Recent content by alewife

Amtrak has officially issued an RFP for its long-distance fleet replacement, which will replace all Amfleet II and Superliner cars with a unified single-level fleet. The supplier will be selected by the end of 2027, with Siemens the likely frontrunner given their recent dominance of the North...

I also feel like those aren't great pictures (the color looks different pretty different between two of the pictures on that slide!). For whatever it's worth, here's my photo of the mockup that was displayed a couple of years ago. It's possible that they've tweaked the color, but in person it...

Per Reddit, the T has quietly put at least one of the new battery-electric buses into revenue service. The one in the post is one of the 4300-series buses ultimately destined for the new Quincy Garage, not one of the 4200-series with left-side doors for the Harvard tunnel. I imagine there will...

Update: these speed restrictions were removed on Friday!

Notably, Eng was also the LIRR president in 2021 when they announced an effort with Alstom to convert some existing M7 EMUs to BEMUs, which was canceled a year later. It's not a directly comparable situation, since that was a potential retrofit of existing equipment rather than a purchase of new...

There’s been a 20 mph speed restriction across the Lechmere Viaduct in both directions for a few days now. The regular max speed is 25, so it’s nowhere near as bad as the 10 mph slog that persisted so long after the viaduct reopened with GLX, but hopefully it gets fixed soon. Unfortunately...

1. I know the 28 was created during the MBTA era (previously the 29 was the primary service on the BHA corridor). My other guess would be the 66 in its current form, which would also be the one that was a novel route between its two endpoints. 3. I'm guessing the 32, since it uses the lower...

That screen is supposed to show next stop information (paired with the "Connections" screen on the right), so something's not working right here.

The Green Line has a lot of variability and unreliability due to the operating environment, especially in the on-street segments. Short-turns are used to get delayed trains back on schedule and having B/C trains bound for Government Center short-turn at Park is common, especially because it's...

The NETransit roster got updated a few days ago, so here are some updates: 150 out of 152 Orange Line cars are now delivered, and the last two cars are "planned" for December. It's been far too long coming (almost four years behind the original schedule!), but completion of the Orange Line side...

Via Wikimedia Commons, here's a photo of Park Street in 1898, with the wire trough visible. The photographer is standing slightly behind the spot where the MBTA's press photo was taken, looking in the same direction. (Side note: what's with that crossover? There's a pole in the middle making...

The new system will support passes. The issue here is passes issued through the MBTA's Perq Corporate Pass Program where you can get a pass pre-tax through your employer. I have a Perq pass and I never have to use a fare vending machine or the website—it just reloads automatically every month...

Most likely yes once the MBTA and LA Metro orders are finished. CRRC has been barred from future federally-funded rolling stock procurements, with carveouts for the MBTA, CTA, SEPTA, and LA Metro (including future orders), but those agencies seem unlikely to go back to CRRC given their...

I’ve noticed this for a few other diversions as well, but the messaging the T is putting on the advertising screens in stations is at best unclear and at worst misleading about the extent of the diversion. The copy on these screens reads: I personally would interpret that as describing an...

In addition to Amtrak being extremely short on coaches right now due to the Horizons being pulled from service earlier this year, there apparently are capacity limitations into GCT right now due to the Park Ave. Viaduct rehab project. This service will probably use existing slots for...