Neglected

I think I need an intern! Work has just been flat out crazy, leaving me hardly any time to post commuting updates to TrainStopping. Luckily, the commutes have been pretty smooth this week, with the p508 arriving on time or within 1-2 mintues of the scheduled arrival time to South Station. This morning's train pulled into South Station at 8:20 AM.

Given all the media hype about the Swine Flu and Vice President Biden's somewhat suspect comments about not taking public transportation (which really isn't an option for the majority of us), the MBTA is ramping up their cleaning efforts of buses, trains and stations. According to an email from T General Manager Daniel Grabauskas, “The MBTA has directed its cleaning crews to give special attention to places such as seats, hand rails on escalators and grab bars on subway cars and buses."

Yesterday at Union Station in Worcester, a transportation forum was sponsored by The Research Bureau and attended by Dan Grabauskas, James Aloisi and Lt. Governor Tim Murray, among others. Topics of interest at the forum included:

• Expanding rail service via a commuter rail route that would take passengers from Worcester to Boston through Clinton and Ayer
• CSX moving its Allston rail yard to a location in Central Massachusetts
• A pending agreement with the T’s union employees, reducing the agency’s generous benefits system and saving millions of dollars

On Time Commute

The on time commutes for the p508 continued this week, with an arrival to South Station around 8:20 AM.

I'm not sure if anyone has noticed the walkway under construction at the Grafton lot, but I tripped this morning on the covering and nearly fell flat on my face. Just a word to the wise to be careful, because that covering gaps and you can get caught pretty easily.

According to an article on Wicked Local Westborough, a number of state representatives have banded together to urge CSX to deal with delays along the Worcester/Framingham line. In a letter to CSX, the legislators said while the company that runs the commuter trains (MBCR) is responsible for some delays, CSX also has contributed to the problem by being less responsive to problems on the tracks. A CSX spokesman confirmed that CSX was responsible for 23.8 percent of commuter rail delays in January and 17 percent in December. I think that's great information to have. I wish the MBTA/MBCR would provide this information as well.

I know that CSX maintains an open dialogue with the MBTA/MBCR regarding commuter rail performance. Hopefully, this letter is only the beginning of increase communication and oversight that will help stabilize and improve on time performance across the Worcester/Framingham line.

See if You Can Locate Worcester Line MBTA Commuter Rail Holiday Schedule

Talk about a bad way to communicate. The MBTA's Holiday Schedule was released last Thursday. I have a MS in Mass Communication and I can't, for the life of me, figure out the "special" Worcester line schedule on Wednesday. Here's the lead paragraph:

The MBTA today announced its service schedule for the upcoming holiday period. To accommodate customers traveling to and from Logan Airport, Silver Line service will be enhanced on Thursday, December 18, Friday, December 19, and Monday, December 22. Logan-bound Silver Line vehicles will depart from South Station every eight (8) minutes between 10:00 a.m. and 11:00 p.m. each day. The one-way fare with a CharlieCard is just $1.70. In addition, schedule adjustments to Worcester Commuter Rail service will be made to accommodate customers departing Boston early on Wednesday, December 24.

When you go to read about the Commuter Rail, you just find this:

Commuter Rail
Commuter rail trains will operate on a normal weekday schedule.

Hmm. I wonder how many people it took to approve this press release?

If anyone has any idea what the Wednesday commuter rail schedule for the Worcester line is, please feel free to email either worctrainrider AT gmail.com or commuteaholic AT gmail.com.

Maybe the Worcester line is just the MBTA's/MBCR's "B*tch" (for lack of a better term). It was not a good morning on the Worcester line (or, really, anywhere else on the MBTA for that matter). Anonymous at 1:35 PM wrote the following in a "Reimbursement Request" about commuting on the P504 today.

Subject: I've really had it with you guys

Today's commute was a nightmare. I was willing to give you guys a little slack on account of the weather and the upcoming holidays.

However several things happened that I think were inexcusable:

• you didn't notify passengers about a 20 minute delay (to start, we ended up being almost an hour late at South Station) until the train was already ten minutes late. If we had known we could have been waiting in our cars or at home.
• when the train actually did arrive 25 minutes late it was smaller than usual - 6 singles rather than the usual 5 doubles, and because it arrived at the regularly scheduled time for the P506 that meant less equipment for twice the volume of people.
• you blame the overall problem on CSX. I'm sorry but that just doesn't fly. It doesn't explain why you sent us inadequate equipment for the P504. And with the storm over yesterday evening you had plenty of time to make sure things were ready for the Monday commute. CSX's role is irrelevant. You are responsible for our safe and reliable service.
• There was inadequate snow removal at Framingham. There was no way to get from the parking lot to the train without trudging through a foot of snow.

This all comes in the wake of major delays over the past two weeks, and a 20% back-door fare hike via the additional $2 a day on parking ostensibly to avoid having to "reduce service," though frankly this is happening anyways. Your system is broken.

You have to fix this. As fuel and environment issues are on the rise public transportation is a key issue in the coming years.

Thank you.

Meanwhile, Sarah J had this to say:

Today's commute was an absolute NIGHTMARE!!

1. Missed my usual P502 train out of Worcester due to poor plowing. Didn't it stop snowing at 9:00 last night? Way to go city of Worcester.
2. Went to park in my usual parking lot but the box for the money was missing. All that was left of it was it's metal legs.
3. Drove to a different lot that was completely covered in snow (bonus because I didn't have to pay the fee since I couldn't see the number).
4. Received text from my brother who was on the P502 out of Worcester. Said I didn't miss much because it became a local. Also, they were just inching along most of the way.
5. Asked conductor about the P502 being a local. Response, "I don't know. The local must have broken down. We're working on getting out of here on time. I'll let you know".
6. Still sitting at Union Station at 6:10AM, making us 5 minutes late already.
7. Announcement that our breaks aren't working properly. "We apologize for the delay."
8. Finally leave at around 6:17AM.
9. Inch along.
10. Start going backwards. The train passed the Westborough stop and had to back up.
11. At the Natick stop, people were packing themselves in like sardines. All cars were single level.
12. Waited a long time at each stop to pack more people in.
13. At the Newton stop people were denied boarding because there wasn't enough room.
14. The P504 finally reaches South Station approximately 20-25 minutes after the P502 train.
15. Get another coffee because it's already a hell of a day.
16. Sister-in-law calls the city of Worcester about the parking lot missing it's pay box and no one believes her.
17. I call the city of Worcester about the pay box at 10:00AM, left a message and still haven't heard back. great.
    

