Green Line Extension to Medford & Union Sq

Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

That's a pathetically small amount of improvement. No peak service improvements (especially on the Somerville buses, which could see a vast amount of headway improvement with just a couple extra buses), and they have the gall to count completely separate parking garage projects as "mitigation".

On the good side, I like seeing that the GLX is being constructed with 4-car platforms from the start. While there are certainly obstacles (especially power draw) that's one less blocker from 4-car Riverside-Medford trains at rush.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

Mitigation for GLX delays in 2014 is finishing the Salem and Beverly garages that they entered into a commitment in 2008 to complete by 12/31/2011, eh?

That's some time machine they got there in the State Transportation Building. :rolleyes:
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

That's a pathetically small amount of improvement. No peak service improvements (especially on the Somerville buses, which could see a vast amount of headway improvement with just a couple extra buses
Very true. Really, just 1 bus per line per rush-hour (5 buses) would make a huge percentage difference in headways (especially given the overlap between lines)

At the "Phase 2" Route 16 "station", for example, there are ~12 buses between 7am and 9am (a choppy 10 minute headway, since neither the 80 or 94 is "clockface" they sometimes come in a pair and leave gaps as long as 20 minutes with no service (between two 80 buses) and gaps in the 94 very often as long as 30 minutes.

One more bus on each--even if it only succeeded in inserting 1 rush direction trip durin the rush-- would make 14 buses, or 8.5 minute headways. If a hypothetical new 94 could squeeze out 2 trips (or 1.5 in that time) its headways would fall from ~20 (average but with many 30 min gaps) to ~15 average (and gaps no longer than 20). Now *that* would get the many "Red-Line-focused" employees out of their cars and onto a bus-Red connection at Davis.

Incidentally, while "legally" committed to putting the new buses out there by Dec 31 2014 (the deadline they're "making up for"), when do new bus and GL driver schedules usually get implemented? (these will have to be "bid" by seniority and then workers assigned, yes?)
 
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Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

Incidentally, while "legally" committed to putting the new buses out there by Dec 31 2014 (the deadline they're "making up for"), when do new bus and GL driver schedules usually get implemented? (these will have to be "bid" by seniority and then workers assigned, yes?)

I'd guess August 30, as that is the day after the current bus schedule ends.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

I'd guess August 30, as that is the day after the current bus schedule ends.
Thanks! That would be great...in time to set working patterns for the new year (many folks start new jobs / try new commuting routes in early September...which is why auto traffic is so bad then)

If the MBTA "just decided on it" July 22, is that enough time to get it implemented by Aug 30? (when and over what period do drivers bid on new shifts?). When would the next change be?
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

Meanwhile work is progressing on Phase I with Medford Street now closed for 3 weeks for bridge work.

Interestingly, the Green Line Project Phase 1 Construction page still states this work was completed in March. And and they are still claiming they finished demolishing 21 Water Street last August (last I saw, it is still standing).

http://greenlineextension.eot.state.ma.us/construction.html
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

Adding to that, Somerville Alderman Bill White told me last night that the second series of stops extending out from Washington Street are now scheduled for completion in 2020. At the last update a few months ago it was early to mid 2019.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

Frustrating, especially when considering that further extensions to Porter Sq. and Rt. 16 aren't even really on the map right now. With all the increases in housing around the Alewife area (and given that a lot of people drive to Alewife to park), a green connection at Porter would allow them to get to Union, Northpoint and North Station (all of which are being built up as destination sports with more retail, restaurants, etc.), as well as vice versa.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

Adding to that, Somerville Alderman Bill White told me last night that the second series of stops extending out from Washington Street are now scheduled for completion in 2020. At the last update a few months ago it was early to mid 2019.
Bill White is correct: the SIP says:
The points within the timeframe are associated with different
probabilities, as shown below:
• 10% Probability of Not Exceeding – Autumn 2018
• 90% Probability of Not Exceeding – Summer 2020

