These are only placeholder seats.
As officials from the MBTA and CRRC, the company building our new Red and Orange Line cars, awaited a visit from the governor this afternoon, they explained the mock up on display on City Hall Plaza has something the actual cars won't: Shiny, slippery fiberglass seats that make riders feel like they're going to get closer than they want to to their neighbors on curves and coming into stations.
Officials said the actual trains scheduled to go into service, some on the Orange Line by the end of the year, will have more nubbly seats, similar to those on new T buses, to keep people from sliding around. Officials added that they're looking at possibly replacing current Blue Line seats with slide-proof versions - but during a mid-life overhaul, which could be a ways off.
The mock-up Red Line car will be on display at City Hall Plaza during the day through Thursday.
Flags in place for the governor's arrival:
All abooooard! The new cars will have wider doors to speed up getting people in and out:
This kid would be a perfect driver - he was able to recite the elevator directions for Park Street flawlessly - although normally the new cars will rely on automated announcements:
His right hand was on the lever that runs the train - which has a "dead man's switch" that requires the driver to have the knob pulled at a 90-degree angle - if he releases that, because he's just died, the train stops.
In addition to getting knobby surfaces, seats will have releases to put them up for people in wheelchairs or with baby strollers:
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Comments
I'm bringing my own portable
By anon
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 1:45pm
I'm bringing my own portable lightweight personal stadium seat gripper pad.
No need.
By Wiffleball
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 2:35pm
Some leg-spreader will be taking up a seat and a half, with his or her bag in the remaining space.
See the way to do it right is
By anon
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 2:46pm
See the way to do it right is to sit one seat away next to a real big person that way you know nobody's going to wedge themselves in between the both of you and that way you are guaranteed to get extra free space to yourself. But not a good win if the big person has B.O. or bad breath or likes to talk really loudly to himself and other passengers.
well
By johnmcboston
Wed, 08/15/2018 - 9:49am
until they do. I've seen it happen. And with an equally large person....
So much for accuracy
By roadman
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 1:51pm
Kind of defeats the purpose of a mock up if they aren't even showing the actual materials they will be using.
Can't win with this crowd...
By mseskin
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 3:19pm
First people claim that they're not really taking comments from the public, then when they announce the seats are changing (presumably due to some public comments), people want to know why the mock up isn't accurate.
Except that the T and the builder
By roadman
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 6:06pm
stated the seats were a "placeholder", and admitted they're not the correct ones. They didn't say "Oh, we're changing the seats because of customer feedback."
Big difference there.
For the record ...
By adamg
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 9:34pm
The folks I spoke to did not use the word "placeholder," that's me talking there. They said CRRC just wasn't able to get the bus-like seats ready in time for the Red Line mock up to be shipped here.
Thanks for this...
By Swander
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 10:18pm
...I had really wondered how well those seats would work.
This mockup makes a statement
By SamWack
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 6:53pm
The statement is, "There will be new red line cars coming sometime. They will be something like this, but mostly different. But they will definitely be red. Or partly red."
Why am I
By whyaduck
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 1:58pm
getting a sinking feeling that there is less seating available, in general, with these new cars?
So now more folks can stand for when the red line is experiencing technical difficulties. Good Times.
Looks like the seats are, ahem, wider to accommodate our larger, in general, lower girths?
The fewer seats the better,
By DTP
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 2:29pm
The fewer seats the better, if you ask me.
Less seats, more hanging
By Anon
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 2:56pm
Less seats, more hanging grippers please
No rest for the weary, eh?
By SamWack
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 7:14pm
Let the young and vigorous be the measure of all things.
You left out one line
By noahproblem
Wed, 08/15/2018 - 10:50am
Leaning against the rail so that nobody can hold on to it.
There's a difference between
By DTP
Wed, 08/15/2018 - 11:14am
There's a difference between "fewer seats" and "no seats".
Of course there should still be some seats. But imagine how many fewer people would get left behind on platforms every morning if we took out just half the seats in each car!
Chair users
By anon
Wed, 08/15/2018 - 11:36am
Chair users can maneuver on the cars much more easily if there are fewer seats.
There's currently no sitting
By anon
Wed, 08/15/2018 - 12:37pm
There's currently no sitting for the tired, elderly, pregnant, handicapped now anyway, so what's the difference? The young and vigorous are pretending they are engulfed in their tech devices as they hog up all the seats next to the f******g doors!!
It's simple
By roadman
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 4:30pm
Fewer seats = more standees = higher capacity per train = can run fewer trains.
So
By bgl
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 5:55pm
I think from the released specs they will have both more seats and more standing room.
These will have more standing
By anon
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 10:19pm
These will have more standing room and less seats.
Because the doors and seats
By anon
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 10:15pm
Because the doors and seats are wider than on current vehicles. The seats on the current vehicles are 17 inches wide, whereas they are 19 inches wide on the new cars. There are also 4 spaces to accommodate wheelchairs.
what is this, Arkansas?
By Refugee
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 11:04pm
The Red Line does not need wider seats. Orange Line, maybe, but not Red.
delete
By BostonDog
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 11:48pm
mistake
We have winter here
By anon
Thu, 08/16/2018 - 3:21pm
We have to wear full-body winter coats once in a while ... like 100 days out of 300.
We need wider seats.
There should be fewer seats
By SwirlyGrrl
Wed, 08/15/2018 - 1:04pm
Pretty much ever other transit system that I have ridden has fewer seats than the MBTA tries to cram in.
That makes it difficult for people in wheelchairs to maneuver, and for people with walkers and strollers and grocery carts to board and navigate the bus or car.
