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Amtrak marshals its forces to battle ongoing signal woes outside South Station
By adamg on Thu, 02/18/2016 - 2:26pm
Amtrak is reporting 1-2 hour delays on its trains in and out of Boston due to the same South Station problem that screwed up commuter-rail service this morning (and which continue to screw up commuter-rail service), adds:
Signals are currently being operated manually which significantly limits the amount of trains arriving and departing the station. Amtrak engineering forces are actively working to fix the issue and restore scheduled service.
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Comments
Commuter Rail
They are cancelling a ton of commuter rail trains out of South Station too!!
Signals
Can Someone please explain what this means? Are they referring to a signal like a traffic signal. If so why is there not a redundancy plan other than some poor sap standing out there holding a sign. These engines have to be computerized or the drivers on a radio. Can the dispatch center not keep monitor the Amtrak trains coming and going? I realize South Station is a busy place, but Logan manages somehow.
Logan ATC is dependent upon radar systems
for the guidance and movement of planes. Now, imagine if those radar systems suddenly went dead***. Most reasonable people would not expect the controllers to be able to handle the same level of traffic and maintain the same level of safety in that situation.
In many ways, Amtrak is facing a similar situation with the failed interlocking at South Station. The automated signal system allows for multiple movements to be made into and out of the station at the same time. When the automation fails, continuing these multiple movements comprimises safety.
Plus, remember that a dispatcher can talk to only one train at a time.
*** Let us hope this scenario DOESN'T happen, though it has in the past
Thank you
A little technical, but I understand it more than "Signal failure". Would more controllers help, like bringing people in on OT or on days off or are there limited seats / controls? I think most riders are completely uninformed of these technical issues... well except for all of the riders I heard offering suggestions to the ticket takers on the Needham line the other night. Why don't we back up and why don't we get pushed? Like the ticket takers have any say on whether or not to go forward with no power.
The issue is not personnel, it's
the physical track layout that's the constraint here. And having multiple dispatchers attempting to control the movement of trains over the same section of track is rarely a good idea.
To use the ATC example, Logan Airport has multiple approach controllers overseeing different parts of the airspace around the airport. However, as those planes come in to make their landings, they are overseen by a single tower controller. There used to be a brief time when Logan had two tower controllers - one for arrivals and one for departures. However, they stopped that practice after a couple of instances where a departing aircraft on one runway nearly collided with a landing aircraft on an intersecting runway. The reason these "near misses" happended was simple - the controllers didn't talk to each other before issuing their respective clearances.
South Station (and North Station as well) have similar control arrangements. They have dispatchers controlling the individual lines that originate elsewhere. However, as the trains prepare to move into the station itself, they are then overseen by a single terminal dispatcher.
As for your comments about the Needham line, backing up a train is not as simple as just 'throwing it into reverse and go.' For safety reasons, there are a number of procedures and protocols that have to be followed. In many cases, if a following train is expected, the most expedient way to deal with the issue is to have that train push the other one.
If the signal machinery is
If the signal machinery is dead, bringing in more people doesn't really help.
And the conductor is the one in charge of the train. But dispatch is higher up, and the conductor can't fix a broken engine.
The problem is at the "tower"
The problem occurred at South Bay Tower. The term "tower" is a throw-back to a time when signal operators were in an elevated tower to see over area switches and also see oncoming trains. The tower at South Bay yard is essentially a converted trailer. It is located near Widett Circle.
There are several dispatchers there and they pass train traffic to each other much like air traffic control passes aircraft to the next controller as the plan passes out of its territory. So you have one person talking to the trains on the NEC, another talking to the Framingham line, etc. Then you get to the yard masters that control the switches that allow trains in and out of South Station and out to Back Bay as well. The yard masters jurisdiction extends a short distance beyond Back Bay.
While much of the equipment is computerized, the computers are old, and some of the switching equipment is still operated by a levers that are manually thrown on a board. That in turn causes a switch to move someplace.
The failure is somewhere between the tower out near Widett Circle and the actual switches immediately outside of South Station and has been characterized as something burning out.
As I passed through South Station around 1 today
I heard several announcements telling some passengers to board a shuttle bus to Newmarket to catch their train there, and telling other passengers they "have to travel to Back Bay and catch the train there".
Then I heard an announcement "Attention passengers, everything has changed", train number xxx "is actually here!"
I was using the Ashmont line and everything was fine.
Most Commuter Rail trains originating somewhere else
If I read all the alerts correctly, at this point most lines that usually originate from South Station are starting from a station farther out:
Providence/Stoughton, Franklin, Framingham/Worcester, and Needham are all originating at Back Bay.
Greenbush originates at JFK-UMass.
The Fairmont line has a pile of cancellations.
No alerts are posted for Kingston/Plymouth or Middleborough/Lakeville as of 2:45 pm.
Watch for cancellations on all lines. For example, the 4:08 Providence train is already cancelled.
Prov/Stoughton leaving from South Station
Announced at 3:25.