Which line do you think has more dysfunctional trains: Red or Green?
By adamg - 8/27/09 - 8:06 am
The MBTA reports a dead Red Line train at Charles/MGH.
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The MBTA reports a dead Red Line train at Charles/MGH.
Comments
Purple
Without a doubt.
Green line is definitely the
Green line is definitely the worst! I'd never live on the B line again. Red line trains at least have room to breathe, and don't break down as often.
Worcester Line rider?
I see it's all fun and games this morning thanks to signal issues.
Middleboro actually...
This morning, I had an early meeting: Got up early, got on the earlier train... Still managed to arrive at the same time the later train would have arrived.
Plus, the 5-10 minute delay EVERY morning due to "platform congestion" just outside South Station boggles my mind.
Green Line
Having lived (suffered?) through several years on the B Line, and now living on the Red Line, I can say that without a doubt the latter is much better.
Don't have to deal with Massholes blocking traffic lights, downed power cables shutting down the line, obnoxious Red Sox fans, insufferable/drunk BU kids crowding the trolley for three stops, or have to stand at stops completely exposed to the New England winter wondering if the next train will be in five minutes are twenty-five minutes.
This.
The Red Line can have its problems, but the Green Line is broken on a fundamental level. Should have converted it to Blue Line-style heavy rail back when it was an option. I mean, Kenmore was originally built with the idea that would happen sooner rather than later.
Agreed.
I just moved to the Red Line after many years on the Green. (I live south of downtown so I wasn't affected by the issues today.) Both lines seem to break down more than the Blue and Orange, but the day-to-day RL operations are so much better. I commute in the middle of rush hour but can still often get a seat--and when I'm standing, I still have some breathing room, unlike on the Green Line during Sox season (i.e., half the year). Plus, it now takes me twenty minutes to get downtown where it used to take forty-five on a good day, and I live farther away than I used to.
MBTA: The Route of All Fail
I take the D/Riverside (Green Line) into Boston and this morning my train was evacuated at Reservoir. It was actually the SECOND disabled train I've been on in the last 48 hours. On Tuesday, the train I was on broke down around Beaconsfield and then the front car detatched at Longwood, not to mentioned I received a T Alert about another disabled train on the B Line! I strongly suspect that there is another secret "silent strike" going on.
Trapped Red Line rider has simple request
Joe Pitha pleads:
If you calling work means I
If you calling work means I have to hear some brainless little Britney wannabe yapping endlessly and loudly, sorry, I'm gonna go with no cell signals.
Um?
How was that remotely relevant? Sure, I hate annoying yappy OMGWTF cell phone conversations as much as the next guy, but I'm going to assume that 99% of people calling into work say something like "hey, this is [name] just letting you know that the train is running behind and I'll be in shortly kthanksbye."
If that's really that offensive to you, you might want to rethink the control you're wanting to have over random strangers' behavior.
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No question
The Green Line is the most dysfunctional; the poor little trolleys think they're "trains".
I'm in Dorchester and take
I'm in Dorchester and take the Red Line all the time, but even I have to say the Green's even worse.
While the Green and Red Lines seem to have about
the same number of broken trains, tracks, or signals on any given day, my experience has been that the dispatching procedures on the Green Line are far more dysfunctional than on the Red Line.
This morning was a classic example of this - the C line was running 10 to 15 minutes late, which meant crowded platforms at North Station and even more crowded E trains. At one point during this mess, two eastbound D line trains had "bunched" and were running very close together as they approached Government Center.
So what does the dispatcher do? He has both D line trains run back to Riverside and holds the second train at Park Street for a 10 minute "headway adjustment", when the logical thing would have been to run the second D train from Government Center to North Station and then back to Riverside to relieve some of the pressure at North Station
And for those of you who are about to cry "union work rules", ask yourself this: If a trucker were to encounter a road closure and was instructed to take an alternate route, but proceeded to tell the dispatcher "my union won't permit me to deviate from the route I'm on", how much longer do you think he'd be working for that company?
dispatch
"And for those of you who are about to cry "union work rules", ask yourself this: If a trucker were to encounter a road closure and was instructed to take an alternate route, but proceeded to tell the dispatcher "my union won't permit me to deviate from the route I'm on", how much longer do you think he'd be working for that company?"
I'm not quite sure what you are getting at here, but the T's unions control pretty much every aspect of their operation. If a dispatcher were to tell a carman to change to a different route and the carman didn't do it they certainly wouldn't get fired for it. They might get called up for insubordination which is like a badge of honor for some T employees. This is partly why the T as a whole is disfunctional. Plus, dispatching on the red line is a cakewalk compared to the green line.
Sorry about leaving everyone in mid-air like
that. I was distracted by a phone call and inadvertently sent my post before completing it.
You are absolutely right about the stranglehold the Carmen's Union has over management when it comes to operational procedures. Not attempting to reduce this problem is one of the reasons I was not unhappy when Danny G. was let go.
To follow up my hypothetical trucker's tale, I suspect that not only would it be unlikely that the T worker who defied a dispatcher's order would be fired, suspended, or even reprimanded, but it's quite possible that that worker would be able to file a grievance against the dispatcher.
I recall one time several years ago where I overheard the operator on our eastbound North Station train request to the dispatcher that she be allowed to terminate the train at Government Center because she "had to get to day care to pick up her child". Sure enough, she was allowed to get off the train, which was then held at Government Center for almost ten minutes while they got another operator to continue the run to North Station. I complained in writing to the Green Line chief about this (gave car number and time of day), and never even received an acknowledgement.
And yes, it's obvious to me that the Red Line would be easier to dispatch than the Green Line is - but I think that has more to do with the procedures the Green Line dispatchers often resort to then the fact it involves four lines converging on a common tunnel than two.
Disclaimer - I do not now work, nor have I ever worked, for either the MBTA, MBCR, or any of its consultants or contractors
Orange
Okay, so maybe they are reliable - they are reliably LATE, packed to the gills, dirty, have broken AC or the power is off, and lacking in places to grab if you are average height for a female.
Actually, I could easily use the Orange Line
instead of the Green Line to get to my office. However, I consider the Green Line to be the lesser of two evils for many of the reasons SwirlyGrrl cites.
I lived on the Green Line
I lived on the Green Line for years, before moving to an Orange Line neighborhood. I used to like the Green Line, now I can't stand it. I find the Orange to be very reliable. Although I live on the south side, from what I hear it isn't as good north of the city.
One thing the Green Line has over the Orange Line
Air conditioning! Granted, I don't take the Orange Line every day, but when I do, it always seems the AC is set to exactly one degree the temperature below which passengers would pass out, while the Green Line has polar bears running the AC. I like polar bears.
Interesting. I'm not very
Interesting. I'm not very sensitive to temperature, and quite comfortable in the same outfit for anything between 50 and 90. I'll have to try noticing that more. I also don't ride the OL everyday, as I more typically take the purple or bike. Just the same, I ride it often enough to know I like it better than Green.