2015 Commuter Rail Delay Discussion Thread

[Diverging Route]

Service alerts are up. D-3 acknowledged 400's 0530 report of engine troubles at North Leominster, and 0656, Boston West or Fitchburg said that 402 was having engine troubles at South Acton.

In addition, trouble up north with 154 having issues, causing delays to 156 and 158. As a result of some (or all!) of the above, 355/356 was canceled so the set/crew could help cover a later run.

Meanwhile down south, a switch problem at Attleboro caused 802 to make that station stop on Track 3 (outbound platform).

[cpf354]

404 was supposed to tie on to 402 at S. Acton and push it in, but later got alerts that 404 was running up to 80 minutes late itself. Not clear what happened.

[saulblum]

A combined 402/404 pulled in to Waltham at around 8:30 and was of course mobbed. So I waited for the now 40-minute-late 406, which came five minutes later, and which was empty.

[Diverging Route]

Dozens of T-Alerts for the CR's version of Malfunction Junction (Canton Junction), variously blaming Amtrak signals and the like. Then, this:

Providence/Stoughton Line: A bus is currently en route to Stoughton for late train 912. Making all local stops to Boston. Watch for up dates

I think it might be faster to wait for tomorrow's 912

Would someone please tell Keolis that UPDATES is one word? :/

[jfunk138]

404 was supposed to tie on to 402 at S. Acton and push it in, but later got alerts that 404 was running up to 80 minutes late itself. Not clear what happened.

Was on 404 this morning. There were no issues with this train itself. Arrived at South Acton and the tie-on process took about 35 minutes to complete. The combined 402/404 were then forced to make all remaining stops twice so that each set of coaches could board/alight passengers. Not sure why this would be since 404 is express and all passengers should be bound for Porter/North Station. Wouldn't it have made more sense to cancel 402 completely and have all local passengers depart at South Action and pick up 406/408 which were, by the time the tie was complete, right behind?

Instead, all 4 trains (402/404/406/408) were forced to crawl in as the combined 402/404 stopped at ALL stations.

[Steve Wagner]

I left home about 6:20 this morning (Monday, October 19) and reached Concord depot about five minutes before #402 was supposed to leave at 6:59. The electric sign said the train wasn't moving and more would be posted. The next posting said it had broken down at South Acton. I told others that the super express train would probably be pushing it into Cambridge and Boston, making all stops scheduled for the train that had broken down. That's what eventually happened, and it stopped twice at some stations so people could board both trains. But the combined train didn't leave Concord until 7:54. It was standing room only long before reaching Porter Square in Cambridge, where I got off, and it left there at 9:04 instead of 7:23. After a considerable wait for a bus at Porter, my total commuting time was 3 hours and 10 minutes.

[Komarovsky]

Real nice mess shaping up this afternoon on the Worcester line. 519 died at Wellesley Square and was eventually cancelled, 522 has now been pressed into service to rescue 519 according to T alerts, even though they're operating in opposite directions. 526 is delayed 45-60 minutes because IIRC 519 is 526's set. Hopefully they'll have things cleared up before rush hour starts, otherwise its going to be a huge mess.

[Type 7 3684]

I like this one
Framingham/Worcester Line Train 521 (2:55 pm from South Station) will be operating 10 to 20 minutes late due to disabled train and a circus train ahead. Watch for updates.
THEY ACTUALLY FIGURED OUT "UPDATE" IS ONE WORD
Yes, the afternoon is shaping out well for this line...

[StefanW]

Framingham/Worcester Line Train 521 (2:55 pm from South Station) will be operating 10 to 20 minutes late due to disabled train and a circus train ahead.

"Circus train" ????

[Type 7 3684]

Framingham/Worcester Line Train 521 (2:55 pm from South Station) will be operating 10 to 20 minutes late due to disabled train and a circus train ahead.

"Circus train" ????

Ringling Brothers, I believe.

[Type 7 3684]

Real nice mess shaping up this afternoon on the Worcester line. 519 died at Wellesley Square and was eventually cancelled, 522 has now been pressed into service to rescue 519 according to T alerts, even though they're operating in opposite directions. 526 is delayed 45-60 minutes because IIRC 519 is 526's set. Hopefully they'll have things cleared up before rush hour starts, otherwise its going to be a huge mess.

524 is picking up 522's passengers at Framingham. 521 is picking up 519's.

[csor2010]

Yup, RBBB blue unit stuck behind 519. 521 now seems to be going through the Wellesleys on track 2.

[Type 7 3684]

And the 522 is only 70 minutes late (!)

[harshaw]

On the 523 we passed the circus train on the way to Worcester near Southborough.

Not to be too much of a self centered jerk, but maybe they could run these special trains at night so we don't have late trains every week?

[csor2010]

maybe they could run these special trains at night so we don't have late trains every week?

The circus train had nothing to do with the cause of the delay; it was a dead 519 that prevented it from getting out of CR territory before rush hour. Here's the sequence of events as I could reconstruct them:

519 dies at Wellesley Square around 14:10 on track 2 (starting with 519 everything runs lefthanded for the evening rush). The circus train, which presumably had been following them at some distance, eventually gets stuck behind them, blocking the Wellesley Hills station crossing.

522 drops its passengers at Framingham and proceeds east on 2 to fetch 519 and drag it out to Framingham. Meanwhile, 521 holds at CP-11 in Weston.

Around 15:40, the circus train is moved (presumably west) so that it clears the station crossing at Wellesley Hills. 521 then proceeds west on track 1, picking up 519's passengers at Wellesley Square.

524 proceeds east with 522's passengers once 521 is clear of track 1. Meanwhile, the 522/519 double-draft jumps back to Framingham on track 2 without passengers. They were by Lake Cochituate around 16:20.

Once 524 clears east onto track 1 (running left-handed per usual), the deadhead proceeds west into Framingham and the circus train comes west on track 2. They were by Cochituate around 16:35.

At this point, the clog is cleared. However, 523 is now stuck behind the circus train, 528 has a late turn of 521's equipment, 526 presumably gets cancelled (no 519 to turn), and 523's tardiness impacts 532. All in all, combined with the Rockburyport & Fitchburg issues this morning Keolis had a hell of a Monday.

Also, for those curious, assuming that 519's problems were locomotive related we can nominate MBTA 2009 (the newest HSP IIRC) for problem child of the week.