2014 Discussion for Commuter Rail Delays

Ah, I had noticed that we were slower approaching the station than usual and assumed that was because of the new platform. I just didn't realize it extended through the tunnel, up the incline, and around the curve, but I guess that's where the next signal is.

Any idea how long this might last?

There are alerts going out about delays on the Eastern routes due to "police action" affecting 67, 131, 129 and more. Anyone know who / where / why / how?

Bad evening and night on the Fitchburg. The alerts are coming in hot and heavy. One inbound delayed as much as 75 minutes (430). Outbounds running as late as 30-45 minutes. Everything after 421 delayed by what sounds like switch trouble at Hills.

cpf354 wrote:Bad evening and night on the Fitchburg. The alerts are coming in hot and heavy. One inbound delayed as much as 75 minutes (430). Outbounds running as late as 30-45 minutes. Everything after 421 delayed by what sounds like switch trouble at Hills.

Correct.

The switch from the single to the double just west of Lincoln failed spectacularly. All trains from the 5:05pm outbound and the inbound it meets and all since have been fubared.

The hills switch is being manually thrown by each train conductor (maybe now by a worker) with trains proceeding with a form D and extrmeme caution until the next signal. The delays range 25-70+ minutes.

In short, outside of a failure of the switches at the Waltham single tracks, this is one of the worst failures which can hit the Fitchburg line right now...

I believe it remains to be seen what was the "police action" that caused such havoc on the Newburyport / Rockport lines tonight. Any word?

VP Biden's motorcade passing through Lynn caused a suspension of service tonight for a period of time.

Why did the vice presidential motorcade passing through a city that has a commuter rail station need to result in delaying 15 trains 20 to 40 minutes right at evening rush hour?

Yeah; the VP should wait for the train, not the other way around. "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few (or the one)"

deathtopumpkins wrote:Why did the vice presidential motorcade passing through a city that has a commuter rail station need to result in delaying 15 trains 20 to 40 minutes right at evening rush hour?

Not to stray too far, but when the President or another major protectee visits Worcester, you get a suspension or delayed departures along the Worcester line as well. So this is not a first nor a last time a motorcade (crossing tracks or not) will cause this to happen.

Exactly. When a motorcade comes into a major city, traffic above and below is stopped. When a motorcade comes through Boston, even the subway service below is stopped. Lets move on, the delay was explained.

tvachon wrote:
The switch from the single to the double just west of Lincoln failed spectacularly.

What, in this context, does "failed spectacularly" mean? I'm assuming something like CTC control failure, as opposed to physical parts of the switch breaking?

rmccown wrote:

tvachon wrote:
The switch from the single to the double just west of Lincoln failed spectacularly.

What, in this context, does "failed spectacularly" mean? I'm assuming something like CTC control failure, as opposed to physical parts of the switch breaking?

Correct, complete CTC control failure causing a revert to manual switching. That switch does get beat on quite a bit (and thrown often), I wouldn't be surprised to see its lifespan to be short since its a temporary measure anyways

It wasn't a CTC code issue. The switch machine itself broke down.

D

The bad week for the Fitchburg Line continued into Halloween Morning. Train #400, the first am departure out of Fitchburg broke down somewhere between Waltham and Porter Square. Attempts to get it moving again were unsuccessful, leading to Train #402 coupling on and pushing it running double draft to Boston. The residual delays caused Train #404 (The Superexpress) to incur a :30 min delay into North Station. Behind Train #404, 406 got a :15- :25 minute delay due to signal failure. The delays are cascading into the late morning and are probably compounded by a one track railroad between Littleton and Lincoln. Boston West was keeping very busy this morning with Form D's.

Unfortunately, I think between the construction, the outdated infrastucture and obsolete equipment, this is going to be one heck of a winter on the Fitchburg Line. Tempers are already starting to flare between the commuters, crew and based on the radio transmissions, some of the dispatchers at Boston West and District 3. To me, its still better than driving....

-Mike

And it's not just on Fitchburg, either. 202 had mechanical problems, ended up about 25 mins late. This set may have gone OOS once it reached North Sta and only further exacerbated the problems (including cancelling 355/356). There were also signal issues (I believe) out on the Eastern route. My email inbox has been flooded with T Alerts this week.