Planned Service Suspensions (Was: Orange Line To Close...)

The story is here: https://universalhub.com/2022/baker-t-o ... own-orange

What astonishes me is that they aren't doing it now, so as to have everything done by Labor Day. September is not a good time to have a major subway line out of service, and there's no way those buses will not get snarled in traffic.

And what's this about using Charlie Cards on commuter rail? I've been riding commuter rail for years, and have often heard conductors telling passengers that Charlie Cards aren't acceptable.

For such a major operation they need the cites along the Orange Line to be in the loop. Which means special bus lanes to expedite the shuttle service. That will be a negotiation and love song between the state and city. Also the only Orange Line job was the Wellington to Oak Grove shutdown, which all the rail is stacked and ready to go. For the south side nothing is prepped, that will take time. In other words this what we would like to do and now we will come up with a plan.

As for the commuter rail Oak Grove inbound and Forest Hills inbound just show you card, it a free trip. They probably won't even check. The outbound my guess everyone with a Charlie get in cars X, Y, Z, by Oak Grove or the Hills those cars should be empty.

Also, the shut down gives the T the time to fix any known issues on the #14s and fix loose sill plates on the #12s.

Oak Grove isn't a commuter rail stop, but I rode through there the other day on a diverted Downeaster, and saw what appeared to be a dilapidated boarding platform. Are they going to use that?

Supposedly. Myself, weather good I'll walk to Malden an catch the CR to NS. Then somehow to Ruggles/MFA.

The Oak Grove CR platform is usable. It's been used many times over the years for diversions.

I honestly fear that they won't get nearly as much work done during this shutdown that they're promising given how short of a lead time there is.

octr202 wrote: ↑Wed Aug 03, 2022 7:29 pm I honestly fear that they won't get nearly as much work done during this shutdown that they're promising given how short of a lead time there is.

I couldn't agree with you more. The Wellington to Oak Grove I look as a done deal. The rail is stocked in Wellington Yard and on the ROW. As for the south side the rail is laid on the concrete slabs, so does the slabs need to be replaced? Also the Back Bay crossover needs to be totally replaced, that I look at as special work. So are the parts for that in house or just drive over to Charles Ro in Malden?

At the end of the 30 days, if we still need shutdowns at night or weekends John Q. Public will be.....

The MBTA knows that their audience is a captive one. Those that can remote, will remote, those with cars will drive and those, like me have to take the MBTA. Or, give up my salary to Lyft/Uber and my crystal ball says they will come up with surge pricing for the shutdown.

I'm crossing my fingers that the job will be done and we will have more new car sets and higher speeds.

What happens to the Orange Line Employees? On trains, in stations, etc? Vendors in the stations?

charlesriverbranch wrote: ↑Wed Aug 03, 2022 4:05 pm Oak Grove isn't a commuter rail stop, but I rode through there the other day on a diverted Downeaster, and saw what appeared to be a dilapidated boarding platform. Are they going to use that?

As others have said the platform is usable. It was constructed to be an Express Platform for the planned extension to Reading when the line was built. The only other stations with these platforms are Malden Center (converted to CR), Wellington (in use) and Community College (never used).

The last known use of the Oak Grove platform was in 2004 during the Democrat National Convention when the Haverhill Line terminated there.

Oak Grove was used for the recent Orange Line incident over the Mystic River. It's not unheard of for CR trains to stop there during service disruptions. It most certainly isn't "dilapidated."

theMainer wrote:The only other stations with these platforms are Malden Center (converted to CR), Wellington (in use) and Community College (never used).

Sullivan Station's is also in use.

Did I read this correctly, that Corridor trains will be making stops at Forest Hills? How much will that bollox up everything else on the south side?

dieciduej wrote: ↑Thu Aug 04, 2022 4:00 amAs for the south side the rail is laid on the concrete slabs, so does the slabs need to be replaced?

If the slabs do need to be replaced, they should be ripped out entirely and replaced with ordinary ties and ballast to reduce the obscene noise level on the SWC.

Rbts Stn wrote: ↑Thu Aug 04, 2022 7:56 am What happens to the Orange Line Employees? On trains, in stations, etc? Vendors in the stations?

Vendors, good luck getting your rent waived. You will probably have to go to court. If they are paying THIRTY SEVEN MILLION DOLLARS to a private bus company, which is about $5/trip assuming all passengers use the replacement service, the T should lay off the employees for 30 days or transfer them to open positions on other lines (would have to certify them on the other routes!!!), or spread the pain around by reducing everybody's hours.

People will still be going in and out of the station lobbies, if possible, to buy things at the vendor and snack stands.

In some cases it is easier to buy something with shuttle buses running instead of the trains. With the trains, if the next train is 5 or more minutes away, people will stop at the vendor stand; if the train is 4 minutes or sooner they will go directly to the platform. Whereas with shuttle buses there are enough of them so the average headway is more frequent than 5 minutes so more people will buy things in the station.

wicked wrote: ↑Thu Aug 04, 2022 2:21 pm Did I read this correctly, that Corridor trains will be making stops at Forest Hills? How much will that bollox up everything else on the south side?

Only Providence and Needham trains will be stopping at Forest Hills. The Needham trains already do this, and the Providence trains were doing this when the US Open was going on. It’s unlikely to have much of an effect, although I expect dwell times will be a bit longer than usual due to increased ridership. I figure these trains will be pretty jammed between Forest Hills and Back Bay.

chrisf wrote: ↑Thu Aug 04, 2022 7:37 pm Only Providence and Needham trains will be stopping at Forest Hills. The Needham trains already do this, and the Providence trains were doing this when the US Open was going on. It’s unlikely to have much of an effect, although I expect dwell times will be a bit longer than usual due to increased ridership. I figure these trains will be pretty jammed between Forest Hills and Back Bay.

Did not know that happened during the Open. I thought logistically it would be a challenge to have Providence/Stoughton trains stop regularly (as in all day every day, not the one-off trip every night).

Is there any extra capacity on the corridor for extra South Station-Forest Hills (or even Readville) service? Where would the closest crossover be?