Blue Line Extension ROW

[BostonUrbEx]

What are you talking about? Have you seen the lightning speed at which trains handle the Harvard curve? Surely they're going 55 there.

[newpylong]

It's no worse of a ride than Alewife to Braintree.

Not a good comparison as no one rides the length of the Red Line - they commute Braintree to Boston or Alewife to Boston. Braintree to Boston would be a better comparison, and that's only 11 rail miles and it takes forever.

[3rdrail]

What are you talking about? Have you seen the lightning speed at which trains handle the Harvard curve? Surely they're going 55 there.

Isn't there a speed restriction on the Harvard curve ?

[boblothrope]

It's no worse of a ride than Alewife to Braintree.

Not a good comparison as no one rides the length of the Red Line - they commute Braintree to Boston or Alewife to Boston. Braintree to Boston would be a better comparison, and that's only 11 rail miles and it takes forever.

Plenty of people commute from the South Shore to Kendall or Harvard.

I find the new Blue Line cars' seats particularly uncomfortable, especially with the jerk the cars make as they stop.

[Elcamo]

Would the MBTA consider running DMU's along the current CR line instead of extending the blue? You could have a new CR stop at wonderland, along with new DMU stops at Sullivan Square, South Salem, and another Lynn stop. I'd envision the DMU running to either Salem or Beverly, and eventually could serve the Peabody/Danvers branch if it is ever constructed. Assuming that line ends at the north shore malls, you will have plenty of reverse commuting to get to Leahy Clinic and the malls and don't have to worry about sending CR that way as much.

They would still need to find a decent DMU to do the job, and it would have to coincide with the purchase of Fairmount line DMU's and the construction of a facility to maintain them, all of which could take years. Plus the MBTA could call this a whole new rapid transit line, which will sound much better allocating funds for than an extension of the blue.

[bluelinetolynn]

I actually have been thinking about that lately.. And it actually seems like a much better idea because the could possibly add A EVERETT STOP and because every court that CR line goes through ica underserved but I really like the dmu idea but A would ouy cost the same a the ready if the rapid service and will uou beable to make free transfers into the other lines for free. Those are all things that would have to be dealt with cuz I make the two away transfer bus from central square to wonderland with the 50 cent transfer and the free transfer going the other way to go home.. I won't spend the 5 or 6 dollars it cost now for the CR. When I can pay 2 dollars from lynn to boston...

[merrick1]

The MBTA lines are set up as purely subway equipment, not semi-commuter equipment like the DC Metro. If you want longer than 10 mile trips on rapid transit, you need commuter-style cars.

The 01500's and 01600's were build with semi-commuter style seating. This was changed to longitudinal seating. I think the cars couldn't handle crowds well.

[3rdrail]

They were cushiony and super comfortable. They were a nice package in a great all-around car and what I believe were the most comfortable seats of all the seating that we have had on any Boston equipment. It was a definite loss when they went over to the longitudinal seating. They had supposed studies that it was claimed that passengers, especially at rush hours, took longer to exit and enter the cars, thus lengthening the general headway. I guess that it was just another example of form losing to function but I argue that they were also, at that time, touting eventual Braintree commuter distance service so why not make the seating upgraded to commuter standards ? I also believe the transverse design to be safer. When they first came out, they kept the 01400's on the Ashmont runs and the Silverbirds on South Shore service. This may have been the solution but the question is, was the elimination of the Dorchester runs enough to warrant keeping the Silverbirds and 01400's dedicated to a line each, and thus having different seating arrangements ? I'd say yes, but then again, they don't hire me to tell them what to do with their seats !

[Fred Rabin]

If I remember correctly, the first attempt at forward facing seats on the Red Line was the four cars that the MTA refurbished in 1948. They somehow got the name "Braintree Cars", probably because management wanted to show what kind of equipment would be used on a proposed extension to Braintree. The seats swivelled so that they could be turned around at the terminals.

[3rdrail]

Your memory is correct, Fred. They were also known as the Governor Bradford cars. They were trying to sell the Braintree Extension big time, so they took a handful of cars and gave them the treatment- new fleurescent lighting, seats, etc., although I remember the seats as being permanently in one direction in one half of the car and the other direction in the other half. Seashore has at least one of the cars. I'm not sure if it has retained it's seating arrangments as a Bradford. For what it's worth, I always thought that they looked "mickey moused" as the cars retained their classic pre-war railroad coach look but had these small touches of "modernism". The two looks seemed to clash to my eye. The "Silverbirds" were a different story as they were all modern looking in their outward appearance. (My favorites were the 0700's that were painted inside and out - outside orange/grey, inside turquoise/salmon.)

[diburning]

It's no worse of a ride than Alewife to Braintree.

Not a good comparison as no one rides the length of the Red Line - they commute Braintree to Boston or Alewife to Boston. Braintree to Boston would be a better comparison, and that's only 11 rail miles and it takes forever.

Plenty of people commute from the South Shore to Kendall or Harvard.

I find the new Blue Line cars' seats particularly uncomfortable, especially with the jerk the cars make as they stop.

I wouldn't call them uncomfortable... it's just that when the train moves, there isn't enough friction to the seats to keep my rear end planted.

[jonnhrr]

Concerning trip lengths on a subway line, 207th to Far Rockaway in New York (A train) is 31 miles, and that is run with subway equipment similar to the Red Line. Even for people going from Rockaway to Manhattan that has to be 15-20 miles or so.

Jon

[3rdrail]

That may be a little deceiving John, as most of those passengers are taking small chunks of that ride at a time, heavily weighted the further west you are. I don't know if you have had occasion to ride to the Far Rockaways but once you've cleared Rockaway Blvd. (actually mid Brooklyn), you've already unloaded most of your passengers, most of whom took the hop from Manhattan. I used to date an NYPD officer who lived near the Broad Channel stop and even at rush, we'd start out of Manhattan in a crowded car. By the time we hit the Boulevard, we might as well have had the "Honeymooners Booth" at the Tavern-On-The-Green ! (the drinks were better at the tavern though).

[FP10]

Concerning trip lengths on a subway line, 207th to Far Rockaway in New York (A train) is 31 miles, and that is run with subway equipment similar to the Red Line. Even for people going from Rockaway to Manhattan that has to be 15-20 miles or so.

Jon

I was about to mention riding the A from 175th to Penn Station, only a slightly shorter trip than Salem > GC. And if the BL is split after Airport instead of continued through Point of Pines it would express past most of Revere, likely with comparable trip times. Especially since its a straight shot from Airport to Riverworks, I could see the trains hitting top speed.

[bluelinetolynn]

I wonder if Boston had been expanded into one mega city all the way out to 128 loop 100 years ago that it would be alot easier for everett chelsea Lynn saugus all to get rapid transit projects pushed through. I would think so because you would have one city hall pushing for all these neighborhood projects instead of several different cities all fighting for there own projects like somerville wanting the green-line extension and lynn wanting the blue line ..