Columbia Junction (Red Line) Derailment 6/11/19

10MPH is a leisurely speed for a bicyclist. 20MPH would be aerobic. I'm assuming the bicyclist has to stop for traffic lights and/or crossing roads, interference from freights - oops I mean pedestrians or pedestrians with bag-dorms (strollers) or sk8ters. T goes about the same as walking speed in downtown, lol.

10MPH is a leisurely speed for a bicyclist. 20MPH would be aerobic. I'm assuming the bicyclist has to stop for traffic lights and/or crossing roads, interference from freights - oops I mean pedestrians or pedestrians with bag-dorms (strollers) or sk8ters. T goes about the same as walking speed in downtown, lol.

... manual control from the dispatcher station to station ...

This is the problem. I think this is the same problem that causes extra delays in the Harverd to Charles section.

(copied from another post) During this latest South Boston fiasco, there should be sub-blocks between stations, if not already, where manual control is needed. For example an additional dispatcher stand halfway between JFK and Andrew, one halfway between Andrew and Broadway, at least three between JFK and North Quincy. Each stand should of course have dispatching for both directions of travel.

If the system can handle only ten of the normal 14 trains per hour then more dispatcher stands are needed. Let's say the previous station is a mile back. If the next train is waiting for clearance at the previous station it will be at least 2 minutes (at about 30 MPH) before it can arrive at the subject station after a train departs. If the next train were waiting halfway to the subject station it will only be about one minute before it arrives following the departure of the previous train. The T cannot say it has done everything it could do unless it has implemented this idea.

Not too long range plans should have at least 2 blocks between Harvard and Central, between Central and Kendall, etc. Same for Broadway through JFK. Instead o just one train waiting open doored in each of those stations respectively during pileups, there would also be trains waiting closed doored in between the stations. This speeds up the recovery when strains start moving again.

Disney Guy wrote: ↑Sat Jun 22, 2019 6:55 am

... manual control from the dispatcher station to station ...

...
Not too long range plans should have at least 2 blocks between Harvard and Central, between Central and Kendall, etc. Same for Broadway through JFK. Instead o just one train waiting open doored in each of those stations respectively during pileups, there would also be trains waiting closed doored in between the stations. This speeds up the recovery when strains start moving again.

Slightly off topic, but is there any diagram or writeup of Red Line control lines/block lengths? I've heard a lot about the issues with its current design, but have yet to see/read something cohesive...

BandA wrote: ↑Fri Jun 21, 2019 4:26 pm 10MPH is a leisurely speed for a bicyclist. 20MPH would be aerobic. I'm assuming the bicyclist has to stop for traffic lights and/or crossing roads, interference from freights - oops I mean pedestrians or pedestrians with bag-dorms (strollers) or sk8ters. T goes about the same as walking speed in downtown, lol.

10 mph average speed corresponds to about 20 mph cruising speed while moving - the zeroes at lights really add up.

Surveillance video of the derailment footage has been released. Two different angles can be seen. A closer up can be seen at just after the 2 minute 50 seconds mark.

It can be seen here at NBC 10's website:

https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/Fo ... 58731.html


The derailment looks a bit more violent than I had expected. Really lucky that no one got hurt.

Impressive. Surprised that the track signal on the opposite track blinked, then came back on, and the ones on the derailment track stayed on. Also the light on the front car stayed on; Did the derailment not short the third rail?

It's taking a very long time for preliminary findings to be released or leaked.

BandA wrote: ↑Fri Jul 19, 2019 10:35 pm Also the light on the front car stayed on; Did the derailment not short the third rail?

Marker lights and headlights operate on battery voltage and will remain lit with the loss of 600v.

BandA wrote: ↑Fri Jul 19, 2019 10:35 pm Impressive. Surprised that the track signal on the opposite track blinked, then came back on, and the ones on the derailment track stayed on.

I'm not sure what video you're watching but in the ones linked all signals go dark at the same time.

How is service on the line nowadays? I usually ride in from Quincy to Boston but lately I’ve switched to driving halfway in and walking the other half. The one or two times I’ve tried to go from South Station and JFK have been ridiculous. I could’ve biked quicker.

I met a friend for dinner last week...45 minutes from Park Street to Ashmont, a trip that's only supposed to be 23 minutes, according to the T trip planner.

Poor grounding caused axle to break:

https://www.dotnews.com/2019/broken-axl ... derailment

Unlike the television news, the Dorchester Reporter actually 'splains what happened. Thank you typesix for posting it.

I haven't heard what this is actually costing; Are they performing any of the scheduled updates early? Are they planning to relocate the signal bunkers to a more resilient location?

They claimed to have the signals fixed at Jfk, however the soutbound signals are still dark and the Braintree one has been covered ever since. The arrows above the countdown clock in the Jfk lobby hasn't worked since the derailment occurred.

I might be in Boston in a few weeks and I usually ride the Red Line to/from Braintree. How is the service on the line nowadays? Is it running reasonably efficiently or are there still long delays? If there are, I might take the commuter rail instead.