MBCR Claims 80% On Time Commuter Rail Performance Rate for February 2008 and Other MBTA Related News

Happy Monday.

For whatever reason, it has been difficult to find the on-time performance stats for the Worcester-Framingham line for February 2008. The following about the best and worst MBCR commuter rail performance for February 2008 appeared in yesterday's Starts & Stops column in the Boston Sunday Globe.

Rail service more punctual

The private company that runs commuter rail service for the MBTA, the Massachusetts Bay Railroad Company, said 80 percent of its trains were less than five minutes late last month, 3 percentage points better than January's numbers.

Best southern line: Greenbush, 95 percent on time.

Best northern line: Rockport, 85 percent on time.

Worst southern line: Franklin via Fairmount, 46 percent on time.

Worst northern line: Haverhill via Wildcat, 78 percent on time.

Train Rider and I both missed this article about the proposed Worcester commuter rail line extension published Friday in the Telegram & Gazette.

In an article about the newly deregulated auto insurance for Massachusetts, this Boston Sunday Globe article describes some discounts MBTA commuters may encounter.

Finally, the Jamaica Plain Gazette wrote this editorial about the MBTA - "MBTA: Our schedules 'lie'."

The understaffing has caused thousands of dropped trips a month, according to statistics for fiscal years 2005-2008 provided to the Gazette by the MBTA. That is in addition to any other problem with scheduled service. It is a small number of trips relative to the MBTA’s hundreds of thousands of trips a month—but that’s no consolation to anyone waiting for a bus or train that didn’t come.