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Parts of the brand-spanking new Green Line Extension already in such bad shape that trains in some spots crawl slower than most people can walk

By adamg on Tue, 09/26/2023 - 11:26pm

The Globe reports on new wicked slooooow zones on the Green Line Extension, in particular in spots where the rails have gotten slightly closer to each other, an issue that left at least one expert with 40 years of experience scratching his head because rails in use generally widen in distance, not narrow.

Neighborhoods: 
Cambridge
Medford
Somerville
Topics: 
The T
Free tagging: 
Green Line
Green Line Extension


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Comments

By _Sean on Wed, 09/27/2023 - 12:31am.

I can't wait for subpoenas to start rolling on all the MBTA vendor & maintenance fraud over the past few years (decade?).

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By Vince on Wed, 09/27/2023 - 6:09am.

I think you’ll be disappointed to find out that it’s likely not fraud and more likely a shortage of money and skilled labor (in spite of the cost, delays) for most issues with T. This issue seems like a, well, head scratcher.

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By Scratchie on Wed, 09/27/2023 - 9:55am.

This is Massachusetts, after all.

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By jmeltzer on Wed, 09/27/2023 - 7:11am.

Open the box. Let it all out.

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By g on Wed, 09/27/2023 - 3:25am.

The saddest part of all this is this is the repeated and ongoing failure of multiple state agencies and elected officials.

Everyone seems to have there on favorite villain but where was:

The Governor
The AG (now Governor)
Legislative Oversight Committees
Office of Inspector General
Department of Public Utilities
MBTA Board of Directors
State Auditor

Failure after Failure after Failure.

We've been down this road before.

https://www.nytimes.com/1981/01/01/us/massachusetts-told-of-wide-corrupt...

We need an independent commission. The problems at the MBTA are too pervasive, too deep, too politically tangled and intractable for any politician to who wants a future in this state.

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By BostonDog on Wed, 09/27/2023 - 6:11am.

Has there been any inspection/ enforcement of the proof of purchase fares since the system opened?

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By Carty on Wed, 09/27/2023 - 6:59am.

Yeah, I am pretty sure fare evasion is not the issue ...

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By BostonDog on Wed, 09/27/2023 - 7:17am.

I was wondering if people are being actively charged for this level of crap service.

I haven't seen any effort to verify fares since GLX opened and guessed they were going to wait until the new fare system gets implemented everywhere to do so even if they won't say that openly.

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By Carty on Wed, 09/27/2023 - 8:25am.

I gotcha, sorry to be so reflexive

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By Carty on Wed, 09/27/2023 - 7:12am.

"the rails are too narrow" is very 1875

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By SamWack on Wed, 09/27/2023 - 7:35am.

the Gauge Wars are heating up again.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Gauge_War

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By Ward8Mahatma on Wed, 09/27/2023 - 8:32am.

….Revenge of The Narrow Gauge! Revere rejoices!!!

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By SamWack on Wed, 09/27/2023 - 9:21am.

is haunting the Green Line. “You want it narrow?” he mutters, “I’ll give you narrow.”

Obviously he should be haunting railways in the UK, but he got on the wrong Ghost Train at Paddington and ended up in Somerville.

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By dvg on Wed, 09/27/2023 - 8:59am.

"In 1886, railways in the south managed to convert the gauge on an estimated 11,500 miles of track in a period of just 36 hours." Source below.

Not everything since then has been progress. My theory is that in the Boston area in particular, there aren't enough experienced people who can do that sort of grunt and detail oriented work properly.

If, like me, you have time to indulge in these historical nuggets, this is a good one: www.youtube.com/watch?v=4v81Gwu6BTE&t=468s

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By anon on Wed, 09/27/2023 - 7:13am.

What I find interesting is that the only two media outlets who report on the daily disasters are the Boston Globe and U-Hub. The Herald which is a tabloid, designed for subway riders ignores the plight of T-riders.

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By Ari O on Wed, 09/27/2023 - 8:36am.

On bringing back narrow gauge service.

The region hasn't had a narrow gauge railroad since the Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn Railroad was abandoned in 1940!

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By Saddlebrook7 on Wed, 09/27/2023 - 9:16am.

Let's not forget Edaville

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By Ari O on Wed, 09/27/2023 - 11:17am.

Isn't this basically in Florida?

The BRB&L was in Eastie!

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By downtown-anon on Wed, 09/27/2023 - 11:21am.

On WBUR they are making noises like this is brand new information.
Perhaps there wasn't a press release, and maybe that is an issue, but it isn't like a dark secret.

https://old.reddit.com/r/boston/comments/16qwauo/mbta_adds_more_than_a_m...

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