franklin line

Commuter rail in the mist

adamg — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 10:10:50 -0400

Franklin station in the mist this morning.

Forget getting the trains to run on time; just get the conductors to announce where they're going

adamg — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 12:22:38 -0400

Charlie on the Commuter Rail notes that the issue of commuter-rail conductors not announcing where their trains are going at Ruggles grows only worse:

They often don't bother to announce the destination of the train, and sometimes they don't even step out on the platform! Since the trains have been more and more erratic, time-wise (they can vary from the schedule by five minutes or more) this is particularly worrisome. Often passengers have to go into a train and ask the passengers inside where the train is going.

Also, there was a car on the Franklin Line last night that smelled like sewage.

You may recall how the initial "let's mess with commuters' heads and not announce destinations at stations like Ruggles" thing started during the secret work action, which is supposed to be over, but, you know, conductors just wanna have fun.

Meanwhile, Train Stopping shows that what we have on commuter rail is a failure to communicate: In response to a commuter complaining about inaccurate delay info on mbta.com, a customer-service manager at MBCR (which actually runs the trains), replied:

We provide the MBTA with the delay information but we cannot access their website to post delay information; that falls under their purview.

Allegedly the MBTA is working on a fix, but has provide no completion date.

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. ...

Can an entire train have a nervous breakdown?

adamg — Wed, 23 Apr 2008 17:00:16 -0400

Quasit escapes from train 715 on the Franklin Line, which seems about ready to grind to a halt from the sheer weight of all the people now crammed into it:

... Ridership has increased enormously; every seat is full to capacity, the aisles are packed solid, and even the vestibules - which are supposed to be off-limits for passengers - are full of riders.

Yesterday there were 14 people riding in the vestibule that I was in. I was in the spot exactly between two cars; that spot is probably the most dangerous on the train, because it's the intersection between the two coaches. ... Fares haven't been collected on the #715 for weeks. Passengers are openly talking about giving up their passes and buying 12-ride tickets instead, because you can easily get a month or two of rides from one; the conductors simply can't check tickets. ...

Poetry in motion

adamg — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 23:00:24 -0400

Steve Sherlock is composing poems for each stop on the Franklin Line - in "sherku" (like haiku, but with two more syllables) - for example:

No family store, no
Five and dime, not here
At Dedham Corporate Center

How long before the MBTA adjusts the schedules on the Franklin Line?

adamg — Thu, 20 Mar 2008 16:40:02 -0400

Now that the T and the MBCR have figured out how to make the trains run on time (it's simple: just change the schedules), how long before they "improve" the Franklin Line, where we see from a new commuter blogger that things are getting annoying?

Cutting a Ruggles

adamg — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 13:12:47 -0400

Both Friday and Monday, Quasit's train from Franklin never stopped at Ruggles due to - sing it with me - signal problems:

I've put in for the on-time service guarantee on both days. Since the train never arrived at my destination, the MBTA can hardly claim that it was on time!

However, he does report some progress: At least conductors announced the bypass on the train.

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. ...

It's always a carnival on commuter rail

adamg — Wed, 20 Feb 2008 15:16:04 -0500

Dave on the Franklin Line begins his report on this morning's commute thusly:

So I coasted in to Norwood Central this morning to find the usual festive atmosphere that heralds another colossal screw-up by the MBCR. ....

Meanwhile, Jeff Egnaczyk writes to the T to complain about its newly enhanced Worcester Line schedule (no, don't worry, he didn't use any bad words). He reports he got back a reply saying the changes "were negotiated between the MBTA/MBCR and CSX (owner/operator/dispatcher of this line) over the course of several months" and now he wonders:

... Do you know any corporation dedicated to customer service that would make a major change like this without the input of their customers?

WiFi on the Franklin Line

adamg — Wed, 06 Feb 2008 19:51:26 -0500

Steve Sherlock posts his experiences direct from the train when he lucks out and gets on one of the cars that actually has it.

... For a free service, occasional access to email will be helpful and beneficial. I won't plan on getting any real work done at this connection strength. ...