General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

bigeman312 said:
Sorry for the double post. Here are some updates on the break-downs/signal/track problems of the past 48 hours:

Major MBTA Commuter Rail Delays Expected To Be Issue For Evening Commute



Wow. Telling passengers not to use New England's second largest transportation hub (after Logan Airport) during the evening commute is a HUGE deal. Weather is not the problem. The MBTA is an absolute mess.
Click to expand...

Yeah, they should look into contracting the Commuter Rail to be run by a private company.
 
One of our resident railfans will probably have a better answer, but based on my reading of the news it looks like it's an underfunded AMTRAK issue.

Edit: Question: Is 'railfans' derogatory? I know I've seen it used in that way but I can't think of a better term for 'folks who are really interested in and well versed in mass-transit issues and systems'
 
That makes sense. The biggest issue facing mass transit here, and throughout the country, is the fact that it is vastly underfunded. You quoted me in your message. Not to be dense, but was it directed at me? I've never suggested privatization as the solution.
 
Your comment that "Weather is not the problem. The MBTA is an absolute mess." seemed to be pointing the finger at the T when they had zero control over this particular problem.
 
statler said:
Your comment that "Weather is not the problem. The MBTA is an absolute mess." seemed to be pointing the finger at the T when they had zero control over this particular problem.
Click to expand...

Sorry that you misinterpreted my comment. My comment was only that the "MBTA is an absolute mess." No blame assigned. I did not say that the MBTA's operations and their public nature are causing them to be a mess. I was purposefully not assigning blame. But, now that the conversation has been dragged there. The blame is clearly under-funding.

Go back and read my double-post (my bad). I'll quote the only part where blame was even being hinted (and it was for a different issue):

+1. The MBTA needs to get to a SGR or this will continue to happen.

...

our government doesn't care about funding mass transit and mostly wants to use it for debt-dumping and crony-ism.
Click to expand...

I constantly beat the drum, both on here and in real life, about the importance of well-funded public transportation. I'm sorry that my statement appeared, to you, to be blaming the T operational staff or their public nature.

EDIT: Don't be so quick to rip on someone for a position they don't even hold when they are simply reporting the facts. (That the MBTA is an absolute mess today)
 
You were saying that "The MBTA (system) is (currently) a mess", while I read it as "The MBTA (institution) is a mess".

Fair enough. My apologies.
 
statler said:
Your comment that "Weather is not the problem. The MBTA is an absolute mess." seemed to be pointing the finger at the T when they had zero control over this particular problem.
Click to expand...

Yeah but it also didn't help that the Red Line and Orange Line also had problems of their own this morning. They share part of the blame for the entire mess today. At this point, it's probably cheaper and easier to demolish the whole system and rebuild the system as a whole new transit system. It's unfortunate that we can't raze each line one by one and rebuild everything including the rolling stock.

Also, is there any way we can evict the Fort Point Post Office and demolish the building so we can expand South Station? While expanding it wouldn't have solve today's issues, I think it's abundantly clear that South Station is operating above capacity and the Post Office's obstructionism is detrimental to the city as a whole.
 
KentXie said:
Also, is there any way we can evict the Fort Point Post Office and demolish the building so we can expand South Station? While expanding it wouldn't have solve today's issues, I think it's abundantly clear that South Station is operating above capacity and the Post Office's obstructionism is detrimental to the city as a whole.
Click to expand...

Evict the feds? How the hell you going to do that? You're better off trying to buy it from them in exchange for a property elsewhere (and that has been discussed to death in the SSX thread).
 
statler said:
Edit: Question: Is 'railfans' derogatory? I know I've seen it used in that way but I can't think of a better term for 'folks who are really interested in and well versed in mass-transit issues and systems'
Click to expand...

To my knowledge, it's not derogatory. I use it myself, both to describe myself and to refer to others. "Foamer" I'm less crazy about personally, but my sense is that it's a little more positive for ol' timers.

"Anorak", from Britain, is something I'm fine describing myself as (to anyone who will understand) but am wary when non-railfans use it- I get more of a derogatory vibe from that.

Anyway.

I noticed that, on the Providence/Stoughton Line, at least, they are canceling the "Severe Weather" trains- the new category developed this year for use in blizzards, etc. From the alerts, it looks like they may be succeeding in keeping the delays of non-canceled trains somewhat under control.

