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Discussion relating to commuter rail, light rail, and subway operations of the MBTA.

Moderators: sery2831, CRail

 #1499522  by BandA
 
The news this evening was emphasizing the record-breaking!!! number of CR passengers, and underplaying any problems.
 #1499541  by Rbts Stn
 
They've got to figure out a way to add capacity beyond additional trains, whether it means MBTA buses added to the routes or hired buses added to the routes. Probably for the innermost stations, which do get skipped by the trains as they are so clogged. It's not as if these things come out of the blue, they could have contingency plans with bus companies that go into play when the parades/events are announced.
 #1499561  by chrisf
 
I was on an inbound Needham train this morning where people had to ride in the vestibules. I want to know why Keolis has extra cars available but doesn't actually use them on trains.
 #1499572  by RenegadeMonster
 
I heard Newburyport Trains were filling up by Ipswich all morning. Yikes.

A lot of people get on at Salem on Weekdays, so I can't imagine it was fun trying to get on a train at Salem. Glad I decided to work from home and and not attempt to come in.

This morning when I got of my train at North Station Channel 4 was doing a new report on the platform. As I walked buy they were shouting about getting in position and recording the story while people were walking buy / getting off the train. I'd imagine they would be reporting about yesterday.
 #1499574  by CRail
 
chrisf wrote:I want to know why Keolis has extra cars available but doesn't actually use them on trains.
Keolis doesn't have any cars, they use the MBTA's. What extra cars are you referring to? There is not an excess of equipment standing by on some siding waiting for demand to increase. Commuter Rail ridership exceeds capacity every weekday, there isn't any equipment ready for service that isn't used daily.
 #1499583  by nomis
 
You can usually delay routine maintenance for a day or two, and have a couple extra coaches ready for trainsets. It may make havoc in the short-term for your maintenance schedule if the cars get to where they are not supposed to be, but it makes more 85ft cattle cars for days like this.
 #1499636  by MBTA3247
 
nomis wrote:You can usually delay routine maintenance for a day or two,
Only if the cars were cut for maintenance several days before they were due for inspection, and haven't already been pulled into the shop. And then you need to get them onto trains where they can be of use. Cars get cut for inspections pretty close to the due date, so it may not be practical to leave them/put them back into service for an extra day before taking them back out again.
 #1499665  by benboston
 
I heard that the trains got so busy that they weren't selling tickets, and I heard that the Fitchburg Line train was selling out by North Leominster.
 #1499695  by Disney Guy
 
"Catch'ya on the flip flop."

How much time would be saved (and the train could make more round trips?) if:

On big event days, packed outbound trains stop only to pick up passengers, plus stop at a few scattered designated stations. Passengers who had wanted to get off at a missed stop take an inbound trip, which makes all requested stops.

This cuts down on the number of lengthy dwell times for packed trains to let off passengers and recheck all the doors before proceeding.

There would have to be some logistics adjustments, such as honoring the already used outbound ticket for the inbound jog to the desired station.

I would think that for the outbound, supplementary bus service would be better in the middle and outermost regions. If buses were substituted for the innermost regions, traffic would be too heavy for the buses to be effective and efficient.
I heard that the trains got so busy that they weren't selling tickets ...
How effective was the viewtopic.php?f=65&t=164864 ring of steel? Say, someone go to North Station or South Station and the ticket booth was closed. Then he gets in line for a train anyway without a ticket.
 #1499966  by cpf354
 
It's the same old "commuters be damned" attitude that runs from the Governor's office, to the Mayor, to the T and Keolis. The advice was "to work from home" but not everyone can do that. There were business meetings and medical appointments that had been scheduled for weeks or days that couldn't be cancelled and people had to get to. Because thousands of suburban families played hooky and went to the parade on the train, thousands of daily Boston workers who HAD to go to work had pure hell trying to get home. It wasn't fair!
 #1499974  by Disney Guy
 
Mayor Walsh should have declared an emergency in the city.

Oops, that won't work. Many of the non-essential workers excused as a result of the emergency would have gone downtown anyway, to see the parade.

Business meetings? Any company or manager holding a business meeting knew what the transit situation was going to be and therefore deserved to have attendees straggle in late, possibly after the meeting was scheduled to end.
 #1499976  by BandA
 
Somebody needs to stand up and say no, we aren't going to have the parade on a weekday, normal business is too important. The T needs to say no, we aren't going to provide ANY special service for the parade.
 #1499978  by Dick H
 
If Bob Kraft (Patriots) or John Henry (Red Sox) wants a parade on a weekday, they will surely get it. You can bet the farm.
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