Love,
A Disgruntled Worcester/Framingham Line Commuter.

Tomorrow is Festivus. May all commuters, but especially the embattled Worcester line commuters, have good commutes. If you feel the need, you could always air your MBTA/MBCR commuter horror stories here at "The Airing of Grievances."

Winter in New England and the Train Blame Game

I am so happy that common sense dictated that I not stand around in the freezing cold waiting for today's P508 train. Which was delayed. Yes - that's right - for the third Monday morning in a row, the Worcester-Framingham commuter rail line was an absolute mess. Check out the comments made by Train Stopping readers.

• Framingham Rider said that the P500 (which departs Worcester at 4:45 a.m.) was canceled. This caused the P502 to be changed to a local. A pretty smooth commute until they hit Allston.
• Anonymous at 10:34 AM wrote about the P508.
• Richard, who normally takes the P508 out of Worcester at 6:55 a.m., isn't sure if he took the P508 or the P512, since the train he was on left Worcester at 7:35 a.m. At least Worcester riders can wait in Union station - waiting 40-odd minutes in the cold for the train on the concrete platforms is harsh. Richard said this, noting that the morning commutes have been particularly bad:

"As much as I'm angry at the MBTA, their website stated that the delays were due to CSX not clearing the switches. The snow stopped last night. Can't switches be cleared by the morning commute. We live in a snowy climate and these things should be taken care of. It was an upsetting commute and coming on top of all the other bad ones during December, this doesn't bode well for the MBTA."

• Anonymous at 11:15 AM was also on the P508, which was really the P506. Anonymous' comments are very similar to Richard's

"What I found irksome about this morning's commute is that this storm, and the snow and ice, was not a surprise. It wasn't a go to bed with clear skies and wake up to snow and a messy commute. It's been snowing for 3 days. Everyone at the MBTA/MBCR should have known what the track conditions would be like and should have been out there at 3am, not 4:30am, digging out the switches. They knew what the situation was before the last train run last night."

• Anonymous at 12:10 PM was on the P502 and noted "I want to know which part of the weather forecast the T and CSX didn't understand? If the first train is supposed to leave at 4:45 am then parking lots should be plowed and trains should be ready to move. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure this stuff out. The T and CSX need to learn to work together and stop putting riders in the middle of their tug of war."

The mess this morning on the Worcester-Framingham line even impacted outbound commuters. AlisonD Tweeted about this morning's events, which Universal Hub picked up. If you're using Twitter, there is a whole section dedicated to the MBTA. Use #mbtasux in your Tweets and they'll be tracked on the MBTA Sucks Twitter round-up page. This page is organized by MBTA subway line. Perhaps they'll end up adding a section just for MBTA/MBCR Commuter rail riders.

Posted last Thursday, the T has their Guide to WinterTime Travel On The T press release up. I'm sure Dan and his crack team will either blame CSX or the MBCR for this one. Yes, it is probably CSX's fault - I mean - who the heck doesn't clean the switches after a snow storm? Sure, it snowed this weekend, but it stopped snowing in the Worcester area last night. So there was at least 8 hours to clean the tracks. But shouldn't the MBTA be providing some oversight? They seem to be able to step in and take the credit when ridership is up.

This is absolutely unacceptable. Lt Governor Tim Murray - if you care so much about the Worcester area and about mass transit, you need to step in and fix this. Three delayed Mondays is not acceptable. Multiple delays are not acceptable.

Outside of the Worcester line, Boston.com reported on an incident in Abington this morning. Tales from the Commute (another commuter-related blog we just found), also reported on this.

I guess it could be worse. We could have been stuck on this Amtrak train over the weekend.

Refused to be Stuck on the P508 Today

Are the commuters who take the P508 even in Boston right now? I ended up driving to work this morning. When I arrived to the Grafton station at 7:07 a.m. and saw that people were milling around, I didn't think it looked too promising. I asked one of my fellow commuters if there were delays and he said "yes," so I checked the T alerts and it said that all inbound trains from Worcester were delayed 15 to 30 minutes due to CSX not clearing the switches in Worcester.

I turned right around, got into my car and drove into work. Which worked out well, because I do have a lot of errands to run tonight and I had a meeting that I can't miss this morning.

According to commuters who use Twitter, it looks as thought the outbound Worcester trains are delayed.

This is not a good way to start the week. I have a business trip tomorrow, so I won't be riding the rails at all.

Commentary from today's Worcester Business Journal focuses on how the Commonwealth needs to address transportation structure issues.

Yesterday's The Boston Sunday Globe contained a front-page story on how most Massachusetts residents believe a gas tax should be used to fund the transportation budget deficits. The article noted that many residents of the Bay State really question what impact, if any, the Big Dig had since it cost so much money. The "Starts & Stops" column in yesterday's Globe reported that the MBTA station lots have fewer cars in them. The T is still claiming a victory with the parking fare increase, since more revenue was brought in during November due to the fees. There was also this "Letter to the Editor" about the Silver Line Phase III project and an editorial about the T's drug policy in Sunday's Globe.

On Friday, the Governor named James Aloisi the new Secretary of Transportation. Many pundits do not agree with this selection. Read about it in this article.

