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Commuter rail still showing cracks: Trains from Providence dead on the tracks
By adamg on Fri, 03/06/2015 - 8:24am
Riders kicked off dead train to wait for mostly dead train. Photo by Joe Sullivan.
Riders on the Providence Line lost at commuter-rail roulette big time this morning. A train got to Mansfield and passed to the other side - but not before riders got to sit on it for 45 minutes waiting for a pusher train that itself gave up the ghost - although it turned out it was only mostly dead and so it slogged into Mansfield with its own full complement of exasperated riders and little space in which to cram the passengers from the completely dead train, which, as soon as it was emptied, revived just enough to head back to Providence.
At 7:43 a.m., Eric Heise checked in:
Well, I'm on an empty train in Mansfield, but it has no power.
Shortly before 8, Joe Sullivan added:
No heat/lights, stuck in Mansfield 15 mins. Have moved 2 feet in REVERSE!, thinking this train might be broken.
And shortly after 8, Heise updated:
And now the Mansfield train is dead on the tracks and waiting to be pushed. Happy Friday?!
But Brian Chicoine, who is on that supposed pusher train, said good luck with that:
And now our train shut down. Really? Why did I expect to get to work today? Still wanna cut funding.
The situation inspired Erik Kraft to pen a haiku:
T powerlessness
The trains do not have power
Nor do the riders
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Comments
boss
My boss is coming in from Fitchburg.. says the train has no lights or heat and it's freezing. And moving along at like 2 mph.. He left Fitchburg at 6:30... ugh
At least Fitchburg...
...gets two new morning (and one evening) trains to help commuters and/or break down more frequently, starting Monday!
He will be happy
Those afternoon trains being cancelled really ticked him off... keeps missing stuff for his kids because he can't make it home fast enough.
The only outbound AM trains
The only outbound AM trains on the Fitchburg line in the current recovery schedule leave North Station at 8:50 and 10:55.
For some inexplicable reason, the 8:50 train skips West Concord, where there are a lot of office parks. They didn't bother to publicize it, but that train has been adding a stop in West Concord on the recovery schedule.
However, rumor has it that with the restoration of the 7:32 train next week, the 8:50 train will no longer stop in West Concord. Even though the trains before and after the 8:50 are still cancelled. So this service restoration creates a 3 hour 25 minute gap covering the reverse commute rush hour, where there wasn't one before.
And I have no idea how all the people who have been taking the 8:50 train are supposed to find out that suddenly they really mean it when the schedule says it runs express.
My train earlier this week
My train earlier this week had no lights or heat...but it ran exactly on time! That's fine with me.
Needham line
Is the Needham line not even picking people up in Roslindale? I've seen Peter Pan buses on Belgrade for the past few mornings. How does that work- do they go direct to Ruggles or to Backbay?
Needham Line = no go in the mornings
Ever since they've suspended the 6:50am train from Needham Heights, which arrives at Highland around 7:07, I have avoided the Needham train in the mornings because of the horror stories of excessive crowding and bypassing stations.
That does sound plausible - the Peter Pan buses would likely go directly to Back Bay (or even to Ruggles).to at least serve the West Roxbury/Roslindale corridor.
return to form
Adam, as an aside, I'm delighted that you're rhyming again in your transit catastrophe posts. Just as the increasing sunlight means spring is coming, so do your rhymes mean that we're getting somewhat back to normal. (Whatever "normal" means nowadays.)
Yet another reason why
Yet another reason why running diesels on the Providence line makes zero sense: reliability.
The LIRR's electric trains go more than 400,000 miles between breakdowns. The T's diesels: about 5000.
In any other country, any passenger rail line with even a moderate level of traffic would be electrified. The only obstacle is the cost of putting up the wires.
In this case, the wires are ALREADY THERE. But the T still has no plans to use them, and continues to buy new diesels and coaches to replace the retired ones.
When the going gets tough, MBTA workers call out sick
http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2015/03/absent_t...
I wonder if Keolis workers were less dedicated than MBTA ones - probably not.
Keloid workers
A majority of railroad union workers do not have paid sick days. On top of this, Keolis has a stringent attendance policy with progressive discipline for violations. Many Keolis employees have worked since January without a day off, cannot be singled out as the problem with Commuter Rail. The problems with Keolis are a lot more complicated and certainly not caused by an attendance issue!