Glenn Whidden reports workers were busy on City Hall Plaza this morning setting up a mock-up of a new Red Line car - about two-thirds the length of the actual cars - for public inspection.
Chinese train maker CRRC expects to deliver the first four pilot Red Line cars next March for several months of testing in South Boston.
The T has a contract to replace all of its current Red Line cars with 252 new CRRC cars, assembled in the same Springfield plant that has started churning out a new fleet of Orange Line cars.
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Comments
What's the point? Everyone
By anon
Mon, 08/13/2018 - 11:36am
What's the point? Everyone will get to see the new cars when they go into service anyway.
Why so bitter?
By adamg
Mon, 08/13/2018 - 11:44am
Don't you want to see what your money is buying?
In any case, the point is to solicit public comments, to see if there's anything that needs to be changed before actual production begins.
Comments
By BostonDog
Mon, 08/13/2018 - 11:59am
I'm not opposed to showing off the sample car. But what sort of comments would lead to meaningful changes?
The contact is done, the trains are in production. Beyond colors, what possible changes could they make?
How about this one
By anon
Mon, 08/13/2018 - 12:10pm
Where, exactly can a 5'4" tall person (>1/2 the population is shorter) grab to not get flung across the car when lurching?
Why are the seats not sized for even an average width person wearing a winter coat?
Well, half of women
By Ari O
Mon, 08/13/2018 - 4:58pm
Average height for women is 5'3.8"; for men is 5'9.5" (or so, according to the Internet)
Kids count too, Ari.
By Jeff F
Mon, 08/13/2018 - 5:31pm
Those are average adult heights. Children make up 22.8% of the US population.
Although I wasn't able to find a legit sourced number for total American height per capita, I think given the US Census data we do have, it's pretty clear its less than 5'4".
Right
By SwirlyGrrl
Mon, 08/13/2018 - 7:26pm
So if half of women are under 5'4", and 25% of men are under 5'4", and you add in 3/4 of kids, too, then you get pretty close to half of humans.
Yeah I wonder too
By cybah
Mon, 08/13/2018 - 12:23pm
The biggest complaint about the orange line cars was never addressed.. which was the location and size of the station map and station info. Its in an awful place ... it needs to be over the doors and much much bigger.
Complaints about this fell on deaf ears..
How does a company that
By cden4
Mon, 08/13/2018 - 5:14pm
How does a company that specializes in making rapid transit cars get this so wrong?
That's actually the wrong question here.
By roadman
Mon, 08/13/2018 - 7:47pm
The correct question should be "How did the people who prepared the specifications that the company was provided get this so wrong?"
Which only serves to prove why mockups like these should have been provided BEFORE actual production starts, not afterwards.
Deaf ears
By Perry Jamison
Mon, 08/13/2018 - 7:44pm
Well, we are taking the T ...
Cybah, one of the engineers
By anon
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 10:07pm
Cybah, one of the engineers confirmed with me today that the information display you speak of has been relocated to where they are on the Red Line mockup. Your (and my) complaint did not fall on deaf ears. The engineers were aware of this after the Orange Line mock-up went live and made the change.
I much rather have a T Crumbling Garage conference
By anon
Mon, 08/13/2018 - 12:32pm
Than a carbon-copy Orange Line PR event. Unless Baker is firing Pollack and her T Team at Boston City Hall Plaza, I have zero interest.
Clueless much?
By anon
Mon, 08/13/2018 - 3:24pm
If you want the T to work, fire Baker, not Pollack.
She's been doing everything she can to get around all that anti-transit Koch Brother's money dumped into Charlie's pet think tank.
Stephanie Pollack is the wife of a Baker donor
By anon
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 11:25am
Baker wins. Pollack gets a job. Just like with the Dept of Revenue. Other Baker admin depts are filled with patronage. Pollack has zero transportation or management experience. Zero. Zilch. Nada. Hench the trail of disasters since 2015.
Pollack & Crew have cut funding for every T project. Except one.
By anon
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 2:56pm
Every T project in Mass has seen a reduction. Whether by a few hundred dollars or a few million. The one exception is Pollack's baby. Pollack's precious.
Interesting
By Waquiot
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 9:18pm
Which project? I know your not talking about a certain project near and dear to the heart of one anon, which saw it’s budget cut by 33%.
Seriously, which project? South Coast Rail? Perhaps some highway work in the Berkshires?
I'd rather
By cybah
Mon, 08/13/2018 - 6:16pm
I'd rather have a beer, my robe, and someone to massage my feet when I get home but I am not getting any of those today...
You're advocating for firings too? Makes sense
By anon
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 11:28am
The Silver Line Chelsea has really turned into a crap fest. I see the bus on every street except its designated route. Meanwhile, the 111 is a rolling disaster. Pressley was right.
Yet, you have enough interest...
By Subway Rob
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 1:12pm
to come here & post your thoughts, linked to the same subject matter you have "zero interest" in.
