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

One can only dream, but I imagine the way to prioritize higher-throughput rail here would be two tracks for RL through Savin Hill, and a quad-track CR railway so all the cape/SCR trains/Greenbush/Plymouth trains can express through this section while local hingham/weymouth trains make all stops. Then I-93 would be reduced to just 3 lanes in either direction, like the pike.
 
I think we have a few years now of pretty solid data on how much delay red line riders are willing to suffer. The imposed delay has been in the tens of minutes, and some folks definitely switched to the commuter rail, but it's not as if the braintree branch saw utter collapse. My anecdotal experience is that I found I actually would get to my office faster biking to QC and taking the commuter rail as opposed to taking the red line from QA....and I still only ever did it when the red line was actually shut down. There's other factors at play in people's commute modal choices, such as the experience of getting to the station which, for me, was horrible for QC.

Additionally, I think most red line riders intuit the unusually long gap between NQ and JFK. I think most would find an additional stop (be it Savin Hill, Neponset infill, or both) to be logical.
 
sneijder said:
Then I-93 would be reduced to just 3 lanes in either direction, like the pike.
Click to expand...
If we're reducing 93 to 3 lanes I think it would be more reasonable to maintain the current width but convert one lane from each side to a shoulder.
sneijder said:
So all the cape/SCR trains/Greenbush/Plymouth trains can express through this section while local hingham/weymouth trains make all stops.
Click to expand...
I could see an argument for SCR or Cape Cod trains skipping JFK and Braintree, but we don't really need to quad-track the line to do that, a couple passing tracks at those stations would also be fine. And of course using clever scheduling to add them can also be an option.
 
JeffDowntown said:
How can the Dutch coordinate trains without slowing service?

Oh, right, they actually know how to run a railroad.
Click to expand...
Do they coordinate a railroad and metro schedules? it's more operationally workable to keep those schedules separate.
 
as02143 said:
Do they coordinate a railroad and metro schedules? it's more operationally workable to keep those schedules separate.
Click to expand...
Particularly at Amstel Station -- coordination between 3 metro lines and at least 2 intercity rail lines. Cross-platform timed transfers.
 
JeffDowntown said:
Particularly at Amstel Station -- coordination between 3 metro lines and at least 2 intercity rail lines. Cross-platform timed transfers.
Click to expand...
That's not a timed transfer, it's just a cross-platform transfer. There's only one metro and one NS platform in each direction, you can't do a timed transfer on that between the three metro lines with 12 TPH and five NS services with 10 TPH and even if you wanted to. You also need to tap out and back in between GVB and NS services, so it would be the slowest timed transfer ever if that were the case.

For a timed transfer you need to go to Zwolle where every half hour the trains from Groningen and Leeuwarden meet each other before going towards Den Haag and Rotterdam, allowing for each destination pair to be served twice per hour rather than the hourly service you'd get just from alternating destinations at the origin.
 
TheRatmeister said:
That's not a timed transfer, it's just a cross-platform transfer. There's only one metro and one NS platform in each direction, you can't do a timed transfer on that between the three metro lines with 12 TPH and five NS services with 10 TPH and even if you wanted to. You also need to tap out and back in between GVB and NS services, so it would be the slowest timed transfer ever if that were the case.

For a timed transfer you need to go to Zwolle where every half hour the trains from Groningen and Leeuwarden meet each other before going towards Den Haag and Rotterdam, allowing for each destination pair to be served twice per hour rather than the hourly service you'd get just from alternating destinations at the origin.
Click to expand...
OK, I believe you -- but my experience at Amstel was seamless enough to feel timed.

I have used the Zwolle transfers -- truly amazing (compared to rail performance in the US). You don't miss a beat moving from one train to the other to continue your journey.
 
JeffDowntown said:
OK, I believe you -- but my experience at Amstel was seamless enough to feel timed.
Click to expand...
The services are all frequent, so that's not surprising. The metro towards Amsterdam Centraal runs every 3-5 minutes all day, and the Intercity service is every 10 minutes ish, although that depends more on where you're going.
 
Part of the Savin Hill Problem is that many support the idea of a Neponset circle Station which already slows the trip down. With Either station (Savin Hill or Neponset), and definitely with both), you're taking that shiny new 55 mph zone and throwing it into the trash. Also, while I agree that it is politically easier to take from the transit allocation, it definitely feels like a loss to trade off good transit for slightly worse transit to gain an adjacent great transit when the goal of the regional rail improvement is to move cars off of that highway. This is really a squabble over, "don't let perfect be the enemy of good" vs "which mode of transportation should be inconvenienced in the general transportation network".
 
West Medford mini-high construction update 2/4/2025:
IMG_1217.jpeg
IMG_1219.jpeg


Appears they’re close to being done. I’m torn because the construction is fairly “Mickey Mouse,” but during their useful life they will be a major benefit to the station’s riders. I’ve struggled myself trying to lug a stroller or two up the coach’s stairs while minding a couple toddlers and everyone onboard waiting for me to hurry up. Let alone someone trying to access with the station with an actual disability (which has been obviously impossible).
 
I wish permission to do this came with a hard commitment to full build, with timelines and funding fully identified.
 
RandomWalk said:
I wish permission to do this came with a hard commitment to full build, with timelines and funding fully identified.
Click to expand...
It will ultimately require that when that freestanding deck starts settling out of alignment in about 10-12 years and scores of similar-construction temp highs in this blitz go out-of-ADA compliance en masse. Then the MAAB will throw down the gauntlet demanding perma fixes or else no more service...with or without the funding being secured for those perma fixes.

Beware the kick of the can as a cure-all. You just end up with a big pile of litter in the end where they all collect.
 
Looks like the MBTA is working on plans for a turnback track in Reading to allow higher frequency on the line:

It would allow 30-minute all-day headways to Reading - alternating Reading and Haverhill trains - which implies Haverhill would get a boost to 60-minute all-day headways.

Some local opposition to the project due to noise and air pollution concerns:
thereadingpost.com

MBTA Presents Plans to Select Board

Listen to this article Reading, MA -- After significant resident communication and input, the Select Board hosted representatives of the MBTA to its February 4 meeting to explain its reasoning [...]
thereadingpost.com thereadingpost.com
 
themissinglink said:
www.wcvb.com

South Station experiencing delays due to train derailment, MBTA says

It is not yet clear what caused the derailment or when trains will be running on regular service again.
www.wcvb.com www.wcvb.com
Click to expand...
Once again I managed to get caught up in this.
IMG_7007.jpeg

I showed up at 2:10pm to take Franklin Line train 1709 only to find that inbound Providence Line train out there had derailed halfway through a switch between what looked like the 3rd/4th cars. My train scheduled for 2:17 didnt depart until 3:23 but they let us on the train to sit around 2:30 at least
 
Apparently Keolis is requesting 7 battery trains. Thats far more than needed for the Fairmount so its safe to say theyre serrioisly gearing up to test them out on the Stoughton as planned
IMG_7019.jpeg
 
Koopzilla24 said:
Apparently Keolis is requesting 7 battery trains. Thats far more than needed for the Fairmount so its safe to say theyre serrioisly gearing up to test them out on the Stoughton as planned
Click to expand...

What's the source here and do you have any additional information? Last I heard there was no public info on the RFP Keolis is issuing for the BEMU pilot.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top