2015 Commuter Rail Delay Discussion Thread

Rockingham Racer wrote:I just went back and looked at the Haverhill schedule. IINM, they have scheduled exactly the same amount of time between stops as the regular schedule on a sunny day in June. Obviously, that will lead to trains falling of the schedule in this type of weather.

Why? Once the tracks have been cleared, why would they run any slower than normal on a day like today?

Fore River Shipyard loaned some power to the MBTA to move a train that's been stuck for at least a day: https://twitter.com/LeighC0llins/status ... 12/photo/1" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

boblothrope wrote:Why? Once the tracks have been cleared, why would they run any slower than normal on a day like today?

Boarding and deboarding is much slower. Stairs are icy, and doors aren't opening and closing reliably.

chrisf wrote:

boblothrope wrote:Why? Once the tracks have been cleared, why would they run any slower than normal on a day like today?

Boarding and deboarding is much slower. Stairs are icy, and doors aren't opening and closing reliably.

And braking is severely hampered by the low temperatures and built-up snow. 502 rolled past a couple station stops this morning and had to back up...

In case anyone had hopes of things improving this week:

All Commuter Rail Lines will operate a modified weekday schedule through Friday, February 20. Schedules for each line are at http://www.mbta.com/winter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

Passengers should expect significant delays and several canceled trips.
Providence/Stoughton Line trains will not serve TF Green and Wickford and all service will begin and end in Providence.
Kingston/Plymouth Line trains will not service Plymouth and all service will begin and end in Kingston.
Greenbush Line trains will not service Weymouth Landing.

I thought they might make some changes due to overcrowding on Haverhill and the Eastern Route this morning, but nope, doubling down on it. I've taken exactly three round trips on my Zone 2 pass this month - $66 each round trip! Where do I write for a refund? (That's a rhetorical question - I know we'll get nothing.) I'm at least lucky I have a place I can park inexpensively near my office, but it's still costing a good bit more than the train.

Couple of questions:

1) When a train starts out in the morning from its parking spot - why does the train start delayed? I would think that a crew would have ample time to warm up the train. But what do I know
2) I assume they are cutting the schedule because of lack of working trainsets? But it would seem to make sense to still run at least one express service at rush hour. For instance, on the Worcester 506 we were jammed packed at Ashland. And then the train continued to make every stop even though no one could board. Aggravating to everyone.

octr202 wrote:In case anyone had hopes of things improving this week:

All Commuter Rail Lines will operate a modified weekday schedule through Friday, February 20. Schedules for each line are at http://www.mbta.com/winter" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;.

Passengers should expect significant delays and several canceled trips.
Providence/Stoughton Line trains will not serve TF Green and Wickford and all service will begin and end in Providence.
Kingston/Plymouth Line trains will not service Plymouth and all service will begin and end in Kingston.
Greenbush Line trains will not service Weymouth Landing.

I thought they might make some changes due to overcrowding on Haverhill and the Eastern Route this morning, but nope, doubling down on it. I've taken exactly three round trips on my Zone 2 pass this month - $66 each round trip! Where do I write for a refund? (That's a rhetorical question - I know we'll get nothing.).

I don't know, Bev Scott did say today that the T is "seriously mulling" the question of refunds. I wouldn't rule it out.

If you paid by credit card, you should dispute it with your credit card company (probably on the last day of the month). If you paid for parking with your credit card and service wasn't running, same. If I was a lawyer I'd think about creating a class action lawsuit. If I paid by payroll deduction I'd think about cancelling my March pass....

"T" could issue refunds, but they are insolvent....

Going off topic here. This thread is for service delays only.

The Globe, along with lots of other information, confirms that Keolis is reporting that they only have about 40 serviceable units available at this point. They say 63 are needed for full service.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/0 ... ysHeadline" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

octr202 wrote:The Globe, along with lots of other information, confirms that Keolis is reporting that they only have about 40 serviceable units available at this point. They say 63 are needed for full service.

http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/0 ... ysHeadline" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Theyd be fine if the HSPs didnt face plant

TrainManTy wrote:

chrisf wrote:

boblothrope wrote:Why? Once the tracks have been cleared, why would they run any slower than normal on a day like today?

Boarding and deboarding is much slower. Stairs are icy, and doors aren't opening and closing reliably.

And braking is severely hampered by the low temperatures and built-up snow. 502 rolled past a couple station stops this morning and had to back up...

Ok. Then why, if they went through all the trouble to post special schedules, don't they increase time for station stops, and add some extra recovery time at terminals?

It *really* hurts when the reduced schedule has 2 hour gaps, and then at the last minute they cancel some of the remaining trains because the incoming equipment is more than an hour behind.

boblothrope wrote:It *really* hurts when the reduced schedule has 2 hour gaps, and then at the last minute they cancel some of the remaining trains because the incoming equipment is more than an hour behind.

It happened yesterday when the 4:00 Fitchburg train I was planning to take was canceled some 20 minutes before departure, leading to a nearly-four-hour gap in outbound service.

saulblum wrote:

boblothrope wrote:It *really* hurts when the reduced schedule has 2 hour gaps, and then at the last minute they cancel some of the remaining trains because the incoming equipment is more than an hour behind.

It happened yesterday when the 4:00 Fitchburg train I was planning to take was canceled some 20 minutes before departure, leading to a nearly-four-hour gap in outbound service.

The Governor had something to say about situations like this today. Basically, he's telling Keolis that if they publish a schedule, however meager, they had better make sure they run it the following day. This, because reliability has gone down the tubes.

337 was recently cancelled (it was originally scheduled on the "recovery plan"). That led to a 100-minute gap on the Lowell Line from 5:50pm to 7:30pm for North Station departures.