2014 Discussion for Commuter Rail Delays

So far this morning, it looks like they've cancelled:

351/352 to Anderson (351's trip covered by one of the Lowell deadheads)
263/264 to Reading (264 covered by replacement buses)
53/54 to Beverly - no replacement service info.

206 very late as above (40-45 mins), and 208 about 30 mins late stuck in the Western Route logjam.

Slowly piecing together what all has happened. Sounds like 208 may have had it's own mechanical failures, and is running 60-90 mins late. 260 apparently died inbound, rescued by 262, but the combined set was tweeted by Keolis as only leaving Malden at 8:50 AM.

There was also an alert that 201 was turned back to Reading, and 210 cancelled outright (the 9;10 AM out of Haverhill). Next inbound not until 212 (9:54 AM from Bradford) but that's also expected at least 30 mins late.

And that's just the Haverhill line. Wow.

359/360 the 4:20pm Anderson turn is proactively cancelled due to mx. This is the set usually used for 333, the 1730 Lowell express. Let's hope that runs

Last night on an outbound Haverhill train, we were told there were signal outages from around Reading Jct. up to Malden (I'm assuming to the end of CTC at Fells?) as a section of track fencing had come loose, and landed across both the third rail and the commuter rail tracks, frying (to some degree) the railroad signals. Last night and this morning it was stop & proceed/restricted speed from what appeared to be FX up through the start of double track in Melrose. Seems to add 8-10 minutes to Western Route trains, and I'm sure will cause some congestion for Eastern Route trains as well.

So this happened today, apparently:
https://twitter.com/BostonMagazine/stat ... 5111778304" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Anyone know any details? What happened to the protesters? Did the train still make it before the game started?

This was a very dangerous stunt they pulled, I'm glad no one got hit by the train.

Here's more info:

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massac ... headline_1

deathtopumpkins wrote:So this happened today, apparently:
https://twitter.com/BostonMagazine/stat ... 5111778304" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Anyone know any details? What happened to the protesters? Did the train still make it before the game started?

This was a very dangerous stunt they pulled, I'm glad no one got hit by the train.

Second article has a bit more detail to it .

Well, this sounds fun:

Fitchburg/South Acton Line Train 416 (11:50 am from Fitchburg) delayed today due to an earlier mechanical problem

Train 416 will depart Fitchburg, North Leominster, Shirley on time but will be delayed 15 to 20 minutes at Ayer assisting disabled train.
Rescue train sent to assist disabled train so Train 416 will depart Ayer on time and we expect on time arrival in Boston
Affected stops:
Fitchburg
North Leominster
Shirley
Ayer

Last updated: Jan 12 2015 11:52 AM

More of an advance notice than a delay, but anyone that still has to work on Monday (Martin Luther King Jr Day) might want to note that the T has quietly switched service to Saturday service...meaning any rush hour commuters will probably have at most one train available in the morning and one in the evening. It looks like they only made the announcement yesterday, although some of the line schedules changed late last year have it. Anyone else notice if there was any other announcement of this before yesterday? I know that in the past few years weekday service has operated since many private sector businesses are still open.

They posted it on sign boards at the stations early last week. And on the Ts web site last Thursday. They put it on Twitter a few times over the last few days. This is the first time they have operated a reduced schedule for this day.

sery2831 wrote:They posted it on sign boards at the stations early last week. And on the Ts web site last Thursday. They put it on Twitter a few times over the last few days. This is the first time they have operated a reduced schedule for this day.

Not sure if I am representative of riders, but I tuned out the LED message boards when they started on the MLK Jr. Day message since I assumed it was just saying a regular weekday schedule. And the banner image on the web site also just says to click for details: it should prominently state that this year is different than years past.

I first learned of the schedule change this morning on this board.

I think I'll be working from home with the barely existent weekend Fitchburg schedule.

It says right on the MBTA website: "Commuter Rail Service to Operate on Saturday Schedule on MLK Jr. Day" under News & Updates.

I''ve also noticed it myself several times at the station.

This would really suck if I had to work though, since the first Newburyport inbound isn't until 9 am. I normally don't get holidays like this off. The T really should run an earlier AM train on Saturdays anyway. It's ridiculous that the earliest you can get into Boston on many lines is 10 am on the weekends.

UPDATE 2
Back to a weekday schedule next Monday.

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UPDATE
A tweet or two to the T later and the banner image has been updated.

http://www.mbta.com/uploadedimages/Smar ... webpromo_2(1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;).jpg

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The "News & Updates" alert is fine print. I'm talking about the prominent banner image.

http://www.mbta.com/uploadedimages/Smar ... romo_2.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Perhaps also put an alert for each line.

I just alerted two co-workers who take the commuter rail and neither knew of the Saturday schedule. So based on my small sample size, many commuters are not expecting a Saturday schedule next Monday.

Well now they've deleted the news item, and updated the holiday service info page, but if you're like me and click straight to the schedule, it still says Saturday service, e.g. http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/ ... splay+Time" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Keolis "Rail Mail" sent me the following a couple hours ago:

To All of Our Commuter Rail Passengers:
Important Schedule Information
Monday, January 19, 2015
The commuter rail service will operate on a regular weekday schedule on Monday, January 19th.
Thank you as always for choosing the commuter rail.
Keolis Commuter Services