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!!

Train Jumper

Was anyone on last night's P527 train? If you weren't, you missed a massive amount of excitement. The P527 departs South Station at 5:35 p.m. and it is an outbound train to Worcester. After the Wellesley Hills stop, the train started to leave the station when, all of a sudden, the emergency brakes came on and we jammed to a halt. It seems a passenger jumped off of the train as we were leaving.

Now, for the semi-comical part, there must have been at least 10 announcements that we were at the Wellesley Hills stop . . . so it's not like said passenger shouldn't have known we were at the station. I don't believe the passenger was hurt. According to the conductor, I know they refused medical attention and limped away. You know, the three Wellesley stops are not that far apart . . . is it worth it to risk serious injury JUMPING OFF OF A TRAIN to save 15-20 minutes? People are wacky!

Onto this morning's commute. I think the conductor on my car of the P508 was cranky. Either that or he had no patience for people who didn't have their passes out. I think his announcement was something like "Next stop West Natick . . . and here's an idea . . . have your passes or tickets ready." So, maybe he's glad it's Friday too. Anyhoo, we arrived outside of South Station at 8:20 a.m. and sat there for 6-8 minutes, with an official arrival time on the track of 8:28 a.m.

Now this is really weird. I never received an update from the MBCR's RailMail about the new MBTA schedule for the Worcester line. I know the updates were sent to riders on other lines. One of my coworkers rides the Plymouth line and received an update. Plus, yesterday the author of the Charlie on the Commuter Rail blog RAILED against the Franklin line's new schedule in a blog post. Even MySouthborough posted a Southborough-centric schedule. Yet I never received an email from RailMail. Who knows - maybe I'll receive it today.

In any event, my company sent out an announcement about the schedule changes going into effect this coming Monday, October 27, 2008. Here is the announcement:

Beginning Monday, October 27, 2008, changes will be made to the schedules on the following lines:

• Framingham/Worcester

• Franklin

• Greenbush

• Needham

• Old Colony

• Providence/Stoughton
  

No changes to the schedules on the following lines:

Lowell, Newburyport , Rockport, Fairmount, Fitchburg, Haverhill

Schedules are available to view, download and print online at
www.mbcr.net where you can also sign up to receive e-alerts when your schedule changes.

Finally, The Patriot Ledger published an article in today's paper about how South Shore commuters feel about the new MBTA parking increases. Here are some quotes:

“The money has to come from somewhere, but I think the state should be helping more,” said Elizabeth Stouhlsatz of the Wollaston. “It’s bad all around.”

Jim Cotter of Quincy said that although he does not frequently park in MBTA lots, over the past six months he has been taking the T more often.

“I can’t imagine there aren’t ways they can cut costs internally instead of putting it on the public” he said. “They should be enticing people to take the T.”

The article also noted that the T is the largest owner of paid off-street parking in New England, with 43,000 spaces in 150 locations. What a trivia stat! In 2007, the T claims that more than 9 million vehicles parked at T lots.

Missed My Train So I Took the P512 Train to Work Today

So I missed the P508 train this morning. I waited for the P512, which departs Grafton at 7:49 a.m.

What a cluster "eff." Initially, my commute seemed fine. However, when we got to Framingham, the P510 had not even left yet, so everyone waiting in Framingham got onto the P512. Then at the Natick and Wellesley stops, it seemed like we just sat on the tracks while they kept on making the same announcement that "our train was the Express train, etc." over and over again. Thankfull, due to the new train schedule, we were only two minutes behind once we got to Back Bay Station. We pulled in at 8:04 a.m. instead of the scheduled 8:02 a.m. time.

Blah! Not for the time we pulled into Back Bay but for the drama of today's commute.

Friday, 12/21 Outbound P529 Worcester-Framingham Commuter Rail

I have been off for the Christmas holiday since Thursday, December 19th. I heard through friends that Friday's evenings outbound commuter rail trains running on the Worcester-Framingham line were extremely delayed.

The P529 train which normally leaves South Station at 6:05 p.m. was at least delayed 1 hour. Some of my friends had spouses (or parents or friends) pick them up from Wellesley and other towns along the commuter rail line.

Since a lot of people were off for the Christmas holiday on Friday and since the weather was normal, I have no idea why the evening trains were so delayed.

If anyone had to commute on the trains on either Friday, Monday or yesterday, please feel free to contact me with updates (both good and bad).

Now it is back to work for me!