Inbound P508 Train Late Due to Mechanical Issues on the P506 Train

As I was pulling into the Grafton parking lot at 7:02 a.m. this morning (for the P508 7:09 a.m. train), the whistle was already sounding and the train arrived right after that. People were at a dead run to the platform, even bypassing the parking lot fee slots. The train pulled out at 7:05 a.m. I didn't even attempt to run to the train.

This turned out to be the p506, which looked to be about 25-30 minutes behind schedule. I checked my Blackberry for service alerts on the MBTA website, and sure enough, both the p506 and p508 were delayed. The announcement for the p508 said to expect a 20-25 minute delay.

The p508 arrived at 7:29 a.m., just about 20 minutes after the scheduled departure time. The train was about 3 cars short, which would mean we could expect a packed train. Some of my fellow passengers were joking that it would probably be made a local as well (it wasn't, thank goodness!). I sat in the first car and didn't have my pass checked. Around Ashland, the first announcement was made about the delay, due to mechanical problems on the p506 (the train right before mine), so because they were delayed, we were as well.

We arrived at Back Bay at around 8:25 a.m. I got off and took the Orange Line to work. So, today's delay was not enough for reimbursement. But in the "olden" days before the schedule change, we definitely would have been at least 1/2 hour late and I would be submitting for a reimbursement. Now it seems that delays have been built in to the schedule, so we weren't really too too late.

Since it looks like a number of other lines, including the Franklin line, have been experiencing delays, the MBTA/MBCR announced last week that new schedules for five South Side commuter rail lines would be going into effect this coming Monday, April 7th. The schedules have finally been posted on the MBTA's website.

Commute-a-holic and I will both continue watching for the March 2008 on-time performance stats.