MBTA Commuter Rail (Operations, Keolis, & Short Term)

CheapLeak said:
I have to ask, why does the T/Keolis do this consistent Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter schedule system, vs. just putting out new schedules when changes happen? Obviously this is a bigger schedule change with SCR and trains being renumbered, but most of the time no actual changes happen. Sorry if this is dumb, I’m not really familiar with the operations side of trains.
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It's a good question that (I assume) has an answer but I couldn't tell you what it is. It's buses too, and it has impacts. I lost a job way back in 2018 because of a seasonal schedule change.
 
CheapLeak said:
I have to ask, why does the T/Keolis do this consistent Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter schedule system, vs. just putting out new schedules when changes happen? Obviously this is a bigger schedule change with SCR and trains being renumbered, but most of the time no actual changes happen. Sorry if this is dumb, I’m not really familiar with the operations side of trains.
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Gives them a fixed schedule to review the system and see what needs changing. They look at data from the previous period and see which trains are running early or late and need time adjustments, see what trains are overcrowded, etc. And because all lines share two terminii, a change to one schedule might require a shift to another line so it makes sense to work it out all at once, and makes it predictable for the end user who has to adjust their life to an updated schedule twice a year.

Also when you talk public transit schedules you aren't just talking about changing bus/train schedules, your also talking about changing the schedules of the thousands of drivers/conductors who operate those buses/trains. Personnel scheduling is arguably one of the hardest bits of transit scheduling.
 
New England Born & Raised said:
Fare gates coming soon to South Station and Back Bay

www.wbur.org

MBTA says commuter rail fare gates coming this year to two train hubs

MBTA General Manager Phil Eng said agency officials pushed to speed up deployment of fare gates at South Station and Back Bay Station, which will complement similar technology in place at North Station.
www.wbur.org www.wbur.org
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So are the new fare gates coming to South Station before or after they resurface the horrible condition platforms?

Because knowing the T it will likely be a sequence of: install new fare gates -- oops, need to resurface platforms -- tear out fare gates -- resurface platforms -- reinstall fare gates.
 
JeffDowntown said:
So are the new fare gates coming to South Station before or after they resurface the horrible condition platforms?

Because knowing the T it will likely be a sequence of: install new fare gates -- oops, need to resurface platforms -- tear out fare gates -- resurface platforms -- reinstall fare gates.
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The fare gates are inside the lobby, not on the platforms. At least, this is true for North Station.
 
jbray said:
The fare gates are inside the lobby, not on the platforms. At least, this is true for North Station.
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There are too many other pedestrian connections in South Station for that to work. You have feeds out to Atlantic Avenue, the Bus Terminal, the Postal Annex, all which need open access not fare control access from the archway area. The gates will need to be out at or very near the platforms.
 
JeffDowntown said:
There are too many other pedestrian connections in South Station for that to work. You have feeds out to Atlantic Avenue, the Bus Terminal, the Postal Annex, all which need open access not fare control access from the archway area. The gates will need to be out at or very near the platforms.
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I’m guessing that they’ll just install fare gates at the side entrances as well. Placing the fare gates right next to the platforms allows you to build fewer of them yes, but it also puts the existing waiting area outside of fare control which would create congestion issues. Namely, every time a train’s platform is announced, an entire train’s worth of passengers will be trying to enter the gates while a train’s worth of arriving passengers is about to exit through them. Operationally, you need the lobby as a buffer (just like at north station) so departing passengers can trickle in - unless they also plan to implement pre-assigned platforms that they allow people to wait on (like a subway).
 
astroTrain27 said:
I’m guessing that they’ll just install fare gates at the side entrances as well. Placing the fare gates right next to the platforms allows you to build fewer of them yes, but it also puts the existing waiting area outside of fare control which would create congestion issues. Namely, every time a train’s platform is announced, an entire train’s worth of passengers will be trying to enter the gates while a train’s worth of arriving passengers is about to exit through them. Operationally, you need the lobby as a buffer (just like at north station) so departing passengers can trickle in - unless they also plan to implement pre-assigned platforms that they allow people to wait on (like a subway).
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But it is not just a lobby -- it is through passage to other destination besides the platforms. You cannot block that through passage.
 
The platform for Track 1 has long been the connection to the bus terminal, so blocking off that platform with fare gates poses a problem. I wonder if they're just closing off that route once the new escalators into the bus terminal expansion are done.
 
ritchiew said:
The platform for Track 1 has long been the connection to the bus terminal, so blocking off that platform with fare gates poses a problem. I wonder if they're just closing off that route once the new escalators into the bus terminal expansion are done.
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The new Bus Terminal escalators and elevators will come down into the archway area under the tower. You cannot put those behind fare control. But it should clear up Platform 1 for fare control.
 
