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'Ladies and gentlemen, I have some very bad news'
By adamg on Thu, 03/29/2012 - 2:20pm
Amanda Wild forwarded this video from this morning's Red Line nonsense, adds:
Conductor reported train was having trouble making it up the hill to Porter; after several delays our car was unloaded to platform where an MBTA official was telling passengers it would be at least 20-25 minutes before the next train. Several passengers were offering to help push.
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Comments
This part of the Red Line was just repaired over the past winter
so why is it already having trouble again?
The tracks aren't the problem
It's the increasingly wheezy trains; poor things' hearts are giving out. I can't wait for the Orange Line to start doing the same thing.
Not all of them
The video showed an 01800 series, which are just under 20 years old. I think I caught the number 01835 pass by, in fact.
But that's not the train that broke
The train in the video is the one that was being commissioned to go shove the Harvard train out of the way.
Are you sure?
One of the railfans will have to correct me here, but my impression of things is that going through Harvard Square is a challenge for those cars. They squeal like stuck pigs. I have to figure that the sharp turns in and out of Harvard are having an undue impact on the maintenance requirements of these cars.
Squeal
That's caused by the tight curve -- the inner wheel wants to rotate slower than the outer wheel, but they are connected by a fixed axle. Something has to give.
It might result in some additional wheel and track wear, but nothing that can't be handled by century old maintenance technology. That wouldn't cause traction motors to fail.
Actually, some of those past
Actually, some of those past incidents of disabled trains requiring evacuation between Harvard and Porter were because of an issue with the third rail. The cars were not getting full power although initially, the crews thought the train itself had broken down. Don't know if that was the issue here again though.
push?
The train or the MBTA official?
Effective communication
Kudos to the train operator on the video for her honest, informative announcements to her passengers.
Seriously
I get miffed when the announcements are the ever-helpful "We are experiencing delays due to traffic ahead, we apologize for the inconvenience, etc etc" when, with one glance at my phone, I can see exactly what the problem is ahead (and it usually isn't as simple as "traffic ahead").
Big kudos to this conductor for being so open, honest, and straightforward with her passengers. Probably helped keep everyone a little saner knowing exactly what was going on, even if it wasn't good news.
announcements
Thanks, I always try my best to keep my passengers informed, no matter what the problem may be on the Red Line.
Operator of the rescue train.
T delay excuse lines
I know THEY make you say it, but "we're sorry for ANY inconvience this MAY be causing" is like the ol' "there's another train DIRECTLY behind this one". Those of us who have ridden the T for years become even more infuriated at this canned line which just pours salt into the wound or "inconvience" as it is.