General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

Apparently they replaced the 7 AM and 9:10 AM Worcester Line trains with a bus... because of a crew availability issue.

So they could find somebody to drive the bus but not the train?
 
jklo said:
Apparently they replaced the 7 AM and 9:10 AM Worcester Line trains with a bus... because of a crew availability issue.

So they could find somebody to drive the bus but not the train?
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It happened with a lot of trains this morning, one hypothesis I saw suggested that something could be spreading around the South Shore crew base, and I can't really think of any other reason besides a strike that would take that many crew out of action.
 
TheRatmeister said:
It happened with a lot of trains this morning, one hypothesis I saw suggested that something could be spreading around the South Shore crew base, and I can't really think of any other reason besides a strike that would take that many crew out of action.
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It’s now been the majority of south side Commuter Rail trips cancelled today due to crew availability. I’ve never seen anything like this. Clearly something major happened or is happening. Thoughts?
 
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North end of West Medford CR platform. Could this be the start of the mini-high platform construction referenced in the June 2024 ADA report? They are also doing track work this summer on the Lowell Line so could be related to that too. But the north end of the station is the only place where they could fit mini highs so it seems likely to be prep work for that.
 
WestMedford said:
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North end of West Medford CR platform. Could this be the start of the mini-high platform construction referenced in the June 2024 ADA report? They are also doing track work this summer on the Lowell Line so could be related to that too. But the north end of the station is the only place where they could fit mini highs so it seems likely to be prep work for that.
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Does anyone know how much each pair of mini-high costs? Two full high platforms next to a road crossing would probably be about $15m based on SCR station costs (Adjust for bloat how you see fit) so they would need to be pretty cheap to make the math work out favorably.
 
TheRatmeister said:
Does anyone know how much each pair of mini-high costs? Two full high platforms next to a road crossing would probably be about $15m based on SCR station costs (Adjust for bloat how you see fit) so they would need to be pretty cheap to make the math work out favorably.
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The Lynn Interim station project (two mini highs) reportedly cost about $10m, done in house by the MBTA and Keolis, although that included lighting, ramps, signs, etc. The CIP only budgets $7.9m to the entire mini high program so I guess they're planning on finding some serious cost savings...
 
Stlin said:
I just came across this in the wild. I want to say it's new, but more of these please! These signs making folks aware of the transit in the immediate vicinity should be everywhere, especially in tourist heavy areas downtown. Only one critique, they should consider including high frequency bus routes as well.
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These signs went up in my neighborhood about six months ago. I agree they are great, haven't personally noticed them anywhere else, but definitely something that should be in a lot more places.
 
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Has the MBTA ever considered painting rails white to help with heat dilation? It is apparently standard practice in some European countries. I could see this being useful at Lechmere to keep speeds up. People were saying it can reduce the track temperature by up to 10F

I know doing something Europeans do is anathema for US transit agencies, but worth a shot.
 
Longfellow said:
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Has the MBTA ever considered painting rails white to help with heat dilation? It is apparently standard practice in some European countries. I could see this being useful at Lechmere to keep speeds up. People were saying it can reduce the track temperature by up to 10F

I know doing something Europeans do is anathema for US transit agencies, but worth a shot.
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I wouldn't be surprised if the T isn't aware of this practice. If you have any documentation on it, I'd send it in as an innovation proposal.
 
The Orange Line shutdown that was planned for August 2024 between Oak Grove and North Station is no longer the MBTA's plan anymore!

Instead the Red Line has a new shutdown for the same time slot.

August Service Changes: MBTA Continues Repair Work to Improve Reliability Across the System | News | MBTA

Official website of the MBTA -- schedules, maps, and fare information for Greater Boston's public transportation system, including subway, commuter rail, bus routes, and boat lines.
www.mbta.com www.mbta.com

This means instead of making the Orange Line faster than it was before the monthlong shutdown in summer 2022, the Orange Line will remain slower than it was prior to the summer 2022 monthlong shutdown for over 2 years!!! Until they reschedule the repairs to slow zones between NS and Oak Grove.
 
Delvin4519 said:
The Orange Line shutdown that was planned for August 2024 between Oak Grove and North Station is no longer the MBTA's plan anymore!

Instead the Red Line has a new shutdown for the same time slot.

August Service Changes: MBTA Continues Repair Work to Improve Reliability Across the System | News | MBTA

Official website of the MBTA -- schedules, maps, and fare information for Greater Boston's public transportation system, including subway, commuter rail, bus routes, and boat lines.
www.mbta.com www.mbta.com

This means instead of making the Orange Line faster than it was before the monthlong shutdown in summer 2022, the Orange Line will remain slower than it was prior to the summer 2022 monthlong shutdown for over 2 years!!! Until they reschedule the repairs to slow zones between NS and Oak Grove.
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Could they finally be fixing the Park/Charles slow zones? Those are so bad that I'd consider that a worthy tradeoff.
 
Delvin4519 said:
The Orange Line shutdown that was planned for August 2024 between Oak Grove and North Station is no longer the MBTA's plan anymore!

Instead the Red Line has a new shutdown for the same time slot.

August Service Changes: MBTA Continues Repair Work to Improve Reliability Across the System | News | MBTA

Official website of the MBTA -- schedules, maps, and fare information for Greater Boston's public transportation system, including subway, commuter rail, bus routes, and boat lines.
www.mbta.com www.mbta.com

This means instead of making the Orange Line faster than it was before the monthlong shutdown in summer 2022, the Orange Line will remain slower than it was prior to the summer 2022 monthlong shutdown for over 2 years!!! Until they reschedule the repairs to slow zones between NS and Oak Grove.
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Looking at the slow zones tracker though, they've managed to get through a not insignificant portion of the work planned for that area in previous shutdowns. It looks like the August shutdown was originally intended to cure 1.7 miles and 9 slow zones. By my count, there's only 3500ft (.67mi) and 5 left. That might be weekend/night work -able in a way the Charles MGH ones aren't.
 
Delvin4519 said:
This means instead of making the Orange Line faster than it was before the monthlong shutdown in summer 2022, the Orange Line will remain slower than it was prior to the summer 2022 monthlong shutdown for over 2 years!!! Until they reschedule the repairs to slow zones between NS and Oak Grove.
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This seems like a leap - they're doing work from Wellington to Back Bay in August. And still even with that change in schedule - the OL is nominally at the same place it was in summer 2022 according to TM - at about 6m30s of slow time. Meanwhile, the RL is clearly the line most in need of attention only from a pure total slow time perspective.

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Badusername said:
As big of a failure Baker’s month-long OL shutdown was, without that shutdown do we think OL would be in the same state as RL right now?
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My opinion, the Tufts curve speed restrictions identified by the FTA SMI that required 400 cologne eggs, that was necessary work at the time. Without it that stretch would probably be equivalent to Red's Charles restrictions by now. That said, they continued to replace cologne eggs every shutdown, so clearly they needed to do more. Also, the amount of work they did back in 22 is roughly equivalent to what they're currently able to accomplish in a week.

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They just announced the massive 24 day closure of the Braintree branch in September:
Link
The really interesting thing in the announcement is a stated longer-term goal of raising red line MAS above 40mph which is very intriguing. Does anyone know when the last time the red line ran above 40 (if there ever was a time)?
 
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