#4 Red Line Cars 1900-2151

I know I saw some photos and videos on Facebook regarding the new 01900s they were shown in the Quincy Center area and maybe they went all the way down to Braintree. Hopefully it’s a sign that they’ll be coming into service after the new year

Apparently at least one new train is officially in service.

From Boston.com:

https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/ ... line-train

As of right now the new train set isn't running on the Red Line, nor are any of the new cars running on the Orange. It's clear this was nothing more than a quick publicity stunt just to say that they met their target of going into service in 2020.

chrisf wrote: ↑Thu Dec 31, 2020 11:03 am As of right now the new train set isn't running on the Red Line, nor are any of the new cars running on the Orange. It's clear this was nothing more than a quick publicity stunt just to say that they met their target of going into service in 2020.

On a normal weekday you can find the 3 sets of Orange Line cars out and about. For awhile there was a new OL set either as the 1st or 2nd train out of Oak Grove. I've been on holiday since the 21st so I am not sure if they are keeping that pattern. I got 1414 last night at about 18:15 at Back Bay NB.

As for the Red Line set as far as I know there is only 1 set (1900-1905) in the house. So I do agree that was a publicity job. The major problems as I have heard a 50-50 split between QC issues and COVID issues. If COVID did not occur we would be harping on the QC issues.

Much like LIRR put the first train of M-1s in service on 12/30/68 to boast the MTA's goal of new fleet in 1968,
though really the first train was a press/publicity stunt for MTA Chairman Ronan and Governor Rockefeller.

Don’t forget that the new red line car’s settings have to be fine tuned as they did with the first new orange line cars to work out the teething problems that comes with new stuff. More will come slowly overtime.

The new train has been used most days since coming in to service, but not necessarily for a typical full schedule. Right now, for example, it's not in service, but it was earlier. You can check on this pretty easily through a few websites:

https://newtrains.today/ (good for overall activity of the day)
https://traintracker.transitmatters.org/ (good for a snapshot of any new trains running right now)

Right for the reasons that I stated above. Most new trains are usually in service sparsely which means not full time like you said. Overtime they will move closer to full time service as the engineers who oversees the performance of the trains becomes confident that the train is running with fewer issues that have been fixed. Basically means that they know how to easily diagnose and fix the teething issues just like they did to the orange line cars.

Im glad the first 01900 Red Line trainset is finally in passenger operation. Bad news though: I just saw the NETransit MBTA Vehicle inventory and it says essentially that thats the only trainset on any MBTA property. All other 246 01900s are either being built or if completed, they still havent even departed the Springfield factory. By now they should have had three 01900 trainsets on MBTA premises. I wonder what's going on at CRRC Springfield thats delaying their appearance at Cabot Yard for introduction?

Simply COVID and qc issues as mentioned in previous posts. The production is delayed for a year because of these events. The red line cars have been running during the typical rush hour periods even though they are non existent temporarily

Ah ok, its gotta be, yup, the pandemic. If any good comes out of this, I am thankful to be working remotely from home due to the same pandemic thus not needing to ride the trains to Boston.

I am glad the new red line cars have the same interior side wall color on the end walls. The new orange line cars have an ugly (in my opinion) interior end wall color that does not match the interior side wall color. The yellow/orange end walls look dated and unfinished on the 1400 orange line cars.

On a different note, I think the leather (?) hand-hold straps are absolutely comical. Not sure if Boston cars had them, but years ago all New York City subway cars had metal straps. But they were eliminated in newer car orders since the 1970's being as mechanical devices got too expensive so passengers just held on to the bars for the last forty years.

So now we've re-invented the wheel LOL with less expensive leather straps with no mechanical swivels where they attach to the bar. I think NYC had these a hundred years ago too before the metal straps were invented. So now we've come a full circle. LOL

The straps are heavy-duty plastic.