Green Line Extension to Medford & Union Sq

[RandomWalk]

I think there are some punch list items still lingering, like redoing parts of the slab at the FVMs in Magoun

 

[Delvin4519]

I think there are some punch list items still lingering, like redoing parts of the slab at the FVMs in Magoun

But that should not be requiring shutting down the entire Medford - East Somerville segment for almost the entire holiday season for 15 days. Stuff like that should be able to be done in a weekend shutdown or with early access. I can understand shutting down Medford to East Somerville on the first weekend, early nights, or on the last day; to get materials in and out, but shutting down the entire GLX for 15 entire days is madness insane. This shutdown was originally supposed to start at Lechmere in the November 2023 presentation, but got extended to Medford way beyond insanity.

The closure should really be starting from East Somerville primarily, with the Medford shutdown only on the first weekend, early access, plus the last day.

 

[devnull]

Yeah, especially given that, for this weekend, they've been able to keep Medford - E. Somerville opened while E. Somerville - Park St. and Union Sq. - Park St. are closed. That indicates to me that, since they're closing E. Somerville - Medford during that future shutdown, they have some trackwork to do on that section (in addition to supporting the trackwork in the central subway).

 

[thepianoperson]

Yeah, especially given that, for this weekend, they've been able to keep Medford - E. Somerville opened while E. Somerville - Park St. and Union Sq. - Park St. are closed. That indicates to me that, since they're closing E. Somerville - Medford during that future shutdown, they have some trackwork to do on that section (in addition to supporting the trackwork in the central subway).

I honestly think people would prefer the entire branch be closed rather than having to take green line to a shuttle bus to the orange line to get to work downtown - not that they don’t have other reasons to close the whole branch but that could be a main reason? People can stomach a forced three-seat ride for a weekend but for a whole two weeks at commuting time (with a very long walking transfer from train to bus at both east Somerville and north station no less) could be unacceptable for many.

 

[Stlin]

At least part of the reason for the full GLX shutdown is just how GLX was built - it doesn't exactly have the crossovers. The one between East Somerville and Lechmere is probably unusable for revenue service during maintenance, as accessing the viaduct from the truckpad requires it for a reverse move - too much conflict, and even accessing the VMF is probably tricky during that. The next crossover on GLX is between Ball and Magoun Sq. As such, I'm curious to know how they're running Medford-East Somerville during this weekend - it'd almost have to be a single train per track operation from Magoun to East Somerville, reversing direction at East Somerville. I can see how it'd likely not have the capacity for any sort of weekday load.

 

[cubbe8]

At least part of the reason for the full GLX shutdown is just how GLX was built - it doesn't exactly have the crossovers. The one between East Somerville and Lechmere is probably unusable for revenue service during maintenance, as accessing the viaduct from the truckpad requires it for a reverse move - too much conflict, and even accessing the VMF is probably tricky during that. The next crossover on GLX is between Ball and Magoun Sq. As such, I'm curious to know how they're running Medford-East Somerville during this weekend - it'd almost have to be a single train per track operation from Magoun to East Somerville, reversing direction at East Somerville. I can see how it'd likely not have the capacity for any sort of weekday load.

Is there no truck pad on the Union Square branch? How did they get in the materials last week?

 

[Stlin]

Is there no truck pad on the Union Square branch? How did they get in the materials last week?

Union does sort of have its own truck pad - it's just technically also the grade crossing of the Union Square Branch's VMF access track within the yard boundaries.

 

[thepianoperson]

At least part of the reason for the full GLX shutdown is just how GLX was built - it doesn't exactly have the crossovers. The one between East Somerville and Lechmere is probably unusable for revenue service during maintenance, as accessing the viaduct from the truckpad requires it for a reverse move - too much conflict, and even accessing the VMF is probably tricky during that. The next crossover on GLX is between Ball and Magoun Sq. As such, I'm curious to know how they're running Medford-East Somerville during this weekend - it'd almost have to be a single train per track operation from Magoun to East Somerville, reversing direction at East Somerville. I can see how it'd likely not have the capacity for any sort of weekday load.

At least this weekend, they were using the crossover between East Somerville and Lechmere to turn trains, no single track operation. The southbound train would pull in to East Somerville, let everyone off, continue past the crossover to stop, then cross to the northbound track on the way back. Although I wouldn’t be surprised if you’re right that during a more substantial shutdown that’s not feasible for access reasons.