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

Charlie_mta said:
The "best value" bidder rating system should be used for this instead of just simple low bidder. Best value takes into consideration specific technical expertise for the job.
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Lowest "qualified" bidder is supposed to do that as well. But the qualifications have to be strict enough, and actually evaluated in the bidding process.
 
Traction motor fire on HSP-46 locomotive 2025 at Ruggles:

Fire activity near Ruggles disrupts multiple Commuter Rail lines

BOSTON — Fire department activity near Ruggles Station disrupted service on several MBTA Commuter Rail lines Wednesday afternoon, causing delays and schedule changes.

Providence Line Train 840 was first delayed before stopping at Ruggles, where the MBTA later terminated the train. Passengers traveling inbound were told to use the Orange Line to continue into downtown Boston.

https://www.wcvb.com/article/mbta-commuter-rail-line-delayed-by-fire-department-activity/73655156
 
OldColony said:
Fire activity near Ruggles disrupts multiple Commuter Rail lines
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This happened at around the same time, really snarling the Providence line commute:
Pedestrian killed by train in Sharon
A person was fatally hit by an Amtrak train Wednesday afternoon in Sharon, Massachusetts.
Police in Sharon said they responded to a 911 call at the MBTA Commuter Rail station on Upland Road shortly after 3 p.m.
The person who was hit was pronounced dead, police said.
A spokesperson with Keolis, which manages the MBTA Commuter Rail, said "police activity involving an Amtrak train in Sharon" had led to delays on the Providence/Stoughton Line.
The incident is under investigation, police said.
NBC10 Boston has reached out to Amtrak, but has not yet heard back.
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Extremely poor communication by the MBTA - many employees confused this delay and the aforementioned earlier fire, and when PVD trains resumed conductors were assuring passengers that they were making all normal stops (but they were not, stopping at Canton and shuttling to Mansfield). I assume they were trying to be discreet but they ended up confusing and misleading passengers for a couple hours, including many new students in their second week of commuting.
 
From Masslive.com via msn.com today (September 19th). Fair use quotes:

Fare gates at South Station boost MBTA commuter rail ticket activations by 33%

...The gates appear to be paying dividends. The MBTA and commuter rail operator Keolis reported a roughly 33% increase in passengers activating their tickets when traveling to and from South Station this year compared to last year. On-board ticket sales have also jumped 15%...

...In 2019, the MBTA estimated it lost $10 million to $20 million in annual revenue from uncollected commuter rail fares, or 4% to 8% of potential revenue. The industry standard is 3%, even in “the most airtight gated systems,” the agency said...

...Like some other passengers, O’Brien’s chief complaint was the inconvenience of scanning a ticket each time he entered or exited the platform. At morning rush hour, hundreds of passengers disembark trains at once. In the afternoon, crowds congregate in South Station waiting for an announcement of their train’s platform. When it pops up on a screen, riders bottleneck at the gates as they head for the train.

“In practice right now, in rush hour it’s a nightmare,” O’Brien said...

Full article here.
 
Apparently when the Franklin Line has a forced transfer to the Providence Line for the last train of the night; they do not hold the final connecting Franklin train of the night to meet the last Providence train of the night.

So the MBTA advertises a "last transfer of the night", that they do not guarantee. A lie of a "last transfer", the MBTA is lying with what they put for the last trains of the night on the Franklin Providence timetable. They don't actually hold the last CR trains. The MBTA should either remove this transfer from the Franklin Providence timetable (like how the subway timetables have "last transfers" removed completely); or start actually holding the last trains at the night.

If you're at Back Bay or Ruggles, and it's 11:45pm and there's not enough time to get to South Station; then there is no late evening Franklin Line service basically. You'd have to leave Ruggles by like 11:15pm latest to travel to South Station for the last train (and no, the 15 will not help).

(This is not my post; this came from the zombie site)

But someone suggested "take Orange or take bus to Orange" on the same post; which is absolute nonsense; there is no CR service at 12:55am. The last trains all depart 11:55pm.

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(remove this last transfer of the night from the timetable; if it's not guaranteed; really, this is super hard, yet it's advertised as a transfer here. The earlier transfers can stay though.)
 
jklo said:
Is it? It doesn't have the purple arrow like the others.
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It is specifically listed in the timetable; that is enough to imply it is for a transfer.

The Kingston and Greenbush lines do not list "extra trains" that only serve Quincy Center and JFKUMass.

The Needham Line also lists a notice "please connect from Forest Hills".

