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

[F-Line to Dudley]

Hi folks, I was looking at aerials of the Eastern Route through Lynn. Does anybody know how the T uses the small rail yard located just north of the GE plant? Here is a photo of the site I'm talking about. It looks like at one point it may have been half of a wye to the Saugus branch, but the grade actually seems like that may not have worked. Has it always been a yard? Is it used for deliveries to GE, or just storing equipment? I was kind of surprised that in the aerial, it has multiple rail cars on a siding, including tank cars. But it's not listed as a T yard here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Massachusetts_Bay_Transportation_Authority_yards#

View attachment 36109

It's a maintenance of way yard used mostly for staging tie and spot rail replacement jobs. No GE use...they haven't gotten rail deliveries in 30 years. Basically one siding (which several lines have) with some extra slack space for staging materials, so it's not a 'major' yard by any sense.

The tank cars on Google look like they're from the leaf wash train, so that was probably an offseason storage spot for them.

 

[GP40MC]

Bennett Street Yard - Strictly a MW base. And yes, those are some of the wash train cars.

 

[Riverside]

The T appears to have unceremoniously (and without explanation or explicit acknowledgement) extended what was originally a weekend-long bustitution on the Fairmount Line through today (Tuesday).

But, on the flip side, they say that service is now planned to return tomorrow, and that next weekend’s bustitution has been canceled.

 

[Riverside]

Compared to the subway, the commuter rail had largely been staying out of the headlines and not contributing to the T's woes. Alas, no longer:

A former Keolis official and a company vendor have been indicted in connection to an alleged scheme to defraud the commuter rail operator of more than $8 million over a seven-year span, federal prosecutors said Wednesday.

John P. Pigsley, 58, Keolis’s former assistant chief engineer for facilities, and John Rafferty, 69, general manager of LJ Electric Inc., allegedly used a false invoicing scheme to steal $4 million from Keolis, which operates the MBTA’s commuter rail system. On his own, Pigsley allegedly stole copper wire from Keolis and sold it to scrap metal yards for more than $4.5 million, federal prosecutors said.

...

Federal prosecutors said Pigsley served in his post from 2014 to 2021.

MBTA contractors charged with stealing more than $8 million - The Boston Globe

A former Keolis official and another man were indicted on federal charges related to an alleged scheme to defraud the commuter rail operator of more than $8 million, according to legal filings and US Attorney Rachael S. Rollins’s office.

www.bostonglobe.com

 

[Jahvon09]

Ex-Keolis official accused in $8m commuter rail fraud - CommonWealth Magazine

 

[fatnoah]

Compared to the subway, the commuter rail had largely been staying out of the headlines and not contributing to the T's woes. Alas, no longer:

Honestly, $4M isn't huge in the scale of MA corruption, and if that's the price to pay for CR not being a dumpster fire, maybe that's ok.

 

[bakgwailo]

At least know we know where all the cost inflation for electrification was going. Also can't help but comment what a fitting name.

 

[stick n move]

Dont remember this being posted, if it has my apologies.

The MBTA shares a rendering of the South Attleboro station.

https://www.abc6.com/construction-for-south-attleboro-train-station-to-begin-this-fall/

 

[North Shore]

FWIW, the MBTA is hiring a "Director of Rail Transformation Planning", in charge of regional rail planning and implementation:

2,000+ Director Business Transformation jobs in United States (117 new)

Today’s top 2,000+ Director Business Transformation jobs in United States. Leverage your professional network, and get hired. New Director Business Transformation jobs added daily.

www.linkedin.com

 

[Java King]

FWIW, the MBTA is hiring a "Director of Rail Transformation Planning", in charge of regional rail planning and implementation:

2,000+ Director Business Transformation jobs in United States (117 new)

Today’s top 2,000+ Director Business Transformation jobs in United States. Leverage your professional network, and get hired. New Director Business Transformation jobs added daily.

www.linkedin.com

That's good news! I hope they get someone with experience from a good system such as Munich, London, or Paris.

 

[New England Born & Raised]

Demo work to start on dilapidated South Attleboro commuter rail station

ATTLEBORO — Demolition work at the South Attleboro commuter rail station is expected to begin Monday, according to a letter received by the city council from the MBTA.

www.thesunchronicle.com

 

[tysmith95]

Demo work to start on dilapidated South Attleboro commuter rail station

ATTLEBORO — Demolition work at the South Attleboro commuter rail station is expected to begin Monday, according to a letter received by the city council from the MBTA.

www.thesunchronicle.com

So it takes over 2 years to start construction when something is condemned. Gotta love the great state of Massachusetts.

There has to be a way to decrease permitting timelines for condemned infrastructure (I live next to a bridge with a similar timeline).

