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No power for an hour leaves Orange Line riders dyspeptic and sour
By adamg on Mon, 08/03/2015 - 8:58am
The passengers kept coming, even if the train didn't. Photo by Meredith Sandiford.
An unspecified power problem on the very same stretch of track between Forest Hills and Stony Brook that was shut for winter "resiliency" upgrading this weekend mean not Orange Line at all for riders between those two stops and lots of issues for riders on the rest of the line this morning. And that was on top of problems caused by an inbound train at Tufts cut down by Death's Scythe around 6:30 a.m.
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Comments
The inital alert I got
from the T indicated this was a track problem. It was only later on that they changed it to "power problem".
Chock one up for the "wheel of disaster" theory.
I didn't know what to make of things
At Forest Hills they said power, but moments later they were ushering us to the platform. Heading to Back Back, I stationed myself on the "opposite" doors. Leaving Forest Hills, I saw the guys and what looked like regular track on the side. Perhaps it was both the track and power, though they would probably not want the power on while replacing a section of track.
The dead train confused me, but there it is. What a horrible Monday!
Third-rail problem, third
Third-rail problem, third-rail is both a track and power item.
Broken third rail is a
TRACK problem. Broken wires or circuits, etc. that feed the third rail is a POWER problem. Given that the weekend work was to replace ties, my guess is that it was broken (or imporperly re-installed) track, not broken wires.
And why does the T feel the need to change the terminology from alert to alert? Because of their system of "let's get information out immediately, even if it isn't accurate. We can then send a different alert out three minutes later" That's my principal gripe here.
The third rail was out of
The third rail was out of alignment and ripping off third rail shoes, which then caused trains to have power problems. It was both a track and a power problem, either one would be accurate for a quick alert. The bottom line for most people is: do I have to take a shuttle?"
The power department is not
The power department is not responsible for the alignment of the third rail. This responsibility falls under the track dept. At no point did the third rail lose power. The power was requested off by the track department to make the repairs to the 3rd rail. MBTA: Please stop blamming the power department for track department problems!
Okay, T Maintenance people
We get it. Morale is low. But do you need to carry on these internal bickerings out in the public?
Don't say that...
... the bickering can lead to a lot more public information than the MBTA is usually willing to hand out itself. ;-)
If the T provides too little
If the T provides too little information, people complain. If the T provides more information, people nitpick whether or not it's correct when they have no real way of verifying it one way or another.
The T should just copy Windows 10's new error messages:
Seeking devine intervention?
I looked at this picture and the first thing I thought was "that T worker looks like he is beseeching the Almighty to help them - that's probably the best option at this point" (because God and everyone else knows this Legislature won't).
The half-kidding aside, I hope that somehow, some way, the Control Board is going to make this better. The move (regardless of whether it was on their recommendation or not) of separating the administrative from the operational (which is where I have been told that Frank D. really shines) encourages me a little.
We can only hope, and sweat it out in the meantime.
An unspecified power problem
According to the MassDOT blog item posted last week, the weekend shutdown was not for winter "resiliency" upgrading, but for tie replacement.
http://blog.mass.gov/transportation/mbta/mbta-orange-line-service-alert-...
Those People'll Say Anything!
Thumbs up!
You really need the thumbs-up functionality for your headlines. I think this is one of your best.
I am very concerned the
I am very concerned the Orange Line isn't going to survive another winter.