harshaw wrote:As a daily rider I have a hypothesis that the schedule for semi-express trains could be tightened up *before* Boston Landing. It seems that the express and semi-express trains frequently slow down a couple of miles before Boston Landing. In the cases of trains that stop at Boston Landing, it seems that they are slowing down to arrive at Boston Landing on time. Why not move up the schedule so we can all get to our destination faster? The same seems true of trains that run express from Natick. The trains seem to slow down unecessarily to avoid getting to Yawkey early.
Not to beat a dead horse, but there is a more lengthy and discussion about the AM schedule and how it is 'max-ed' out under item #2 here:
https://framwormbta.weebly.com/blog/fin ... 7-schedule" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
The bottom line is the same: the blocks are too long and express trains very frequently 'catch up' to the locals ahead of them. For inbounds this frequently happens at automatic 6 (near CP 6) and for outbounds it frequently happens at automatic 18 (near Lake Cochituate).
Although a previous post is correct in that PTC is an overlay on top of the existing signal system, the section from Framingham to Boston has never had cab signals, so there isn't 'enough' existing infrastructure to overlay on top of (for the type of PTC being installed). PTC installation includes the addition of cab signals from Framingham to Boston, and I think I heard they are putting a cab cut section between CP 6 and CP 3, which will help with this problem by essentially making the blocks more numerous and shorter.