Pulled from various pages, here is the phasing/scheduling:
Code:
July 2014 90% Plans for phase 2/2A Lechmere, Washington St, & Union Sq Submitted
July 2014 60% Plans for "Beyond Washington St" recommence
Sept 2014 FTA submission for Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) under New Starts to be submitted
Fall 2014 Temporary (Construction) easements acquisition
Sprg 2015 Design begins on Vehicle Storage & Maintenance Facility (VSMF / Stage 3)
???? 2014 MBTA is "proceeding" with rehab of eight existing cars to support Phase 2/2A ops
Dec  2015 FTA/Congressional approval of FFGA expected
???? 2015 Construction on Phase 2/2A Begins
Late 2017 Completion of Phase 2/2A Complete
Late 2017 New Type 9 Cars start arriving
Sprg 2018 New Type 9 Cars all delivered
???? ????  VSMF completed (as precondition for "Beyond Washington" ops)
June 2020 Completion of "Beyond Washington St" & "Project Completion"

As F-Line previously pointed out, they seem to fudge the most on the VSMF's dates (I could only find the design milestone and the fact that its a "must have" before the "beyond" segment opens in 2020). The FTA has signed off on it to this point but there are lots of reasons to fudge: it is ~$400m of pure overhead, it is not directly part of the original CLF legal deal (it is "just" an operating precondition), and the site has utility & geotechnical complications and only 2 of 4 parcels have been acquired.

Politically & budgetarily, I'd guess they'd like to delay the VSMF until 2020 when it is critical, as opposed to 2018 when it'd just be a "nice to have" as the Type 9s arrive--and keep part of the LRV fleet offsite somewhere

Until the VSMF is there to hold the expanded fleet overnight, the Type 9s can't expand the numbers in dailiy operations and you also can't see 3-car ops. You'd think that current Green Line constituencies would be crying out to make sure that the VSMF comes on line in early 2018 and the 3-car trains start the same day.
 
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Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

???? 2014 MBTA is "proceeding" with rehab of 8 cars to support Phase 2/2A ops

How much rehab are they doing on the Type 8s? I thought the plan was to let them die a slow painful death and backfill when needed with 9s and 10s?
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

How much rehab are they doing on the Type 8s? I thought the plan was to let them die a slow painful death and backfill when needed with 9s and 10s?
Sorry for the ambiguity: they are rehabbing a total of eight cars {EDIT: Winstonboogie says below they are Type 8s, though} I'll change my post, above, to say "eight" to show it is a count, not a name. (a cardinal, not a nominal ;-) )
 
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Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

How much rehab are they doing on the Type 8s? I thought the plan was to let them die a slow painful death and backfill when needed with 9s and 10s?

There are eight Type 8s that have been out of service for several years because of lack of parts. They have started a pilot project on one of those cars to do a major change to the hydraulic brake system that is a major reliability problem for the cars. The plan would be to eventually upgrade all remaining 94, starting with these out of service cars.

Type 10s to replace the Type 7s and Type 8s are beyond 2020, more like 2022-2025. Type 7s will have to be replaced at same time as Type 8s, as they have to operate in a train with a low-floor car for ADA, and the Type 9s and future Type 10s will not be able to trainline with the Type 7s. They will be able to mechanically couple so disabled trains of any type can be pulled or push by a train of any type.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

Bill White is correct: the SIP says:


