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

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
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I'm a bit unclear on how quickly they can turn one of these BEB trains and whether there is any time savings to be found on the currently scheduled 30 minute run. If they can get a train to leave Readville 40 minutes after it previously left South Station, 20 minute headways would require 4 train sets. But that means either turning the train in 10 minutes (doubtful) or saving at least 5 minutes on the one way trip time. That leads me to think they would actually need 5 trains in active service, plus they will need 1-2 extra sets, so maybe 7 is in fact just for Readville. Anybody have better info on trip timing?
 
HenryAlan said:
I'm a bit unclear on how quickly they can turn one of these BEB trains and whether there is any time savings to be found on the currently scheduled 30 minute run. If they can get a train to leave Readville 40 minutes after it previously left South Station, 20 minute headways would require 4 train sets. But that means either turning the train in 10 minutes (doubtful) or saving at least 5 minutes on the one way trip time. That leads me to think they would actually need 5 trains in active service, plus they will need 1-2 extra sets, so maybe 7 is in fact just for Readville. Anybody have better info on trip timing?
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They currently run 2-3 trainsets active on the Fairmount in conjunction with a handful of Franklin Line trains and one Stoughton throughout the day to achieve their 30min headways with the caveat of not including Readville in the "30min all day." Turning around an electric train as opposed to a diesel train is a significantly quicker process. Depending on what the manufacturer decides for controls it can be as easy as turning the master key off in one end and on in the other. Either way, there are already regularly scheduled turnaround times of about 12min at some termini so 10 isn't much of a stretch without a diesel engine to worry about. I've also been on many a train that's had to change direction mid-route for one reason or another in well under 10min though that's not a formal turnaround involving going through the cars for stragglers and such. The current line termini dwell times are about 13min with most of that just being scheduled layover but the train could easily be on the move before that. I think that end-to-end travel time reduction will be the real deciding factor there. The other considerations are those Fairmount originating and terminating trains which I'm pretty sure are normal midday moves from other lines that they have service the Dorchester Branch as well as the Franklin Line trains that serve the branch. If all that continues, which the Readville Yard moves have to, then I don't really see a need for any more than 4 max with one always sitting at a terminus with the other 3 on the line. That's how it works now with 3 sets (2active+1layover). That leaves 3 trains and even if they wanted 2 extras lying in wait (I'd only expect one since the line is compatible with regular diesel sets) they simply wanted to trial them on other lines so having even just 1 set occasionally available to do so should be sufficient.
 
Koopzilla24 said:
Turning around an electric train as opposed to a diesel train is a significantly quicker process. Depending on what the manufacturer decides for controls it can be as easy as turning the master key off in one end and on in the other.
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Not true at all. The FRA mandates the same time-consuming brakes and systems checks for any turnaround, diesel or electric. There's lots of employee testimonials on RR.net for the fastest achievable turnaround times, and it coalesces around 10 minutes if they really hurry and everything goes perfect...longer and up to 15 if it doesn't go perfect.
 

MBTA Shares Service Plans for 250th Celebrations April 19-20 | 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
There will be a special Commuter Rail schedule for Saturday, April 19, 2025. Additional trains will be added to the regular Fitchburg Line -- which serves towns such as Lincoln and Concord -- to accommodate increased ridership. No bikes will be allowed onboard at this time.
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250th.jpg
 
commonwealthbeacon.org

This is one of the biggest decisions the MBTA will make in the next five years

The system sees 550,000 weekly passengers and the MBTA officials want to see even higher numbers, part of an effort to ease traffic congestion by making the commuter rail a more attractive alternative.
commonwealthbeacon.org commonwealthbeacon.org
Before issuing the request for proposals later this year, MBTA officials expect to make a crucial call this spring – by June at the latest – in determining the structure of the contract, which could be worth up to $20 billion.

They could “bundle” the contract, meaning one operator, or a consortium, handles everything, similar to the current structure, or they could “unbundle” the contract, meaning one company will handle the infrastructure that doesn’t move, like the rails, while another company will handle the day-to-day operation of the train vehicles and pay the drivers and conductors.
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What are common causes for commuter rail locomotives to lose power? Is it trouble in the cold? I’ve had a bad run the past month and a half of trains (all on the Providence Line) completely losing power. I’m currently on a dead train between Pawtucket and S. Attleboro. It shut down shortly after leaving PVD where the engineers performed a “reset” (15 minutes) and we continued on. Then we died again shortly after Pawtucket. Presumably waiting for a “rescue train.”

I know on-time numbers for the network have generally improved but, anecdotally, my luck in 2025 has been abysmal. Some of these delays end up being 2+ hours. And I’ve never experienced a run of what feels like the same issue so often. Not even on the old OL trains. Is this something chronic, or is my luck really just this awful.
 
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TheRatmeister said:
It was improving for a long time and through 2023 it was quite good, but I think it's gone downhill rapidly in the past few months.
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Well that makes sense. It certainly hasn’t stopped the state from touting the improvement over pre-COVID service.
 
Lrfox said:
What are common causes for commuter rail locomotives to lose power? Is it trouble in the cold? I’ve had a bad run the past month and a half of trains (all on the Providence Line) completely losing power. I’m currently on a dead train between Pawtucket and S. Attleboro. It shut down shortly after leaving PVD where the engineers performed a “reset” (15 minutes) and we continued on. Then we died again shortly after Pawtucket. Presumably waiting for a “rescue train.”

I know on-time numbers for the network have generally improved but, anecdotally, my luck in 2025 has been abysmal. Some of these delays end up being 2+ hours. And I’ve never experienced a run of what feels like the same issue so often. Not even on the old OL trains. Is this something chronic, or is my luck really just this awful.
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Do you know if it was a newer HSP-46 locomotive or an older F40PH-3C rebuild? The HSP's, while having pretty good MTBF reliability, have so much computer brains that they can be a bit of an ordeal to restart when there's a system fault triggering the computer into safe mode.
 
F-Line to Dudley said:
Do you know if it was a newer HSP-46 locomotive or an older F40PH-3C rebuild? The HSP's, while having pretty good MTBF reliability, have so much computer brains that they can be a bit of an ordeal to restart when there's a system fault triggering the computer into safe mode.
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I'm not sure. I was sitting as far away from the loco as possible and didn't see it as I exited at BBY (we ended up coupling with train 810 just before Attleboro). It was train 808 this AM if there's any way to tell by train number. I'm also not sure what it has been in the past, but the issue has felt similar in the passenger cars. Chugging along, then a sudden loss of power (lights/hvac go shut off abruptly and the emergency lights come on). Each time the engineers have restarted the train (after about 15 minutes or so) only to have it shut down in the same fashion again (usually about a few hundred yards later, but this AM was longer - the 1st shut down was right after the platforms at PVD, the 2nd was after Pawtucket).

After the second shut down, the procedure seems to be to couple with another train for the rest of the trip. This AM we linked with 810 (which had passed us while we were dead on the tracks after Pawtucket), but I don't believe it's always been linked with another revenue train (they call them "rescue trains" each time, but this is the only time they've mentioned it being another in-service train). The delay this AM was exacerbated by the train stopping multiple times at each stop (except 128 and BBY) so that both sets could load/unload from all doors.
 
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