Subway Delay Reports and Discussion (2011-2017)

Adams_Umass_Boston wrote:"Blue Line due to a disabled train and power problems at Government Station shuttle buses will replace train service from Government Center Station to Maverick Station. Bus service is unable to stop at Bowdoin, Aquarium, or State Street Stations. Please allow 30-35 minutes to your commute. 4/4/2011 3:49 PM"

It's only a short walk from Gov't Ctr. to State.
Aquarium is a problem because the bus route doesn't go near it. (Don't the buses enter the Sumner/Callahan tunnels near Haymarket?)

They need to reconfigure the track and power system so the tunnel between Aquarium and Maverick doesn't go out of service so often. Including such things as bidirectional shuttling of otherwise through trains between two stations or even a three station segment to get to an extended short turn point. An escort can accompany each train through the ad hoc bidirectional section; if he is not there then the next train changes ends and discharges passengers without doing the bidirectional segment and returns to the unaffected other end of the line. Example: Wonderland to Aquarium with some trains turning back at Maverick. Also reconfigure the Red line so the part under the Fort Point Channel doesn't go out of service as a result of problems not too near it.

Disney Guy wrote:

Adams_Umass_Boston wrote:"Blue Line due to a disabled train and power problems at Government Station shuttle buses will replace train service from Government Center Station to Maverick Station. Bus service is unable to stop at Bowdoin, Aquarium, or State Street Stations. Please allow 30-35 minutes to your commute. 4/4/2011 3:49 PM"

It's only a short walk from Gov't Ctr. to State.

GC to AQ is 2300 feet, though. Compared to 2000 feet from Bowdoin to Charles. Bit of a hike to/from the shuttle.



Why does the Blue Line seem to have more power problems than any other line? Old substations or faulty wiring or something?

Somewhat off-topic, but today at Ashmont I saw a pair of T workers actually picking up trash (!) from the ROW between the station and the yard. Perhaps soon they'll invest in some of those pointy sticks for picking up litter.

Last week, probably Thursday I think, I saw a crew picking up trash at Assembly Sq. Thought they were doing some sort of work for the new station maybe, so grabbed the next train back north at Sullivan and they were gone. Then I saw they were already almost up to Wellington and they were just grabbing trash off the tracks.

Adams_Umass_Boston wrote:During that time there were two blue line failures and one orange line around 5 pm. She had the tracker app on her phone and would track the usual bus and then watch it disappear. We finally figured out that they were being pulled to start the shuttles.

The TransitMaster/Nextbus system is not perfect, and buses often disappear from the tracking system for no reason.

They disappear from the tracking system when the GPS unit on the vehicle loses satellite reception. They also disappear when the MBTA cancels trips under the radar or if it's not tracking an older vehicle without a GPS unit and the first vehicle changes destinations.

The main problem I've had with the apps is that some stops are programmed into them with the wrong GPS coordinates so that I would see "Arrivng in 2 minutes" but actually see the vehicle depart the stop before I can get to it.

Does anyone know if the Blue Line tracker is GPS based or block-occupancy (signal) based? (or something else?)

More bad news for the Blue line.
"Blue Line experiencing 20-25 min delays between Maverick & Government Center due to track-related power problem at State Street. Bowdoin station has been temporarily closed while repairs are being made at this time. 4/7/2011 10:00 AM"

Adams_Umass_Boston wrote:More bad news for the Blue line.
"Blue Line experiencing 20-25 min delays between Maverick & Government Center due to track-related power problem at State Street. Bowdoin station has been temporarily closed while repairs are being made at this time. 4/7/2011 10:00 AM"

And on the commute home around 3:30 there were delays due to a disabled train at Airport.
This morning around 6:30ish the train stops at OH and stands by for several minutes. The operator announces delays due to a "rail problem" at GC. Train proceeds to WI where again it stands by for several minutes with the operator repeating the announcement about the rail problem. (It's funny, one passenger said out loud "did he say rail problem or real problem?) The train went through Airport and Maverick without any noticeable problems. However, before reaching Aquarium the train stopped in the tunnel and the operator announced that the train in front was having problems moving. When our train arrived at Aquarium the platform was packed with passengers they had kicked off that train. Then when our train tried to depart the station we were having problems. You could tell they were having power problems because the lights kept flickering and the A/C kept turning on and off. Couldn't wait till we finally got to State and get the heck off.
Why does the line with the newest trains seem to be having the most problems lately?

My Co-work and friend told me it got worse later. They were running a shuttle train back and forth between Maverick and Government Center. Everyone had to get off at Maverick and walk over to the opposite side and wait for the shuttle train. She said it was so crowded that the T personal were telling people to stay behind the yellow line. But when the next shuttle train entered the station and a second train let off more people to join the wait, people began to push. From Airport to Government Center it took her one hour.

When I went to work later around 1pm they had a T guy with a flash light watching the track as the train took the sharp corner out of State.

Normal the Blue Line has always been the "no problem" line. For years I had to take all 4 lines each day to school then work. The blue hardly ever gave me trouble.

The problems aren't really the new trains themselves, from the looks of it. Just really old power sources and wiring which seems to be aggravated lately. At least once a month we have the overhead falling down somewhere north of Maverick!

The overhead problems are most likely caused by the equipment. The third rail issues kind of baffle me, I don't know how that comes apart on its own and I can't see how the equipment would do that. All rapid transit equipment has shoes designed to break off if they miss the third rail and go under it. Older equipment (pre-1980 the latest on the blue and orange, and pre-1994 on the Red, unless the bluebirds were retrofitted) would wipe the chairs out from under the rail causing such problems, but that shouldn't be an issue anymore.

diburning wrote:They disappear from the tracking system when the GPS unit on the vehicle loses satellite reception. They also disappear when the MBTA cancels trips under the radar or if it's not tracking an older vehicle without a GPS unit and the first vehicle changes destinations.
...
Does anyone know if the Blue Line tracker is GPS based or block-occupancy (signal) based? (or something else?)

I believe the Red, Orange, and Blue Line trackers use the signal system.

Drivers have told me that the TransitMaster loses track of the vehicle if it's more than 40 minutes late. Which is totally ridiculous -- when things are delayed that much, the information is even *more* valuable to passengers.

http://www.universalhub.com/2011/probab ... eased-real

Oh man, I need a new keyboard and soda after this. Brilliant.

If one is going to trash any system, one might want to make sure their own works properly. Somehow I don't think a train at Maverick is going to take 11 Minutes to get to Airport.

7NEWS is reporting a derailment on the Green Line in Jamaica Plain. If they are correct (which is a rare occasion) then I would guess that it would be the E branch somewhere in the vicinity of Heath st.