Re: Green Line door configuration and platform lengthening
I'm beginning to think there's no real excuse for giving E priority over B. B has the larger issues with capacity. And if we're really just looking at Sutherland & Blandford vs Heath St, I would argue that Sutherland & Blandford would be easier to lengthen the platforms since Heath St will likely require a complete redesign and seizing land from the VA hospital parking lot.
I think if the T decided today that they wanted to get B, D, and E rebuilt for 225' platforms by December 2022, and tomorrow the legislature gave them money to get it done, it wouldn't be at all difficult.
The Heath St VA land question is an interesting one. Before I'd seen their presentation this week, I'd been assuming that longer Green Line trains were going to require the T to get some of the VA's land. Page 84 of
https://cdn.mbta.com/sites/default/...018-05-07-fmcb-green-line-future-capacity.pdf shows a proposed straight line parallel to a part of South Huntington that stays just to the north of the existing track loop (and I guess the parking lot it goes through is probably a T parking lot?). But when I try to pick roughly the endpoints shown in T's illustration using the Google Maps Measure Distance tool, it seems to be roughly 170' long, which would be enough for 1 x 116' but not 2 x 116'.
Given the concerns with the tight curve at the existing Heath St loop, having a way to run 1 car 116' trains that eliminates the loop without having potentially difficult land acquisition issues is potentially worth something, but I also hope they will work with the VA to explore whether a longer platform with some sort of land swap deal would make more sense. (And there might be value in trying to locate the station closer to the VA's front door, but on the other hand doing that would make the station less convenient for residents of Heath St.)
I'm not sure why 225' is being treated as the magic number for platform length. 2 x 116' is 232', so if 225' is the magic number, then 7' of the length of a 2 x 116' train will be past the end of the platform. Given that the doors aren't expected to be at the end of the Type 10 cars, that's probably fine, but depending on the exact placement of the doors, it might turn out that there might be more than 3.5' from each end of the train to the edge of the first door. And even with the Type 7/8 trains, when using a platform on the right side of the train there's no door at the back of the train meeting the platform so somewhat less than 225' ought to work for a three car train.
If the doors end up 7' from the end of each car, 232' - 2 x 7' works out to 218', at which point roughly half of the supposedly too short platforms on page 19 of the capacity PDF might suddenly become acceptable if we're just looking at length and ignoring any potential ADA issues. If the doors can be kept at least 9' away from the ends of the train cars, the entire D branch becomes acceptable as is. If the doors end up at least 11' away from the ends of the train cars, then perhaps Boylston eastbound would not need any reconstruction. If the doors end up at least 12.5' from the end of the train, it looks like for 2 x 116' trains, the only stations needing construction would be Heath St, Boston College, eastbound Blandford St, and a bunch of C branch stations.
If we end up with 12.5' of non-door space at the end of a train, then 5.333' of first doorway (which I believe is the width of the new Red and Orange Line doorways), then 16' of not doorway, 5.333' of second doorway, then 16' of not doorway, 5.333' of third doorway, then 16' of not doorway, 5.333' of fourth doorway, then 16' of not doorway, 5.333' of fifth doorway, then 12.5' of non-door space at the far end of the train, I believe that adds up to 115.666'. Perhaps that means that 12' 8" from the end of the car to the first doorway might be desirable. And if the cab is 4' - 5' long, that arrangement would nicely center the doors on the passenger areas while limiting the need to lengthen existing platforms. (Although it also looks like the different section sizes may lead to the doors not being that evenly spaced.)
They do seem to have assumed that the doors would go directly adjacent to the cab, but it's not clear if there's any reason for that other than habit from when the motorperson has been expected to monitor fare payment.
The existing Boston College station apparently isn't even long enough for 150' two car trains, at 138' westbound (where it discharges passengers) and 130' eastbound (where maybe it does front door boarding only?). Does it turn out to be long enough for the doors that are in use to line up next to the platforms?
Page 10 of the PDF shows a photograph of the Clinton St underpass that seems to have a railing that suggests it has a staircase. Could / should they rebuild that as a wheelchair ramp while rebuilding the bridge?