Who dispatches MBTA trains out of South Station?

Whoever it is did a masterful job yesterday with the train I was riding to Needham. It went through the West Roxbury passing siding perfectly timed with an inbound train, such that neither had to stop; they just glided by each other.

Keolis Southside dispatchers at South Station

I don't ride the Needham Line much any more, but when I was a daily rider, that was usually what happened between Forest Hills and Roslindale Village. The inbound train would pass the outbound train shortly after it left Forest Hills, and just before it reached the Busey bridge, generally without any need to stop. I'd assume most passings work this way?

Amtrak has from Tower 1(SS) down to Mill River just outside of New Haven and the Dorchester Branch and up to Springfield. Keolis Dispatches the Old Colony(starting at Cove or Broad, cant remember which), Worcester, Needham, Forge Park and Foxboro lines. Amtrak Dispatches all trains on the NEC then hand them off at their respective locations on the branches from the NEC. CTEC is located 5th Floor South Station on the Channel Side

HenryAlan wrote: ↑Thu Mar 16, 2023 10:26 am I don't ride the Needham Line much any more, but when I was a daily rider, that was usually what happened between Forest Hills and Roslindale Village.

With the current schedules, and when the trains are on time, the meet happens at the siding just west of the West Roxbury station. It's supposed to be routine that the trains just pass each other without delay but in reality the trains are rarely exactly on time.

What does CTEC stand for? Are Keolis south-side dispatchers at South Station or in Billerica? Are Keolis and Amtrak dispatchers in the same room? What does "Dorchester Branch up to Springfield" mean?

Would the MBTA save money if they took over NEC dispatch?

CETC = Centralized Electrification and Traffic Control
Amtrak and Keolis dispatchers share the same room at SS. Keolis dispatchers are employed by Keolis, so wouldn't matter if the MBTA did it or not, they payed for it thru the contract and to be honest, with all the problems at High St., I believe it would probably make matters worse.

He was just quickly stating which territory desks are upstairs at SS. The Mill River-Springfield line is dispatched at SS and the Dorchester Branch is the Readville shuttles and Keolis Old Colony dispatch takes over after CABOT interlocking adjacent to the S&I building

North side dispatchers are at Cobble Hill in Somerville. Their center is known as CROCC = Commuter Rail Operation Control Center

The 1st are for meets on the Needham Branch can occur west of Forest Hills until the double track ends at DALE int. The 2nd area for meets west of West Roxbury happens between ROX and BAKER Interlockings. The 3rd chance for meets occurs between WARREN and NEED, just east of Needham Junction

With fiber-optic cables dispatch could easily be moved to Cobble Hill. Likely scenario when they expand South Station. No way would you move it across the street to High Street. Just wondering if Keolis or Amtrak dispatch is less expensive or "better". No idea where the Mill River-Springfield (freight) Line is.

charlesriverbranch wrote: ↑Wed Mar 15, 2023 7:04 am Whoever it is did a masterful job yesterday with the train I was riding to Needham. It went through the West Roxbury passing siding perfectly timed with an inbound train, such that neither had to stop; they just glided by each other.

Somewhere in the Commuter Rail Timetable for the train you were on and the train you met, some "smaht fella" up in Boston, with a bunch of string diagrams, operating experience and old New Haven Timetables figured out that...
1) if both trains are on time leaving their previous stops, including both condutors getting people on and off efficiently and safely,
2) if both engineers run at timetable speed
3) if all the equipment works
Then the 2 trains are gonna have a planned rolling meet at siding "X" just like they used to do it in 1950s.

And for that one shining moment, when it all happens "the way it is supposed to", he comes out looking like a scheduling genius.

BandA wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 4:04 pm With fiber-optic cables dispatch could easily be moved to Cobble Hill. Likely scenario when they expand South Station. No way would you move it across the street to High Street. Just wondering if Keolis or Amtrak dispatch is less expensive or "better". No idea where the Mill River-Springfield (freight) Line is.

Mill River- Springfield is the Springfield shuttles and how the Vermonter gets up to Vermont. Amtrak Also Dispatches CTRail and Metro North trains up to New London at South Station too. Kelois dispatch takes up so little space at South Station, idk if it make sense to move them.

BandA wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 4:04 pm With fiber-optic cables dispatch could easily be moved to Cobble Hill. Likely scenario when they expand South Station. No way would you move it across the street to High Street. Just wondering if Keolis or Amtrak dispatch is less expensive or "better". No idea where the Mill River-Springfield (freight) Line is.

Everyone WAS at Cobble Hill when CETC was stripped down and rebuilt a few years back. NS Dspr's are planned to go to the newly rebuilt facility at Billerica, Iron Horse Park. CETC is one of the finest dispatching centers in the United States. Lets leave the T and their dirty fingers out of our dispatching

CSRR573 wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 11:31 pm

BandA wrote: ↑Sun Mar 19, 2023 4:04 pm With fiber-optic cables dispatch could easily be moved to Cobble Hill. Likely scenario when they expand South Station. No way would you move it across the street to High Street. Just wondering if Keolis or Amtrak dispatch is less expensive or "better". No idea where the Mill River-Springfield (freight) Line is.

Mill River- Springfield is the Springfield shuttles and how the Vermonter gets up to Vermont. Amtrak Also Dispatches CTRail and Metro North trains up to New London at South Station too. Kelois dispatch takes up so little space at South Station, idk if it make sense to move them.

Metro North does not run to New London, SLE service is operated by Amtrak.

It's all the T, in reality (Amtrak excluded, obviously). [Current contract carrier] has changed and will change again, but the people manning the desks and their bosses do not. High street is for subway and buses. Railroad operations has always been separate and no one has any desire for that to change.

Cobble Hill's days are numbered. Dispatchers were already supposed to be moved to the brand new facility in North Billerica.

Rolling meets at passing sidings can be made more smoothly with a computer that can receive frequent updates about the position of each train. The computer would inform each engineer of the speed needed to make the meet efficiently, perhaps using a cab readout. But still each engineer has to be alert and cooperative.

Each train must be presented with a red signal and its engineer preparing to stop before its half of the passing siding merges back into single track, until the train coming the other way has fully cleared into the other half of the passing siding.