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

Riverside said:
This has been true for a long time in my experience, especially outside peak direction.

But it's a weird confluence of things too. For one, some fraction of fare revenue comes from monthly pass holders. Probably not as much as pre-covid, but still some fraction. And especially outside of peak direction, I doubt there is a huge quantity of money being "left on the table".

Also... like, I'm kinda sympathetic to the conductors. Either some has paid their fare already, or they haven't. Of those who haven't, some fraction will argue about it, some fraction will yell about it, and some small fraction will get belligerent about it -- which is negative for both the conductor and other passengers. And what're they gonna do? The conductor can't really throw the person off the train, and delaying the train to wait for the police to arrive is going to be popular with no one, including management.

So... I dunno. Yeah, the conductors should collect fares, and yeah, it's part of their job so they should do it. But, like most things with the T, I think there's an underlying institutional dimension here that is hard to untangle from the actions of individuals.
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Great points all, and thank you. At the bottom of it all, however, is the massive T financial problems we read about everyday in these pages on this website and some of it really isn't such a mystery. There is much leakage that CAN be fixed.
 
shmessy said:
Great points all, and thank you. At the bottom of it all, however, is the massive T financial problems we read about everyday in these pages on this website and some of it really isn't such a mystery. There is much leakage that CAN be fixed.
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Keolis' ham-handed faregate installation is part of that. At least they patched the glitch where you could re-use the same (single ride) ticket over and over...after they put the gates in service (seems like a pretty obvious problem that should have been anticipated pre-rollout). I suppose too that it's worth the extra revenue inconveniencing fare-paying customers when they can't get through the gates and need to find an employee to wave them through because the conductor punched a hole in the wrong place in the ticket...again.

Sigh. As is typical around here, even the reasonably-decent ideas (i.e. using technology to reduce fare evasion) are poorly implemented. (That said, I'm fascinated to see how it's going to work at South Station with all the extra Amtrak traffic.)
 
Do trains overnight in Framingham? Or does everything deadhead in from Boston? (Worcester has a yard though, which keeps trains overnight, right?)
 
Riverside said:
Do trains overnight in Framingham? Or does everything deadhead in from Boston? (Worcester has a yard though, which keeps trains overnight, right?)
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There's no layover in Framingham. Train 582 (5:55am inbound) arrives in Framingham via positioning deadhead from Boston. Worcester layover stores all the Worcester overnight sets. Worcester layover being space-constrained is probably why 582 originates in Framingham instead of Worcester.
 
The MBTA train to a Taylor Swift concert at Gillette has already sold out, weeks ahead of the concert. They said they'd have a train to Foxboro for major concerts this summer, and this is the first one. It sold out in a few hours. Unfortunately, MBTA says it has no plans to add any more trains.

I feel like "Public transit can sell tickets as fast as Taylor Swift" could be an idea to campaign around.

www.bostonglobe.com

MBTA commuter rail tickets for Taylor Swift concert sell out in hours - The Boston Globe

The $20 round-trip tickets for the trains, which run from Boston or Providence, sold out Friday afternoon, according to the MBTA Commuter Rail.
www.bostonglobe.com www.bostonglobe.com
 
^ Actually, I was misreading or mixing something up. MBTA is looking into adding more trains, but hasn't decided yet.
 
F-Line to Dudley said:
There's no layover in Framingham. Train 582 (5:55am inbound) arrives in Framingham via positioning deadhead from Boston. Worcester layover stores all the Worcester overnight sets. Worcester layover being space-constrained is probably why 582 originates in Framingham instead of Worcester.
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Thanks, yeah, that was what I had figured about 582. I've been trying to identify out how many trainsets are needed to run the morning peak schedule on the Worcester Line -- by my count, it's 8, maybe 9; do you know that number off-hand?

Other open questions I've had...

1) Looks like Worcester Yard has space for 4 overnight sets, yeah?

2) Looks to me like Train 582 deadheads back out to Framingham again (leaving Boston around 7am) to become Train 586 (8:00am inbound), so 582 and 586 are able to be handled by the same set, right?

3) Train 584 (7:05am from Framingham) looks to me like it must use the set from Train 860 (the 5:15am inbound from Stoughton); I haven't been able to find another potential source for that set.

