Fairmount Line continues to be lame

The other day I went in late and waited 20 minutes for the train after it was supposed to show up and then walked back home and got in my car and drove to work after someone on the platform called and found out it was because engine trouble - not even a notification!

You're unfairly having you monthly passes subsidized. Why should i feel pity for you when i live in the city and pay more than double what you pay. Also my train was 20 min late and you don't see me having a meltdown.

Has any reporter visited the stations that cost taxpayers millions to build? The stations are not safe, vandalized often, and passengers often have to step over feces and needles and broken glass while waiting for spotty service.

Problem #1: The commuter rail's engines have terrible reliability. Each engine breaks down about once a month on average.
Problem #2: The commuter rail runs very infrequently, so if one train is cancelled, its riders are screwed.
Problem #3: The Fairmount Line has terrible farebox recovery, since its ridership is low (which is not unrelated to problems 1 and 2), yet they can only run full-size trains which require lots of employees.

All three of these problems could easily be solved by replacing the current trains with DMUs, of a design that are proven to be reliable in other countries.

The MBTA is just awful. It's not just the fairmount line. The whole system was never set up to handle the amount of people it handles now. It is vastly overpopulated. I really dont see it getting better anytime soon. People will complain about it until the cows come home but the mbta knows the people have no other choice.

Interesting that this story is being treated as something new, when in fact it is not.

Fairmount is not the only line that gets this treatment.

MBTA routinely cancels or truncates service on Green Line "E" when they have equipment shortages, not just for weather issues which can see service cut at Brigham to avoid congestion on the street-running section up to Heath.

Anytime they have a shortage of streetcars the "E is the first to loose equipment. The MBTA says people can use the #39 bus which runs alongside instead. That is the same excuse they use for Fairmount... alternative bus service is nearby.

And while we are at it, the Mattapan trolley is the last to get plowed in the winter and the T says to use the bus up River St or they run a fill-in bus that makes the stops at or nearby the stations.

DMUs are not happening. Baker aside, there is no one in the USA that is manufacturing them and any company (foreign) that does would need to have a factory in the USA to fulfill the Buy America Act. That said... some existing rail companies are setting up shop elsewhere - not here - so if we do want DMUs don't force manufacture in Massachusetts. Let them be built in another state.

FWIW, Keolis has been looking at a plan to re-tool some of the older locomotives that will be cycled out of service once all of the new ones are in place and working. The project - still not on the drawing boards yet - would see existing locomotives geared for full speeds to be rebuilt to start and stop quicker and easier. They will sacrifice speeds of up to 100 mph for slower speeds around 50 mph max. Those could then be mated with some of the retiring coaches to form shorter train sets that would operate much like DMUs.

Fairmount will never be a subway. The need to separate the tracks (grade separation per FRA regulations) through the South Bay rail yards would be another Big Dig, and even then no place to connect properly to So. Station. The bridges along the line have also been replaced incrementally including raising them to 17.5 meters. That is the clearance needed for future electrification. That's also the height needed for double-stack freight cars and certain military vehicles. In time of national crisis the Fairmount branch is the only line with a direct connection to the Port of Boston that does not go through a tunnel or under a building. The military will never allow it to be converted in the interest of national security. Yes, they do look at rail plans.

So use what you have and encourage MBTA/Keolis to go forward with the locomotive rebuilds with shorter train sets. Those could then be used elsewhere for short runs like Boston-Canton, Boston-Norwood, Boston-Lynn, Boston-Waltham, Boston-Anderson, during off-peak hours and late nights. Save the longer trains at higher speeds for peak hours.