New Red and Orange Line Cars

Per Reddit an additional Red Line pair (1960/1961) was spotted in testing this week, so there was 1 confirmed delivery this month after none in February. Unclear if this empties Springfield until the Customs-released shells start arriving, or if they have a couple more yet to come.

For scorekeeping, we're now 14 cars/7 married-pairs behind on the worst-case delivery pace for the CRRC recovery schedule of only 2 married-pairs per month.
 
All of these shells are Red Line, right, and the Orange is essentially done (minus warranty repairs/etc)? Rather curious now that the new signaling system is in, if they can hit the projected new head ways on the Orange once the fleet is fully stocked. Also wonder if they have tracked things like dwell time reduction across the Orange to see if they improvements in the new cars have lived up to expectations - as that weighed more on the Red Line headway numbers.
 
bakgwailo said:
All of these shells are Red Line, right, and the Orange is essentially done (minus warranty repairs/etc)? Rather curious now that the new signaling system is in, if they can hit the projected new head ways on the Orange once the fleet is fully stocked. Also wonder if they have tracked things like dwell time reduction across the Orange to see if they improvements in the new cars have lived up to expectations - as that weighed more on the Red Line headway numbers.
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Orange Line signal upgrades are still in progress. Completion is scheduled for end of 2026. We are almost there, but not quite.

Orange Line Program | Projects | MBTA

Official website of the MBTA -- schedules, maps, and fare information for Greater Boston's public transportation system, including subway, commuter rail, bus routes, and boat lines.
www.mbta.com www.mbta.com
 
JeffDowntown said:
Orange Line signal upgrades are still in progress. Completion is scheduled for end of 2026. We are almost there, but not quite.

Orange Line Program | Projects | MBTA

Official website of the MBTA -- schedules, maps, and fare information for Greater Boston's public transportation system, including subway, commuter rail, bus routes, and boat lines.
www.mbta.com www.mbta.com
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The new system is online though, and you can tell because there hasn't been a reported signal failure on the OL in like 2 weeks.
 
Dumb question: Why were the 1500s scrapped as pairs? Was it just lack of foresight that a car shortage was possible?
 
737900er said:
Dumb question: Why were the 1500s scrapped as pairs? Was it just lack of foresight that a car shortage was possible?
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NETransit has this note: "01500s and 01700s were built as self-contained units, but in practice are now configured and operated as pairs. 01500s were built with double-ended cabs, but rebuilt to single-ended."

They seem to be kept together as married pairs typically.

Beyond that - What would be the benefit of not scrapping them as pairs? Seems like you'd have at most...one more car in terms of granularity in when you scrap them?
 
bakgwailo said:
Yeah, I thought that was part of the last big shutdown to wrap it up.
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I think the last shutdown completed the trackside installation work. But I suspect (since the T is claiming work is not done) there is still back-office, Command Center, and testing work in process.
 
www.bostonglobe.com

The new Red Line seats are drawing complaints from riders. Here’s why. - The Boston Globe

Some commuters say the reinforced thermoplastic is too slick and flat, with the angle of the seat back too severe.
www.bostonglobe.com www.bostonglobe.com
The seats were just one of the many changes made in the latest versions of the Red Line cars, which are assembled in Springfield by CRRC MA, a subsidiary of a Chinese company.
Seats on older trains are made from a patterned fabric material, on individually segmented chairs. They have their downsides, absorbing fallen substances — be that spilled morning coffees or mashed-in wads of gum. When it rains, sometimes the moisture and humidity makes them stink.
In the eyes of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, the new, reinforced thermoplastic seating was an upgrade in virtually every way. Cloth needed to constantly be replaced as vandalism, degradation, or noxious spills took their toll, while plastic is a cinch to clean and can take a beating.
Plastic seats have been added over the past few years to the Red and Orange Lines. While the rollout of new trains has been delayed for many reasons, most recently holdups in the import of parts from China, the plan is to replace the psychedelic-colored fabric everywhere.
Change is possible. After listening to feedback from riders who saw prototypes of the newest Green Line trains, the T decided to make the seats wider and deeper. It’s not clear if there’s a similar appetite for change on the Red Line, as seat ergonomics were evidently not on people’s minds when a mockup was unveiled in 2018.
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For me, it's the low low backs that are the most infuriating - causes my rear to scoot out away from the back over time then putting my knees into people's path of travel.
 