Saturday's The Boston Herald contained this article about residents upset with how the T chopped down some trees along the Mattapan trolley line.

Similar to the Boston Metro's Q&A, the Examiner is now running a Q&A with MBTA GM Daniel Grabauskas.

Changes Ahead

For the second day in a row, I had to drive into work. Today, my team is having our holiday party - a pot luck lunch. So it is a lot easier to bring stuff into work in my car then hauling a lot of things on the train.

I still cannot get over last week's ice storm. It is utterly amazing, when you think about it, that the Blackstone Valley was virtually untouched. Yet, many parts of Worcester and towns west and north of Worcester are still cleaning up. Some towns still do not have school today. Luneburg has canceled school through the New Year. Crazy, huh?

Thinking about all of the destruction the ice storm has caused, I was pretty surprised to see an article in today's Telegram & Gazette about last week's commuter rail delays. According to the MBCR, the Worcester line is back on track - yesterday the morning commutes were 100% on-time.

So why were things so messed up last week? Well, before December 8th, delays were due to speed restrictions put into place by CSX. "Significant mechanical problems" combined with cold temperatures caused the delays last Monday through Wednesday. The ice storm caused flooding on the tracks in Natick and Wellesley and caused a felled tree on the tracks in Worcester. Due to these issues, the inbound tracks (I'm assuming inbound to Worcester) didn't open until 10:30 a.m. on Friday. Mechanical problems on Friday also delayed 12 trains, with five of them delayed for at least 1 hour or more.

The ice storm also caused a lot of damage to the Fitchburg line. Even the MBCR's spokesperson acknowledge that last week's mechanical issues were too much:

“The breakdowns last week were unacceptable,” Mr. Farmelant said.

While the MBCR said the November on-time performance for the Worcester line was 90%, for the first two weeks in December that performance is now 84%. This is considered an improvement over last year, when only 57% of the Worcester line trains arrived on-time. The article also noted the following:

The state has taken steps to improve train service over the past year. Three new inbound and two new outbound trains were added to the Worcester line in late October. State officials are still negotiating to purchase the Worcester track from CSX, with the goal of adding more trains in the future.

Yesterday's The Boston Herald contained an article about the state's transportation woes. Lt. Governor Tim Murray was interviewed. The Lt. Governor is blaming past gubernatorial administrations for the current transportation crisis. Per the media speculation yesterday, State Transportation Secretary Bernard Cohen did resign yesterday. His resignation is effective January 2, 2009. According to The Boston Globe, the Governor is considering James A. Aloisi, Jr. as Cohen's replacement. Aloisi was on the short list to be Transportation Secretary two years ago, but he was passed over due to his ties to the Big Dig. This is what The Globe had to say:

The new leader will take over at a crucial time for the millions of people who rely on the state's roads and transit systems each day. The financial crises at the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority and the MBTA, which are both facing crushing debt and yearly deficits, have pushed the transportation debate to the top of Beacon Hill's agenda as commuters worry about large toll hike proposals this year and the potential for heftier transit fares that could follow. Legislators have complained that Patrick has dragged his feet in delivering a specific reform plan, which he first promised more than a year ago.

Last night, Cohen did attend the Mass Pike public meetings. Read about it in today's The Patriot Ledger.

Today is the Stop the Pike Hike protest. If you use the Pike, the Stop the Pike Hike group requests that you don't use your Fast Lane transponder and you pay using inconvenient currency.

Stop the Pike Hike

I had to drive into the office this morning because I had an early morning meeting. There was lots of traffic on the Pike today. It took forever to get through the Newton tolls. You know it's a crazy traffic day when the cash lanes move faster than the Fast Lanes on the Mass Pike.

If you're concerned about the Mass Pike toll increases, listen up. According to today's The Boston Globe Mass lawmakers are scheduling hearings about the toll increases. WCVB-TV reported on a rally scheduled tomorrow by Michael Kelleher of East Boston to protest the proposed toll hikes. Michael is part of a group called Stop the Pike Hike. Tomorrow's rally will take place at 4 p.m. at the Ecco Restaurant & Martini Bar located on 107 Porter Street in East Boston. There is also an online petition and a listing of the public hearings scheduled across the state.

The toll increases directly impat East Boston. As Michael said in his interview with WCVB-TV, "it will actually be cheaper to drive to a Fenway game from the Bronx than from East Boston." Isn't that nuts?

Former Gubernatorial candidate Christy Mihos wrote an op-ed about the Pike in today's The Boston Herald. Mihos thinks the Pike should be disbanded.

Now, onto train news.

Commute-a-holic and I have both been pretty busy at work. We have another update from Grafton Train Rider which we should hopefully be able to post later today.

Yet another article about the Salem garage, this time from WickedLocal Rockport. The Patriot Ledger reports on efforts by the town of Weymouth to have permanent signs installed near the new connector road near the Weymouth Landing MBTA commuter rail station. This has been a project that has been a year in the making. The town wants flashing lights installed to relieve rush hour traffic.

The Milford Daily News reported on how the Mass Highway Department will be closing an old bridge that runs over the MBTA/CSX tracks near the Franklin BJs. This bridge is a popular bypass into and out of the Franklin Forge Park commuter rail station.

The P508 Was Late Again Today

What an exciting morning. I was thrilled to be quoted in the "Grumbles greet hike in T lot fee" article from today's Boston Globe. But my favorite quote in the article was one from the lips of MBTA spokesperson Joe Pesaturo:

He added that the state's recent move to acquire the CSX Corp.'s train tracks between Worcester and Framingham, among other sections of the state, will lead to improved track and signal maintenance and better on-time performance for commuter-rail service.

