Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Worcester Line Holiday Schedule Update

The MBTA still has not corrected the press release about the 2008 Holiday Schedule. Fear not, Worcester-Framingham line riders, Newtonville Train Rider shared the following:
I called the "customer service" line. I was at least able to learn that the P515 will be going all the way to Worcester, and the P519 will be making the Newton and Wellesley stops.

They didn't have a list of the changes; he just had to compare the two schedules and identify the differences. There could be more than the two I listed!
I don't know if other trains are impacted, but I sure hope this information helps.

In other news, at least the team at Daily Worcesteria is trying to find out the on-time performance reports for the Worcester line. But, neither the MBTA nor the MBCR is being that helpful. Check this out:
The MBTA and train operator MBCR used to be one of the best with responding to information requests: We’d ask for on time performance numbers for the Worcester line for a certain time frame, and get a response; usually within a few hours, occasionally within a day. How times have changed. In November, we emailed Joe Pesaturo at MBTA, asking him for October data. He told us it wouldn’t be ready until December. On Monday, we emailed MBCR spokesman Scott Farmelant, who told us he was out until Wednesday. On Tuesday, Pesaturo told us to email Farmelant; when we told him Farmelant was out, he responded he had forwarded our request to the railroads operation staff. We’re still waiting on the numbers.
Governor Patrick - since you've made a lot of people unhappy with your selection of James Aloisi as the new Transportation Secretary, perhaps you can hold the MBTA/MBCR accountable with providing on-time performance results of the commuter rail lines IMMEDIATELY after the month closes, not months later. Lt. Governor Tim Murray - you seem interested in transportation - what about holding some people accountable?

Happy Holidays!!

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I think these statistics would be far more interesting if they included the average time a train was late. ake this month, for instance: I'm fairly certain the specific on-time statistics for 12/08 will be higher than 12/07 (rah-rah-rah, gooooo MBCR!!1!), but I know I'd much rather deal with a train that's always 8 minutes late than one that's 30-45 minutes late three or four times a week.