Keolis to introduce new schedules by 11/1/15

[Rbts Stn]

Boston Globe is reporting that in an effort to meet their new goal of 92% on time arrivals (really? 92% is considered acceptable?), Keolis is going to rework all the schedules. I'm guessing to add time to them to make what is now a 7 to 10 minute late train qualify as "on time". Also adding more "fare collectors" (is that different than "Conductors and Assistant Conductors"?)

Link here: https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/ ... story.html

Seeking to meet its new goal of operating at least 92 percent of its trains on time, the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s commuter rail operator will change its schedules this fall under a new agreement.

The company will reschedule its trains and release new timetables in an attempt to provide better service to customers, according to Mac Daniel, a spokesman for Keolis Commuter Services.

In July, the T revealed it would allow Keolis to spend the money it would have paid in fines for subpar service to hire more employees, including fare collectors. The T will also use “mystery shoppers” — employees whose job is to make sure Keolis fare collectors are doing their jobs.

[jaymac]

At the risk of seeming cynical, there's always the possibility of extending the interval between scheduled departure and scheduled arrival as improving OT stats.
Gov. Baker has made it clear that fare collection -- post the Pacheco Law suspension -- will be a top priority and that means the possible hiring of fare collectors outside the union agreement. If that is more than a talking point, implementation should prove particularly "interesting."

[Disney Guy]

Also adding more "fare collectors" (is that different than "Conductors and Assistant Conductors"?)

To solve the problem of insufficient fare collection attempts, the same skills, capabilities, and training of conductors and assistant conductors will suffice.

Should there be a problem of too many failed fare collection attempts, fare collectors with different skills, capabilties, training, and equipment will be needed.

It is not necessary that fare collectors also possess all of the skills and capabilities of conductors. This may make it easier to find candidates for fare collectors.

[dbperry]

I hate to keep regurgitating stuff from Twitter, but they are leaking out pretty significant and revealing details.

https://twitter.com/MBTA_CR/status/638385660366331905

"We anticipate the changes to be minor."

Sounds like jaymac's cynical guess might be accurate - tweak in-transit interval times to improve OT performance.

[The EGE]

Non-cynically, I didn't anticipate anything more than minor tweaks based on the Globe article. Except for the Fairmount and Worcester lines, much of the base schedules haven't been changed much in a decade or more. It's high time they gave accurate running times.

[The EGE]

Some more hints about new schedules, and it actually sounds good. Some takeaways:

* Longer dwell times at terminals to reduce cascading delays
* Additional rush hour service (!)
* Equal or shorter travel times (seems unlikely to me)
* Reducing conflicts over the Charles River bridge
* Reducing conflicts at the Salem tunnel
* Possibly dealing with the weird Plymouth/Kingston split as discussed elsewhere

No mention of major Fitchburg changes, but that may end up being a little later as track and station work finishes up.

[dbperry]

From Masslive.com

WORCESTER — Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito is expected to join MBTA General Manager Frank DePaola at Worcester's Union Station at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday to announce upgrades to the Worcester/Framingham commuter rail line.

The officials will discuss upcoming changes to the Worcester/Framingham line's schedule, including "additional service to better meet the needs of commuter rail riders," MassDOT officials said in a press release Tuesday.

The announcement will be made at the station's commuter rail platform, 2 Washington Square.

http://www.masslive.com/news/worcester/ ... nounc.html

[Diverging Route]

From Masslive.com

WORCESTER — Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito is expected to join MBTA General Manager Frank DePaola at Worcester's Union Station at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday to announce upgrades to the Worcester/Framingham commuter rail line.

The officials will discuss upcoming changes to the Worcester/Framingham line's schedule, including "additional service to better meet the needs of commuter rail riders," MassDOT officials said in a press release Tuesday.

The announcement will be made at the station's commuter rail platform, 2 Washington Square.

http://www.masslive.com/news/worcester/ ... nounc.html

Karyn Polito
‏@MassLtGov

I am thrilled to announce that the @MBTA_CR will be launching a daily non-stop train between Worcester & Boston #MBTA

[Rockingham Racer]

I imagine this will be a two or three-car train. I can't see them needing more capacity than that. I wonder how long it will take before they decide to add Framingham, and perhaps Natick, to put bodies into seats on it?

[The EGE]

They're actually implementing something resembling a local-express system (though I'm sure Wellesley will complain somehow).

11 AM peak inbounds: 4 Framingham locals, 1 Worcester local, 5 "zone expresses", and 1 Worcester nonstop
9 PM peak outbounds: 3 Framingham locals, 5 "zone expresses", 1 Worcester nonstop

If "zone expresses" are nonstop Yawkey-Framingham, that'll be great. Even if some pick up some Wellesley or Natick stops it's still an improvement on the existing schedule.

