Re: Driven By Customer 'Service' Parte Dos
Thanks, F-Line. Regarding BeeLine's question and your response above: Do you think that they could/would convert some of the single levels to "longer" distance cars with more comfortable seats? The purple things are OK for a while but for longer trips like the Cape Flyer or other future longer runs (New Hampshire, RI) could really do a number on your back, ass, and/or marriage. 2 by 2 Amtrak type seats with armrests, tray table, and recline would sure be nice.
That's probably a bit of overreach. Commuter rail should be commuter rail-oriented, and they should put their focus into getting the schedules capped at the 90-minute max threshold between comfort and ass fatigue in those seats. With speeds on all lines improved so it takes no more than 1 hour to hit 495, and more mixing of expresses vs. locals and shearing off the inner stops on "Fairmountable" lines like Worcester, Reading, Fitchburg out to Waltham. This means drawing the line on the Providence Line at T.F. Green when RIDOT South County CR opens, improving the Worcester Line's speed, moving Haverhill off the Reading Line, etc. Because those are "my ass hurts"-long end runs. And it is definitely a strike against South Coast Rail with how long the best-case scenario travel times are south of Taunton, and most definitely a DO NOT WANT on loopy proposals like Worcester Line to Springfield (which you would never want to try on a CR coach).
The NH extension proposals also do not entail locals stretching past the border. Plaistow is as far as an all-stops MBCR Haverhill schedule will ever go, and Nashua is as far as an all-stops MBCR Lowell schedule will ever go. If NHDOT ever builds out to Concord that will be an express run skipping every Massachusetts stop except Lowell and Anderson to likewise keep the travel time as close to the 90-100 minute ass-comfort threshold as possible. Ditto if they offered up an further Haverhill extension to Dover...that probably goes Lawrence, Anderson, North Station after leaving Plaistow and crossing the state line. Newburyport-Portsmouth is probably the only local that would stay local deep into NH since the travel times past Beverly were pretty crisp the last time it ran in the mid-60's. If anything, they might want to pry Swampscott, Lynn, and Chelsea off Newburyport/Portsmouth schedules and leave them Rockport- and Peabody-only to keep things moving, but the stops between 128 and 495 go a lot faster on the schedule than the sluggish inner ones.
If they were trying to orient to longer-distance travel, you eventually hit a point where they have to become a mini-Amtrak and offer concessions onboard for basic comfort. It's fine to have a cafe car for a fun run like Cape Flyer, but concessions are an operating loss leader for Amtrak and Metro North (which has some ass-hurt long locals). There is no way in hell the T would voluntarily want to get involved with that business. It paints a giant target on their backs for any critic of gov't waste.
I also can't see them setting aside more than 4-6 extra spare singles after they determine how much of the Bombardier fleet they're going to displace with bi-level options. Definitely the MBB's are no-go because they are too far gone. But the Bombardiers have enough life in them to actually get re-sold to another operator willing to put them through another midlife overhaul. So if the T put them up for sale they would get snapped up with the T pocketing some revenue from it. I could easily see CTDOT buying up a few to refurbish and run on New Haven-Hartford-Springfield CR when that starts operating in 2016...they're identical cars to the Bombardier-built Shoreliner fleet Metro North runs to Waterbury and Danbury. And CT doesn't want bi-levels in case it thru-routes anything to height-restricted Grand Central.
It just isn't cost effective for the T to rehab its singles any longer when they need bi-level seating capacity that badly. It's either double the per-car seating capacity or start spending hundreds of millions lengthening platforms across the system for longer trains. No-brainer choice. At least we can do real bi-levels that don't compromise the seating room after you get past the stairs. NJ Transit had the same capacity dilemma for its recent bi purchase, but is so height-restricted into Penn Station that it had to buy miniaturized-height bi's that are absolutely claustrophobic to ride in with low ceilings and no leg room. Commuters H-A-T-E them, but they had no choice...too many bodies, too few seats.
