2015 Commuter Rail Delay Discussion Thread

harshaw wrote:Ugh... what a miserable trip. You would think they could run the train express since there was a local directly in front of 508.

The local (510) was packed to the gills by Wellesley, which was picking up pax for 3+ trains (506, 510, and 512, plus Framingham-Natick 508). They needed the coach capacity.

Anyone know why 583 was cancelled this afternoon?

csor2010 wrote:Anyone know why 583 was cancelled this afternoon?

probably no equipment available

MBTA F40PH-2C 1050 wrote:

csor2010 wrote:Anyone know why 583 was cancelled this afternoon?

probably no equipment available

Confirmed, and MBTA admitted it:

"‏@MBTA_CR: Worcester Line Train 583 (5:30 pm from South Station) cancelled today due to equipment shortage"

No excuse to run out of locos with the leased units sitting idle. Did they run out of coaches?

While I'm not sticking up for Keolis you do have to keep in mind that the leased locomotives can only run on the north side. Im sure this was a last minute thing that occurred, Keolis gets fined for every cancelled train so it is no in there best interest to cancel a train.

dbperry wrote: No excuse to run out of locos with the leased units sitting idle. Did they run out of coaches?

I've noticed a lot of short trains lately, so a coach shortage isn't impossible. I was on a rush hour Needham train that was 4 cars this past week.

Also worth noting that none of the leased units are in service. Two are at BET, but only delivered within like the last week or two. The rest (5 IIRC) are all down at Mass Coastal in Hyannis.

This morning (Monday), Haverhill train 200 lost 30-40 minutes up in Haverhill due to freight train conflicts on the single track, presumably through Haverhill, but not certain of that. It ended up arriving Boston about 45 minutes late (or 10 minutes late for 202, which I was trying to take). This caused a cascading delay to 259 as 200 turns for 259 (first outbound to Reading).

There was also an alert about 52 out of Beverly being cancelled due to a mechanical problem as well.

dbperry wrote:

MBTA F40PH-2C 1050 wrote:

csor2010 wrote:Anyone know why 583 was cancelled this afternoon?

probably no equipment available

Confirmed, and MBTA admitted it:

"‏@MBTA_CR: Worcester Line Train 583 (5:30 pm from South Station) cancelled today due to equipment shortage"

No excuse to run out of locos with the leased units sitting idle. Did they run out of coaches?

Thursday nights rush hour this past week, we were down 3 sets on the Southside in the 6 o'clock hour. Everything seems to happen at rush hour lol It could have been anything, locomotives failure, HEP failure, yard problems, troubles elsewhere on the system in which said equipment isn't back in time for the next trip...could have been anything again on Friday night

Last night (Monday night) it was reported via Guilford Sightings Yahoo group that 1002 died outbound at Riverworks. Apparently riders were transferred to one of the Beverly short-turns which was used to run to Rockport.

Speed restrictions are back on the Worcester line. Of course, the delay notification alerts came out *five* minutes before 523 departs. It would be really great if they could agree on speed restrictions early enough to give customers notice to make some plans.

EDIT: they removed them I guess? As always, the dispatching with heat restrictions is always fun.

Newburyport/Rockport line was shut down between Lynn and North Station this weekend (buses between Lynn and Wonderland offered) in order to replace the MA-145 bridge in Revere. Earlier today, a backhoe working on bridge demo slid off a concrete abutment and down onto the tracks.

Landslide being blamed for Haverhill Line cancellations right now.

harshaw wrote:Speed restrictions are back on the Worcester line. Of course, the delay notification alerts came out *five* minutes before 523 departs. It would be really great if they could agree on speed restrictions early enough to give customers notice to make some plans.

They need to be more clear on which trains will depart South Station on time and which will depart late. It's poor communication to write that trains will be delayed "30-40 minutes" if that only applies to their arrival time at Worcester/Framingham. I guess by now most people probably know what to expect, but it would be nice if they could provide a little more granularity regarding delay info.

This isn't a delay per se, but I'll post this in this thread since short consists cause delays enroute...

Yesterday there was an interesting Twitter exchange between a rider and @MBTA_CR (Keolis), transcribed here:

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LEANNE @Leanne_M: @MBTA_CR Why is the Franklin line still short cars? This is ridiculous. There are people forced into vestibules. #awful #commute

MBTA COMMUTER RAIL: @MBTA_CR @Leanne_M Some trains have been short because coaches are out for mechanical maintenance - both repairs and AC prep for summer.

LEANNE @Leanne_M: @MBTA_CR Is there an estimated time of completion? It's not comfortable to commute especially considering the fares we pay.

MBTA COMMUTER RAIL: @Leanne_M Unfortunately, we don't know exactly when your line's sets will be back up to full size.

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Really? Keolis? Really?