MBTA Commuter Rail (Operations, Keolis, & Short Term)

[F-Line to Dudley]

Even I'm not quite cynical enough to think that the T would necessarily refuse to build/operate (well, reactivate) a station solely because it had fewer spaces than others (especially as a replacement for the would-be-shuttered North Wilmington, which has little parking itself). That said, the railroad-owned parcel adjacent to the ROW is actually quite long, and looks wide enough to fit a single-file-style parking lot with maybe 80-100 spaces if you wanted to squeeze them in.

North Wilmington only has 20 spaces, so whatever you fit at Salem St. is likely to be a substantial increase over today. Most of N. Will's ridership is walkup or drop-off. It did 310 daily boardings in the Blue Book (more than everything south save for Reading and Wakefield) despite only having those 20 spaces, so it's getting healthy utilization from its catchment. Salem St. is arguably at a superior location, being able to capture some of South Tewksbury while not over-duplicating Wilmington (which is right down the street on MA 62 from N. Will).

 

[Riverside]

I need to find the tweet again, but the T was advertising that some additional trains would continue to serve Forest Hills, providing 30 min headways (mostly drawn from Franklin trains, I think) throughout the day. They also have announced that Oak Grove will continue to be served by commuter rail; they didn’t say why, but I’m guessing it’s for vaguely similar reasons?

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

So...the first of the rebuilt F40 locos with alternate paint schemes is heading home. All-black. That will certainly catch attention.

Paint job isn't done, so it's difficult to figure what the end result will be. It might be one of the 'heritage' (B&M, NY Central/B&A, NYNH&H) paint schemes they said they'd be doing...or it might not. Doesn't resemble any of the looks of the T's predecessor railroads, unless they're going for steam-engine paint (which tended to be all-black). Will be interesting to see what the finished paint looks like once they add the detail.

 

[HenryAlan]

It looks kind of cool, but unless they change the overall livery, it will look really strange pulling current design MBTA cars, regardless of the finishing detail work.

 

[Riverside]

I wonder why is the part above the windows still purple?

 

[Brattle Loop]

I wonder why is the part above the windows still purple?

Looks like the purple parts are the numberboard housings and the e-bell, both of which are replaced as part of the rebuild. I'd guess that they came in already purple and haven't yet been modified to fit whatever the final paint scheme is.

 

[palindrome]

Probably a dumb question but is there a reason they can’t just drive the train home under its own power? Something to do with track ownership?

 

[Wash]

Probably a dumb question but is there a reason they can’t just drive the train home under its own power? Something to do with track ownership?

It would need to be driven by a CSX crew (and probably also a Norfolk Southern crew for part of the journey) already familiar with the rails between Minooka, Illinois (?) and Boston. Said CSX crew could either haul a) this one locomotive or b) this one locomotive and more than a million dollars worth of freight, so deciding which is more efficient from a railroad ops standpoint is kind of a no brainer.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

Probably a dumb question but is there a reason they can’t just drive the train home under its own power? Something to do with track ownership?

It would need to be driven by a CSX crew (and probably also a Norfolk Southern crew for part of the journey) already familiar with the rails between Minooka, Illinois (?) and Boston. Said CSX crew could either haul a) this one locomotive or b) this one locomotive and more than a million dollars worth of freight, so deciding which is more efficient from a railroad ops standpoint is kind of a no brainer.

In the video it appears to be testing on its own power for a portion, so there was probably a combination of freight crew and MPI techs doing the testing.

For the freight move to transfer the loco into T hands, the freight crews run with their own power since the T loco is "freight" on their manifest and not power for their train. Plus the fact that T locos use a different Positive Train Control signaling system than CSX/NS do in native territory, so it wouldn't be able to legally lead the train. Plus the fact that the freight crews are very unlikely qualified to run a passenger-only F40, so they'd run the makes they're familiar with from their own roster.

 

[Arlington]

Lowell Line: if Wedgemere and North Billerica can have mini-highs with retractable edges for freight clearance, why can’t West Medford? The mini highs made a huge difference for bike on/off and weekend boarding speed/throughput generally.

North Billerica:

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

Lowell Line: if Wedgemere and North Billerica can have mini-highs with retractable edges for freight clearance, why can’t West Medford? The mini highs made a huge difference for bike on/off and weekend boarding speed/throughput generally.

