits where the inability of the signal signal to detect the presence of a train caps the max speed at 60. Since that system is present on large portions of every other northside line except the Newburyport extension that's why the speed limits don't exceed 60...both from the pole line and for the patchwork stretches of track circuits abutting too much pole line territory to meaningfully raise.

Cabs can be added later since all it is is an extra layer on top of the existing track circuits where the pre-existing train detection capability can auto-enforce stops and speed limits. And likewise the ACSES PTC system that the T has adopted is just a third layer on top of the track circuits and cabs. So Fitchburg is future-proofed for it as is Newburyport and most of the southside wayside-only territory except for Worcester Line east of Framingham. So not a technological setback that they had to cut cabs from the budget. They just have to hurry up and make sure they go back and install them before they run afoul of the PTC mandate.

Thank you, sir. That was exactly what I needed to know, plus even more that I didn't even realize.

MBCR just sent an e-mail notice re. the weekend track work:

REVISED TRACK WORK NOTICE - Effective September 7th

Due to the ongoing improvement projects the MBTA will suspend weekend service incrementally on the Fitchburg Line.
EFFECTIVE SEPTEMBER 7th - All weekend service on the Fitchburg Line will terminate at Brandeis/Roberts until further notice.
The stations listed below will be closed on Saturdays and Sundays only:

...followed by a list of all stations between Kendal Green and Fitchburg itself, including Hastings and Silver Hill, which I don't believe were used on weekends?

Yes Hastings and Silver Hill are not served on the weekend. My job is effected by this outage, as they have created a new weekend schedule.

Sorry if someone already answered question, but couldn't find an answer on here or the T website, when the trains end at Brandeis/Roberts, do they deadhead back, just sit there or run on a different schedule?

Good question. A new schedule has been created but not released as of yet. It will mirror the current service for the most part with some additional service!

[quote="F-line to Dudley via Park] ...where the inability of the signal signal to detect the presence of a train caps the max speed at 60...[/quote]

Not sure what you are saying here. Care to illucidate?

Since that system is present on large portions of every other northside line except the Newburyport extension that's why the speed limits don't exceed 60..

The New Hampshire ML has 70 MPH speeds.

bozepravde15 wrote:Sorry if someone already answered question, but couldn't find an answer on here or the T website, when the trains end at Brandeis/Roberts, do they deadhead back, just sit there or run on a different schedule?

As far as I know none of the equipment will stay at Brandeis, everything will run as a shuttle and come back to Boston. Not sure if it will be a revenue train or a deadhead yet.

130MM wrote:[quote="F-line to Dudley via Park] ...where the inability of the signal signal to detect the presence of a train caps the max speed at 60...

Not sure what you are saying here. Care to illucidate?

Since that system is present on large portions of every other northside line except the Newburyport extension that's why the speed limits don't exceed 60..

The New Hampshire ML has 70 MPH speeds.[/quote][/quote][/quote][/quote][/quote][/quote][/quote]

It does not appear that's true 100% end-to-end. Quoting from the existing conditions summary for the NH Main from the VTTrans Boston-Montreal feasibility study, 2003 (p. 69: http://www.nh.gov/dot/org/aerorailtrans ... ealHSR.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;). . .

Speeds: Northbound track between Boston and Wilmington is 70. Southbound track is 60 MPH. Wilmington to North Chelmsford is 60 both directions.

Signals: ABS signals between MP 3.2 (Somerville Jct.???) and 7.8 (Winchester Ctr. station), MP 15.2 (Wilmington station) and 20.3 (Shop Interlocking???), and between Lowell station/Bleachery Jct. and CP-N. Chelmsford. All other territory in between is CTC (including CP-N. Chelmsford to end of signals in Manchester). And the breakdown in territories makes sense because the Lowell Line got extensive rehab work between Winchester and Wilmington in 1979 requiring months of bustitutions and train service that only ran as far as the Woburn Branch. There's never been a service interruption in the places that are still ABS (incl. for freight getting to Billerica during that '79 construction).

Unless they got inaccurate info for that '03 study, that's the same as current conditions today.



So appears to be the same on-again/off-again patchwork of differing types of signals present on the Western and Eastern routes. N. Beverly-Newburyport is definitely the only place on the northside you can currently top out at real 79 on the speedometer until Fitchburg starts seeing that in another year-plus.

F-line to Dudley via Park wrote:It's only the lines that still use pole line signal transmission instead of track circuits where the inability of the signal signal to detect the presence of a train caps the max speed at 60. Since that system is present on large portions of every other northside line except the Newburyport extension that's why the speed limits don't exceed 60...

How can a rail signal system work if it can't detect the presence of a train?

Does the engineer tell dispatch by radio that the train has entered a block, and dispatch manually enters that into the signal system?