Seven car trainsets back on the North Side

Yesterday, both 306 and 331 on the Lowell Line had seven car sets. HOO-RAY!

You would have thought that with 28 new bilevel K-cars accepted and in-service on the South Side, it would have happened sooner. But an MBCR insider told me that up until last week there were 70+ cars out-of-service at BET. Recent approval to have overtime repair work allowed many out-of-service cars and engines to be returned to the line-up.

70 plus.. ehh that dosn't sound too good to me

last saturday, it was 88 coaches out of service

MBTA F40PH-2C 1050 wrote:last saturday, it was 88 coaches out of service

and as usual the norhtside feels the brunt of this , I would love to see what would happen if the tables were turned.

308 had the set yesterday.

railfan101 wrote:

MBTA F40PH-2C 1050 wrote:last saturday, it was 88 coaches out of service

and as usual the norhtside feels the brunt of this , I would love to see what would happen if the tables were turned.

Yes that would be very interesting

last saturday, it was 88 coaches out of service

While I'm sure that the Northside has been affected by this situation more than us on the Southside, I have noticed many sets on the Southside running a car shorter over the past month or so compared to last fall. I thought there might be a car shortage.

I think people sort of thought this kind of thing would happen when they switched from Amtrak to MBCR. It's one of those things where people thought things were bad, and then they switched and they got worse. The difference between Amtrak and MBCR is that Amtrak had no incentive to save money; they just did what they were paid to do. MBCR is in it to maximize their revenues, and the way you do that is by cutting down on maintenance. But then what else did everyone expect any way?

I personally have never had any problems w MBCR, all their crews seem to be really good, all the times i run down to Boston via the Haverhill Line we are always on time and all seems to go well

Of the 88 cars out of servic, does anyone know if these are undergoing the announced "rehabilitation" of the cars with windows to be replaced?

Paul

GP40MC 1116 wrote:I personally have never had any problems w MBCR, all their crews seem to be really good, all the times i run down to Boston via the Haverhill Line we are always on time and all seems to go well

The only suggestion I would have for MBCR on board train personnel is that they be more aggressive and diligent about making sure every seat in every available car on the train is available for passengers. I have too often seen people get away with leaving luggage, back-packs, and even their feet on adjacent seats while passengers are standing. Back in the B&M days, you'd catch holy heck from the conductors and trainmen for antics like that!(I did)

GrahamP117 wrote:

last saturday, it was 88 coaches out of service

While I'm sure that the Northside has been affected by this situation more than us on the Southside, I have noticed many sets on the Southside running a car shorter over the past month or so compared to last fall. I thought there might be a car shortage.

But there's a difference....40 extra seats per double-deck coach kinda gives southside trains a bigger capacity cushion if a car is missing, since they've all been moved there. Northside rush-hour trains have been at or above capacity for some time now, and its not wasted seats....most of the trains I ride, ALL the seats are full.They really need to transfer a few Kawasakis back North.

If more North side trains are reaching capacity do we think it is time to prepare to purchase more double-deckers in addition to the newest delivery...especially once the Greenbush opens?