Railroad Forums 

  • Columbia Junction (Red Line) Derailment 6/11/19

  • Discussion relating to commuter rail, light rail, and subway operations of the MBTA.
Discussion relating to commuter rail, light rail, and subway operations of the MBTA.

Moderators: sery2831, CRail

 #1511076  by jwhite07
 
Derailment reported on the Red Line at JFK/UMass station. At least one car derailed, which is resting at an angle directly underneath Columbia Road bridge. I know no other details. Not a good week on the subway!
 #1511211  by jonnhrr
 
From the tweet picture looks like a major signal bungalow under the bridge has been significantly damaged. This must be affecting operation through the area. Is this the equipment for controlling Columbia Junction? Are they having to switch it manually now?
 #1511220  by WatertownCarBarn
 
From the Globe:
"“Without the signal system, trains must be given permission from our Operations Control Center to move from one station to the next, one train at a time. This also means we need people along the tracks to physically set the routes to direct trains,” T officials wrote in a tweet."

Have there been any thoughts on the cause?
 #1511290  by Bill Reidy
 
Seeing that we're now 2-1/2+ days beyond the accident, has the T publicly announced a recovery timeline to restore the Red Line to regular service. Apologies if I've missed it if it has been announced.

At this point, there has been plenty of time to assess the damage and develop a recovery plan. Whether it's a day, week, month or more, the public is owed that answer -- now.
 #1511302  by ssresident
 
Another thread from the MBTA Twitter account: https://twitter.com/MBTA/status/1139561780072636416
Basically, they hope to have a better idea towards the end of the weekend. Speculation quoted in the news (Globe, tv) is that if they need to order new equipment, it could take until the end of the year to get things back to normal.
 #1511647  by Disney Guy
 
Does it really add 15 to 20 minutes to the average trip when trains pull up to a junction, wait their turn, and are (manually) flagged through at a little under 6 MPH (compared with normal automatic signal interlocking)?
 #1511786  by jonnhrr
 
Disney Guy wrote: Wed Jun 19, 2019 5:43 am Does it really add 15 to 20 minutes to the average trip when trains pull up to a junction, wait their turn, and are (manually) flagged through at a little under 6 MPH (compared with normal automatic signal interlocking)?
According to a post I saw on FB the signals are out from North Quincy to JFK, Field's Corner to JFK, then JFK to Broadway. So it sounds like they have to move under manual control from the dispatcher station to station through those areas and the max speed is 25 mph. That would account for the 20 minutes.
 #1511800  by BandA
 
North Quincy to Broadway is 5.3 or 5.9 miles by car, I think 5.9 miles is about the same as the Red Line. Mr Google thinks the Red Line takes 16 minutes for 3 stops. At 16 min that is 22MPH, at 36 min it's 9.8MPH. If it takes 36 min it's only a little faster than a bicycle (bicycles have to stop for traffic lights / road crossings). 36 min seems unreasonable even with manual track authorization.
 #1511880  by HenryAlan
 
Google says 31 minutes to ride a bike from North Quincy to Broadway. My general experience is that it overestimates trip time (32 minutes for my bike commute, which actually takes 25 minutes). I wouldn't be too surprised if a cyclist would beat the train under current conditions.