Pulled from various pages, here is the phasing/scheduling:
Code:
July 2014 90% Plans for phase 2/2A Lechmere, Washington St, & Union Sq Submitted
July 2014 60% Plans for "Beyond Washington St" recommence
Sept 2014 FTA submission for Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) under New Starts to be submitted
Fall 2014 Temporary (Construction) easements acquisition
Sprg 2015 Design begins on Vehicle Storage & Maintenance Facility (VSMF / Stage 3)
???? 2014 MBTA is "proceeding" with rehab of eight existing cars to support Phase 2/2A ops
Dec  2015 FTA/Congressional approval of FFGA expected
???? 2015 Construction on Phase 2/2A Begins
Late 2017 Completion of Phase 2/2A Complete
Late 2017 New Type 9 Cars start arriving
Sprg 2018 New Type 9 Cars all delivered
???? ????  VSMF completed (as precondition for "Beyond Washington" ops)
June 2020 Completion of "Beyond Washington St" & "Project Completion"
As F-Line previously pointed out, they seem to fudge the most on the VSMF's dates (I could only find the design milestone and the fact that its a "must have" before the "beyond" segment opens in 2020). The FTA has signed off on it to this point but there are lots of reasons to fudge: it is ~$400m of pure overhead, it is not directly part of the original CLF legal deal (it is "just" an operating precondition), and the site has utility & geotechnical complications and only 2 of 4 parcels have been acquired.

Now, the SIP says they have geotechnical and utility problems and, despite agreeing on the site & pricing with the FTA they have only acquired 2 of the 4 parcels.

Politically & budgetarily, I'd guess they'd like to delay the VSMF until 2020 when it is critical, as opposed to 2018 when it'd just be a "nice to have" as the Type 9s arrive--and keep part of the LRV fleet offsite somewhere

Until the VSMF is there to hold the expanded fleet overnight, the Type 9s can't expand the numbers in dailiy operations and you also can't see 3-car ops. You'd think that current Green Line constituencies would be crying out to make sure that the VSMF comes on line in early 2018 and the 3-car trains start the same day.

I'd also point out with the maint facility that the current design specs that haven't been updated in close to 5 years pretty much murder Pan Am's freight access across BET. And that is going to be a major problem.

If you go on Google Maps and look at that wrap-around track that connects between the Lowell and Fitchburg Lines it's usually stuffed full of freight cars as their parking spot to time movements between commuter rail frequencies. It's 1 mile of grade-separated storage between the split with the Lowell Line underneath the McGrath bridge around the horn to the crossovers by 3rd St. and MS Walker. And they use all of it.

-- The Lowell split is getting moved 1500 ft. to the other side of the Washington St. bridge as necessity for fitting the GLX mainline tracks and Washington station.
-- Then the around-the-horn portion is getting cut at about where Innerbelt Rd. bends back on itself for the carhouse lead tracks. There'll be a 2000 ft. stub, but no thru connection.
-- Pan Am can only get around by going through Yard 8 along New Washington St., which has 2 grade crossings and less than 1000 ft. of storage space between crossings where it isn't blocking traffic. That track is only useful for running thru-and-thru and unloading maybe 2 cars at a time to trucks at that tiny freight house.
-- If they can fit their storage needs on that stub, it requires backing up and fouling the Lowell Line for 10 minutes at a time to change ends and get into/across Yard 8. And they would have to do this on both ends of every midday trip to Everett Terminal, and both ends of every late-day trip to Peabody.
-- If they can't fit their storage needs on that stub, they either have to run straight from Lawrence to Everett afternoon commuter rail schedule be damned, or bring day freight back to the inner Fitchburg Line and its 25+ grade crossings the rich NIMBY's in Acton and Concord are going to bitch about. AND hurt its Everett revenue intake because they can't use their wide clearance route on the Lowell Line to bring max-size boxcars and other high-capacity cars you need to have available at major shipping terminal.
-- If Pan Am's capacity is kneecapped, you have no hope of cutting a deal with CSX to hand it's own Framingham-Grand Junction-Everett daily freight job over to Pan Am to tack onto its Everett run, then shuttle CSX's cars to Worcester via Ayer. Meaning, you lose the chance to purge the last of the inner Worcester Line and Grand Junction freight slots off the day schedule and make those lines passenger-exclusive.


I really hope you aren't counting on those magic Anderson DMU's keeping a consistent headway on your lunch hour, because Lowell Line takes it right in the teeth over that track getting severed. You should listen to the Pan Am employees on RR.net scream bloody murder over this.

