Whew! Amtrak Strike's Off.

Now for some good news . . . it is official . . . the Amtrak strike is a no go!!

If Amtrak workers called for their first strike in 36 years, 25 to 40 percent of daily commuter rail riders who use South Station lines would have been impacted.

Thankfully we will not need to witness the chaos that the strike would have caused.

Read all about how the transportation crisis was all averted in this Boston.com article.

Amtrak Reaches a Deal with Its Union, Possibly Adverting the Commuter Rail Strike

Well at least there is some good news regarding the commuter rail today.

The AP is reporting that Amtrak may have reached a deal with the union. If this has happened, then the pending January 30th commuter rail strike will probably be averted.

Neither Amtrak nor the Transportation Communications International Union are officially confirming this report.

This could be a good thing for commuters! However, it might be a bad thing for the MBTA/MBCR (because they won't be able to blame the Amtrak strike for their horrible on-time performance).

Commuter Rail Buzz . . . from the Blogsphere

I noticed that Helen of "The Importance of Dessert" continues to keep her elected officials updated regarding the performance issues of the Worcester-Framingham commuter rail line. In a post last week, Helen noted that she received a letter back from her state representative, Alice Hanlon Peisch.

I encourage everyone (whether you ride the Worcester-Framigham line or another commuter rail line) to send a letter or an email to their own elected officials, telling them that the on-time performance for the commuter rail lines is not acceptable.

In other news, commuter rail riders on the North Shore were again impacted by the rail bridge in Beverly. This is the third time this month that the bridge had issues. Third time this month - third time this year. . .either way you look at it, this is pretty bad. We've only had 12 business days this month. From that standpoint, the bridge is breaking every four days!!

Finally, The Newton Tab published an article on Tuesday about the pending Amtrak strike. From an information standpoint, the Tab's reporters didn't really provide any new details about the strike. But, as a local paper, the Tab did find some great quotes made by Newton-based commuter rail riders.

However, I hope officials do not listen to one of the Newtonites quoted:

But, the delays won’t change much for Newton resident Bill Hartner.“It is not so terrible,” he said, standing next to the track. “There are other ways to get to Boston. People will go another way.”

Maybe Mr. Hartner doesn't think the strike will be "so terrible." However, for those of us who live more than 10 miles from downtown Boston, the strike could have serious consequences.

The Amtrak strike doesn't really give options to commuters west of Newton . . . nor people on the Providence line. I don't think driving is an option. Everyone knows how busy the highways are now, especially the Mass Pike, 95 North from Providence, and 128. I would be concerned if there's residual effects on the T because of Amtrak (such as a loss in revenue). I think no one wants to talk about it, but I think this strike can happen.

Worcester-Framingham Commuter Rail Performance

Last evening NatickDweller posted a great comment to yesterday's "Recent Outbound/Inbound Trips on the Worcester-Framingham Commuter Rail Line" post. NatickDweller mainly rides the P508 in the morning and the P521 during the evening.

This is what NatickDweller had to say:

I have taken 18 trains so far in January, mostly P508 (the morning "express") and P531 (departing S. Station at "6:20 pm").

Here are the stats so far, and they aren't pretty:

13 trains late (5 minutes or more) out of 18, for an on-time performance of 28 percent. Total delay minutes: 188 (over three hours of my life gone forever...thanks to this joke of a system we call the commuter rail).

Yikes!!

NatickDweller went on to comment that the MBTA/MBCR counts all the trains running on a particular line throughout the day, so what should really be a 28% on time performance record (based on mainly rush hour commutes), actually appears to be a lot higher.

I know that when I've taken the train during non-rush hour commute times, such as late morning or early afternoon trains, these trains "miraculously" run on time. Shocking.

Based on NatickDweller's comments and my own lousy commutes, I was thinking about on time performance this morning. Especially since this morning's inbound P508 train was about 8 to 10 minutes behind schedule AGAIN!

Obviously the non-rush hour trains and the weekend times help contribute to the uptick in on time performance. I wish MBCR was forced to track rush hour performance, because really, that's what matters to most of us commuter rail riders. They could provide two numbers - overall line performance and performance based solely on rush hour commutes.

Here is an update for last night's commute. I took took the 6:05 p.m. train last night (the P529) home. Got to Grafton around 7:10 p.m. (scheduled arrival time 7:04 p.m.).

