December 2007 Worcester-Framingham Commuter Rail Line Had a 64% On-Time Performance Rate

What a headline . . . "Commuter Rail inches toward on-time service at South Station!"

At least Boston Now seems concerned/interested about the commuter rail performance rates. They published an article yesterday with the on-time performance rates released by the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Rail Co. (MBCR).

Apparently the lines that go into South Station improved their on-time performance rates in December, while the North Station bound trains all experienced delays. This brought down the MBCR's statewide performance.

For South Station, only the Franklin line did not see an improvement (though I'm really surprised that the Worcester-Framingham line improved because there were A LOT of delays in December).

The North Station bound trains performances are being blamed on the 12/21/2007 barge collision with the bridge over Beverly Harbor. Although there are still issues plaguing the North Station bound trains this week.

In the article, BostonNow has provided the stats for each line for October, November and December 2007.

Here is how the Worcester-Framingham line stacked up:

• October - 48.4%
• November - 58.1%
• December - 64.5%

I'm really shocked that December's performance was over 60%. I wonder if the Christmas holiday somehow positively impacted the performance rate?

I actually drove into work today because:

1. I had an early morning meeting that I could not afford to miss.
2. I am meeting friends tonight after work and didn't want to be a slave to the train.
3. I didn't want to stand outside in 5 degree weather this morning.
4. I didn't want to take a chance that something could be wrong with the train.

Actually, minus point number 2, it is really sad that I have to drive in because I can't rely on the train to reach South Station on time.

When I got to work, one of my co-workers told me that a lot of the doors were frozen shut on the cars, so they all had to shuffle into 1-2 doors. Another person told me they had no heat, nice.

So, I'm glad I drove!