What kind of mechanical failure at Tower 1 could possibly take this long (or longer) to repair?
 
WormtownNative said:
Evict the feds? How the hell you going to do that? You're better off trying to buy it from them in exchange for a property elsewhere (and that has been discussed to death in the SSX thread).
Click to expand...

Congressional action is the only think that can unfreeze the relocation. They're the ones who have to approve major postal facility decisions. City/state have had the relocation spot more or less ID'd for 10 years now. That's pretty cut-and-dried. The gridlock is all at the Federal level.

Don't expect that to change during the 2017-19 Congressional session. It's going to take a couple more cycles at minimum to put enough voter pressure to light a fire under those Titans of Legislative Productivity.
 
Amtrak Signal Issue Faulted For Major MBTA Disruptions

Amtrak signal problems are causing a wave of major disruptions for MBTA riders for the Thursday evening commute.

Just before 3 p.m. Thursday, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation announced that the signal failure would not be resolved by the start of the evening commute.

As a result, MassDOT said in its statement, “the only commuter rail trains that will depart from [Boston’s] South Station are those that serve the Providence/Attleboro and Stoughton Lines.”

...
Click to expand...

I wonder how JFK/UMass, Quincy Center, Braintree, Back Bay, and the Red/Orange Line crowds are this evening.
 
F-Line to Dudley said:
Congressional action is the only think that can unfreeze the relocation. They're the ones who have to approve major postal facility decisions. City/state have had the relocation spot more or less ID'd for 10 years now. That's pretty cut-and-dried. The gridlock is all at the Federal level.

Don't expect that to change during the 2017-19 Congressional session. It's going to take a couple more cycles at minimum to put enough voter pressure to light a fire under those Titans of Legislative Productivity.
Click to expand...

Yep. That's about what I recall from the SSX thread.
 
Not to double post, but WGBH just posted this:

Governor Charlie Baker "Ready To Strangle Someone" Over Latest Transit Snafus

A broken Amtrak signal brought commuter rail trains around Boston's bustling South Station to a screeching halt this morning, delaying the commutes of thousands of passengers. Governor Charlie Baker was not happy about it.

"I've been ready to strangle somebody all day," Baker said on Boston Public Radio. "I'm just waiting for somebody who looks like they deserve to be strangled."

The broken signal—which is managed by the federal train system Amtrak on behalf of the MBTA—was not functional in time for the afternoon commute, so MassDOT officials instructed passengers to avoid South Station unless they were traveling on the Providence/Attleboro and Stoughton lines. All other passengers were directed to board at other stations.

While Baker praised MBTA employees for providing service during this weekend's historically cold weather, he pointed to long-term capital problems with the organization as a roadblock to providing consistently good service in the future.
Click to expand...

FULL ARTICLE
 
Someone needs to give Charlie a mirror. He should strangle himself.
(Not about today, specifically)
 
Just saw a disabled E line train being pushed out of the Northeastern train station. What a day.
 
The problem has been fixed overnight last night.

A computer (software) glitch had popped up caused the massive delays. Someone had to come up from Washington to reset the computers and get them back on line.

Mass Dot says that there will be residule delays resulting from this, because this morning, trains were still backed up.
 
Last edited:
Interesting reads & great images:

What Is Tower 1 And Why Do We Hate It? - 2/20/2016
http://dbperry.weebly.com/blog/what-is-tower-1-and-why-do-we-hate-it

8364459_orig.jpg
Click to expand...

Also, a history of Tower 1:
http://southstation.blogspot.com/2011/02/tower-1-history.html

076646pv.jpg
Click to expand...

Joe Pesaturo tweeted this pic of the Tower 1 board:
https://twitter.com/JoePesaturo/status/700471849747095552/photo/1?ref_src=twsrc^tfw

Notice the little red light? It says 'PLC Failure.'

CbiTa4sVIAAMB-_.jpg:large
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
MBTA: All signal issues fixed; All trains to go into South Station

Passengers describe Thursday commute as 'total chaos'

BOSTON —All MBTA trains will go into South Station Friday morning, according to spokesman Joe Pesaturo.

Commuters are being warned to still expect some residual delays Friday after an Amtrak signal malfunction that forced cancellations and delays of several trains was resolved.

The MBTA did warn of mechanical issues causing Friday morning delays on North Station's Fitchburg and Lowell lines.

...
Click to expand...

Does the MBTA still release on-time report cards?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top