2014 Discussion for Commuter Rail Delays

Anyone know what happened to 1128 this evening? The signs showed that the train was "not moving" and up to 40 mins late. Stephan's tracker still showed it on Rockport for most of the time. Around 11:00pm it was showing as 32mins late & I found alternate transportation home.

The power failure was inside Tower A itself. A fuse also went in the signal system of the Draw Bridges during the event. The entire North Side was not crippled, everything else outside of Tower A was operating normally(or without signal failures). If Cobble Hill was to lose power, the entire North Side would stop. But there is a generator system in place to prevent this.

Not aware of the delay with 1128 tonight, sounds like a PTIS communications failure. I have had a few trains where the PTIS works on board and on-line, but does not communicate with the station signs. This makes the signs say that train is not moving and starts a delay count down, but the train is on time. But #1414 had a failure with the 1034 tonight at Concord.

Not winter related, but since the other thread is locked:

Train 408 struck a bicyclist at Snake Hill crossing in Ayer. Unclear who hit who or if it was the person or bike which was struck. What is known is the biker went through a gate at the crossing and was alive after the person left. Ayer FD handled the medical.

As of 740 the 408 is held waiting for dispatch/supervisor. Train 410 will take the passengers from 408 to North Station

In addition to the medical emergency out in Ayer, the Haverhill Line seems to be having signal problems (surprise) causing 10-15 min delays. 204 sat at Reading for a while awaiting contact with the dispatcher (as we were told on board). I'd assume time spent copying Form D's for crossings out.

In addition, the round up from this AM's commute (as of 8:00 AM) included 154 running 20+ late due to mechanical, with 156 canceled. Also 61/62 canceled. And 355/356 canceled. Additionally, 208 was listed late due to mechanical problems as well.

Hopefully the evening's rush hour can get done before all this wet out there turns to solid ice tonight.

And this just in, 455/456 (8:12 am North Station, 9:25 am South Acton) are also canceled ("due to earlier mechanical problem)."

Happy, indeed!

Add to the list of cancellations:

454 from South Acton
63/64 to/from Beverly

Just before the 0900/01-06-2014 start of my keyboarding, the T Service Alerts were giving delays of 60 min. for 410 and 40 min. for 412 for a medical emergency. A series of conversations began ~0730 involving 410, 412, D-3, and Fitchburg with the plan to originally bus 410 and 412's passengers between Ayer and Littleton. That morphed into 410 getting a permission onto 1 between CPF-AY and CPF-WL at restricted speed with a 241 to get alongside 408 and entrain its passengers. 412 got a heads-up from D-3 that it might also be running 1 between AY and WL, but the combination of topography and atmospherics worked against good reception for me later on.

And...

212 - 25 late, mechanical.

209 - 35-40 late, signals.

262 - 20 late, signals.

357/358 cancelled, "earlier mechanical problems."

And the south side is getting in on the act too...

Providence/Stoughton Line Train 910 (9:40 am from Stoughton) passengers will transfer to train 814 on platform B at Canton Junction

jaymac wrote:Just before the 0900/01-06-2014 start of my keyboarding, the T Service Alerts were giving delays of 60 min. for 410 and 40 min. for 412 for a medical emergency. A series of conversations began ~0730 involving 410, 412, D-3, and Fitchburg with the plan to originally bus 410 and 412's passengers between Ayer and Littleton. That morphed into 410 getting a permission onto 1 between CPF-AY and CPF-WL at restricted speed with a 241 to get alongside 408 and entrain its passengers. 412 got a heads-up from D-3 that it might also be running 1 between AY and WL, but the combination of topography and atmospherics worked against good reception for me later on.

408 did not move after 410 took its passengers, it was confirmed to be a crime scene which is unfortunate given the connotations and given the look of some of the crew. I noticed the 408 was running a training engineer as well which is very sad for them.

That being said, going around a down gate arm while flashing on an icy crossing (glare ice all over the area) on a bike isn't a good idea.

#205 arrived Haverhill about 0905, so #214 left 10 min. late. Lost another 10 min. sitting beside the dump in North Andover, waiting for 209 to clear Lawrence.

smallwood wrote:

tvachon wrote:408 did not move after 410 took its passengers, it was confirmed to be a crime scene which is unfortunate given the connotations and given the look of some of the crew. I noticed the 408 was running a training engineer as well which is very sad for them.

That being said, going around a down gate arm while flashing on an icy crossing (glare ice all over the area) on a bike isn't a good idea.

Is it the bicyclist "trespassing" (I heard that word used elsewhere, I think) that made it a crime scene, perhaps? Anyone on the 408 this morning?

I was a passenger on 408 this morning. The power was F40 1012 and the control car was 1629. Did not notice anything amiss until we made an emergency brake application. Based on what I heard on my hand-held scanner the woman survived and was still conscious. Not sure if she succumbed to her injuries. I felt bad for the crew- the conductor looked like he saw a "ghost."

After about an hour, Train 410 came along side of us on Track 1 and we transferred onto it. We exited through the vestubule, down the stairs and then stood on the ground between tracks then up the stairs and into the vestibule of Train 410. The crew of 408 stayed with it and did not transfer. The transfer process did not take very long and then we were off to Boston. Most of the passengers on both 408 and 410 took it in stride- the mood was pretty somber the rest of the way in...

-Mike

I was on it as well. I echo Mike's sentiments. I know the conductors very well, and well, it wasn't great. The bicylist was at a grade crossing. It was not good for all involved on either side. The TPD (and Ayer FD) say the injuries appeared non-life threatening. I didn't catch where the transport was headed to and nothing is hitting the newswire so it seems it could have been worse. Maybe we will hear more later.

Equipment shortages struck the south side tonight, two trains cancelled on the Franklin line and one on the Worcester. Didn't look like they cancelled the usual Fairmount duo this time around though.

Komarovsky wrote:Equipment shortages struck the south side tonight, two trains cancelled on the Franklin line and one on the Worcester. Didn't look like they cancelled the usual Fairmount duo this time around though.

There was a Fairmount cancellation.

MBTA Alerts! ‏@mbta_alerts 2h
#FairmountLine Train 773 (5:45 pm from South Station) cancelled today. Alternate bus service will be provided. #mbta