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You get what you pay for, and the T can't afford to let politics or budgets get in the way of quality product this time around With the shunning of federal funding and the insertion of the "Buy Massachusetts" requirement, you can be sure that politics and budget are already very much in p...

I've designed transit sound walls. For electric light rail, they don't need to be more than 3-4 feet high. Most of the sound comes from the wheels on the rails, with some from the motor, and since both are pretty low that's enough. Don't think scenic considerations will matter when they're that low...

While it is obvious that the Rotem order has gone particularly poorly, it is worth noting that there are a lot of moving parts to a major equipment procurement. I commend the Globe for attempting to tackle the issue, but you'd need a lot more than one newspaper article to fully explain things. Suffi...

DMUs will be an additional capital -- not to mention maintenance -- expenditure for equipment that is not compatible system-wide. Interesting points jaymac. Just curious, what do you mean by "not compatible system-wide?" I mean, the promise of FRA-compliant DMU's is that they can be run m...

I'm not totally familiar with the RFP process, but it seems to me the T is being *very* transparent about all of this. It's almost like the I's got dotted and the T's got crossed four times each just to make sure asses were covered. With most any RFP, it's in the MBTA's best interest to dot the I's...

The local news said they would be cleaned up overnight tonight.

Also spec'd is LED interior lighting with an option for LED headlights as well. Why they specifically asked for "cool white" LED's is beyond me... there are plenty of LED options available today which give off a nice, warm light (some of which are already in use by the signal departments)...

To my knowledge this is no problem, at least on the rapid transit lines. The ATO system handles it. That is incorrect. The system is not bi-directional. Whenever a train has to run wrong iron, it is on the bypass. This is why it is very seldom done, because they're basically operating in dark terri...

TrainManTy wrote:What's the signaling/ATC system like if trains were to run wrong-main?

An extra 2-3 outbound runs (every hour-90 mins. or so) on each line would be a perfectly adequate level of service. Again it's not necessarily the infrequency of outbound trains late in the evening that deters would-be visitors, but the timing of the last trains themselves. Additional trains at say...

Anyone else notice the cable/tube coming out the cab window in this photo? Are they temperature testing for ambient vs affected and HVAC? http://www.siemens.com/press/pool/de/pressebilder/2013/infrastructure-cities/rail-systems/SOICRL201324/300dpi/SOICRL201324-05_300dpi.jpg" onclick="wind...

Part of me wants this all to turn into a huge fiasco that ends with a large settlement with Rotem and their withdrawal from the US market so that no one else has to suffer from them. IMHO it's not likely that the MBTA would come out ahead in such a fiasco. Too messy. They've already burned a lot of...

For those following this stuff, they have closed Medford Street in Somerville to facilitate the reconstruction of the Medford Street bridge. The road will be closed to vehicular traffic from July 5 to July 21. But it's still open to pedestrian traffic if anyone wants to take a peek. Source is here: ...

^^^^^ This.

I don't know what Boston's history in this regard is, but in the age of dinosaurs here in Philadelphia, and if I remember correctly New York, they had signs "do not pass between cars WHILE TRAIN IS IN MOTION" and it was perfectly ok for passengers to open the end doors to get from one car...