The T also seems to forget that we are sturdy and spongy Americans - with wide shoulders, wide rumps who wear winter coats a good portion of the year. They try to cram in seats airline style - make them too narrow for even an average size person to sit in a single one.
I'd rather see fewer, wider seats and more room for people who need the room to maneuver.
All
By geep9
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 1:57pm
The nostalgia fans around here should want slippery red line seats/benches!
Congratulations, Governor
By Michael
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 1:58pm
You got to cut your ribbon, and now you need never trouble yourself with public transit and the nobodies who depend on it until the next ribbon needs cutting
Probably the closest he's
By Not A Baker Fan
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 2:07pm
Probably the closest he's ever been to a subway car.
Charlie refuses to take
By Kinopio
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 2:15pm
Charlie refuses to take public transit because he is a "point to point" guy, meaning he points at new trains and says "looks shiny" and then points at his SUV when he wants someone to open the door for him.
Charlie should take the 111 Bus ASAP.
By anon
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 2:48pm
A. Pressley was dead on. The Globe reverberated the issue. Charlie is avoiding the nuts & bolts. In the meantime, Mikey Capuano gave the wheel over to the nut jobs at the ITDP, CLF, and T4. Its why we have lobbyist transit garbage like the SL3 and GLX while our core bus lines suffer. Perhaps after November Charlie may change his tune. When his PAC & single donor structure switches
BLAH BLAH GLX
By anon
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 3:17pm
BLAH BLAH BLAH GLX BLAH BLAH TREES BLAH GLX BLAH BLAH NOT FAIR BLAH CASHING IN BLAH BLAH BLAH GLX BLAH
What the heck is this about?
By anon
Wed, 08/15/2018 - 11:58am
??
Conservation Law Foundation's tree & bridge blunders
By anon
Thu, 08/16/2018 - 12:16pm
There are old social media & media posts about how 1000 trees are being cut down to make room for the GLX. The irony is. The Conservation Law Foundation pushed the Green Line Extension as an air improvement project. 1000 trees are being cut down and nearly every GLX corridor bridge has to be reconstructed for the streetcars to run underneath each road crossing. In a nutshell, the GLX shows the dangers of giving advocates a pack of markers and saying draw what you want.
SL3
By cybah
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 3:18pm
*eye roll*
Seriously where do you get this stuff?
Hey, hey, hey
By Waquiot
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 4:21pm
Don't mess with the pure comedic genius of the GLX troll.
It's all about the GLX.
It's all about the GLX.
Yet somehow, after referencing Pressley, he still hasn't told us what she said about the project when she asked her. I was along the line recently. Didn't see any Pressley signs, either.
Well
By anon
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 4:41pm
Between the bridge lifts, the airport traffic, the tunnel traffic, and the seaport back-and-forth; the 111 bus is downright awesome
Charlie on the MTA
By Let me tell you...
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 8:26pm
In Charlie's defense, another Charlie became stuck on the MTA way back when in a folk song (which, for anyone who doesn't know, is where the Charlie card/ticket system got its name) and never returned, so he probably doesn't want to spend too much time on a train in case he becomes Charlie on the MBTA.
Oh did he ever return? No, he never returned...
They better put a drip hole in those seats
By jwardell
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 2:20pm
if folks don't want to sit in pools others' sweat.
Spoken from experience.
"Sweat"
By Scratchie
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 2:28pm
If you're lucky.
Maybe, but this is so much
By Reason
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 3:56pm
Maybe, but this is so much better than the cloth seats on the Orange Line that probably haven't been cleaned since the 70s. At least you can wipe these off, those cloth seats have just soaked up decades of that.
Not that old
By Swander
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 10:17pm
The cloth seats are a relatively new addition to the orange line. I can’t remember exactly when they were installed but I’d guess 6 years ago, give or take. Prior to that, for as long as I can remember, the seats were black vinyl. The vinyl got vandalized a lot so they switched to the fabric which does not get vandalized anywhere near as frequently but is, as you say, sketchy at best.
Train under a tent
By BostonDog
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 2:25pm
Should we infer something about the fact they covered the train from the rain & sun?
Rain and sun
By SamWack
Wed, 08/15/2018 - 11:59am
are not big parts of the life of a subway car. Admittedly the Red Line does cross the river, so they have to go outside occasionally, but mostly they're they indoor type.
Everything south of Andrew on
By cden4
Wed, 08/15/2018 - 12:31pm
Everything south of Andrew on the Braintree Line is outdoors, as is the stretch between Andrew and Shawmut on the Ashmont Line.
Apparently, You Never Rode The Red Line Beyond Andrew Station
By Elmer
Wed, 08/15/2018 - 12:39pm
[img]https://c.o0bg.com/rf/image_960w/Boston/2011-2020/...
Was there a "Thank You Governor Deval Patrick" banner?
By anon
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 2:37pm
If not. I'll make sure to correct them during the start of service
Will the new cars not move
By anon
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 2:42pm
Will the new cars not move like the demo?
This is actually a good idea,
By Chanelle
Tue, 08/14/2018 - 3:07pm
This is actually a good idea, hygiene wise. The fabric on those seats are disgusting. You have instances where people urinate, spill coffee, vomit, and etc; on those seats. I always use a metro before sitting on them. Could you imagine the actual filth buried in that fabric? It would actually save the T some money, they would not have to change the seat covers. Regardless the seats will still be disgusting, but not as bad as the already bacteria infested, pissy seat. Way to go!
That's why I wear pants
By fungwah
Wed, 08/15/2018 - 10:24am
As long as the seat isn't actually wet, who cares? Those seats get cleaned more often than most peoples' couches.
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