Yes, because I think a second subway event is a waste
By anon
Wed, 08/15/2018 - 11:24am
They already featured the Orange Line. They don't need another event for a near similar vehicle. Its just wasted money that can go towards the garages. At the same time, the second event is puff material that pushes out more important T news.
Unfortunately we might have a Genoa Bridge collapse of our own
By anon
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 2:53pm
In the form of a garage, tunnel, bridge, road, or station. collapse. For example. Has anyone been to the Porter Square commuter rail station recently? I took the train in from Weston, walked under Mass Ave, and looked up. Holy crap.
Stop replying to your own postings
By Waquiot
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 9:19pm
Just stop.
Here's an idea
By SwirlyGrrl
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 9:24pm
Hey AdamG: can you stop posting anon comments that contain GLX? This is getting tedious!
I have nothing against the guy commenting
By Waquiot
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 9:56pm
I mean, we argue all the time- it’s the internet, after all- but he should register.
Its more like: You attack and UHUBers try to calm you down
By anon
Wed, 08/15/2018 - 11:28am
My issue is the garages. If I comment negatively about the T, does that make me a garage troll. Or, gasp, an RLX troll? Are my concerns about the Alewife garage just an attempt to keep the Lexington RLX down? That's the delusional tin hat crap you throw at about five people per week
Interesting reading comprehension fail
By Waquiot
Wed, 08/15/2018 - 3:36pm
Perhaps I read it wrong. Perhaps she could correct me. But I believe she was making the point that perhaps Adam should think about making all posters use some kind of username, anon.
And for the record, I have no issue with people going on about the problems at Alewife, which are real, or with the Red Line overall, which will help with this thing, but it does seem that there is someone who posts under the same username as you that tends to steer any and all discussions to a particular transportation project taking place in the Somerville/Medford area. I mean, any post, be it about the Red Line, Orange Line, Blue Line, or even if we're having warm weather.
The same people who say
By Coyote137
Mon, 08/13/2018 - 11:55am
there's no point to showing the cars in advance are the EXACT same people who would whine no end if the new cars went into service without being shown in advance.
Would you like some cheese and crackers,
By billaki
Mon, 08/13/2018 - 12:35pm
with your whine?
I think the point is to offer
By Scratchie
Mon, 08/13/2018 - 6:38pm
I think the point is to offer prospective riders a preview of what sort of Red Line experience they can expect in the future, especially when it snows.
The destination of this train is
By Bloo from Foste...
Mon, 08/13/2018 - 11:58am
The destination of this train is Government Center
Attention Passengers:
By noahproblem
Mon, 08/13/2018 - 3:17pm
The next, and presumably for a long time, final, Red Line train to Government Center, is now arriving.
Mumble mumble
By ScottB
Mon, 08/13/2018 - 4:39pm
This train should be moving in two to three years. Mumble mumble static mumble and thank you for riding the T.
And to make it truly authentic...
By MarkB
Mon, 08/13/2018 - 5:17pm
....they should put tar paper over the windows, crank the ambient temp up to 105 degrees and lock people inside 50 at a time for 20 minutes :-)
*static*
By SwirlyGrrl
Mon, 08/13/2018 - 7:31pm
There is service right underneath *static* iss train. *static**mumble* right underneath. Clear the doors!
The mumble problem
By anon
Mon, 08/13/2018 - 8:33pm
It really is amazing how many T operators cannot speak clearly into the public address system. I mean, what does it take? It's not rocket science. Some mumble, some sound like they have a real fear of public speaking, some sound like they plain don't know what to say, some sound resentful of having to say anything at all, most click off or trail off mid sentence. I have said it before, but I think the T should invest in microphone training for their employees. It only need be a day or so.
And then there's the opposite case of the frustrated DJs who won't shut up. Anyone who has been a captive audience on the Blue Line with that female operator "if you're going to the Aquarium, one of myayayayay FAAAAVORITE places..."
Why not just make it full
By anon
Mon, 08/13/2018 - 3:33pm
Why not just make it full scale?
Why only 2/3 scale?
Think a wee bit
By KellyJMF
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 8:38am
Because it would cost more in materials and shipping? A little effort goes a long way, anon
Because the other 1/3 of the
By anon
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 10:11pm
Because the other 1/3 of the car contains redundant features that are not necessary for evaluation. This mock-up is essentially a combination of the operating ends of a married pair. On the blind end of each car, you will not see the silver equipment cabinets that you saw on the mock-up, as those belong on the operating end of a "B" (non-cab) car.
Was The Other 1/3rd Really That Much More Trouble?
By Oscar Worthy
Mon, 08/13/2018 - 6:40pm
You just know that a good chunk of the first public impressions are going to be . . Gee, it's awfully small.
So are we going to have a State employee stationed there to explain . . Actually, they're not really this small. We just made this one that we show to the public a little smaller for some unknown reason. But you can just imagine all of the features 33% larger!
What is this, a train for
By baustin
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 8:43am
What is this, a train for ants?!
Not that 1/3 smaller
By adamg
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 9:06am
Don't worry: Everything inside will be actual size. It's just they left off a third of the seats and one door on each side.