Um, Joe, guess what? Since the "new" Worcester-Framingham schedule was put into place a few weeks ago, the trains haven't been running on time. I know this is where the MBTA gets to blame either the MBCR or CSX for the service delays, but riders are tired of the delays. We've received a lot of comments over the past few weeks regarding delays. Some commuters feel that the on-time performance of the Worcester line is now a non-issue, as the schedule has been "increased" and the negotiations with CSX are almost completed. Guess what - we depend on the train and this isn't a non-issue for us. So many commuters work at companies that either have had layoffs or are planning layoffs. Job performance - including showing up to work on time - is a huge issue.

My commute on the P508 was OK this morning. We arrived to South Station at 8:28 a.m., 5 minutes after the scheduled arrival time of 8:23 a.m. I can't recall when we've been on time in the last few weeks.

I hope something can be done about the T. We need reliability above all else. I think that's why people are so up at arms. Just run on time for heck's sake.

The Universal Hub post from Tuesday about why Channel 4 made a big to-do about the catered lunches at MBTA Board meetings had a lot of "so what?" comments. One comment by WBZ reporter David Wade really hit home with me:

I certainly understand that this free lunch can be viewed as small potatoes. (Pun anyone?) But here's my take. Thanks.

He wrote a longer post on the WBZ blog Conversation Nation.

Frankly, I'm happy that WBZ's I-Team took the time to investigate this issue. I'm sick and tired of hearing "the T wants to be treated like a private business." Guess what - they don't act like a private business and they're not funded like a private business.

First - private businesses (at least the good, successful ones) actually care about their customers. I went to college in Western New York. There is a wonderful supermarket chain based in Rochester that is renowned in upstate New York called Wegman's. Wegman's provides great customer service and their customers are passionate about shopping there. In fact, Wegman's is lowering their prices due to the current financial climate. They see how their customers are impacted, they are listening to their customers and they make some changes.

Second, when private business don't have money, they cut their fringe benefits. I have a lot of friends who used to be able to get a free lunch at work or a free cup of coffee. When the revenue dried up, so did these perks. Such is life.

Third, the only thing the T seems to do is provide excuses. "We don't have enough money." "We have an old system." "We have to deal with unions." Excuses, excuses, excuses. But there are no solutions.

"We have no money," yet we have 60-odd employees who commute to work using a T-owned vehicle. They're deemed "essential." You know - a doctor is essential. A police officer or a firefighter is essential. I doubt that a PR flack or an attorney or an accountant or any other of the 60-odd employees driving to and from work using a T car (with T gas) is essential.

"We have no money" yet we're catering our board members lunches. Guess what - the T isn't the only state entity managed by a board of directors. Lots of state divisions have operating boards. Board members serve without pay or benefits and they don't get a free lunch. I don't negate the efficiencies of working lunches, but why should my tax dollars and commuting fees be used to pay for these lunches? What about having a lunch and paying out of pocket for it? That way - you're not putting the caterers out of business and you're effectively managing your budget.

I can't stand the fact that Dan Grabauskas was quoted on air as saying "we never thought to eliminate this lunch." Are you kidding me? Do you even try to see what you can cut out of your budget or is this all a joke? Are you just taking the enormous salary you are paid and running with it to the bank, smirking at how dumb commuters and citizens of the Commonwealth are?

Look at how irate Americans got when they learned that AIG kept their sales meeting at that California spa after our tax dollars bailed them out.

Maybe if the T ditched the cars they would have a little bit more money to maintain their equipment.

I understand that running a transit system is complex and it can be expensive. But I get so frustrated when I visit other cities and I see that their transit systems are bigger and more efficient. Maybe it is because they actually collect their fares (i.e., you can't ride for free on a NYC subway). I love Boston. I think this is a great city. We deserve the best run transit system in the nation. This is the home to the first subway system in America.

Unfortunately frustrated riders do not just take the commuter rail. They take the entire system. Check out Beth Adelson's comments on her "Shooting (Myself) blog."

The T Desires to Play the Role of Emily Post or Miss Manners

A bit of a change with this morning's commute. I decided to take the P512 train, which departs Grafton at 7:49 a.m. I barely made it to the station on time. There were police officers all over Grafton this morning, so commuters were driving super slow. The commute was fine. We arrived to South Station at 9:05 a.m. or so, a few minutes ahead of schedule.

Commute-a-holic saw our favorite friend, MBTA GM Dan Grabauskas, being interviewed this morning on Fox 25's morning news program. Commute said that Dan provided a better workout, as he was his swarmy self on the interview. For whatever reason, Fox 25 does not provide code so bloggers can post or share video, so here is a link to the video segment with Dan's interview. You may wonder "Why was Danny G. being interviewed by Fox 25 this morning." Well, it is because the T announced a new marketing campaign - aimed at making riders more polite.

Can you believe it? The T, which is basically bankrupt, is spending money to communicate to their passengers that they need to be more polite while using the T. Good grief!! You know, Muni Manners already does this and they probably do it better. So why couldn't they just save the money and link to the Muni Manners blog off of the T's website? I am incredulous that the T is spending money on this campaign. This is utterly absurd.

Here's an idea - maybe if the T ran its services on time and actually had clean trains/buses, people wouldn't be as pent up as they are. I'm not advocating that riders have poor manners, but sometimes tempers flare because commuters are just frustrated.

It is stuff like this that causes people to want to see things like Question 1 go through.

If you don't feel like seeing Danny G. smirk in the video, you can read all about the T's latest marketing campaign in this article from today's Boston Metro.

Moving on. The Boston Globe ran an article today about the proposed Silver Line III project. Funding that project and other transit initiatives is the focus of two separate articles in today's Boston Metro. The Metro articles pick-up on the MASSPIRG report, announced over the weekend. One article is about how "Funding will decide the fate of Mass. transit," while the other focuses on "Shaping the MBTA for the 21st century." We all know that funding for mass transit and other transportation issues in Massachusetts is in dire straits. Here are some data points that the MASSPIRG report noted:

• 93,000,000 - amount of hours wasted in traffic delays in the greater Boston area during 2005.
• $4.3 billion - Massachusetts residents spent $4.3 billion more on gas in 2007 compared to 1998.
• 57% - the increase in vehicle traffic in the Commonwealth from 1980 to 2007.

