post pandemic commuter rail discussion

I've been riding the commuter rail on the Worcester line 1-2 days a week during the Pandemic. As more people go back into Boston what's seems to be clear is that the commuter rail isn't running well in many dimensions.

1) Most times my fare is not collected. I get when trains are packed this is hard - but literally there is no attempt at all 90% of the time.
2) Despite generally fewer cars in parking lots, Keolis / MBTA is running smaller sets during peak rush hours. Why? we have the hardware.
3) On the worcester line we used to have an 8 car double set. Now we have a 5 car set with maybe two doubles. Not sure why we are running such small sets. Its standing room only in the morning and pretty much a miserable experience.
4) What's going on with staffing? Is anyone trying to hire conductors?

Fare is not being collected mainly because of the Orange Line shutdown accommodations. Rides are supposed to be free at least to Zone 1. I only ride to Zone 1 so I don't know if they've been collecting out there.

My rides have been generally great on the Worcester Line, in fact, smoother than before, although we did get a long train with only one conductor last week, which definitely increased onboard/offboard times at the low platform stops.

The Commuter Rail is not unique among the T's hiring struggles at the moment.

Re:the T's hiring struggles: commuter rail employees work for Keolis, not the T. The T hires Keolis to run the system, as far as I know. If I'm not mistaken Keolis is owned by the French national railway company SNCF.

rethcir wrote: ↑Tue Sep 13, 2022 9:42 am Fare is not being collected mainly because of the Orange Line shutdown accommodations. Rides are supposed to be free at least to Zone 1. I only ride to Zone 1 so I don't know if they've been collecting out there.

Fares are actually free through Zone 2, so that's even more stops where tickets don't need to be checked. In my experience on the Needham Line, nobody's looked for any sort of ticket or CharlieCard since the OL shut down and trains have been quite busy. Before the OL shutdown, ticket checking was quite consistent.