I’m driving west on the Pike out around Sturbridge and a new Orange Line car just passed me going in the other direction!
Fantastic. Hopefully the new cars will still be on track to start rolling this month.
I’m driving west on the Pike out around Sturbridge and a new Orange Line car just passed me going in the other direction!
Fantastic. Hopefully the new cars will still be on track to start rolling this month.
Fantastic. Hopefully the new cars will still be on track to start rolling this month.
First OL set will be delayed until April or so by testing procedures for an onboard signal system component. Not sure why they let the Globe go to print with the story this morning that said January if they already knew that wasn't going to happen.
One little delay wouldn't bother most people, but stacked with cars that are older than Methuselah and a system plagued with delays and problems it will of course appear bigger than it is. It also causes people to believe that more delays are inevitable, and that the new estimates will also be missed. The headline and lede of the article are definitely misleading, but the T doesn't exactly have a track record that imbues confidence.
Imagine if you bought a Corolla and then you find out the dealer needs to do 500 miles of tests on it oh and another 3 month delay because your Corolla needs to talk to the traffic signal on your street.
No public agency that's forced to publish estimated timelines does. Apple can keep a new product secret until the day they start selling it. There are cases where the MBTA and other agencies don't run projects well, but the problem here is that the public is impatient and poorly informed by people with a financial interest in riling them up.
Guess what...they do exactly that level of testing with new-model year cars. It happens 2-3 years in advance of going on sale.
These are pilot trains...as in "pre-production". As in..."not a Corolla you can yet buy because it's a model year 2021."
This is what happens when every agency insists on a custom train, every time.
And the 500 mile test is for every train, not just the first one. Every train.
This is what happens when every agency insists on a custom train, every time.
And the 500 mile test is for every train, not just the first one. Every train.
500 miles, in the grand scheme of things, isn't really all that much. The Orange Line is approximately 11 miles from end to end. That's approximately 23 round trips on the whole line. Most of the current sets likely do much more than that in a couple of days.
Yeah, let's try and design a one size fits all transit car. Oh, wait, nevermind, that is how we got the old Boeing. I mean seriously - how else is it supposed to happen when ever transit system has different rail/loading gauges, signal systems, and needs? These aren't 10k mass produced Honda Civics (that, as already pointed out go through a ton of testing before being offered to the public). Why not apply your logic, then, to airplanes which are way more 'off the shelf' than subway rolling stock, and each one still has to go through a battery of tests before passengers set foot on them.
Counterpoint: PCCs were incredibly successful.
Loading gauge for one isnt an issue. We even have trains where you can move the wheels back and forth to adjust for the right sized track (still common in India). A more significant variable is the width of the actual passenger compartment to match with the platforms for level boarding.
I agree that the logic applies to airplanes as well.
We over-regulate transit (air is transit) and under-regulate private vehicles.
Counterpoint: PCCs were incredibly successful.