SouthCoastToday.com also published an article about the MASSPIRG report.

Finally, Rep. Tom Sannicandro (D - 7th Middlesex District) wrote a guest op-ed piece for today's The MetroWest Daily News. Rep. Sannicandro details the pending purchase of the CSX tracks. His article states that this purchase will "will lower commute times and vastly improve the overall effectiveness of the Commonwealth's commuter rail program. The most dramatic and immediate changes of the plan will be enacted on Oct. 27 when the number of daily trains leaving Worcester will increase from 10 to 13, and the number of daily trains leaving from Boston to Worcester will increase from 10 to 12."

Yes, when we first heard the news that more trains were being added to the Worcester line, we were initially excited about this. But then when we saw the schedule, we noticed that essentially trains just got moved around.

From what I want and from what I've gathered from other commuters on the Worcester line, riders would like to see the following:

• More express trains from Worcester: Frankly, it would be great if trains could run express from Ashland to Boston.
• More express trains from Framingham: Commuters who live in Framingham and points East do not want to have to rely on the regular trains for their commutes into Boston.
• More train options for off-peak commutes: This includes riders who commuter from Boston and points west and more afternoon trains leaving Boston for Worcester-Framingham riders who may need to leave the office early.

I am hopeful that these changes will happen. However, I do not want to see our elected officials just rest on their laurels because they were able to purchase the tracks from CSX. Acquiring the tracks is one thing. Implementing a more vibrant train schedule is another.

Betting on Train Cars

A front-page story on this Columbus Day in today's The Boston Globe is all about how the T has selected a South Korean company which has never built a passenger rail car for an American transit system as the vendor for the 75 new double-decker commuter rail cars. This is either going to be seen as a brilliant or it will become yet another chapter in T follies.

Hyundai Rotem was awarded the $109 million contract, yet the train maker doesn't even have a US assembly plant (a requirement of federal law). Also, while Rotem has built cars for European and Asian systems, the US is a different ballgame as we have much stricter safety standards than in other parts of the world.

The T claims that Rotem made the best offer - both technically and financially and that the four pilot cars will arrive on schedule in October 2010. The delivery of the rest of the fleet is due August 2011.

The MBTA's head man, General Manager Daniel Grabauskas declined to be interviewed for this article. He did reply with the following written statement:

"While the procurement process is only in its infancy, the MBTA is more than satisfied with the contractor's level of responsiveness and diligence to this point," Grabauskas said.

The T also claims the selection of Rotem was not in any way influenced by former T official John K. Leary. Leary's son Richard is now head of operations for the T and John Leary has worked as a consultant for Rotem.

This is starting out like a typical bad Massachusetts-state fairy tale, huh? It gets better.

The only bidder for this project was Japan's Kawasaki, which has built rail cars for the T in the past. Kawasaki's bid was $30 million higher than Rotem's. Rotem is already behind on delivery for two other American commuter rail coach orders - one for Southern California's Metrolink and the other for Philadelphia's SEPTA system. Both lines say they expect deliver of their cars six-months later than first promised because Rotem ran into production issues sourcing the steel that is needed to make US train coaches.

In other news, today's issue of the Worcester Business Journal contains an article about the recent announcement surrounding the state's attempts to purchase the CSX tracks. It is a critical article about the announcement, which initially excited a lot of commuter rail passengers from the Worcester area but then disappointed everyone. The WBJ notes:

But we fear the entire transaction is at grave risk because the single sticking point between the state and CSX for as long as the state has been trying to get more commuter trains between Worcester and Boston still exists: The no-fault liability insurance policy the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority has had to accept since 1994 in order to operate passenger trains on CSX’s tracks is still in place and was not resolved as part of the state’s purchase agreement with CSX.

Murray has come dangerously close to weakening the state’s position by announcing the purchase and allowing the additional trains to run immediately. In exchange for some election season warm fuzzies (U.S. Sen. John Kerry rode the train from Worcester to Boston as part of the announcement) not hammering out a liability agreement could put the state over a barrel in the future.

Yesterday's The Daily News Tribune contains an op-ed written by Lt. Governor Tim Murray about the commuter rail deal.

Today's The Sun Chronicle features a brief article about the increase in parking at MBTA stations.

The Eagle-Tribune outlines how the commute into Boston will be for passengers of the Haverhill line between Haverhill and Lawrence. Due to replacement rail work, the MBCR will be busing commuters between the Haverhill and Lawrence stations on midday and peak-evening rush hour trains starting tomorrow through late November. The busing will not affect morning trains.

Finally, yesterday's Globe also contained an article about the MBTA's Green Line extension.

Tuesday's P519 Trip Wasn't A Good One

Thanks go out to Stratamarr for sharing this first-hand account of yesterday afternoon's P519 trip:

You probably didn't hear about this, but there was a huge problem on the 519 out of South Station today. We stopped right outside of West Newton station (on the north side track since it was an express). About 5 minutes goes by and one of the conductors came on the intercom and said they were being held by CSX, no explanation given. So we wait. 10 minutes later, same story on the intercom. The local 521 goes by on the other track. 20 minutes, 30 minutes, 40 minutes. Same non-explanation to the now-agitated riders. Now we are waiting on "paperwork." What is paperwork?

The express 523 screams by. One hour passes and we are just sitting there. Then someone notices people getting off the train, since the West Newton platform is across the tracks, diagonally behind us. The 527 is due in 10 minutes to West Newton. About 20 people get off, illegally (including me), walking across the gravel and onto the platform. The 527 arrives, the refugees get on, and we finally make some progress. Right after Auburndale stop, the 519 comes up along side us and passes us. So getting off the train was not a great idea. But I did get to hear some interesting tidbits. One of the conductors on the 527 was telling some of the refugees (and I was overhearing) the real reason the 519 stopped suddenly: the engineer ran a red flag, which is a no-no anytime but especially recently, with the scandals that have been plaguing train systems, here to California, with distracted engineers at the controls.

