Green Line Extension to Medford & Union Sq

Found a twitter anectode saying that the MBTA does indeed sign trains as "Union Square", but then they proceed to take the trains out of service at Lechmere and kick out all of the passengers off there, telling them that there's a "Union Square" train right behind them. And, in true MBTA fashion, there isn't a Union Square train approaching Lechmere for a while. Anectode also mentions, why not just sign the train as Lechmere, if it's going to be taken out of service at Lechmere?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1587455711939895297
 
Slightly better pix than previous two of a test train passing through Gilman (I'm way too excited about this stuff, clearly). Again, going full-tilt. Not sure how this will bear out once passengers are on-board, but this train was pretty speedy, aside from the stop at the station.
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Delvin4519 said:
Found a twitter anectode saying that the MBTA does indeed sign trains as "Union Square", but then they proceed to take the trains out of service at Lechmere and kick out all of the passengers off there, telling them that there's a "Union Square" train right behind them. And, in true MBTA fashion, there isn't a Union Square train approaching Lechmere for a while. Anectode also mentions, why not just sign the train as Lechmere, if it's going to be taken out of service at Lechmere?

https://twitter.com/x/status/1587455711939895297
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Customer experience team? Nope!

That sounds like a classic MBTA moment.
 
Delvin4519 said:
Spotted a new video of GLX train testing on twitter, credit goes to this user shown below, not mine. Posted to twitter date is 2022-11-01 15:45. We're no longer in the dark as to what's going on the GLX now, given the Mass(gov) site and the MBTA site is completely crickets, and we have to resort to whatever rumors overheard on social media or closed door meetings.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1587531171046592512

In the second video on the right, there is a small electrical short-out? spark of the wires at 0:18 (0:17 remaining) when the trolley runs through. I'm not sure why it happened. Also some additional pics attached in a reply to the thread.
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From the looks of the videos, the trains appear zippier than their Union Sq branch counterparts.
 
Delvin4519 said:
Spotted a new video of GLX train testing on twitter, credit goes to this user shown below, not mine. Posted to twitter date is 2022-11-01 15:45. We're no longer in the dark as to what's going on the GLX now, given the Mass(gov) site and the MBTA site is completely crickets, and we have to resort to whatever rumors overheard on social media or closed door meetings.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1587531171046592512

In the second video on the right, there is a small electrical short-out? spark of the wires at 0:18 (0:17 remaining) when the trolley runs through. I'm not sure why it happened. Also some additional pics attached in a reply to the thread.
Click to expand...
They're hitting a good speed. I think the D and this should really be paired tbh.
 
Lots of trains signed for the E line out testing this morning. Slow zone installation appears to be left to the last minute.

It appears that they restarted serious testing on November 1st. A post on social media stating that fact would be nice. Something like: “As of November 1, we have started testing on the Medford Branch. All E line trains will go out service at Lechmere, and run to Medford before returning to Lechmere and resuming service.”
 
Medford train testing going about as well as it would for passenger's experience trying to get to Union Square. Expect to see a lot of these over the next month. For now, these occurrances/anectodes means it's a good signal that Medford train testing are ongoing.

Union Square testing lasted 9 weeks from January 16th, 2022 to March 21st, 2022. If Medford Branch testing began yesterday, November 1st, then it will only be 3-4 weeks until "Late November". 9 weeks of Medford Branch testing will take it to Governor Baker's final days in office around New Year's.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1587658341828165632

EDIT: The confusion for passengers is madness and insane

https://twitter.com/x/status/1587825230336196608

https://twitter.com/x/status/1587824061094236161
 
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Delvin4519 said:
Medford train testing going about as well as it would for passenger's experience trying to get to Union Square. Expect to see a lot of these over the next month. For now, these occurrances/anectodes means it's a good signal that Medford train testing are ongoing.

Union Square testing lasted 9 weeks from January 16th, 2022 to March 21st, 2022. If Medford Branch testing began yesterday, November 1st, then it will only be 3-4 weeks until "Late November". 9 weeks of Medford Branch testing will take it to Governor Baker's final days in office around New Year's.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1587658341828165632

EDIT: The confusion for passengers is madness and insane

https://twitter.com/x/status/1587825230336196608

https://twitter.com/x/status/1587824061094236161
Click to expand...
There was about a month of testing before the Sep 19 shutdown too.
 
Delvin4519 said:
Found a twitter anectode saying that the MBTA does indeed sign trains as "Union Square", but then they proceed to take the trains out of service at Lechmere and kick out all of the passengers off there, telling them that there's a "Union Square" train right behind them. And, in true MBTA fashion, there isn't a Union Square train approaching Lechmere for a while. Anectode also mentions, why not just sign the train as Lechmere, if it's going to be taken out of service at Lechmere?
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The hell? That is just mind-boggling incompetence in user experience, even by MBTA standards.
 
Ruairi said:
There was about a month of testing before the Sep 19 shutdown too.
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Yes, but I was referring to the pre-revenue scheduled service testing. It's not about trains testing the signal system or the tracks. It's about running trains on the fixed 5AM - 1AM schedule and having all the operators familar with the completed GLX trackage/signalling. This only started yesterday on the Medford Branch and started January 16, 2022 on the Union Branch.
 
Friend-Union said:
Loving our new spartan value engineering stations. Let's hope the sun always shines on the GLX.

www.flickr.com

GLX Progress Photos

Explore GLX Progress Photos’s 184 photos on Flickr!
www.flickr.com www.flickr.com
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I'm guessing this is sarcasm? If it's sincere, then I'm right there w/ you b/c I *do* love them (from what I can see, not having ridden the GLX or waited at a station).

They're "spartan," I guess -- if compared to Government Center or Park Street, etc. These are above-ground light rail stations and they actually seem considerably more feature-rich than many light rail stations I've been to in Europe and Asia and certainly more "fancy" than most of the B and C line stations that I'm overly familiar with after living in Allston/Brighton/Brookline for decades.
 
Delvin4519 said:
I'm kinda surprised that GLX Union Square riders faced a downwards sprial in service in just 48 hours, like wow.

And supposedly Medford branch service is being tested.
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This has been happening for a while. Once took me 25 minutes to do Lechmere to Union at 11:30 at night.
 
Lechmere to Union was super slow the one time I've taken it, and that was months ago, but I don't think it was 25 minutes slow. Are we dealing with variable delays for some reason? Is testing the Medford branch slowing down Union Square trains because they're making sure signals are working right? Sure would be nice if we had some communication on this issue.
 
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