BandA wrote: ↑Thu Dec 22, 2022 3:25 pm Stagger side platforms to just before Mass Ave for each direction. Train would get a red signal while in the station. When ready to cross, use a special DTMF signal (phone touch pad) to tell the gates to close & give them the green. This could even be syncronized to traffic lights. Supposedly they use the DTMF signal in Framingham I read.You are still crossing Mass Ave and blocking traffic on Mass Ave.
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Fewer Stops on Commuter Rail Lines?
- Discussion relating to commuter rail, light rail, and subway operations of the MBTA.
Trains have the right of way over cars, and there are many grade crossings as busy as or busier than Mass. Ave.
West Station to North Station service is planned and is likely to happen. A passenger train crossing is no more obstructive than a traffic light cycle and those occur far more frequently than four times an hour.
West Station to North Station service is planned and is likely to happen. A passenger train crossing is no more obstructive than a traffic light cycle and those occur far more frequently than four times an hour.
Moderator: Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, Brightline Trains
Avatar:3679A (since wrecked)/3623B (now in service as 3636B).
Avatar:3679A (since wrecked)/3623B (now in service as 3636B).
BandA wrote: ↑Thu Dec 22, 2022 3:25 pm Stagger side platforms to just before Mass Ave for each direction. Train would get a red signal while in the station. When ready to cross, use a special DTMF signal (phone touch pad) to tell the gates to close & give them the green. This could even be syncronized to traffic lights. Supposedly they use the DTMF signal in Framingham I read.The current crossing uses a sensor that's almost in line with the sidewalk. Since they cross Mass Ave at a crawl due to needing to flag it (since there are no gates), this is currently not a problem. I would imagine that if a station is to be placed on the south side of crossing, the train can inch forward to trigger the crossing after pulling out of the station, and also be outside of the crossing circuit if they're at the station.
wicked wrote: ↑Fri Dec 23, 2022 5:05 pmYou are still crossing Mass Ave and blocking traffic on Mass Ave.Cars on Mass Ave are also waiting for cars on Vassar St to cross. If a station was built beyond a pilot, you would need gates for sure. Other option is to truncate the trains at Mass Ave, let the passengers cross Mass Ave on foot.
How long would the gates be down at Mass Ave? A minute per train? I guess it would depend on how fast the trains were going, which would depend on where the stations were. But it wouldn't be very long. (Not like a five-minute freight train in Terre Haute.) That stretch of Mass Ave is already stopped by traffic lights every minute or two. Vassar Street, Amherst St, and the massively busy pedestrian crossing in front of the end of the Infinite Corridor (77 Mass Ave, IIRC). It's hard to picture that it wouldn't be possible to have the crossing signals trigger the nearby traffic lights in some suitable pattern so that the train blockages wouldn't actually amount to much extra time.