[MBTA F40PH-2C 1050]

They're actually implementing something resembling a local-express system (though I'm sure Wellesley will complain somehow).

11 AM peak inbounds: 4 Framingham locals, 1 Worcester local, 5 "zone expresses", and 1 Worcester nonstop
9 PM peak outbounds: 3 Framingham locals, 5 "zone expresses", 1 Worcester nonstop

If "zone expresses" are nonstop Yawkey-Framingham, that'll be great. Even if some pick up some Wellesley or Natick stops it's still an improvement on the existing schedule.

There will be a phone call to the state house from a townie about not being an express stop in Wellesley...just you wait for the change...that is what happened last time

[dbperry]

That express stop in Wellesley Hills was classic insider politics. Absolutely amazing. I still want the full story on that one. You can see it here (P527):
http://www.dbperry.net/MBTA/Framingham/ ... -04-29.pdf

The official blog / explanation of the new schedule can be found two places:

http://www.mbta.com/about_the_mbta/news ... nth=&year=

and

http://blog.mass.gov/transportation/mbt ... -upgrades/

My first take on this is that they're adding locos but not coaches (capacity) to the line. For example, the current rush hour trains that go Boston -> Worcester with all local stops have lower ridership outside Framingham (esp. P504 & P531 - why travel that whole distance as a local when you can find an express?). So, if you can break those long distance locals up into two different trains - 'zone express' - then you can move the same number of people and make the distant customers happier with quicker service.

Eventually I'll do some more thinking on my theory. I could be wrong. My theory would align with my gut feeling that going into the winter, the CR is pretty good on loco inventory, but still running with just barely enough coaches. So they might have capacity to add locos to increase the number of trainsets in service by stealing coaches from other trainsets.

Interesting that they made a big deal to announce this now, with implementation in May 2016 (!). I guess the new November schedule will have the reconfigured schedules without the Worcester - Boston express? Not sure if that makes sense...

Also, they must have developed the entire new schedule that will be in effect in May 2016 - otherwise they wouldn't know if it could work. Why not give us a preview?

Is the delay to implement this due to holding some locos in reserve for the winter? Why May 2016?

I wonder how layover space plays into this approach? Perhaps layover some equipment in Framingham? They used to.

The 300 seat number is interesting. I wonder how much research went into that, but I would hope more than just a guess. My first reaction is that 7:55 AM departure and just before 9 AM arrival is too late for peak Worcester - Boston commute. I wouldn't be surprised to see they screw up the capacity allocation.

The original 'super expresses' (my pet name) debuted on 4/29/2013 and went Worcester - Framingham - Boston only. The stations between Framingham and Worcester got added to those super expresses on 3/10/2014. And there was an UPROAR in early 2014 when they tried to mess with the schedules the last time. (3/10/2014 was when the new Yawkey station went fully live). More details here:
http://www.dbperry.net/MBTA/#FraminghamWorcester

Dave

[Rockingham Racer]

This is all well and good, but one must wonder why this particular line gets such good service compared to the others. Is there a lot of money out that way? A lot of political pull? Both?

[emannths]

That express stop in Wellesley Hills was classic insider politics. Absolutely amazing. I still want the full story on that one. You can see it here (P527)

I always figured that P527 needed a stop to delay its arrival in Framingham and/or not run into the train in front of it. Why Wellesley Hills was selected when Wellesley Square has double the ridership...? I guess the donors don't dare live a mile too far west!

[leviramsey]

This is all well and good, but one must wonder why this particular line gets such good service compared to the others. Is there a lot of money out that way? A lot of political pull? Both?

Some of both:

a) Weston and Wellesley (among others within viable park and ride distance) are right up there on the list of richest suburbs of Boston
b) MetroWest is generally supportive of the line and in a lot of respects is the main swing vote statewide
c) Worcester (counting Shrewsbury) has accounted for the past two Lt. Governors; also: Worcester's metro area is the GOP's base in Massachusetts (look at the list of towns that went Bush '04, McCain '08, Romney '12: most are within 10-15 miles of Worcester)

It also gets very strong ridership and that ridership is generally riding through a lot of zones, so the ridership is some of the highest-revenue in the system (probably second only to Providence). From the 2014 Blue Book, ridership per train:

Providence: 488 riders/train
Worcester: 319 riders/train
Franklin: 305 riders/train
Plymouth/Kingston: 273 riders/train
Fitchburg: 260 riders/train
Rockburyport: 256 riders/train
Middleboro: 251 riders/train
Greenbush: 225 riders/train
Needham: 218 riders/train
Stoughton: 213 riders/train
Lowell: 206 riders/train
Haverhill: 183 riders/train
Fairmount: 25 riders/train