Screenshot_20250307_170133_Adobe Acrobat.jpg

For reference, the proposed final state platform plan from the Hines presentations, but given where the elevators to the bus terminal are, I don't see how you maintain gate-free access to the bus terminal elevators and escalators without going for gates basically at the end of each platform. That said, they're evidently willing to effectively do that at Back Bay. Looking at the renovation plan, which shows the gates, they'll be at the tops of each track access with the tracks 5&7 accesses (Worcester Line) getting as few as 4 gates each. Obviously Back Bay is lower usage than South Station, but it's precedent.
1000037713.jpg
 
Stlin said:
View attachment 60794
For reference, the proposed final state platform plan from the Hines presentations, but given where the elevators to the bus terminal are, I don't see how you maintain gate-free access to the bus terminal elevators and escalators without going for gates basically at the end of each platform. That said, they're evidently willing to effectively do that at Back Bay. Looking at the renovation plan, which shows the gates, they'll be at the tops of each track access with the tracks 5&7 accesses (Worcester Line) getting as few as 4 gates each. Obviously Back Bay is lower usage than South Station, but it's precedent.
View attachment 60782
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This is going to be a nightmare when you have a full Commuter Rail train unloading at the same time an Amtrak is loading on adjacent tracks on the same platform (or vice versa) which happens frequently AM and PM rush!
 
Back Bay so badly needs to be more porous. At minimum, the exit-only stairs to the F/W platform (west side of Dartmouth) and the OL and NEC platforms (on Columbus) should all be renovated into full bidirectional headhouses so that all platforms have multiple entrances. It would be worth considering entrances to the F/W platform from Copley Place and Clarendon Street, and turning the Berkeley Street emergency exit from the NEC platforms into an entrance. (And of course, the F/W platform so, so badly needs to be made full-high so that passengers don't have to walk all the way to the end.)
 
HelloBostonHi said:
Gives them a fixed schedule to review the system and see what needs changing. They look at data from the previous period and see which trains are running early or late and need time adjustments, see what trains are overcrowded, etc. And because all lines share two terminii, a change to one schedule might require a shift to another line so it makes sense to work it out all at once, and makes it predictable for the end user who has to adjust their life to an updated schedule twice a year.

Also when you talk public transit schedules you aren't just talking about changing bus/train schedules, your also talking about changing the schedules of the thousands of drivers/conductors who operate those buses/trains. Personnel scheduling is arguably one of the hardest bits of transit scheduling.
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I believe that it is at least partially Union job bidding related
 
The CapeFLYER website has been updated with the 2025 schedule. A few screenshots:

Service starts Friday, May 23rd.
capeflyer2025-1.png


The current Middleborough/Lakeville station will be renamed Lakeville after South Coast Rail "Phase 1" opens March 24th.
capeflyer2025-2.png


capeflyer2025-3.png


It looks like fares are the same as last year.
 
Stlin said:
Screenshot_20250307_170133_Adobe Acrobat.jpg

For reference, the proposed final state platform plan from the Hines presentations, but given where the elevators to the bus terminal are, I don't see how you maintain gate-free access to the bus terminal elevators and escalators without going for gates basically at the end of each platform
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FWIW, I boarded a greenbush train yesterday evening from Tack 12. There were two Kelolis employees scanning tickets by the end of the platform. I asked the guy who scanned mine if he knew where the new faregates were going, and he said: “I don’t know exactly. Somewhere in-between [gesturing from where we were standing and towards the area under the new archways]. I don’t know exactly.”

So while not exactly confident or exact information, I do think this indicates that the faregates will be outdoors and not inside the lobby like I predicted above.

(Also, these diagrams are a great find, Sltin)


Edit: perhaps I’m missing something, but if the fare gates already accept MBTA and Amtrak ticket barcodes, would it really be much more of a stretch to have them accept bus ticket barcodes too? And wouldn’t this allow you have the bus terminal-rail platform escalators behind fare control - as long as you add some faregates upstairs?
 
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astroTrain27 said:
FWIW, I boarded a greenbush train yesterday evening from Tack 12. There were two Kelolis employees scanning tickets by the end of the platform. I asked the guy who scanned mine if he knew where the new faregates were going, and he said: “I don’t know exactly. Somewhere in-between [gesturing from where we were standing and towards the area under the new archways]. I don’t know exactly.”

So while not exactly confident or exact information, I do think this indicates that the faregates will be outdoors and not inside the lobby like I predicted above.

(Also, these diagrams are a great find, Sltin)


Edit: perhaps I’m missing something, but if the fare gates already accept MBTA and Amtrak ticket barcodes, would it really be much more of a stretch to have them accept bus ticket barcodes too? And wouldn’t this allow you have the bus terminal-rail platform escalators behind fare control - as long as you add some faregates upstairs?
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People buy bus tickets at the bus station, in addition to online. The new escalators and elevators are the access from public transit to the bus terminal -- you cannot put them behind fare control.
 
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