Spring schedule changes for the Mbta and commuter rail

Hi folks, the rapid transit has already been cut by 20% on all the subway lines, except for the blue line which is 5% followed by bus route changes. On April 5th, as you all know, spring schedules goes into effect with more train slots schedules, although it’s not like pre pandemic which has designated rushour peak periods.

And continued suspension of weekend service on most lines.

I'm still not pleased, despite the improvements to the schedule.
I don't like how passengers heading to TG Green and Wickford from stations north of Providence will have to change trains at PVD. It adds more time to the schedule plus it's probably a waste of equipment.

The Needham Line should be running at least every 30 minutes during the rush hour. The headways during the other parts of the day are fine.

Merrimack River Valley passengers living north of Reading can certainly see some more trains during rush hour. They have hourly service during the rush hour. Why not make it half hourly.

I don't like how the Framingham/Worcester Line has hourly service to Worcester during the rush hour. Passengers living west of Framingham should be getting service right now every 30 minutes during the rush hour.

The Old Colony Division Lines don't have much service during the rush hour still. It's an almost hourly pattern during rush hour.

On the contrary, the PVD-Wickford shuttle may actually save crews/equipment shuffling around whatever Amtrak service is running. Plus you don't have oversize trains running all the way down there, you can keep a 4-car set in the service.

As they've indicated, this is a shift toward a regional rail model. That means basically the same schedule pattern through the day with slightly denser during the peak. It's still up in the air how many people come back and how frequently. My driving commute pre-pandemic averaged 40-45 minutes, right now it's 25-30 (up slightly from the 22 minutes just after the first lockdown last year). They are thinking there is going to be less of a peak surge for a while.

Some of the frequencies you are advocating for don't make sense with the current ridership and they exceed the pre-pandemic frequencies.

The Mass congressional delegation is not pleased, having given the T a financial shot in the arm recently.

I just looked at the Needham spring schedule, and I see the last outbound train of the evening (#633) leaves from Forest Hills not South Station. You are supposed to board the 11:00 PM Providence train and change trains at Forest Hills. What's with that? Has a Providence train ever stopped at Forest Hills before?

The shuttle trains as indicated by the purple arrow meaning you have to physically switch from one train to another and the one forest hills stop from the very last providence trains are new aside from what I said before. Pretty close to last fall’s schedule, but not pre pandemic which I said incorrectly by accident.

Transfers right now seem pointless with the amount of passengers but if we ever get back to full ridership, I feel we should have more transfers that could increase trains on more lines while not having congestion on the NEC.

The late night transfer at Forest Hills could be interesting. Hopefully the area around there is fine at night but it sounds like MBTA is doing it to save money.

As for reasonable cuts, yes, looking at many of the Old Colony Line timetables, it seems that the cuts for those lines make sense. Many people living in those towns have cars and if they need more rail options, then they can just drive to Braintree and either grab a commuter train or of course the subway there. The Red Line runs more frequently than the commuter rail; in fact, a lot more. Pre-covid-many people use the South Shore Line of the Red Line to travel to Boston.

The last time a Providence train stopped at Forest Hills was likely either the 1870s (when tri-tracking allowed separate local and express services) or the 1890s (when Forest Hills short turns were introduced). After Forest Hills short turns were removed in 1909, the stop was served by Dedham trains plus some Mansfield locals. It was closed in 1938 under the 88 stations case, and briefly reopened for 6 months in 1940. It reopened in 1973 for Needham service only, closed from 1979 to 1987 for reconstruction, and has only been served by Needham service since.

njtmnrrbuff wrote: ↑Fri Mar 19, 2021 11:54 am The late night transfer at Forest Hills could be interesting. Hopefully the area around there is fine at night but it sounds like MBTA is doing it to save money.

Why it would be a problem? It would be cross platform transfer? Happens all over the country with no problem.

Needham Commuter Rail parking lots are dead empty all day. Not even 10% full. 30 minute headways at rush hour would be great for that line in normal times, but not now.

I'd wager that historically, 2/3 of the riders on the line walk to the stations or get dropped off, but I drive down the roads near the stations regularly and I don't see anyone walking there.

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2021/03/19/ ... s-layoffs/

New from AV at the Globe: Amid criticism from congressional delegation, MBTA rethinking service cuts and scraps layoffs

No specific indication of where or when service will be restored, but back to 100% service quicker than previously thought. How quickly is another question.

100% service on the bus and subway. No mention of CR other than no furloughs. That's an indication that the new schedule actually reduced crew requirements. Plus they probably were keeping staffing short. One thing consistent service all day does is also reduce the peak demand on staff and equipment. Fewer split jobs.

The one thing I noticed today based on the current assignments is that the majority of the bi-level coaches are assigned down south while some of the 900s are assigned up north which makes sense to me since the majority of the high ridership is down south, especially on the Framingham/Worcester and Providence lines. However, as some of you already pointed out, there will be mostly 4-6 car sets with spread out intervals about an hour maybe an hour and a half, depending on what line you are traveling on. Those 2 I just mentioned are hourly during the day and maybe 30-45 during peak travel times, when ridership is heavier. We shall see how this plays out as ridership patterns will change over time. Since people are getting vaccinated, this seems to be a good approach. Also the majority of the MBBs and in service pullmans the 200s are assigned up north with some bombardiers as 600s are down south.