Pan Am blithely signed off on this 6 years ago before it cut its partnership deal with national freight behemoth Norfolk Southern for half-ownership of the Patriot Corridor and the big-money, CSX-competitor intermodal freights. While NS does not co-own any of Pan Am's territory east of Ayer, they entered into that agreement on expectation that Pan Am was going to do its part to bring them back some traffic from Maine and Boston to take back out of Ayer. Which Pan Am is starting to do in a bit of corporate renaissance after close to 30 years of reputation as the country's don't-give-a-shittingest large regional RR. That was doesn't-give-a-shit pre-NS Pan Am that cut this deal in the Innerbelt. Oops.

Norfolk Southern is the straw that stirs the drink, and if they have subsequently (I would wager $20 that they have) slapped Pan Am across the head to go back to the bargaining table with the T an un-fuckup that severed connection there's going to need to be a price-bloating design change to the Maint Facility. The viaduct for the yard lead tracks and the Union/Medford branch junction is going to have to get longer and allow that connecting track to be tied into the remaining wrap-around tracks that fork off the Fitchburg Line. It's the only way you won't be counting losses in what's left of Metro Boston annual freight revenues in the millions. Yes, Pan Am fucked up allowing that. No, it would be quite very unwise for the state to tell them to shove it when that now entails telling Norfolk Southern's huge national reach and millions in in-state investment to shove it. NS craps bigger'n the T.

Maybe the project managers don't realize this yet, but that's a non-optional project change. Or maybe they do realize it and have an inbox full of nastygrammes from Norfolk Southern and a chastened Pan Am to ponder somberly while they try to control costs and keep the schedule from slipping another 3 years. And nastygrammes from their own commuter rail dispatchers, and transcripts from a bunch of meetings during the CR contract bidding where Keolis said "Erm, yeah...you're gonna have to fix this if you want to hold us to running northside DMU's, because that's insane."
 
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Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

Based on the presentation from July 31st Medford St Bridge meeting, I've added three "Phase 1" completion dates into this schedule
Code:
July 2014 90% Plans for phase 2/2A Lechmere, Washington St, & Union Sq Submitted
July 2014 60% Plans for "Beyond Washington St" recommence
[u]Aug. 2014 Demolition complete on 21 Water St[/u]
Sept 2014 FTA submission for Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) under New Starts to be submitted
Fall 2014 Temporary (Construction) easements acquisition
[u]End 2014 Medford St Bridge Reconstruction (5 tracks wide) complete[/u]
Sprg 2015 Design begins on Vehicle Storage & Maintenance Facility (VSMF / Stage 3)
???? 2014 MBTA is "proceeding" with rehab of eight existing cars to support Phase 2/2A ops
[u]July 2015 Harvard St Bridge Reconstruction (4 tracks) & expanded retaining wall complete[/u]
Dec  2015 FTA/Congressional approval of FFGA expected
???? 2015 Construction on Phase 2/2A Begins
Late 2017 Completion of Phase 2/2A Complete
Late 2017 New Type 9 Cars start arriving
Sprg 2018 New Type 9 Cars all delivered
???? ????  VSMF completed (as precondition for "Beyond Washington" ops)
June 2020 Completion of "Beyond Washington St" & "Project Completion"
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

Not sure where to put this:
JF White - the largest local Heavy/Highway contractor in the Boston market - has been bought by Dragados. JF White is part of the JV teams building the Fore River Bridge, Longfellow Bridge and Green Line Extension.
The deal had been in the works for weeks but it became official this weekend. Dragados is an enormous Spanish construction conglomerate.

EDIT: It's also worth noting that JF White is 90 year old local company. The late Tom White (second generation) belongs in the Pantheon of great Boston philanthropists.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

The relocated PAR track along New Washington Street is through old Yard 9 & 10, not
Yard 8. Wonder if Somerville has a clue this is going to happen? Doesn't fit their vision
for the Cobblehill area. Talk about your unintended consequences!