 

[New England Born & Raised]

So it takes over 2 years to start construction when something is condemned. Gotta love the great state of Massachusetts.

There has to be a way to decrease permitting timelines for condemned infrastructure (I live next to a bridge with a similar timeline).

Construction? The S Attleboro station work at this time is just DEMOLITION of the condemned walkways. There is no definitive construction schedule as yet. The busy station with nearly 600 parking spaces was long neglected with its steel stairs and ramps rusting away. One set of stairs had been boarded up for over a decade with no corrective action ever taken. The remaining stairs and ramps were ultimately condemned in February of 2021 during the height of the Covid pandemic when ridership was way down due to WFH. The MBTA had new design plan meetings for a station rehab scheduled at that time that never ended up taking place. It then dragged its feet with passenger numbers down and the coming addition of the nearby Pawtucket station (less than 2m away). It is the thinking in the Attleboro area that the MBTA has deliberately taken a wait and see approach to the future of the station. They are watching the overall passenger numbers after Covid and examining the impact of the new Pawtucket stop. State Rep Jim Hawkins has made it his mission to get the station rebuilt. He is trying to hold the T accountable and urging constituents to write letters to the MBTA. Even though there is supposedly a design plan, there is still some doubt down this way whether this station will come back on line.

 

[shmessy]

I took the commuter rail from Ashland to Back Bay Station on Monday for the 2nd time in 6 months.

BOTH times, no conductor ever came over to take payment from me. This time, I actually corralled the guy by time we got to Newtonville and complained about it. He got defensive and said he had been by several times and perhaps just overlooked me by mistake. Nice guy, but just was doing what may very well be institutional on the line.

There are a lot of "butt fumbles" by the T that should be very easy to fix by people simply DOING THEIR JOBS.

 

[Riverside]

I took the commuter rail from Ashland to Back Bay Station on Monday for the 2nd time in 6 months.

BOTH times, no conductor ever came over to take payment from me. This time, I actually corralled the guy by time we got to Newtonville and complained about it. He got defensive and said he had been by several times and perhaps just overlooked me by mistake. Nice guy, but just was doing what may very well be institutional on the line.

There are a lot of "butt fumbles" by the T that should be very easy to fix by people simply DOING THEIR JOBS.

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.

 

[bakgwailo]

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.

I'd have to think there is only a small subset of people hopping on the CR playing fare roulette and not having had purchased a ticket before (or have a monthly pass). Also - does the fares on the CR go to the MBTA, Keolis, or some combination thereof? As I'd say fare collection is pretty firmly on Keolis and not the T, so not sure the incentive there.

 

[aycaramba]

I took the commuter rail from Ashland to Back Bay Station on Monday for the 2nd time in 6 months.

BOTH times, no conductor ever came over to take payment from me. This time, I actually corralled the guy by time we got to Newtonville and complained about it. He got defensive and said he had been by several times and perhaps just overlooked me by mistake. Nice guy, but just was doing what may very well be institutional on the line.

There are a lot of "butt fumbles" by the T that should be very easy to fix by people simply DOING THEIR JOBS.

This is exactly why they are putting fare gates at North Station (already active apparently), South Station, and Back Bay-- you will not be able to exit the station without a valid ticket or pass. Theoretically you will still need to have your zone checked by a conductor but I doubt that will happen. However I do think it will help with consistency of fare payment

 

[Semass]

Dont remember this being posted, if it has my apologies.

The MBTA shares a rendering of the South Attleboro station.

https://www.abc6.com/construction-for-south-attleboro-train-station-to-begin-this-fall/

It is incredible to me that they aren't even provisioning for a future 3rd track here. They are actively preventing it forever with this. This is the NEC main line and they need to take every opportunity, no matter how small, to add capacity for passing.

 

[stick n move]

I agree 100%. I still wonder if the new pawtucket station left that space to the right of the platform as space for a future 3rd track, it looks like itd be pretty tight but possibly do-able. Not ideal if it actually is. Too bad they hadnt just extended that 3rd track where the platform is and built the platform further back. The outside freight track realistically has no shot of working as a real passing track because of the layout.

 

[ulrichomega]

It is incredible to me that they aren't even provisioning for a future 3rd track here. They are actively preventing it forever with this. This is the NEC main line and they need to take every opportunity, no matter how small, to add capacity for passing.

But it is provisioned for a third and fourth track, similarly to Westwood/128. The outside of the two platforms can easily have tracks placed down, transforming the side platforms into islands. That's why all of the access footbridges above go out so far. At the very least there's nothing here completely preventing a third/fourth track, though some additional work will obviously be required to actually, you know, build them.