I don't mind the plastic seats on the new Orange and Red cars, but I find the seats on the Blue Line to be far too slippery. If I don't sit against a pole or other edge feature to the directional back end of the car, I find myself sliding around.
 
I'll still take them over the long slick and shiny fiberglass benches that were on the 01400 series cars. Anytime a train stopped short, everyone seated would just slide towards the front and into their neighbor, if someone happened to be sitting there.
 
NETransit updated.

68 Red Line cars are in-service, 0 in-testing. The supply-chain choke for the lengthy Customs hold has now hit, as there have been no new deliveries from Springfield since May.

No retirements of any old cars in 11 months, despite the in-service CRRC numbers now being past the projected point where the 01500/01600's (18 still in-service) were to be completely retired. This means they're still struggling with warranty repairs for the braking-system anomaly that's causing a rash of flat spots on the wheels (there was a lengthy Reddit thread a couple weeks ago about the flat spots re: why the CRRC's are frequently riding so much rougher than the old cars).
 
Swung by Springfield and got some pics of the CRRC plant:
CRRC_Springfield_plant_August_2026_10.jpg

CRRC_Springfield_plant_August_2026_4.jpg


There were 2 Red Line car shells out back:
CRRC_Springfield_train_shells_August_2026.jpg

Interestingly there were these two shells out front which resemble the Red and Orange Line cars, but their door and window configuration don't match the MBTA cars. They don't resemble LA's CRRC cars either, and Chicago's CRRC cars were built in Illinois. Oddly there is red paint showing through the shorter one and orange paint showing through the longer one (despite Red Line cars being longer than Orange Line cars):
CRRC_car_shells_at_Springfield_MA_August_2026_4.jpg
CRRC_MBTA_mockups_at_Springfield_MA_August_2026_2.jpg

CRRC_MBTA_mockups_at_Springfield_MA_August_2026_4.jpg


These shells are also on the Google Maps view, so they've been there for a while:
1786508481540.png


Out back are 3 4 scrapped Orange Line car shells, as well as bilevel cars from the cancelled SEPTA order:
Orange_Line_car_shells_and_SEPTA_bilevels_at_CRRC_Springfield_August_2026.jpg

Orange_Line_car_shell_at_CRRC_Springfield_August_2026_3.jpg
 
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4300th said:
Interestingly there were these two shells out front which resemble the Red and Orange Line cars, but their door and window configuration don't match the MBTA cars. They don't resemble LA's CRRC cars either, and Chicago's CRRC cars were built in Illinois. Oddly there is red paint showing through the shorter one and orange paint showing through the longer one (despite Red Line cars being longer than Orange Line cars)
CRRC_car_shells_at_Springfield_MA_August_2026_2.jpg
CRRC_car_shells_at_Springfield_MA_August_2026_4.jpg

These shells are also on the Google Maps view, so they've been there for a while:
View attachment 74919
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Those are the Orange and Red mock-up cars displayed for public viewing on City Hall Plaza in 2017 and 2018, respectively. The Orange one was two-thirds length, and the Red one much stubbier.
orange-line-mockup-city-hall-.jpg

red-line-4edit.jpg
 
If i'm reading nettransit correctly, no new Red Line deliveries, but at 68 cars active they are at least getting 10 CRRC sets in revenue operation vs 10 old cars.
 
sneijder said:
If i'm reading nettransit correctly, no new Red Line deliveries, but at 68 cars active they are at least getting 10 CRRC sets in revenue operation vs 10 old cars.
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There are 58 cars in active revenue service right now (9.67 trainsets); not 60. One trainset is only 4 cars instead of 6. Maybe better luck next time getting 60 cars (10 trainsets) in active revenue service at once. (If someone catches 60 new cars running at once; please post a screenshot here)

10 cars are out of service; versus the theoretical minimum of 8 out of service cars.

1791225955364.png
 
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