Latest rumblings is that commuter MW will vacate the T-Pad area between Innerbelt
and the mainlines and move to Billerica Shop. Talk about keeping your resources close
to a very critical terminal area.

Dave (one of those whose been screaming bloody murder for years)
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

I'm not a train guy and just spent ten minutes mapping out Arlington, F-Line and GP's comments. (There were enough TLAs in those posts to make an English major's head spin.)

If this looks to you guys like a real problem I'd suggest someone who understands this shoot a line to Martine Powers at the Globe: http://www.bostonglobe.com/staff/powersm

Even if it doesn't come together as a story now, it's a good tickler for what's ahead. This could be a solid bloat/waste/bad planning story. Happy to be the conduit if no one else is game.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

The relocated PAR track along New Washington Street is through old Yard 9 & 10, not
Yard 8. Wonder if Somerville has a clue this is going to happen? Doesn't fit their vision
for the Cobblehill area. Talk about your unintended consequences!

Latest rumblings is that commuter MW will vacate the T-Pad area between Innerbelt
and the mainlines and move to Billerica Shop. Talk about keeping your resources close
to a very critical terminal area.

Dave (one of those whose been screaming bloody murder for years)

They have such negligible freight presence there they probably don't need a staffed freight house any longer. They're pulling out of what similarly small scraps are left of Bleachery Yard in Lowell soon too to run nonstop between Ayer and Lawrence and start parking more at Billerica to consolidate ops. Business is streamlined enough that they just don't need more than the big mainline yards and intermittent-spaced bare parking off the mainline to run the whole state. They've got the reactivated storage tracks in Winchester next to the Tighe trucking warehouse and the Anderson RTC passing track as a pause around Lowell Line trains en route. They just can't fuck up the Somerville spacer or it'll start fouling all kinds of commuter slots they currently deftly avoid.

CSX just parks on the Valley Track around-the-horn in between commuter rail slots for its Everett Terminal job, and that remotes all the way out of Framingham now with Beacon Park's closure. No reason Pan Am can't do the same. All the commuter rail gearheads are across the street at BET and do business frequently with both of the in-district freight behemoths, so it's not like they don't have somewhere climate-controlled to visit while they're on-break between slots.

But dear God do they have to fix that access with a design change. Their trains are long enough that they'd overspill the Yard 8 track across Cobble Hill trying to stuff things on there, and would have to break the train on either side of each grade crossing while they were idle...then reassemble to move. Several times a day. Either doing that or running nonstop from Billerica or the Winchester parking spot is going to make them lose interest in developing any more business in Everett or a reactivated Moran Terminal, which nutpunches the state's port revenue and makes "craps bigger'n 'em" Norfolk Southern out in Ayer very angry. Such a baffling blind spot for the state.

I would bet $20 on a design change and added expense for the carhouse leads to shiv a freight track overpass in there. This just can't work without doing tangible economic harm if they leave the design as-is.
 
Re: Green Line to Medford to start in 2011

Some technical corrections here:

The Valley Track is within BET and not used by CSX or PAR.

The current track layout at 3rd Ave is CR east and westbound
tracks (which are largely storage tracks), the 4th Iron which
is a through track between the Fitchburg and 3rd Ave (used
by everyone-this is how CSX get to and from Everett from the
Grand Jct), the Willey plus 3rd Iron (which is PAR's access, the
3rd Iron is used by PAR for engine storage/cars).

PAR has no freight office or crew trailer in Somerville. Hasn't for
a long time. LA-4's crew takes a cab ride to Somerville.

Montvale Yard at Tighe Warehouse has limited use for car storage.
It's a shame they did not reconnect the north end to the mainline.
Now there is a 50 car double ended siding we called Swanton Street,
that could be reactivated. It's been stubbed off on one end for over
a decade. But I can just imagine what the NIMBYS and Winchester
would have to say about that.

Dave
 

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