I'm glad I wasn't a passenger on that train, but many of us have had similar experiences.

Speaking of experiences, if you have any you want to share, you may want to attend this. I received a noticed today from the MBCR Rail Mail:

MEET THE MANAGERS
Meet members of the Commuter Rail

Management team and talk with us!

Do you…

have comments or questions about your Commuter Rail service?

Do you…

have opinions or ideas you would like to share?

A team of Managers from MBCR will be at the following stations

Between 4:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. to listen to what you have to say.

Back Bay Tuesday October 14^th, 2008

South Station Thursday October 16^th, 2008

North Station Tuesday October 21^st, 2008

We look forward to seeing you there!

Worcester Wins . . . Maybe

Daily Worcesteria has some excellent, real time coverage of today's press conference announcing the rail track issue.

First - the train carrying the dignitaries did arrive into Boston on time.

Second - five new train trips will be added to the Worcester line this month, even if an agreement over the limited liability isn't reached with CSX. As one of the Daily Worcesteria posts noted this morning:

not a done deal

It’s important to note that this isn’t a done deal yet: the issue of liability, long a main sticking point, is still in play.

Wormtown Taxi also made some good observations.

OK - maybe Commute-a-holic and I got a bit too excited. I guess we're optimists at heart, hoping this deal happens.

It Was a Two Hour Commute

My commute in on the P508 was a two hour commute. In my head I can hear the theme to "Gilligan's Island". . . "it was a three hour tour. . . a three hour tour." So my commute today was 1 hour shorter than the Gilligan crew's scenic boat tour and we didn't get lost on our way into Boston.

So what happened? I'll share two point of views: The T&G has already published an update (check out the web in action). Um, the delays were longer than 25 to 30 minutes. Hmm, I wonder if the press conference crew made it into South Station before 10 a.m.? Interesting.

Here is my personal account:

A truck got stuck and tore its roof off at a railroad bridge in Westborough that is very close to Westborough Center and the new Bay State Commons shopping center. We finally got to South Station at around 9:10 a.m. this morning. For me, that was two hours after boarding the train in Grafton.

Communication regarding the delay, due to said tractor trailer truck getting stuck under the bridge the train has to cross, was pretty good from the conductors on board. Accidents unfortunately happen and this one was a dozy!

What I don't understand is, after Natick, it seemed like we crawled between 20 to 25 MPG all the way into Boston. And we sat near BU for about 8 to 10 minutes waiting for a signal.

This morning's commute was certainly not the best one in a while. On a brighter note, beyond the fact it looks like the sun may actually come out today, my T pass finally arrived last night! Although, if memory serves, I don't think it was checked on the train this morning. Oh well, it got me onto the Silver Line.

Moving on, I am super excited about this morning's news that the state will be purchasing the tracks on the Worcester line currently owned by CSX. I saw Commute-a-holic's update while I was stuck on the train. What a morale boost! In addition to the T&G the news about this purchase was covered by the following media outlets:

• The Boston Globe
• SouthCoastToday.com
  
• WTEN (New York)

Finally, here is an article from yesterday's The Eagle-Tribune about the concerns of residents who live near the MBTA train layover facility in Bradford.

Massachusetts to Purchase Rail Tracks from CSX

Worcester-Framingham commuter rail line passengers take note. The Commonwealth of Massachusetts has reached an agreement with CSX to purchase the tracks between Worcester and Framingham. Read all about it in today's The Telegram & Gazette.

FIVE - that's right - FIVE additional trains will be added to the Boston to Worcester route later this month. The new trains are scheduled to start service on October 27th.

In addition to the Central Mass-MetroWest tracks, the state will also be purchasing tracks in three other sections of the state, including the South Coast. The state will spend $100 million for this purchase - $50 million for the Worcester portion alone.

Six more daily trains may be added to the Worcester line over the next four years.

Starting October 27th, the plans are to add two morning trips and two evening trips to the Worcester line. The details of this agreement are expected to be announced today at a press conference this morning at Worcester's Union Station. The exact trip times for the new trains have not been determined.

“Study after study has shown we have got to do a better job of cross-pollinating our housing and workforce needs, and rail is one of the best ways to do that. Linking up the two largest cities and points in between in a way that is affordable and environmentally friendly makes absolute sense,” Mr. Murray said.

The agreements provide for the state to undertake the elevation of highway bridges to allow double-stack freight trains between Interstate 495 and the New York state line, while the state also has agreed to help CSX with possible future relocation of a major Boston freight yard to one or more locations in Central Massachusetts, including Worcester. Together, Mr. Murray said, it could make Worcester “the new rail hub of New England.”

The news about the Mass Pike is not as positive. Two articles in this morning's The Boston Globe. One was about how the Pike has been conducting more road maintenance during the day, to conserve costs. The other is about Governor Deval Patrick's proposal to dismantle the Pike and merge it into other state agencies.

Missed My Train

I ended up driving in today because I missed my first train. And if I waited for the next train, I would have been super late to work. Blah!

The MetroWest Daily News ran an article today about the sorry state of the Natick Center commuter rail station. The tracks flood. The passenger platform is deteriorating. And like so many other stations, there isn't enough parking for all the passengers.

Adam Sowalsky, a rider since 2004, has been frustrated by delays throughout the year, and pointed to flooding as one problem that should be preventable. Twice this summer after major storms, the MBTA closed the line when water covered the tracks and substituted bus service.

"Really, it happens whenever there is a serious rainstorm," Sowalsky said. "We (commuter rail users) joke there is always something - in summer it's rain and heat restrictions, in fall it's leaves and in the winter, mechanical issues."

Complicating matters is the fact that the Natick station is on the Worcester-Framingham line. The tracks are owned by CSX.

