New Red and Orange Line Cars

[Jahvon09]

Might as well have waited until the trains were ready with no glitches in their systems. This is partly why I should've waited until at least half of them are in service. I think that they rushed them into service.

 

[George_Apley]

Might as well have waited until the trains were ready with no glitches in their systems. This is partly why I should've waited until at least half of them are in service. I think that they rushed them into service.

But... you can't know what all the glitches are until you run the trains... you're creating a Catch-22.

 

[johnmcboston]

Geez, F-Line - take a chill pill.

Jahvon - check this web site and save yourself some time: https://newtrains.today/

 

[Norval Elliot]

Why are the new OL trains taking so long being put into service?

To lower the incidence of what you describe below:

They were yanked off again. They should 've checked them out thoroughly before putting them into service. Makes people think that they are playing games.

 

[HelloBostonHi]

The trains are out of service due to an "uncommon noise"... You really can't make this stuff up...

"Meanwhile, another of the long-promised improvements to the system — new Orange Line trains, the first of dozens coming to the subway system — have been taken out of service for the second time in three months. The trains haven’t run since earlier this week after officials grew concerned about a noise coming from the cars.
MBTA spokeswoman Lisa Battiston said the “uncommon noise” from the train cars is not related to the derailment of a new car at a rail yard earlier this week. She said the Orange Line cars have been removed from service “out of an abundance of caution” amid an ongoing investigation into the cause of the noise and “what it may signify.” She declined to further detail the noise."

The Orange Line got new tracks ... and then slowed down - The Boston Globe

In November, the typical Orange Line train has taken about 7.5 minutes to travel from Chinatown to North Station, according to Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority data, compared to under 5.5 minutes earlier this year. Speed restrictions should be lifted soon, officials say.

www.bostonglobe.com

 

[JeffDowntown]

The trains are out of service due to an "uncommon noise"... You really can't make this stuff up...

Actually in engineering circles "uncommon noises" are taken very seriously, particularly in a new system.

Lay people may ignore uncommon noises (then wonder why their car, train, etc. broke down). Engineers know mechanical systems that are operating properly do not make uncommon noises. Such noises can be indications of excessive wear and friction, misalignment, even impending catastrophic failure of parts.

 

[bakgwailo]

I was able to ride in one (twice) and it did have the same binding suspension noise that the new Type-7 refurbs have. I was pretty disappointed.

 

[Arlington]

I was able to ride in one (twice) and it did have the same binding suspension noise that the new Type-7 refurbs have. I was pretty disappointed.

Any chance there's audio? Is it a kind of grumble-burble noise?

 

[bakgwailo]

Any chance there's audio? Is it a kind of grumble-burble noise?

Unfortunately not - it was more pronounced the first time I rode vs the second, though. I was on the end of the car and could just hear what I would describe as creaking from springs that need oil/lubrication? Very much like the overhauled Type-7s.

 

[Jahvon09]

I'll be waiting until at least half of the new cars are in service before I try to venture over to the Orange to get on one of the new trains. Sick of going there & finding out that they've been yanked out of service again!

 

[Lrfox]

I'll be waiting until at least half of the cars are in service before I try to venture over to the Orange to get on one of the new trains. Sick of going there & finding out that they've been yanked out of service again!

Dude, it’s already been pointed out to you that you can literally see how many new trains are on the tracks and where they are at any given time. Just visit this site: https://newtrains.today/ . No need to leave it to chance.

 

[kingofsheeba]

I'll be waiting until at least half of the cars are in service before I try to venture over to the Orange to get on one of the new trains. Sick of going there & finding out that they've been yanked out of service again!

You do understand that the T just replaced and repaired much of the OL and they’re skittish about putting new cars in service for partially these reasons, right? Why risk it?

This isn’t a T issue. When any new additions go before the public, there are problems. Any new train is going to have kinks and will be taken out of service for our safety.

 

[Jahvon09]

Yeah, I think that the new Red line trains might go through the same thing when THEY are put in to service also.

 

[kingofsheeba]

Yeah, I think that the new Red line trains might go through the same thing when THEY are put in to service also.

Yup. And you can wait for them to go into service just like the rest of us. As I said above, it’s perfectly normal for kinks to occur with new trains. Be patient.

Look at what Steve Poftak has done to turn the T around compared to ten years ago. In 2009, the new RL/OK cars, GLX and overall service improvements were nothing but a pipe dream. I don’t mind a few false starts in the name of safety.

 

[Jahvon09]

I don't ever remember the older cars having any problems at all when they were introduced into revenue service.

 

[themissinglink]

I don't ever remember the older cars having any problems at all when they were introduced into revenue service.

I'm willing to bet they did have problems when being first introduced to service. The issues with the new Orange Line trains aren't anything out of the ordinary.

 

[George_Apley]

We also live in a time of heavy media consumption, click-bait, and cynical outrage culture. Which makes us much more attuned to this sort of story than in the past.

 

[Nakedi]

I was a daily Red Line rider back in 1994 when the #3 cars began entering service, and I distinctly remember how slow the phase-in was (largely because, as a transit enthusiast, I wanted to maximize my rides on the outgoing 1400s). I think it was a bit more than a year from the time the first #3s went into service to the point when all or most of the 1400s were pulled from service (I looked at NE Transit for some record of this but couldn't find any, perhaps I am mistaken). This was probably helped by the fact that at the time the 1400s were in relatively decent shape and the #2 cars were still less than 10 years old.

 

[HelloBostonHi]

It was distinctly harder to track train rollouts before the advent of live to the second GTFS feeds, social media and constant news coverage. Hiccups could be hidden in the backpage of the newspaper or not mentioned at all and no one but the most devout of trainspotters would note anything wrong. Now you simply pop to newtrains.today to find that the new OL has been out of service for two weeks and know something is up.

 

[jass]

And here I am being the guy who likes trains with manual roll signs