Hey, there! Log in / Register
MBTA pre-announces weather-related delays tomorrow; borrows New York jet engines for snow removal over weekend
By adamg on Thu, 02/05/2015 - 6:43pm
With particularly frigid temps expected, the MBTA says riders should brace for subway delays tomorrow.
For tomorrow, sub-zero conditions and wind chills as low as minus 20 will likely affect aging trains’ propulsion systems. While the MBTA will work hard to provide regular weekday service, customers are strongly encouraged to stay updated on delays and service interruptions via mbta.com or on twitter @mbta.
Also, the T will shut the Red Line between JFK/UMass and Ashmont and the Orange Line between Oak Grove and Sullivan on Saturday and the Red Line between JFK/UMass and Braintree on Sunday.
The MTA in New York has generously loaned the MBTA two jet-powered snow blowers (very similar to the MBTA’s ‘Snowzilla’) to help clear the snow along the Red and Orange Line rights-of-way.
Shuttle buses will replace the shuttered train service those days.
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
forewarned is forescrewed
At least I know to pack the flask. And a sleeping bag.
Screw the Olympics. Fix the T.
The MBTA owes $9 billion in debt and faces a $3 billion maintenance backlog. Fares collected barely covers interest payments on the debt. Hosting an Olympics is not Boston's top priority. Why can't elected leaders focus on fixing the mess they've left us already?
Because the Olympics are sexy
Because the Olympics are sexy. Fixing stuff ain't.
Wellington
Yesterday, I was at wellington around 5:30 and when I got off the train there was this horrendous 'sucking' sound everywhere. I actually thought it was the PA system until I got out the bus loop and saw T workers doing something in the maintenance yard. They had a bucket loader with something in it. It looked like a huge vacuum cleaner head attachment in the bucket. They must have been testing it out on the tracks in the yard.
Damn now I wish I had taken a picture. I just thought that was some equipment the T already owned and they were just cleaning up the tracks. Oh well, live and learn.
Was this it?
Pretty cool, how do they get it here? Attach it to the end of a train?
http://gizmodo.com/these-mta-snow-trains-fight-old-man-winter-with-jet-e...
Kinda
Kinda... it was hard to tell since it was getting dark. I thought it was a bucket loader but it could have been that.
The MBTA is borrowing the jet
The MBTA is borrowing the jet engines but not the entire rig they are attached to in the photo. The engines will be attached to the end of a small crane-like piece of track maintenance equipment. The MBTA does have two of its own jets (snowzilla) but one of them is out of commission. They came via flatbed.
I had no idea
I had no idea that one of the New York football teams had gotten so bad that they were renting them out to other cities.
They are also borrowing a
They are also borrowing a second one which is a full unit (big yellow thing with a nozzle, like the T's own)
Seasonal Transit System
They should just announce that the entire system is summer only service, like that train they run to Hyannis.
God lord cut them some slack
The amount of snow that fell in the 8 days ending Feb 2 (45.9 inches) is more than falls in the average entire winter (43" average, 40" median). Since 1892 (122 years, for those keeping score at home), only 45 winters have had more than 46" of snow. And there has never been more than 31" of snow in a week until this past week—this is more than three standard deviations above the norm (the average snowiest week in a winter sees 14"): it's once-in-a-millenium territory.
And before you go "quit your whining, it was always like this when I was a kid": No, it wasn't, and there's data backing this up.
It was a joke, Ari, but good
It was a joke, Ari, but good job promoting your blog!
When I was a kid
the snow was over half my height.
Now it's still over half my height :-)
Absolutely
It's damn hard to run trains in cold, snowy weather. That's why Switzerland has such legendarily crappy train service.
Age is key
but age of equipment is the key.. how old are Switzerland's trains? I bet far newer than the T's.
But let me spin the question this way.
Would a car from 1969 or 1980 run well during cold weather? Especially if you've run that car 18 hours a day, every day since you bought it 30+ years ago?
Probably not..
Mid-day on Wednesday, there
Mid-day on Wednesday, there were 11 older Red Line trains operating, and 3 newer ones.
But How...
I think it's great that transit systems can help each other out like that, but how did they get the thing up to Boston? Did it travel attached to a train, or was it loaded onto a freight car and taken up that way?
I hear the New York Jets suck
I hear the New York Jets suck
Suck?
Or blow?
Haha Al Franken
http://gprr.blogspot.com/2008/08/al-frankens-awesome-party-trick.html
"Why is Minnesota so windy: because the Dakotas blow, and Wisconsin sucks."
Like Mega-Maid....
I'll just leave this here.
It's not a Red Line train
It's a ... Transformer!!!
If they had Bellichek's
If they had Bellichek's cameras or Brady's air pump maybe they wouldn't.
Just sayin...
I don't always look forward to North Carolina trips
This time, with predicted highs of 62-66F ...
Getting out of here will be an adventure, though.
I thought the MBTA already
I thought the MBTA already owned some of these units? I swear to have seen them used on the Orange Line in the past.
This just in: it may be cold this winter.
So let me get this straight. The brilliant minds at the MBTA can't plan ahead for the outside chance of really, really cold weather in February by, I don't know, properly maintaining and preparing their equipment. But we should prepare for this contingency by "stay[ing] updated on delays and service interruptions via mbta.com or on Twitter." Excellent, thanks for the tip, guys. I'll have the limo on standby, just in case.
Hey, Governor Baker, are you listening? Here's your chance to redeem yourself for your Big Dig chicanery, and make a lifelong Democrat consider voting for you next time. FIX THE T.
while I agree
They are being honest! They could just not say anything and then have delays. At least they anticipate it. Their equipment is just old. And it just doesn't do well in sub zero weather. Would a car from 1969 or 1981 perform the same way? Probably. It's nothing about maintenance.. its just old stuff.
As far as baker.. he's inching ground with me. He went on record on Nightside with Dan Rea the other day to state that yes he's in support of new cars. Yes he will try to make sure whatever is holding them up gets passed quick.
And at the chamber of commerce meeting yesterday he stated that most of the 40 Million of Transportation cuts are not coming from the MBTA. He earned a few brownie points with me with this, as this was my main concern when I heard about budget cuts.. the T always gets the shaft.
I think he's starting to "get" that the T really needs to be fixed... pronto. Let's hope he keeps this momentum and its not just all talk, and he'll gain a few more supporters like myself.
duplicate, please delete.
duplicate, please delete.
If you have any suggestions for
If you have any suggestions as to what the MBTA is supposed to do without more money, I'm sure everyone would love to hear them. And, as others have mentioned, this snowfall is historically unprecedented -- not sure how they were supposed to prepare for that.
Ride went well this morning
From MGH to Alewife went well. Waited 2 minutes for train. A bit crowded, but far from over stuffed. No stops at random places in the tunnel.
Orange Line this morning....
... pretty gruesome. Long waits between trains, trains already full leaving Forest Hills, so it got increasingly hard for more people to get on at stops between there and downtown. Repeated stops for "schedule adjustments" -- despite the big gaps between trains.