Proposed Revised CR Schedules for 2016

That's been a bottleneck since the 3rd and 4th drawbridges over the Charles River were removed in the 1960s.

Just a general question: Does anyone know if the new schedules require a smaller number of total train sets and/or coaches than the current schedules?

I'm assuming that was the goal (to allow for more "cushion" for servicing, mechanical failures etc.). I'm just wondering if it was achievable. (Not an easy task I realize.)

Hard to say without seeing the consist rotations (old versions of which have been released online before).

One thing about Northside is that there are fewer "short turns" to places like Beverly, Reading, Anderson and Littleton, both peak and off-peak. At peak hours, this might reduce the number of consists that don't do a "high ridership" train at some point in their day, thus requiring more full five and six car sets.

I'll have an answer for you Southside when the new equipment set up sheet comes out and compare the new one to the current one...just gotta wait for a bit, unless I or anyone else hears otherwise

MBTA F40PH-2C 1050 wrote:I'll have an answer for you Southside when the new equipment set up sheet comes out and compare the new one to the current one...just gotta wait for a bit, unless I or anyone else hears otherwise

Thank you 1050.

I just read on Sun Chronicle or Chronicle Sun newspaper on line that the MBTA plans to add 2 additional Saturday morning trains on the Providence Line come with the May 23 schedule changes.

I looked on the MBTA website and it still shows the 2 existing Saturday morning trains on the Providence Line.

If anyone knows about these 2 additional Saturday morning trains for the Providence Line and if so, what are the times for these 2 additional Saturday morning trains.

The Worcester "Bullet" train has been renamed the "HeartToHub" train.
http://www.mbta.com/about_the_mbta/news ... 6442456112" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Guess they decided a 45 mile in one hour "bullet" train was kinda silly. So they came up with a MUCH better name that NOBODY will make fun of and EVERYONE will respect and love.

dbperry wrote: Guess they decided a 45 mile in one hour "bullet" train was kinda silly. So they came up with a MUCH better name that NOBODY will make fun of and EVERYONE will respect and love.

I'm pretty sure the "Bullet" name was only a placeholder anyway.

braves wrote:I just read on Sun Chronicle or Chronicle Sun newspaper on line that the MBTA plans to add 2 additional Saturday morning trains on the Providence Line come with the May 23 schedule changes.

I looked on the MBTA website and it still shows the 2 existing Saturday morning trains on the Providence Line.

If anyone knows about these 2 additional Saturday morning trains for the Providence Line and if so, what are the times for these 2 additional Saturday morning trains.

Here is the subject article:
http://www.thesunchronicle.com/news/loc ... 46f80.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

And the topic at hand:

On the weekend, two Saturday morning trains will be added. The current schedule has only one.

The MBTA confirmed to me that this sentence within the article is completely wrong.

The current schedule (12/14/2015) has the same two Saturday AM trains that the 'new' (5/23/2016) schedule will have. There are no planned changes for weekend service on the Stoughton / Providence line.

I haven't actually checked, but I don't think any weekend service is changing with the new schedule for ANY line. But I could be wrong.

There are weekend changes to the Fitchburg line:

1400/2400 departed Fitchburg 0645, arrived BON 0813; will depart 0638 & arrive 0800
1402/2402 departed Fitchburg 0915, arrived BON 1043; will depart 0853 & arrive 1015
1404/2404 departed Fitchburg 1045, arrived BON 1213; will depart 1058 & arrive 1220
1452/2452 departed Littleton 1400, arrived BON 1459; 1406/2406 will depart Fitchburg 1323 (Littleton 1350) & arrive 1445
1408/2408 departed Fitchburg 1410, arrived BON 1538; will depart 1548 & arrive 1710
1454/2454 departed Littleton 1730, arrived BON 1829; 1410/2410 will depart Fitchburg 1818 (Littleton 1845) & arrive 1940
1412/2412 departed Fitchburg 1730, arrived BON 1858; will depart 2153 & arrive 2315
1414/2414 removed from schedule

Similar changes (including removing, effectively 1453/2453) to the outbound schedule.

These weekend Fitchburg schedules are the same as those on the schedule for December 14th that was cancelled. So it's not entirely a surprise they kept it. Link here to Dave's site for that schedule.

Fitchburg was the last bastion of weekend short turn trains anywhere on the system. They had to revamp the schedule for the new infrastructure and Wachusett anyway. They went from 6 Fitchburg and 2 Littleton to 7 Fitchburg. It makes the weekend very comparable to weekends on the other lines out of North Station (except the short Lowell Line). Ever notice they skipped 1406 where 1452 is and 1410 where 1454 is? They planned for extending them at some point.

And your notation that 1414 is removed isn't quite right. That gives the perception they dropped the last train of the night, which they did not. 1414 (9:45 to 11:12) is now 1412 (9:53 to 11:15) at almost the same time. Once you get past 1408 the numbering changes slightly, 1452 easily becomes the new 1406 as you have it. A better comparison is that 1412 becomes 1410, 1414 becomes 1412 and 1454 is dropped - as you note 1453 is essentially dropped outbound as well.

It also looks like there are a couple minor weekend adjustments on the other lines out of North Station - nothing like the changes on the Fitchburg Line though.

"HeartToHub" / "Bullet" / "Politician's Express" / "BS Express" will be re-evaluated after one year.

http://www.masslive.com/news/index.ssf/ ... rvice.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Stephanie Pollack, Gov. Charlie Baker's transportation chief, said state officials are working "very closely" with the Worcester Chamber of Commerce to publicize and encourage people to take the new service.

"We told them we would run it for a year and if it doesn't build up enough ridership, then we will stop running it," Pollack said while speaking to members of Western Massachusetts chambers of commerce at the State House on Wednesday.

Interesting comments from our own occasional Framingham-Worcester line fellow passenger, Secretary Pollack.

At least that sounds reasonable, the last time the tried a train like that it didn't even last a year. It's 582 now. I bet if it doesn't draw the ridership they'll add stops to it, pretty decent late-morning slot for an express as you point out in your blog Dave. Run it at 8, and if it was identical to the new 508 it would get in at 9:20. They would have to bump 586 about 10 minutes later to make it work.

Allow me to quote myself:

Rockingham Racer wrote:I get a kick out of the "bullet train" moniker. San Francisco calls them "baby bullets". Is there going to be 186 MPH service out to Worcester? I predict that within 6 months, this train will add some stops. And if you're going to take it to work, you'd better be starting at 9:30 AM.

Let me just add that the outbound trip is convenient to anyone working until about 8 PM IIRC.