As I mentioned earlier, this morning, I took the P508 which departs Grafton at 7:19 a.m. and got into Back Bay at 8:24 a.m. (for scheduled arrival time of 8:18 a.m.). Due to the cold weather, I got off at Back Bay Stationand took the Orange line to my office.

So ... at least the train is consistent this week in its lateness!!

I'm really wondering - have any of the rush hour trains on the Worcester-Framingham line arrived into their destination on-time (or within the 5 minutes "on time" window)?

NatickDweller . . . thanks for sharing your experiences this month. I just hope this isn't a long year.

Switching topics ever so slightly, yesterday Anonymous provided some great insight into how Amtrak's structure impacts Massachusetts-based commuter rail lines in a comment made to the "For the Sake of Commuter Rail Riders, Amtrak Can't Strike" post. This is why South Station-bound trains will be impacted by the strike:

The T owns all of the physical track over which the commuter rail runs except the Framingham-Worcester section (owned by CSX) and the Allston freight yard (owned by Harvard University). However, Amtrak handles the dispatching at South Station itself and along the Providence line. If Amtrak strikes there would be no dispatchers so no trains could enter South Station.

Anonymous also mentioned how individual lines may operate.

NatickDweller and Anonymous - thanks for the comments.

MBTA GM Grabauskas Jets Away

Setting: Your the head of a large transit authority. One key component of your transit authority may be interrupted due to another entity's strike. What do you do?

Well, if your the MBTA's GM Daniel Grabauskas, you decided to NOT cancel your vacation plans, even when your boss (Governor Deval Patrick and the MBTA's Advisory Board) ask you to cancel your plans.

The Boston Herald is always good for exposing outrageous behavior made by public officials. Today's edition features an article about Grabauskas and his decision to go on vacation. "MBTA boss takes off on Boston" is pretty outrageous. As a commuter and a Massachusetts taxpayer, I can't believe that Grabauskas did not cancel his plans.

The MBTA, living in their la la land, had a spokesperson quoted as saying that "the strike appears 'very unlikely'," and that Grabauskas left "detailed contingency plans, including travel instructions for passengers on each rail line that could be impacted."

Grabauskas is vacationing in Thailand and he is supposedly coming back to Massachusetts before the targeted January 30th strike date.

I'm not sure if Grabauskas made the most professional move by going on vacation before the strike. He should have seen if he could have postponed his plans by a few weeks to make sure the strike isn't going to happen.

OR, perhaps, Grabauskas isn't really needed at the helm of the agency. If that is the case, maybe he should be cut free and his hefty salary should be used to fund other transportation entities.

Unreal!!

For the Sake of Commuter Rail Riders, Amtrak Can't Strike

First the Hollywood writers decided to go on strike. This has interrupted my evening television viewing and it led to the cancellation of the Golden Globes Awards. The Globes may be shallow, they may be absurd, but they're fun to watch on a winter's evening.

Next came word that Amtrak was going to go on strike. Then word came out that Amtrak was going to try to avoid striking. Now it appears that there is an ominous possibility that Amtrak will go on strike.

Ai Caramba! Train Rider will not be happy if Amtrak goes on strike.

So here is the run down on the strike rumors:

The CBS-affiliate out of Providence, RI posted an Associated Press story to their website yesterday afternoon. The AP article noted that 17,000 riders rely on commuter rail service between Providence and Boston.

Also, "the MBTA says any contingency plan could only accommodate 25% of the 47,000 passengers a day who use South Station." I don't know why North Station passengers weren't factored into this equation. Maybe the North Station-bound trains don't ride on Amtrak rails? Maybe the towns that rely on service to North Station are too far for a Rhode Island TV station to care.

Boston Magazine's "Boston Daily" published a tongue-in-check article about the pending strike that basically contained most of the information from the AP story.

Even the Harvard Crimson got in on the action (that the Boston Globe, MetroWest Daily News, and Worcester Telegram & Gazette, not to mention the Boston TV stations all seem to be ignoring). The Crimson's "Updating Amtrak" article noted that in the past 36 years, Amtrak has never gone on strike. This well reported article provides some details as to why Amtrak workers are thinking about waging a strike.

Finally, The Boston Herald outlined some of the cities that will be impacted by the strike. This strike will not be pretty - here is a run down on the cities that will be impacted:

• Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority/Massachusetts Bay Commuter Rail - TrainRider would be among the 47,000 daily passengers affected.
• New Jersey Transit - 218,000 daily trips.
• Long Island Rail Road - 85,000 passengers out of 100,000 customers. Basically anyone who needs to go into Penn Station.
• Metro-North (New York City Area and Connecticut) - not affected.
• Shore Line East (Connecticut) - 2,000 passengers who travel between New Haven and New London. This line actually has a contingency plan!
  
• Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority - 5 out of the 13 SEPTA lines run on Amtrak tracks and a 6th line runs on both Amtrak and SEPTA tracks.
• MARC (Maryland) - 19,000 riders who rely on the Penn line between Baltimore and Washington, DC. Two other lines will be able to run, but would need to terminate before reaching Union Station in DC.
• Virginia Railway Express - this line would be completely shut down because it is operated by Amtrak employees. 15,000 riders would be impacted.
  
• METRA (Chicago) - 80,000 riders because Union Station would be closed.
• Caltrain (California) - Service between San Francisco and San Jose would be shut down, impacting 36,000 riders.

Based on the numbers outlined in the Herald's article, it looks like well over 500,000 people will be impacted. That's insane!

Snow Day - Amtrak Commuter Rail Strike Update

Due to this morning's snow storm, I decided to not attempt to make it into the city and am instead working from home. I hope anyone who did take the MBTA/MBCR commuter rail in this morning had an OK commute.

I noticed in the morning TV news coverage that the MBTA General Manager Daniel A. Grabauskas, along with a MBTA spokesperson, were being interviewed about the now and the T's response. Could it be because WHDH/Channel 7 chooses to pre-empt the Today show and just blabbers on for hours about the snow. The same reporters give the same updates every 20-30 minutes or so, so I guess they need to interview people like Grabauskas in an attempt to make it interesting.

The Sun Chronicle out of Attelboro published an article in this morning's edition about the Amtrak strike. If Amtrak did strike, Boston, Providence and Worcester would all be impacted. One would think this would be a bigger story in papers such as The Boston Globe, The Boston Hearld, The Worcester Telegram & Gazette, and The Providence Journal, but there hasn't really been a lot of coverage about the strike.

The headline of the Sun Chronicle's article said it all "Rail strike seen unlikely." I sure hope the headline proves to be true! Amtrak and union officials are trying to avoid a strike. Also, since Amtrak is a federal entity, Congress could also intervene to prevent a strike (especially since most of the cities on the Eastern Seaboard would be severely impacted by a strike). Everyone is "optimistic" that the strike will be avoided.

Beyond the strike, the article contained some great quotes from commuters about the current state of the commuter rail system in Massachusetts. Here are some really great bon mots:

"Barbara Tappan, another Attleboro resident on the 6:10 p.m. train out of Boston on Friday, said the commuter rail's performance was already "really bad," with late trains and long delays, and a strike would only make things worse."

"Emarie Pope said her husband had joked about MBTA service being so bad that even if there is a strike, "How would we know the difference?" Sitting in South Station, Pope said, "It really annoys me that we don't have a better transit system." Officials shouldn't let things get to the point where train service might stop, she said."

I agree with Ms. Pope's husband. . . if an Amtrak strike happened, "how would we know the difference?" I also agree with Ms. Pope we need "a better transit system"!

Let's hope the strike is avoided!!

Status Quo Friday Morning Commute, But is Anyone Worried about the Possible Amtrak Strike?

Friday morning inbound commute update: Status quo, passes collected, fairly normal and only about 5 minutes behind schedule.

My train arrived at Back Bay Station at 8:24 a.m. (I got off to take the Orange Line). Scheduled arrival time is 8:19 a.m. I can handle a 5 minute delay, especially on a morning with wacky winter weather (like a thunder and lightening storm).

The conductors must have been on crack or something, they kept announcing "Have a Happy Day! This is the happy train!" Um, whatever. The most annoying part of my commute this AM were the two dudes sitting behind me babbling about the most insipid things. SHUT UP!

You know, I asked senior management in my company yesterday if they had a contingency plan in place if Amtrak goes on strike. One of the SVP's said ... "um, yeah, to drive." Well, that's not realistic to assume the entire company can drive in. He was really condescending and I was peeved.

My brother said he heard some commuter rail conductors talking that if Amtrak does strike, they're not crossing the picket lines. So, maybe there wouldn't even be commuter rail service? I think it's a bigger issue than people realize and it irks me when they don't take it seriously.

Is anyone else concerned that the possibility of Amtrak going out on strike will mean that commuter rail service on the MBTA/MBCR lines will be impacted?