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Needham Line trains turn into Miley Cyrus in Roslindale
By adamg on Mon, 03/02/2015 - 8:41am
Because that allegedly improved commuter-rail service this morning still means that trains are roaring into Roslindale completely full, so they can't stop and they won't stop.
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Comments
Haha good one
I see what you did there adam.
I was on that train
It arrived about 10 minutes late in Highland and we all squeezed on. But that was it, the train was really full. The conductor estimated that we left 50 people on the platform at Belview and 100 in Roslindale. The problem was that the train inexplicably only had 4 cars instead of the usual 6 cars.
I wouldn't say 100, probably closer to 50. (Still unacceptable)
However did you notice that lunatic at Forest Hills with the Cadillac Escalade of baby carriages try and get on, the thing was large enough to hold an overweight adult.
Can't Stop, Won't Stop
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xkU9oVGr1KE
Released in 2003, uploaded in 2010
Thank you - this is what I thought Adam's headline was referring.
However, I understand 2003 was a long time ago, now a days.
We need privatization to fix
We need privatization to fix these problems!
Oh wait, this is the part of the T that is already privatized....
However its
Still Unionized.
And?
So you think it's the union that is preventing the trains from running on time and a non-unionized workforce would not be in this mess?
Not really. It's
Not really. It's subcontracted management to a private company of public assets and employees of which it has very limited control due to contractual restrictions. The B&M and NewHaven rail roads were private and ran passenger service really well aside from going bankrupt attempting to compete with heavily subsidized highways.
A little communication would go a long ways...
By the time it got to Roslindale it was almost 20 min late. (I was among those waiting.) - So if they knew all the way back at Highland that the train was no longer taking passengers, why didn't they send out a T-alert at that time?? For the cost of sending an email, they could have cut about 30 min of wasted time off everybody's commute!
The conductor DID report it to central
That's how I got the "50/100 people left behind" numbers....the conductor radioed into the main control and reported that they were full and how many people were being left. Central control SHOULD have absolutely then sent out an update that the train was full.
Because they don't give a
Because they don't give a shit. I love that they still decided to not add in the 711am train this week b/c we don't need a train between 630 and 8am.
So for February my combo t-pass was a waste bc the regular trains were barely running so I had to spend $60 a week for 3 weeks to also have a CR pass so I would be covered. I would like a refund as well:)
Have you even taken the train lately
Your comment would suggest otherwise. They're running the 7:30, but not the train prior or later. Here i provided you with a link to the schedule of the train you haven't been on lately.
http://www.mbta.com/uploadedfiles/Documents/Schedules_and_Maps/Special_S...
PS the train people are referring to in this blog it the 7:30 train from Needham which leaves between the 6:30 and 8:00 am time frame you mentioned.
At Roslindale, the trains are
At Roslindale, the trains are available& stop at 6:34 and 7:58.
So you are both correct.
Passengers Wanting Off In WROX/ROSL?
I used to live in Needham and took the commuter rail to West Roxbury in the morning for work.
What about people that got in Needham and wanting to get off in Roslindale?
No problem
The train stopped (for like 5 minutes) at each stop. I wasn't by a door that opened so I don't know if some people got off and maybe a few got on, but it anyone who wanted off was given the chance.
It stops but it doesn't the
It stops but it doesn't the conductor does not allows anyone to board.
Dystopian Commuting
Diverted: A Bostonian dystopia
By Shoshana Flax
It was dawn. It was time for the Waiting.
Three hundred thousand were Waiting. Some waited for Buses, some waited for Trains that would become Buses. Some tried different routes, and some gave up hope and called Ubers.
But many remained.
Most remembered the days before The Big One. The days when roads had lanes in two directions. The days when, with a glance at a watch and perhaps a touch of an app, they could predict when their journeys would end. But remembering didn’t help. Remembering didn’t raise the wind chill, or lower the mountains so you could see what was coming, or add room to the Snow Farms. Remembering did nothing to end The Waiting. The Powers talked about solutions, but they were no match for the most powerful entity, a being that wasn’t even human: President Snow.
But if you Waited long enough, the Arrival would come, almost surely. And if it did, you stood a chance. You might be left on the curb, one of the Unfit — it was all in the luck of where you lived along the route — but you might move on to the next phase: the Squeezing. Recorded voices gave reminders: “Please move toward the back to make room for others.” Sometimes, you were the Chosen One: you could move a few inches and give another person room. (Sometimes, you didn’t even know it, because you had headphones on.)
You might turn on the others being Squeezed, or you might band together to try to guess where you were if the windows were clouded. Whatever the details of the voyage, you would arrive — eventually. But the story wouldn’t end there, for the end of the day would provide a sequel: The Return.
http://walktheridgepole.blogspot.com/2015/02/diverted-bostonian-dystopia...
Boston is a YA Dystopian Novel
By Brendan Halpin
Pris walked toward the T, snow crunching under her feet as it always did.
Reaching an intersection, she peered around the 8-foot-tall snowbank to see the source of the noise: four cars, each with a line of traffic behind them in the single file that was all the snow allowed, honking their horns.
The snow-covered sidewalk was impassible, so Pris took to the street, unhappy with the cacophony of horns but grateful the cars weren't moving as she squeezed between them and the snowbank in an effort to reach the T and, she hoped, school.
As Pris walked, her father's words from this morning played in her head. "Before," he said, "it wasn't like this." The Olds always talked about Before.
"I don't care about Before!" Pris had shouted. "I have to live right now!"
Her father had winced, grabbed his back, and reached for the familiar remedy: he had poured out a fistful of ibuprofen and had washed it down with coffee, trying in vain to keep at bay the pain that came from endless shoveling, from endless battles with the ice dams that threatened to send water flooding through the house. "Pris," he had said, "have faith in The Leaders! The Leaders have promised that when The Games come, all will be well!"
"The Games?" Pris had shouted. "The Games are a fraud, nothing but another circus for The Leaders to enjoy!"
Her father's face had clouded over. "You mustn't say that, Pris," he'd said. "You must trust in The Leaders. They have a plan. Proof of Concept. By 2024 all will be well."
"And I'll be twenty-five!" Pris had shouted, storming out the door. "My life will be practically over!"
As Pris reached the T station, she readied herself for The Daily Lottery. Every day was a gamble: would the train come in time for her to make it to school? If the train did come, would there be room for her to squeeze in? And if she did--would Graig make it too? For without her old reliable friend Graig, whose blue eyes had just begun to sparkle--or was Pris just looking at him differently?--school was a bore.
A car honked as Pris crossed the street. It was Father, driving an Uber to make pennies now that wouldn't cover the dollars he'd spend later maintaining the old car, but they needed those pennies today. And in the back seat: Tristan. Scion of The Leaders. He looked at her, his dark eyes smouldering. She felt he could see through her.
Blushing, Pris walked, penguin-like, across the icy sidewalk that led to the T station. She looked up at the sign announcing the arrival times of the trains: blank, as it always was. Dejectedly, she trudged down the stairs to await her fate.
http://www.brendanhalpin.com/girlinacage/2015/02/boston-is-a-ya-dystopia...
The commuter rail
The commuter rail improvements this week consist of a total of 4 restored round trips: 2 evening trips on the Needham line, 1 early morning trip to Stoughton, and 1 to Worcester (mid-day, when there's little passenger demand, and no shortage of locomotives anyway). All of that combined can be covered by one single trainset.
Plus restoring Providence to Wickford, and a useless early-afternoon shuttle from Kingston to Plymouth that takes half an hour each way.