Green Line Collision 7/30/21

This seems like one or more of the leftover shells at Orient Heights might finally be put to use.

Digging into the parts bin is very unlikely - there are plenty of out of service Type 8s with undamaged carbodies that can and should be resurrected first before the T resorts to that. Fitting out a bare parts shell into a serviceable car is not a small job, and unless they keep playing bumper cars with the fleet and availability drops far below minimum requirements, there is no reason to expend that much effort.

Fast "fixes" like reducing frequency of service, running single cars, and suspending service beyond Brigham Circle are far more likely - don't forget, strategies like these have been used before! "We don't have enough PCCs" - okay, kill Watertown service... "We don't have enough LRVs" - okay, kill Arborway service... "We've banged up about 30 cars in as many years" - what's on the block this time?

jwhite07 wrote: ↑Fri Aug 06, 2021 5:45 pm - what's on the block this time?

The Highland Branch killed streetcar service on the present day Trackless Trolley lines. We all know what's on the chopping block and a new need for streetcars (I think we're using that term loosely at this point) elsewhere may be exactly the justification for that. Not that this is the venue for that debate but you brought up an extremely valid point that may be relevant again in current events 65 years later!

South Huntington?

The loss of one or two heavy light rail vehicles isn't going to affect plans. Did they not order enough type 9s to provide service on the GLX?

Pre-COVID, peak vehicle requirement on the Green Line was 146 LRVs (73 trains). That will increase to approximately 170 LRVs (85 trains) when GLX opens. According to the NETransit tracker, there are currently 98 Type 7s, 83 Type 8s, and 23 Type 9s (soon to be 24). That gives 83 7/8 pairs and 12 9/9 pairs, for a total of 95 trains. That's a decent 11% spares ratio, nowhere near the level where a single accident could lead to a car shortage.

Hope you all realize that type 10 cars are in the works to replace all type 7 and 8s. Hopefully next summer a contract will be awarded so they can get built. I believe that this should have been done sooner around the time when the type 7s were getting rebuilt. But that’s just me I guess.

Current schedule for the Type 10s is a pilot unit in 2026, with deliveries 2027 to 2032. So there's about 5 years of GLX operations before the Type 10s start increasing fleet size.

If all goes well and if the contract is awarded when expected and if there are no production delays, it will be five years before even the first Type 10s arrive (the base order for which has already been cut from 165 cars to 102 cars). If there is none of the usual debacle that is more common than not with the MBTA's Green Line procurements, and if the money is forthcoming to acquire the full 226 car fleet that was the projected need by 2032, and if none of those start getting lost to derailments and crashes right away, then maybe the future will be bright for the Green Line ten years from now.

That's a lot of ifs. Regardless, I have no intention of being a Massachusetts resident or taxpayer by 2032, so it will no longer affect me.

With all these crashes, has there been interest in a CBTC or ATC system on the Green Line? SEPTA has a form
of CBTC in the Market Street Tunnel, which allows subway-surface cars to run close and allow frequent schedules.

R36 Combine Coach wrote: ↑Mon Aug 09, 2021 11:58 pm With all these crashes, has there been interest in a CBTC or ATC system on the Green Line?

It’s already in the works: https://www.mbta.com/projects/green-lin ... ion-system

Both CBTC and manual operations top out around 40-45 trains per hour for light rail, so you're not going to get additional capacity there. But if you improve branch operations with reliable headways and longer trains, that's plenty of additional capacity for a while to come.

WCVB investigation: "MBTA Green Line operator has history of problems at the T"

5 Investigates has learned that the operator in the Green Line crash had been terminated with pay in August 2017, and rehired in October 2017.

https://www.wcvb.com/article/mbta-green ... t/37275006

Bruhhh it's not that hard to not be stupid at management!

Not always management, Carmen's union may have a hand in the rehiring.