Also the T does bill these trains as "transfer trains" (This is not my post; this came from the zombie site):
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www.natickreport.com

Town seeks return of Natick Center commuter rail express trains - Natick Report

The Natick Select Board has requested that the MBTA bring back commuter rail express trains to Natick Center
www.natickreport.com www.natickreport.com
The town has requested that the MBTA bring back express trains to Natick Center to provide commuters a faster way to get in or out of Boston. Natick Center express trains that skip Wellesley, Newton, and a Boston stop went away during the pandemic.
In a Sept. 16 letter titled “Restoration of Natick Center Express Service,” Select Board Chair Kathryn Coughlin makes the case that with ridership significantly increased since the newly accessible Natick Center station reopened in 2025/2026, the MBTA should bring back express trains here.
The West Natick station already has a handful of inbound and outbound express trains.
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www.bostonglobe.com

It cost $1 billion more to run the commuter rail than the T contracted. The bill is about to get bigger. - The Boston Globe

The escalating costs offer a glimpse into just how expensive it could be to keep trains moving under the MBTA's contact with its next commuter rail operator.
www.bostonglobe.com www.bostonglobe.com

(hmmmm)

<snipped>

Keolis is now competing with a group dubbed “Mass Regional Rail,” composed largely of the same people who operated the commuter rail for a decade before Keolis, including former T general manager Jim O’Leary. They’ve run similar service in Connecticut, New Jersey, and Maryland, and helped stand up rapid transit in Puerto Rico.

Another coalition, made up of United Kingdom-based operator Transport UK and TransDev, a contractor with the Boston Public School bus system, is also submitting a bid.

Spokespeople from all three companies declined to comment due to the ongoing bidding process.

Ultimately, what the commuter rail contract costs is not entirely within the control of the T or the winning bidder. Keolis’s existing union agreements provide a wage hike to employees within many of the 14 commuter rail unions in June 2027, roughly two weeks before the new operator will take the reins. All three bidders have already signed a pledge promising to award fair wages and additional sick time to employees, another added expense.

While that is a boon to roughly 2,500 commuter rail workers, the reality of labor costs can “constrain” both the T and the winning company, said Asha Weinstein Agrawal, director of the National Transportation Finance Center at San Jose State University.

Fuel costs are borne by the T, not Keolis, but the chronically underfunded agency is likely feeling the strain of rising diesel prices — nearly double last year — like other systems, said Jeff Morales, a partner at transportation firm InfraStrategies.

If the price gets too high, there are only two options, he added. “You either pay it or cut service.”

That’s the last thing the T wants. In fact, the agency has spent the last few years expanding midday and weekend service with considerable success. Fewer people buy monthly passes to ride the commuter rail today than before the pandemic, but total ridership on the commuter rail has largely rebounded to pre-pandemic levels and outpaced the recovery of other similar systems nationwide.

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Now that the Globe mentioned it, does the MBTA have a plan if the US runs out of Diesel?

Is there even a plan possible?
 
Diesel is not going the "run out". What the hell kind of concern-trolling nonsense is that??? :rolleyes:

And the T buys it wholesale, which is *somewhat* less susceptible to price shocks than the daily-changing price you pay at the pump. They'll overshoot their fuel budget for sure, but it won't harm ops. CR ridership is going to keep increasing the more pain individual consumers face at the pump, so for the basic functioning of the local economy the trains will have to run.
 
mass.streetsblog.org

Can Waltham and Weston Transform Aging Office Parks Into A Transit-Oriented Neighborhood? - Streetsblog Massachusetts

Developers are planning up to 880 new homes and a new regional rail station to replace struggling office parks in Waltham and Weston.
mass.streetsblog.org mass.streetsblog.org
To serve all those new households, BXP is partnering with the MBTA to plan a possible new Fitchburg Line station on the Waltham-Weston city line, adjacent to the rail trail. The conceptual plan is documented in an April 2026 a memorandum of understanding between BXP and the MBTA.
The memo calls for a station with accessible boarding platforms on both sides of the tracks, a new bus station on the Waltham side at the end of Jones Road, and a new pedestrian bridge over the Fitchburg Line to connect the two platforms.
The new station would replace the existing Kendal Green stop, located about half a mile away in a neighborhood of single-family homes in Weston. Kendal Green consists of a single asphalt platform and a small parking lot. It is not ADA-accessible, and it is not busy: it saw an average of 130 daily boardings in 2024.
The memorandum between BXP and the T declares that a new station, adjacent to both of BXP’s planned housing developments, would have “the potential for significant ridership growth in both directions.” However, the memo also makes it clear that the project would primarily be BXP’s responsibility.
“The MBTA is making no financial commitment to the new intermodal station, and BXP has committed to providing various forms of assistance and resources for the design, permitting, financing and construction,” the memo declares. Once an early-stage design is complete, the T will host public hearings for the project.
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