I’m confused. We have new green line trains due just a few years away, and these new new trains in 2028...
Does this make sense to anyone else?
I’m confused. We have new green line trains due just a few years away, and these new new trains in 2028...
Does this make sense to anyone else?
I’m confused. We have new green line trains due just a few years away, and these new new trains in 2028...
Does this make sense to anyone else?
The Type 9s are actually due sooner than that. They're not meant to innovate on the Type 7s or Type 8s, just add to the fleet size to allow GLX to function. They're essentially identical to the Type 8s, just more reliable.
This new Type (likely Type 10) is an entirely different animal, and much of the $3.5B goes toward infrastructure improvements that allow them to be fundamentally unlike the current fleet. This is not only new vehicles - it's a reinvention the Green Line to make it more like a heavy rail line in places.
Whole presentation:
https://cdn.mbta.com/sites/default/...7-fmcb-green-line-transformation-overview.pdf
https://cdn.mbta.com/sites/default/...018-05-07-fmcb-green-line-future-capacity.pdf
https://cdn.mbta.com/sites/default/...formation-program-construction-management.pdf
Absolutely: By 2028, it'll be time to start phasing out the Type 7s (oldest will be 40 years old, some 30 years, most 10+ since overhaul and all "high floor"), while the Type 8s will be 20 ~ 30 years and not worth overhauling.
So the Type 10s are going to be a complete re-fleeting, so it'd be nice to get features like: all low floor, more open designs, and One (or zero) operator per more passengers, and the ability to operate at higher speeds.
Interestingly, the documents don't note the Boylston curve as one of the infrastructure restrictions. Is this because it's not as severe as we think (and the screeches come from suboptimal engineering) or because it'll never be solvable and we just have to live with it?
"West of Boylston station, there is a tight, nearly-right-angle curve between Boylston
Street and Tremont Street, where both tracks cross over a former branch to the south.
This curve has minimum radii of 80 feet westbound and 90 feet inbound, causing a speed
restriction and wheel squeal that is audible from outside the station. Although the public
commonly perceives this as the tightest curve on the Green Line — and the wheel squeal
issue certainly bears separate investigation — it would actually require little or no modification
to meet the minimum radius of off-the-shelf vehicles"
Boylston is not bad at all. It's like 90 feet, which is not unusual for light rail systems. Park St loop is not the worst curve either. Lechmere inner loop is.
For Park, the question is can more be sent to turn at Gov't Ctr (outer) loop?
If longer trains have shorter dwells, it seems possible that you'd send today's Park St turns to loop on the outer loop at Government Center (or re-make the Brattle loop's leads as pockets for reversing similar to the North Station setup)
So the single-platform approach is still the "MBTA preferred approach" to reconstructing all three Newton stations? Why bother spending the money if there's only going to be a single platform serving one track?
https://cdn.mbta.com/sites/default/...-fmcb-commuter-rail-cip-winchester-newton.pdf
Interestingly, the documents don't note the Boylston curve as one of the infrastructure restrictions. Is this because it's not as severe as we think (and the screeches come from suboptimal engineering) or because it'll never be solvable and we just have to live with it?
I suspect (and hope) the cost and logistics of upgrading 27 B and C line surface stations will force some hard choices on stop consolidation.
I think the first thing that mattered was which track the side platform was on (the initial plan picked the wrong one, IIRC), I kind of remember that "single-platform but on the other side" was the conclusion. Maybe that's what they're proposing?