Faced with job loss, Orange Line conductors already forgetting their lines
By adamg - 3/11/10 - 11:00 pm
Or maybe it's just a coincidence how many incorrect announcements blared today on the Citrus Line (on which, unlike your fancy-shmancy Red and Green Lines, all the announcements are done by a live person sitting in a cab in the middle of the train):
Ginnette Powell reports one conductor announced "Community College, next stop" - just before the train pulled into Chinatown.
This morning, one rider reports, "the Orange Line conductor announced, 'Back Bay - Commuter Rail, buses and something else.' "
And Buck Buckaroo reports the following this evening:
"Attention Green Line Passengers. We are experiencing delays"-Intercom. "THIS IS THE FUCKING ORANGE LINE!"-Lady
Comments
Yeah, I was in Back Bay
Yeah, I was in Back Bay station when they announced the Green Line delays. They corrected themselves on the next iteration. The other thing that was off was the timing of the arrival announcements (which is automated). "The next Orange Line to Forest Hills is approaching," actually meant that it was in the station, boarding. "The next Orange Line to Forest Hills is now arriving," actually meant sorry, sucker, you missed your train.
Same problems last night
The operator announced "community college, next" as we were pulling out of Community College. Then she said "Wellington Station" when we got to Sullivan Station and "doors open on the left" at Wellington, when doors are open on both sides.
What time was this?
What time was this? Yesterday morning I reported an orange line conductor for hitting me in the shoulder with a door and for making incredibly long-winded and harrassing announcements at every stop. This driver operates from Forest Hills, leaving at 8 AM. Could it have been the same?
They need to automate the announcements.
Whit
This is sounding more and
This is sounding more and more like a work action to protest the planned reduction of train crews from 2 to 1 operators.
Evening Run
I caught the train around 6:35 at State, and got off around 6:50 at Wellington.
Long Winded Announcements?
Is that the guy who says "Next stop. Well. Ling. Ton. Doooors open on the. Left. Well. Ling. Ton."? Pisses me every time I get him.
Something like that--really
Something like that--really drawn out and cutsie. With the addition of angry harrassment at busy stops for people to get on the over-crowded trains when there is no room and people are moving as fast as they can.
Whit
Reassignments?
This collection of incidents sounds like some Green Line drivers were reassigned to the Orange Line without sufficient training.
Maybe they're trading places
On Sunday afternoon, I boarded an inbound train at Prudential and the announcement for the next stop was: "Copley. Transfer here for Orange Line and Commuter Rail." I wasn't sure how that was possible without walking a few blocks (and in the case of the Orange Line, paying again).
Curiously, however, I did notice that on the wall maps that show only the down-the-line stations to Lechmere that it included a segment of the Orange Line beyond the transfer stations.
Transferring from Copley to
Transferring from Copley to Back Bay is such a huge time saver, more people should know about it, so I think maybe that conductor was being helpful.
but requires an extra fare unless you use a monthly pass
This is one of a small number of places where it would make sense to change the fare system so that people are allowed to exit the subway system and re-enter it nearby (within 2 hours) without paying a second fare. Others:
Symphony (Green Line E) <-> Mass. Ave (Orange LIne)
State (Blue Line) <-> Downtown Crossing (Red Line)
Government Center (Blue Line) <-> Park Street (Red Line)
The latter two could reduce congestion on the busiest section of the Green Line.
The New York City subway system does not generally allow 'out-of-system' transfers between subway lines, but has a couple of special exceptions for stations that are nearby but not directly connected.
The section beteen Government
The section beteen Government Center in Park St. is not the busiest part of the Green Line in terms of passengers carried per hour. Looking at some old numbers from 1997 I have, the busiest section for number of people carried on trains is between Arlington and Boylston. 47,238 people were shown as being on eastbound trains traveling in that section all day long. Between Park St. and Government Center, only 24,433 were shown all day, this is not just the number of people traveling east between Park and Government Center only, but the number of all people on Green Line trains leaving Park St. headed east going to any stop between Government Center and Lechmere. The westbound numbers are simillar.
These are 13 year old numbers, but my guess would be that the trends have remained the same.
The Green Line and the Orange
The Green Line and the Orange Line are two totally different job types and seniority lists. They would not be switiching people from one to the other. Personnel do move around between Red, Orange, and Blue.
Similar question, but unrelated
Has anybody brought up the issue of the former token booth folks who now are nominally in CSA agents? They really serve no purpose anymore and should be cut loose (except in stops where tourists go.) The ones I see at Davis Square are almost always:
It's such classic bureacracy at work. I feel bad for anybody if they lose their jobs, but these are not real jobs. I can't imagine how awful I would feel trying to fill my time on an 8 hour shift doing this stuff. At least are they not rehiring them when people quit / retire?
At least some of the CSA's
At least some of the CSA's are former bus or train operators that are medically disqualified (hear problems, eye problems, leg or back problems, etc) from operating buses or trains any more.
Do I Really Have To Say This?
Maybe.
If you receive poor service, or have actual physical contact initiated by an MBTA employee, you should report it. Enough complaints, something might happen. Just piss and moan about it here and it's unlikely.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
I think that I mentioned that
I think that I mentioned that I had done so.
Whit
Cool
I wasn't saying you hadn't, Whit. Just prodding those others who might otherwise not do so.
Suldog
http://jimsuldog.blogspot.com
charlie
At least we now have another reason, besides the nickel, that poor ol' Charlie couldn't get off that train — he didn't know WHERE to get off!
Automated systems aren't any better
The automated announcement systems the MBTA uses aren't any better. How many times have you all been on a red line train when no matter where you were, the "NEXT STOP" was "CHARLES/MGH"? I wish I had a nickel for every time, because I'd be rich. Green line announcements are little better but often don't work or aren't triggered properly (Haymarket Inbound is a big problem). What should be perfect and state-of-the-art are the Blue Line ones, but they are far from perfect. The announcement delays are ridiculous and render them near-useless. Door chimes don't sound at the right time. Stations aren't always announced when the doors open and it takes way too long to announce transfer options. Usually the doors are closing by the time the guy is even saying what station you're in.
Those poor tourists must be so damn confused. The face on a tourist in a train leaving Porter announcing "NEXT STOP QUINCY ADAMS" is priceless.
I hope that the reason the
I hope that the reason the red line trains suck so much is because theyre from 1990, while the green line automation is from 2000.
The blue line trains are accurate, the problem is that the messages are just way to wordy. Instead of "Entering, Airport, doors open on right" they say something stupid like "DING DING, Now entering airport station, transfer to the massport shuttle buses to airport terminals. The doors will open on the right side of the train"
By the time the message is done, you're on your way to the next station.