Equipment shortages & cancellations

[harshaw]

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/0 ... story.html

[F-line to Dudley via Park]

That would explain why the normally 80% HSP Old Colony has been 80% Geeps for the past week.

[sonicdoommario]

Don't know if this belongs here, but I did see a lone bi-level car driving past the Pawtucket layover on my way home from work today.

Can they re-arrange sets in layover facilities, or does that have to be done someplace up in Boston? Did that car get scratched from a morning set at the last minute or something?

[F-line to Dudley via Park]

Sure. They do it all the time at the layovers to isolate a problem car. Any layover that's not unduly constrained by too few tracks or too-short tracks can do switching with relative ease.

[sonicdoommario]

Looks like the car shortage bug got to the Providence rush hour trains (which seemed unscathed for the past month). Both the 842/821 and 808/825 sets were down a car each yesterday, and I counted only 6 doubles from 823 when it just passed by my house (could've been 6 doubles and a flat, couldn't notice behind the trees). All of these sets normally 8 doubles.

FWIW, there's still that double decker car hanging out at the Pawtucket layover. Can't get the number off of it without risking my safety, though....

[sonicdoommario]

821 last Friday had just 6 doubles. Today, I noticed 6 doubles and 2 flats on 821. First time I saw a set combo like that.

[Diverging Route]

821 last Friday had just 6 doubles. Today, I noticed 6 doubles and 2 flats on 821. First time I saw a set combo like that.

The six K + 2 F combo was quite frequent on the south side before the Rotems arrived.

[sonicdoommario]

Two rush hour Providence trains seemed to have issues, causing them to be swapped out, according to the MBTA CR Twitter. 806 in the morning (normally an 8 car set) and then 825 in the evening (8 cars as well).

[johnpbarlow]

Wasn't sure which thread to post this Boston Herald article re: Federal data indicating that MBTA/Keolis equipment breakdown (mostly locomotives) is worse than NJT and LIRR.

Excerpt:

The federal data, released this week, cast a harsh light on the T and Keolis, the private operator that holds a $2.69 billion contract to manage the commuter rail. After the T’s 338 breakdowns, the New Jersey Transit Corporation had 236 — 30 percent fewer than the T — followed by the MTA’s Long Island rail, which had just 132.

But both of those systems logged far more traveling miles than the T. The Long Island system recorded 76.2 million miles last year — while New Jersey had 64.7 million. The MBTA logged just 24.1 million miles.

Some "good" news:

After ringing up 561 cancellations in 2016, Keolis is on pace for 340 this year in a system that runs 3,000 trains per week. As a whole this year, Keolis’ on-time performance has hovered at 89 percent — below its 90 percent target but above the 10-year average.

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/local_coverage/2017/10/data_mbta_service_worst_among_carriers

Q: is it the case that NJT and LIRR use of electric power (esp MUs) is inherently less prone to train cancellations than MBTA's 100% use of diesel hauled trains? I'm guessing that if one of 10 MU cars in a train loses motive power due to traction motor failure, the consist will continue to run.

[BandA]

I would say electric traction should be inherently more reliable than diesel/electric. I would think an MU train would have more issues due to complexity than a push-pull, don't know if that would affect reliability tho.

[sonicdoommario]

Something feels a bit funky the past few weeks, at least on the south side:

-Worcester's 9 double set for a few days was shrunk to 7 doubles and 2 singles (back to 9 doubles now)
-Providence had an 8 double set reduced to 7 doubles/1 single (back to 8 doubles)
-Providence since yesterday had a car removed from another 8 double set
-Franklin's 7 double set was using 6 doubles and a single as of at least this morning
-One of the 6 double sets on the south side (there's one for Providence, Worcester, and Franklin) is 5 doubles and a single, the single being a control car

[Diverging Route]

And up on the north side, I was on a four-car flat last week and 3-single/1-double set today.

[CRail]

Is the 4 car flat set still the one with the 2 German cars on the head end?

[Diverging Route]

I believe it has just one MBB in the potty position next to the engine.

[GP40MC1118]

Some other factors could be:

1) Polar Express Extras this coming weekend including an 11 car Braintree set Saturday. Another extra on the Greenbush line Sunday.
Last weekend there was one out of Newburyport with an 8 car set.

2) PTC Installations: The last two weeks have seen a rash of extras to Davisville bringing two 1600 series control cars at time.
They've run 12/02, 04 & 06. Another one Sunday.

D