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There's two problems: They're last-generation AC traction tech, so building a +36 expansion fleet as 0700 workalikes will be expensive for reverse-engineering the computerized parts. And just ordering 36 new-generation cars that can't trainline will introduce operational complexity to the Blue...

The time savings depend a lot on the number of stops. A Caltrain local has 22 (!) stops due to the length of the trip between San Fran and San Jose, so that's a whole lot of time spent in acceleration that the EMU's can help with a lot. The Baby Bullet expresses with 8 stops, much less so. On...

Depends on how peak-oriented you want the service to be. Multiple outbounds or multiple inbounds can ride each other's taillights at basically 5 minute frequencies, but once you start introducing opposite-direction meets it gaps out in a hurry. If the goal is to have something regular going in...

It's planned after the double-tracking project. They'll be adding a second outbound platform, which will then trigger the MAAB regs to force the current platform to be upgraded to a full-high. They haven't released a budget yet for the Norfolk upgrades, but since it's prefab as all hell it...

Orange-length cars would represent a 25% seating increase over current Blue consists, which combined with BLT's 3-minute headway target is a couple generations worth of growth-and-expansion swallower. Honestly, the loading isn't anywhere near severe enough for the premium of open gangway cars...

State curve is what you'd have to treat to get exact Orange Line 65' train lengths. The majority of the difference between 48'6" and that is Bowdoin, however. So even without modding State you should be able to get most of the way there.

They're studying it because the overhead infrastructure is nearing end-of-life and is due for a major top-down refurbishment in the next decade. So they'll be buying an a mostly all-new electrification contact system one way or another. The study aims to quantify whether a lateral trade to...

There's a specific process they have to follow with the Federal Railroad Administration to get a quiet crossing approved. And yes, it requires better crossing infrastructure, mostly on the pavement markings and approaches so town-level $$$.

They're studying it. It's not programmed yet.

Man, that TM map shits all over 3 of 4 northside mains' inside-128 stops by punting them into Zone 2 while every southside line's + Fitchburg's 128-and-in stations (and then some...Weymouth, Holbrook) get the Zone 1 advantage. I can't believe Lynn is still outside of the inner core fare zone...

Giving North Shore communities two- instead of three-seat access to Cambridge-based jobs is a letdown? It's worth a +6500 daily ridership increase on Blue, +2800 all-new daily transit riders who aren't taking any transit, and 5,800 daily transfers to reduce the loading on DTX and State so...

Charlestown and Cabot could pretty much run the whole late-night system. And they do have overnight shop shifts at those very big garages, so it's not like the lights aren't already on. The bus facilities study of a decade ago that closed Fellsway in favor of a new Wellington yard that was to...

A 1'5" difference in floor height is still a very large difference. The biggest deviations from standard that Stadler has done on the modular FLIRT platform involve mixed-low/high floorplans with raised ends. The Mass Architectural Board would throw a fit if we were trying to buy single-levels...

Not even close. An Orange Line car is 11'11-3/4" tall. A Silverliner V is 14'3" tall, nearly 2-1/4 feet taller. LIRR M9's are the smallest EMU's in the Western Hemisphere, but at 13'3" they're still more 1-1/4 feet taller. Crossrail's Class 345 cars are 12'4". It's a very big difference...

Fore River Transportation's Quincy Shipyard-Braintree Yard freight runs on the innermost Greenbush Line and southernmost Old Colony mainline on the midday off-peak 6 days a week, while CSX's pickup at Braintree via Middleboro runs on the contrasting overnight. The Middleboro Line has that same...

The Stadler KISS BEMU that Caltrain is ordering for its un-electrified Gilroy tail comes within 2 inches (50 vs. 48 inches) of fitting our full-high platforms, within the tolerance of a shop adjustment. Stadler bid the Caltrain version in both the T's straight-EMU and BEMU RFP's, so it does...

There's also a signal system overlay for only the DLRV vehicles that does inductive stops (basically a variation on our Orange/Red ATO system) with tightish signal blocks, whereas the freights just follow regular NORAC wayside signals and Positive Train Control on longer blocks since there's...

They also really can't do Albany without additional capital funding. The current $108M grant is only for Boston-Springfield and the Inland Route to New Haven, and only for 2 starter round-trips. With most of the work involving not double-tracking but uprating the max speed limit from 59 MPH to...

Yay! That retrograde old blowhard is retiring. It's 2024. We need someone in the Legislature in charge of transportation funding who isn't stuck in a last century that's now a quarter-century behind us.

Double-dipping on fares. If you're kicked off a Green Line train at Park, you're still behind the fare gates and can pick up a continuing train free for your troubles. Not so with bus routes that are shorted mid-trip.