Since we seem to be experiencing statewide transportation issues, it is good to hear that elected officials who listen to their commuting constituents are making progress. I would love to see all the state reps and senators representing towns along the Worcester-Framingham line take the lead of Rep. Linsky and Rep. Peisch:

State Rep. David Linsky, D-Natick, said he and state Rep. Alice Peisch have been "thorns in the sides" of MBTA officials over the condition of the train station. Their efforts have yielded some results.

"The secretary of transportation (Bernard Cohen) informed us in June this year that they have a two-step project under way," Linsky said. "The first step, this summer, is to replace both platforms. Then the second stage of the project will be next summer when they replace the stairway."

In other train news, more about the possibly Middleborough MBTA/MBCR commuter rail station.

Finally, in the "nice employer" news, MIT has announced new commuting benefits. Here are some of the highlights:

• MIT will increase the subsidy of MBTA commuter rail passes up to 50% for all zones. This subsidy will initiate in October 2008. (Currently 600 MIT employees use the commuter rail).
• Free transit passes will be offered during the month of September 2008 to employees who park at MIT 5 days a week to encourage employees to try public transportation.

MIT even has a transportation-related section on its website. Pretty cool. Some new features to this transportation portal include carpool matching, park and ride location information, a MBTA commuter cost calculator, and information about the "Emergency Ride Home" program for transit and bike commuters.

It is way cool to see an employer take the initiative to encourage employees to use mass transit and to help subsidize the costs. It is like giving your employees a raise and helping the environment. I, for one, would love to only pay $125 a month for my Zone 8 pass.

Great job, MIT!!

Ashland Bottlenecks and News from Lincoln

Train Rider is working from home today, due in part to an overnight conference call.

I saw a news report this morning on WCVB-TV Channel 5 about how train operators are trying to promote the use of trains versus tractor-trailer trucks for moving products in the US. I can't find a comparable article about this online. Essentially, train operators are saying that it is cheaper and more environmentally friendly to ship products via the rail than in trucks. Tractor trailers can cause gridlock, meaning that consumers are hit with a double-whammy between spending money on gas sitting in traffic and the higher cost of products. The truck lobbyists noted that most of the US is structured so that shipping by rail can't totally eliminate trucks.

Along the lines of rail companies, there was an article in today's The MetroWest Daily News about officials from the town of Ashland telling CSX officials that they need to be more careful about triggering traffic signals at downtown rail crossings. When the traffic signals accidentally go off, traffic in Ashland bottlenecks. There was one incident earlier this month when downtown traffic came to a standstill for 25 minutes.

WickedLocal Lincoln published a story yesterday about the dire financial straits of the MBTA. Caroline Conner, Lincoln's representative to the MBTA Advisory Committee was quoted saying the following:

Connor said she believes the state should assume the debt to allow the MBTA to present a balanced budget.

“It’s putting a band-aid on the problem. It’s not going to improve anything. The simple objective is really to get back to square one,” she said.

Lincoln Selectperson Sara Mattes noted the following:

(T)he commuter rail project was of particular interest to Lincoln given all the development and traffic activity around Route 128. Mattes said the state needs to make “a real commitment to mass transit” and called upon Gov. Deval Patrick to show stronger leadership to solve the state’s transportation problems.

“One would think at some point a light bulb would go off that it’s more cost effective to invest in the MBTA,” Mattes said.

Finally, a great comment to yesterday's Boston Metro Q&A post came in this morning. Here is an excerpt:

Here's one thing I wish the MBTA (or MBCR or whatever agency is responsible for it this week) would do with their present resources: schedule trains with the appropriate number and type of cars. Many of the rush hour express and local trains are usually one car short or they do not have enough double-deckers. Lately, I've noticed more single than double-decker cars. What's frustrating is that I also notice that the reverse traffic trains are ALL double-deckers and not missing any cars. Next time you get off the train in the evening, hang around a few minutes for the next inbound train and count the number of double-deckers. I usually wait in the parking lot until all of the demolition derby drivers have left the lot (yes, I've seen accidents and hit-and-runs at the Southborough and Westborough stations in the last year, but I digress).

If the appropriate type and number of train cars were properly scheduled, then overcrowding can be alleviated.

This Morning's P500 Never Showed Up

Thanks to Gary for sharing the following! The P500 originates in Framingham and normally departs each weekday morning at 5:40 a.m.

Below please find the email sent MBTA/MBCR Commuter Rail Customer Comment forum.

This morning's P500 train out of Framingham never showed up. I understand that delays and breakdowns happen, what I fail to grasp is why the MBTA continues to struggle with letting passengers know what is going on.

I arrived at the Framingham station just after 5:30 this morning and immediately knew something was up when the train wasn't sitting there waiting for us, however, the lovely scrolling red signs was promising "all trains on or near schedule" as usual - unfortunately, it applied to yesterday's trains.

I waited a few minutes and then used my Blackberry to check the MBTA website for any service alerts or advisories. Framingham was listed with nothing. No alerts, no advisories. As it was now just a few minutes past our scheduled departure, it didn't bother me too much... yet.

To cut to the end of the ordeal - as you know, the 5:40am P500 train never showed up. We were never given any indication of the problem either by the signs at the station or by the MBTA website. In fact, the first (and only) notice we were given of the problem was when we boarded the next train into Boston (the P502) at around 6:30. The funny part is, the announcement that was given was not even intended for those of us that had been sitting at the Framingham station for an hour - it was instead directed at the regular passengers of the usually express P502 explaining to them why we needed now to make all the local stops on our way into Boston. Apparently the P500 had broken down - who knew?