4) It looks like the earlybird trains from Providence and Worcester (Trains 800 and 500 respectively) "swap" lines when turning in Boston -- the set from Providence goes to Worcester, and the set from Worcester probably goes to Providence. (The set going out to Worcester looks like it eventually becomes the 8am inbound Train 508, and stays on the Worcester Line for the rest of the day.) Is there a particular reason for this swap?

5) Aside from 584 and 500/508, is there any other "intermingling" of rolling stock between the Fram/Wor Line and the rest of the southside?
 
ritchiew said:
The MBTA train to a Taylor Swift concert at Gillette has already sold out, weeks ahead of the concert. They said they'd have a train to Foxboro for major concerts this summer, and this is the first one. It sold out in a few hours. Unfortunately, MBTA says it has no plans to add any more trains.

I feel like "Public transit can sell tickets as fast as Taylor Swift" could be an idea to campaign around.

www.bostonglobe.com

MBTA commuter rail tickets for Taylor Swift concert sell out in hours - The Boston Globe

The $20 round-trip tickets for the trains, which run from Boston or Providence, sold out Friday afternoon, according to the MBTA Commuter Rail.
www.bostonglobe.com www.bostonglobe.com
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This should make the T start thinking about the fast-approaching Would Cup and the number of visitors who will want to get to Gillette without cars.
 
Yankee Line replacement buses are out here at Norwood Central and getting stuck trying to turn around because of the rail underpass on Lenox Street
 
Koopzilla24 said:
Yankee Line replacement buses are out here at Norwood Central and getting stuck trying to turn around because of the rail underpass on Lenox Street
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The irony.

Also, how is this impacting Foxboro trains and not Franklin trains?

Also, will this impact the (apparently wildly popular) service to the Taylor Swift concert?
 
Riverside said:
Also, how is this impacting Foxboro trains and not Franklin trains?
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According to this WCVB article, a single track on the bridge is still operational, although trains are operating at a reduced speed. Franklin trains are probably being prioritized over Foxboro trains since CR service to Foxboro is still just a pilot.
 
Trucks hitting this bridge have been a somewhat frequent occurrence over the years. It's last incident was just six weeks earlier. It is similar to the Storrow Drive bridges with a very low clearance.


www.boston25news.com

âThis is a common occurrenceâ: Truck strikes bridge in Dedham

Crews are investigating after a tractor trailer struck a Commuter Rail bridge in Dedham Monday afternoon.
www.boston25news.com www.boston25news.com
 
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New England Born & Raised said:
Trucks hitting this bridge have been a somewhat frequent occurrence over the years. It's last incident was just six weeks earlier. It is similar to the Storrow Drive bridges with a very low clearance.


www.boston25news.com

âThis is a common occurrenceâ: Truck strikes bridge in Dedham

Crews are investigating after a tractor trailer struck a Commuter Rail bridge in Dedham Monday afternoon.
www.boston25news.com www.boston25news.com
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The bridge is scheduled for replacement with a higher-clearance span: https://www.mbta.com/projects/dedham-east-street-bridge-replacement.
 
I wonder what took them so long to replace this bridge? Aside from the needed height increase from 12'3' to 14', the span itself is will be wider to allow for sidewalks and improve pedestrian access under the bridge. That's a win.

Current:

1684274433036.png


Future:

1684274315009.png
 
mass88 said:
I wonder what took them so long to replace this bridge? Aside from the needed height increase from 12'3' to 14', the span itself is will be wider to allow for sidewalks and improve pedestrian access under the bridge. That's a win.

Current:

View attachment 37967

Future:

View attachment 37966
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The somewhat worse Westwood truck-eater bridge was first on the Franklin Line priority pile.
 
The spring commuter rail schedule change is May 22:

Commuter Rail Spring/Summer Schedule to Take Effect May 22 | 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

Mostly minor adjustments to schedules. The $10 weekend pass is now valid on federal holidays, and many flag stops converted to regular stops. Previously, for example, Fairmount was all flag stops outside the peaks and on weekends. New schedule has no flag stops with the same running time.

Some other lines have some running times cut by a minute or two, but no flag-->regular stop changes. Haverhill has a minute added to most trains. Wedgemere and West Medford become regular stops off-peak.
 
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