2015 Commuter Rail Delay Discussion Thread

ST214 wrote:402 is currently dead in the water at Concord. Waiting for 404 to give a shove.

For the record, the power on 402 is 011.

My son has been sitting on 402 in Concord. He just reported they are moving now with 404 pushing.

rmccown wrote:

ST214 wrote:402 is currently dead in the water at Concord. Waiting for 404 to give a shove.

For the record, the power on 402 is 011.

My son has been sitting on 402 in Concord. He just reported they are moving now with 404 pushing.

Just saw that double header go past Roberts station on the way in to Boston

Wonder if moving forward we should just report on major delays (breakdowns, major cancellations) here? I've long since given up trying to post all the smaller issues (my inbox overflows every commute). Last night I was worried I was going to miss 337, but then remembered that by about 5:30 pm, everything out of North Station now seems to be 10-30 minutes late. I guess that's going to be the new normal for a while.

octr202 wrote:Wonder if moving forward we should just report on major delays (breakdowns, major cancellations) here? I've long since given up trying to post all the smaller issues (my inbox overflows every commute). Last night I was worried I was going to miss 337, but then remembered that by about 5:30 pm, everything out of North Station now seems to be 10-30 minutes late. I guess that's going to be the new normal for a while.

The MBTA's definition of "on time" is "within 30 minutes of scheduled arrival".

To elaborate on the earlier posts regarding Trains 402/404 today (Friday 2/6), Train 402 powered by 011, broke down shortly after departing Concord Station. 404 came up behind in order to push it all the way to North Station. 404 was powered by Screamer 1008. There were complications in executing this maneuver- mainly bacause couplers and hoses were completely frozen. The 011 was also completely dead- meaning no HEP/no heats/no lights for the people on Train 402. After the coupling was made, the crew was having a very difficult time getting the brake reserviors on the combined 402/404 to function properly. I was listening on my scanner and heard they only had 35 PSI after 20 minutes,when they needed about 100 to go. Eventually, they released the handbrakes and the brake reserviors charged properly. After almost 1 hour of sitting there, 402/404 departed Concord at about 8:35 and arrived at North Station around 9:35. In all my years of commuting, this has been one of the most challenging weeks, not only for the passengers, but for the crew. You can see the fatigue on their faces. I hope something improves soon as to me the commuter rail system seems at the tipping point... (end of editiorial)... Ironically, one of the oldest engines in the fleet (1008) rescued one of the newest (011). Something tells me the MP36's will not be around 40 years from now to rescue the engines that will replace them....

-Mike

It's great to see the screamers rise up to the occasion. I would have thought 011 would be one of the most reliable locomotives but apparently not.

Screamer 1000 wrote:It's great to see the screamers rise up to the occasion. I would have thought 011 would be one of the most reliable locomotives but apparently not.

If the screamers are working well, they still have 3000 horses in the stable. Its just a matter of how much abuse they are up to.

The 011 always seems to act up in the winter. I'm suprised the 010 doesn't do the same.

The issue with the 011 is the same issue it has had all along since it arrived on the property. And it's not the cold, I had it fail on a 85 degree summer night in Littleton. Not sure why this issue has not been corrected. The 010 seems much more reliable and spent a considerable more time South than the 011.

Rough morning out there already. Delays on pretty much everything, and many cancellations on short turns.

And "computer problems" across the South Side to top it all off.

65 alerts for the commuter rail right now.

Yikes.

I was pleasantly suprised how well Fitchburg did (considering the past week of hell). I didn't venture in, however, since it was likely I would never get from Porter square to South station

As of 3:00 PM, alerts are being posted on the southside lines that "All INBOUND service is cancelled."

octr202 wrote:As of 3:00 PM, alerts are being posted on the southside lines that "All INBOUND service is cancelled."

They're still going to run at least one inbound Worcester train (526).

I'm sure there will be some exceptions, but here's the announcement:

MBTA Commuter Rail ‏@MBTA_CR 3m3 minutes ago

MBTA CR Passengers: We are canceling all CR INBOUND service 2 Boston and only running OUTBOUND on all lines this p.m. http://www.mbta.com/rider_tools/transit_updates" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; …