Because the Mass Architectural Board has to grant an exemption stating that mini-highs are the only viable option. They didn't do that at Winchester; they mandated full-highs and some sort of alternate passing solution (gauntlet track made it into 100% design, but was...temporarily?...deferred by Pan Am due to lack of consequential high-and-wide traffic). Wedgemere's mini dates to before the MAAB regs were toughened to their current levels following an accessibility lawsuit settlement. They'd be very unlikely to grant an exemption for West Med given how the process for Winchester went. It'll have to go into design with either a center passing track or a gauntlet (tricky when abutting a grade crossing), then it's up to the T+CSX whether the design solution gets final-implemented. But it's very likely going to be required to be a full-high.

Since the current MAAB regs went into effect the only exemptions they've granted are for the to-be second platforms at Ballardvale and Andover, which see a whole other level of high-and-wide freight traffic being situated on the CSX/PAR Freight Main.

 

[GP40MC]

The track the 1070 is on is the Wabtec/Erie Test Track and not part of the parallel NS & CSX mainlines. Wabtec uses various units to test new rebuilds, new units.

 

[Riverside]

Can anyone remind me what the story is on the clearly-abandoned but still signed-under-construction northern segment (half?) of the older platform at Ruggles? IIRC, Ruggles opened in 1988… how could the platform have fallen into disrepair in a single generation?

 

[tysmith95]

Can anyone remind me what the story is on the clearly-abandoned but still signed-under-construction northern segment (half?) of the older platform at Ruggles? IIRC, Ruggles opened in 1988… how could the platform have fallen into disrepair in a single generation?

The Lynn garage and platform was built in 1992 and is being closed already due to safety.

I'll go with substandard construction during the Bulger era of Massachusetts projects.

 

[The EGE]

Can anyone remind me what the story is on the clearly-abandoned but still signed-under-construction northern segment (half?) of the older platform at Ruggles? IIRC, Ruggles opened in 1988… how could the platform have fallen into disrepair in a single generation?

There were definitely some construction quality issues; the asphalt on the busway had to be replaced with concrete within a year of opening. The closed section of the platform was supposed to be rehabilitated with the construction of the new platform; it's now listed as part of the scope for Phase 2.

 

[devnull]

I was on a Downeaster train towards Boston last night. We got stuck around Lawrence, MA due to a disabled Commuter Rail train. Then, the crew ended up coupling our Downeaster train to the Commuter Rail train and pushed it the rest of the way to North Station! Definitely something I hadn't seen before.

 

[Massachoicetts]

Hi everyone, I hope I am putting this in the right section.

I'm looking online at possible trains to take to/from Boston but notice the last Commuter Rail trains of the night leave at 11:00 pm at night. Is this schedule permanent? Are there any trains that leave South Station after midnight? I am a bit perplexed here.

 

[Riverside]

Hi everyone, I hope I am putting this in the right section.

I'm looking online at possible trains to take to/from Boston but notice the last Commuter Rail trains of the night leave at 11:00 pm at night. Is this schedule permanent? Are there any trains that leave South Station after midnight? I am a bit perplexed here.

Well, hard to say about “permanent” but, yes — as the result of spending cuts a year or two ago, night commuter rail service was severely curtailed, and all routes have their last departure from Boston at or just after 11pm. It’s possible you might find an intercity bus (eg Peter Pan) that leaves later, but not super likely.

If you are able to travel into downtown via one of the subway lines (eg from Quincy Adams), you’ll be able to leave later in the night.

Yes, it is absolutely ridiculous.

 

[ceo]

I was on a Downeaster train towards Boston last night. We got stuck around Lawrence, MA due to a disabled Commuter Rail train. Then, the crew ended up coupling our Downeaster train to the Commuter Rail train and pushed it the rest of the way to North Station! Definitely something I hadn't seen before.

Interesting. Did the Downeaster make all the CR stops?

 

[jklo]

Well, hard to say about “permanent” but, yes — as the result of spending cuts a year or two ago, night commuter rail service was severely curtailed, and all routes have their last departure from Boston at or just after 11pm. It’s possible you might find an intercity bus (eg Peter Pan) that leaves later, but not super likely.

Ridership must be terribad. Second shift workers that might have taken the train are probably driving or maybe still WFH.

Take the Worcester Line. Outbound the last train is only 30 minutes earlier. But inbound is nearly two hours (train used to leave Worcester at 12:20 AM). I bet the Inbound trains would be basically empty if they continued to run it.