Needham Line

How long would it have taken to walk from Needham to Forest Hills?

adamg — Mon, 17 Aug 2009 11:55:06 -0400

Anna B reports her train this morning was two hours late:

... My train died at my stop and we wound up having to be pushed into Boston by another train. On top of that, the conductors didn't even announce the correct stops. ...

Headless body found by West Roxbury commuter-rail stop

adamg — Sun, 19 Jul 2009 09:59:53 -0400

Boston Police tweet officers are at the Highland stop this morning after a decapitated body was found on the train tracks.

Woman killed by commuter-rail train in Needham

adamg — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 15:02:17 -0400

Early this afternoon near the Greendale Avenue bridge, Channel 5 reports.

Making tracks

adamg — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 11:45:31 -0500

Laura Scannell peers down the commuter-rail tracks in Roslindale.

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The delicate lungs of commuter-rail conductors

adamg — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 20:51:19 -0400

Are MBCR conductors on another secret job action, or do they all just have sore throats? Charlie on the Commuter Rail reports what happened at Ruggles yesterday afternoon:

... An outbound train pulled up to Ruggles at 4:19; everyone got on. One passenger asked what train it was, and discovered that it wasn't the Franklin train after all; it was the Needham train, running very late. We all started shouting and warning people, and there was a mass exodus of Franklin passengers.

The conductors never announced the damn train. ...

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Amcrak

adamg — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 09:56:34 -0500

Figures. Those disintegrating, cracked Northeast Corridor ties will affect some MBTA commuters out of South Station. The Globe reports the rail lines between Back Bay and Readville will be shut June 14 through 17 to allow for replacement of the ties there. That means buses for commuters on the Attleboro/Providence, Franklin, Needham and Stoughton lines (dear Globe: What about the Fairmount Line?).

Commute-a-holic, meanwhile, points us to this fun story about the Winchester commuter-rail stop:

Signs warning pedestrians away from the in-bound entrance to the commuter rail station along Waterfield Road in Winchester are still in place, more than two weeks after hundreds of pounds of concrete fell from the ceiling. ...

Early bird catches the train

adamg — Fri, 22 Feb 2008 15:58:24 -0500

Catberta reports the 8 a.m. inbound train at Roslindale Village today was actually two minutes early.

And you thought Amtrak didn't have anything to do with commuter rail around here anymore

adamg — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 11:20:43 -0500

Turns out Amtrak still handles the dispatching for trains out of South Station - and the track between Boston and Providence - so a possible strike by Amtrak workers next month could make commuting a bit more interesting from the south and west:

... A strike would nearly shut down South Station, forcing thousands of commuters on to subways, buses or into their own personal vehicles. ...

And, of course, given the general fragility of our road system, could we expect a cascading effect to make the drive to and from the south and west even more fun?