Other People's Rail: Amtrak, commuter rail, rapid transit news & views outside New England

[Brattle Loop]

Calling all transit nerds - I usually take the Greenbush but today I took the Fitchburg line, it flies! Why is the the Greenbush so slow? Or is it the difference between double decker coaches vs single? Fitchburg was single Greenbush always has double.

It's not the cars. I'm pretty sure the flats are 79-mph max and the bilevels are 90-max. Fitchburg had a ton of track work in the not so distant past, which might have something to do with it.

 

[Java King]

Calling all transit nerds - I usually take the Greenbush but today I took the Fitchburg line, it flies! Why is the the Greenbush so slow? Or is it the difference between double decker coaches vs single? Fitchburg was single Greenbush always has double.

You would think the newest complete line in the system would be the one of the fastest. All high-level boarding at stations, newer track, etc.
In case you didn't read this before, Transit Matters produced a report on improving all the Old Colony Lines.
Old+Colony+Final.pdf (squarespace.com)

 

[BosMaineiac]

Calling all transit nerds - I usually take the Greenbush but today I took the Fitchburg line, it flies! Why is the the Greenbush so slow? Or is it the difference between double decker coaches vs single? Fitchburg was single Greenbush always has double.

Do you usually experience delays on the Greenbush or does it generally travel slower than the Fitch?

 

[bigeman312]

Calling all transit nerds - I usually take the Greenbush but today I took the Fitchburg line, it flies! Why is the the Greenbush so slow? Or is it the difference between double decker coaches vs single? Fitchburg was single Greenbush always has double.

This is due to track speed limits.

Most of the Greenbush Line's track is defined as Class 3 with a 60 mph speed limit.

Most of the Fitchburg Line's track used to also defined as Class 3 with a 60 mph speed limit. A $306 million improvement project was conducted from 2009 to 2016. Two of the components of that project, new signals and track work, allowed most of the line to be re-classified as Class 4 with an 80 mph speed limit, starting in 2016.

 

[617]

Do you usually experience delays on the Greenbush or does it generally travel slower than the Fitch?

Yes delays sometimes due to train traffic what is that? And one time police activity but in general it’s just slow (I take the boat most days when im in a rush). I was surprised how fast another line felt. Like wow

 

[BosMaineiac]

Yes delays sometimes due to train traffic what is that? And one time police activity but in general it’s just slow (I take the boat most days when im in a rush). I was surprised how fast another line felt. Like wow

There is also a single track line between Braintree and Boston that the Greenbush and two other Old Colony lines have to share. This is due to the shared ROW with the red line and space constraints on either side of it. The MBTA has said this is a major choke point for these lines and it undoubtedly leads to delays from time to time.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

This is due to track speed limits.

Most of the Greenbush Line's track is defined as Class 3 with a 60 mph speed limit.

Most of the Fitchburg Line's track used to also defined as Class 3 with a 60 mph speed limit. A $306 million improvement project was conducted from 2009 to 2016. Two of the components of that project, new signals and track work, allowed most of the line to be re-classified as Class 4 with an 80 mph speed limit, starting in 2016.

Greenbush isn't Class 4 because all the sharp curves meant it never had a chance to clear 60 MPH between stops.

 

[617]

Ok so the Greenbush is slow and prone to delays along with old colony. What’s the next worst? It’s clear that not every line is created equal. What’s the best? Fitchburg seemed fast but honestly it’s still hour+ headways at peak which makes it hard to rely on. Mbta just sucks in general every mode. The boat is the prob the best bc it’s completely outsourced. Wish it ran later and on weekends.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

You would think the newest complete line in the system would be the one of the fastest. All high-level boarding at stations, newer track, etc.
In case you didn't read this before, Transit Matters produced a report on improving all the Old Colony Lines.
Old+Colony+Final.pdf (squarespace.com)

That TM report is a hot mess with all the 100 MPH running. Easily the single worst and most flawed of the bunch they've released. In short:

• Greenbush would be a rolling vomitorium at those speeds. Absolutely no one would take such a careless view of basic rider comfort.
• Optimizing the cant deficiency (superelevation of curves) of the curves to make it less of a rolling vomitorium costs premium $$$$...money not accounted for at all in their lowball estimates.
• Those speeds invalidate in-full each and every quiet crossing on the corridor, which is politically impossible with all the vociferous opposition it would drum up and also costs a shitton of money in crossing upgrades to reinstate...money not accounted for at all in their lowball estimates.
• At those speeds some of the crossings are no-go even as non-quiet crossings, increasing the large sums of upgrade money required and haggling with local governments...money not accounted for at all in their lowball estimates.
• Infill stations were chosen based on warp-speed track meets on the minimum-most double-tracking humanly possible as a means of pinching pennies, not based on places with studied-out travel demand.

Basically...they fed some platonic ideals into a train sim, let 'er rip without taking anything else into account, zeroed out every associated cost they could to get the train sim to agree, and presented the results as a sort of drunken bar bet. Thankfully their subsequent reports on other lines have gradually gotten better, but the OC one is...very very bad.

 

[BosMaineiac]

STREETSBLOG EXCLUSIVE: Andy Byford to Join Amtrak

Andy Byford — the beloved former head of the MTA’s buses and subways division — will join Amtrak next month as an executive vice president.

nyc.streetsblog.org

While it’s unfortunate for us that the T couldn’t land Train Daddy as new GM, I’m excited that Andy will join Amtrak leading the high-speed rail development. This is a great move

 

[stick n move]

What Amtrak high speed train development?

 

[BosMaineiac]

What Amtrak high speed train development?

It’s a new position so we’ll see what gets developed