Again - I understand that mechanical failures happen from time to time and I can accept that. What I cannot accept is the repeated failure of the MBTA to make even rudimentary attempts at notifying its passengers of delays and cancellations. I have written in the past about these frustrations and the inability of the MBTA to not only update, but coordinate the information available on the signs at the stations and on the website only the receive back responses that boil down to "well CSX controls this and we control that, etc. etc. etc" but seriously - I cannot believe that in the hour that we were standing at that station that not even one of the outlets available to us as passengers could have been updated to fill us in.

MBCR RailMail About July 22nd Delays

I received the following email from the MBCR's RailMail service at approximately 11:30 a.m. today. It is nice to have an explanation as to why the Worcester line's trains were so messed up today. The only weird thing is . . . I didn't notice any buses at the Grafton station. I wonder what "Worcester stations" received the buses? Were they actually in the Worcester-vicinity or were they stations on the line closer to Boston?

TO ALL OF OUR WORCESTER/FRAMINGHAM LINE PASSENGERS

MBCR would like to take this opportunity to both apologize and explain the delays that took place this morning on this line.

At approximately 6:10a.m. today train P502 experienced a mechanical problem at Southborough. The train crew was able to recover, after an 8 minute delay, and proceeded to Framingham.

Upon arrival at the Framingham station MBCR received word from the CSX dispatcher that they (CSX) were experiencing a system wide failure in their communications department. As this is the company who manages and dispatches this territory we are not allowed to operate our trains without the mandatory paperwork required by CSX; this paperwork is what enables trains to operate safely through that area. This outage left MBCR without the ability to operate trains either inbound or outbound to Worcester until the CSX system problem could be fixed. As a result, train P502 was held at Framingham to operate as an on-time P504 making all stops into Boston. The MBTA ordered 12 buses to enable passengers who board at the Worcester stations to travel between Framingham and Boston.

At approximately 7:43a.m. the CSX communications system was recovered and commuter rail service was able to resume at that time. Unfortunately, it created a cascade effect of delays as well as a cancelled train that would impede our ability to recover normal service for sometime thereafter.

We offer our sincere apologies to the passengers who had to ride into Boston without lights and air conditioning; however, if the choice is to cancel a scheduled trip, especially considering the CSX communication problem, or run the train without lights and air conditioning, the train will make its scheduled trip.

Thank you for the opportunity to provide you with this explanation and apology and thank you for riding the commuter rail.

If you wish to remove yourself from this mailing list, you can unsubscribe on our website at www.mbcr.net and click on the RailMail icon. Please do not reply to this system generated message.

What a Cluster!

Well, today certainly wasn't a great day to be a Worcester-Framingham line commuter rail rider!

When I got to the Grafton station, it seemed more crowded than usual. I checked my Blackberry and there were 3 alerts: 1 for the P502 (delayed) and 2 for the P504 (delayed by 20 minutes, then canceled outright). At 7:22 a.m., I received another update that the P508 was canceled and the next train from Worcester could expect delays of up to 20 minutes. The alerts alluded to a switching problem on the line somewhere.

So far, not so good.

When the P512 came (on time, around 7:50 a.m.), it was the usual train (5 single cars and 1 double decker car). But, due to earlier problems, this train now had to accommodate about 3 trains full of riders. By the time we got to Southborough (two stops from Grafton), there was hardly anywhere else to stand. At Ashland, I saw people left on the tracks, who couldn't even get on our train. We continued to make stops through Framingham, West Natick, Natick and the Wellesley's (this is the normal route for the P512). Our conductors did make announcements that due to a mechanical problem, the P508 had been canceled and that riders who wanted any Newton stops or the Yawkey stop needed to get off in Wellesley for the P514.

What I found interesting about this commute today: the conflicting information between MBTA Alerts, the conductors and the ticker boards at each stop, which basically said "there is a problem due to CSX."

We finally pulled into South Station at around 9:25 a.m. this morning. I got to my desk at 9:45 a.m. Yikes!

MSNBC.com published the following article about how the rising cost of gas and the current real estate situation is impacting Americans in Denver, Southern California and Virginia.

Association for Public Transportation Urges Rail Infrastructure Investment

According to an article in today's Telegram & Gazette, former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis is frustrated that the Commonwealth's public transportation system is not as adequate as it could be.

Not wanting to say, "I told you so," but certainly implying that, Dukakis was quoted as saying:

"Twenty-five, thirty years ago, it was obvious that we were heading for this."

What's this, you might ask? Well it is the rising cost of gas that is causing residents to seek alternative transportation options which aren't as robust as they could be.

Dukakis was the keynote speaker at last night's Association for Public Transportation's annual meeting. The article noted the following:

The former governor and his wife, Kitty, recently visited Europe, a trip that
reminded him that the United States has “underinvested” in rail. “You come back
to the United States and it’s embarrassing,” he said.

I know that Mr. Dukakis is not just a big advocate, but he follows what he preaches. Back in 2005, I ended up on the same flight that Mr. Dukakis and his wife Kitty were on. We were flying from Madrid to Amsterdam. Assuming that most people with anytime of celebrity cred would fly first class turned out to be just that - an assumption. Mr. Dukakis, his wife and the other couple they were traveling with sat behind me in plain old regular coach.

The article continued to mention the challenges in extended commuter rail service between Worcester and Boston because the tracks are owned by CSX. As we all know, the state is trying to purchase the rail tracks that are between Worcester and Framingham.

While last night's meeting focused on commuter issues, the attendees also noted that transit agencies must work with freight companies to be successful.

Transportation infrastructure is aging, increasingly congested, and unable to
accommodate the current population,” said keynote speaker Frank J. Busalacchi,
secretary of Wisconsin’s Department of Transportation. For decades, public funds
for transportation have been devoted to highways, but that model no longer
works, he said.

“We need the same commitment to mass transit as we make to highways,” he said. “It’s going to be very costly.”

In other news, there was another fatality on the tracks yesterday. Last night an outbound Fitchburg commuter rail train struck and killed a person on the Concord-Lincoln town line.

Finally, WickedLocal-Boxborough published an article about the MBTA's funding issues.