Unbelievable -- MBTA is admitting it may take a month to bring back full service. Although that may be a pesimistic forecast to let them look good if full service is restored sooner ---- ??
Well we know what happens many times when private companies run any kind of public transit.
http://www.wcvb.com/weather/mbta-to-provide-limited-service-monday/31286350
MARC & VRE on CSX were shut down for the President's Day holiday on Monday the 16th and for the Mid-Atlantic snow on the 17th.
Snow takes MANPOWER to keep a rail service running - no matter all the high tech gadgets and gizmos that are installed to defeat old Mom's Nature it still gets down to MANPOWER and a broom to keep operations moving.
Never too old to have a happy childhood!
blue streak 1 Well we know what happens many times when private companies run any kind of public transit. http://www.wcvb.com/weather/mbta-to-provide-limited-service-monday/31286350
I believe the only private company involvement on the T is on the commuter lines. Note that the heavy and light rail lines are greatly affected as well.
Do Bostonian's want some cheese to go with their whine?
They have had in the vicinity of 6 feet of snow in a urban area, and millions of people to move on a daily basis. When most of the snow has melted to water - things will return to normal.
A good word for MBTA in all this confusion. MBTA rescued Acela passengers going to Boston near Providence.
http://www.boston.com/news/weather/2015/02/17/davis-just-got-rescued-the-mbta/kHbatLcQui7nNqavW7FVRP/story.html?p1=story_hp
The video on network tv this evening showd workers hand digging out some subway track. How inefficient can that be ?
A standard RR wedge plow certainly would not work as pushing snow out to the side would probably damage the third rail. All our posters need to think of solutions. One thought was having a very small rotary plow that would fit inside the guage of the third rail but the problem of fourcing snow to the side would need a lot of thought.
Another would to only plow above the level of the third rail. But neither seems to be without problems. May be some kind of snow melter ? ideas welcome.
Of course some nay sayers are going to say " How often would such a unit be needed " Our RRs certainly don't need them often but when they do === ?
Another month to restore full service? Why don't they just say until spring comes to New England and the snow melts?
Finding someone with something nice to say about the MBTA right now is like finding a needle in a haystack.
Enter former Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis, who told Boston.com he was “just saved” by the MBTA. That’s right. Saved.
Here’s what happened.
Davis was in Washington D.C. on business. He awoke to find eight inches of snow on the ground, and wasn’t wowed by how the nation’s capital handled the winter weather.
Davis said he is actually a fan of the snow, but not of the extent to which it brought D.C. to a grinding halt.
“I wasn’t too impressed. You couldn’t get a cab. There was no one on the road. It was a disaster. It was terrible,” Davis said. “I don’t mind the snow, to be quite honest with you. I kind of like it. I like shoveling.”
He left snow-dusted D.C. on Tuesday morning, boarding the 7 a.m. Acela Express train from D.C.’s Union Station to Boston’s South Station.
As the train approached Providence, things went downhill.
“Everything died. The train lost power completely,” Davis said. “Next thing you know, an MBTA commuter rail train comes up next to us. The whole Acela evacuated on a gangplank and came across to the MBTA train.”
Davis said he spoke to the conductor, who told him that the Acela has “never evacuated to a local train before.”
“The MBTA was pleased to offer assistance to the Amtrak customers aboard Acela,” said MBTA spokesperson Joe Pesaturo. Amtrak did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Davis was surprised to be rescued by the MBTA, which has been criticized for weeks amid weather-related delays and shutdowns.
“The transportation system is just a mess right now. I have all the sympathy in the world for the people trying to manage this. But these are long term infrastructure problems,” Davis said.
Davis promised his story wasn’t part of some kind of guerrilla marketing campaign.
“This is not a marketing ploy. I swear,” Davis said. “I couldn’t believe it myself. We were saved. We were saved by the MBTA.”
BOSTON (CBS) — It’s all hands on deck in Boston to get public transportation up and running again after another record-setting snowstorm.
The MBTA says it will provide a limited schedule of rail and bus service on Tuesday. The transportation agency also announced Monday that it will regularly update the public in an effort to improve its communications.
“As we navigate through this challenging winter, we will inform the public with consistent daily updates to keep the lines of communication open and allow Bay Staters to plan ahead as much as possible,” MBTA General Manager Dr. Beverly Scott said in a public statement.
Scott also said Monday that it could take 30 days for the transit system to return to normal service.
A mixture of union workers, students and others just looking to make some extra cash are shoveling MBTA tracks, WBZ-TV’s Nicole Jacobs reports. The MBTA is paying $30 an hour to workers who help clear the snow.
About 50 inmates from the Department of Correction are also helping to shovel, the MBTA said.
The transit system shut down completely on Sunday for the storm that dumped 16.2 inches of snow in the city, and rail and bus lines were operating on a limited schedule Monday.
Workers shoveling out the Red Line Monday (Photo credit MBTA)
A spokesman for the MBTA said buses are shuttling shovelers from the Bayside Expo Center at UMass Boston to help dig out the Braintree branch of the Red Line.
CHECK: MBTA Service Schedule
“I know that the commuters need to get out and go to work and I wanted to make some money today,” said shoveler Caitlyn Lowe.
Workers clear Red Line tracks of snow and ice near Water Street in Quincy. (Photo credit MBTA)
Extreme cold and historic levels of snow have crippled the nation’s oldest transit system. Shuttles have been substituting for Red Line trains on the Braintree branch for several days after snow and ice cut power to the third rail.
On Tuesday, service will be available on the Red Line from Alewife to Andrew Stations with limited substitute bus service on the Ashmont and Braintree branches.
See the recovery posted on the "What happened..." thread below.
blue streak 1 The video on network tv this evening showd workers hand digging out some subway track. How inefficient can that be ? A standard RR wedge plow certainly would not work as pushing snow out to the side would probably damage the third rail. All our posters need to think of solutions. One thought was having a very small rotary plow that would fit inside the guage of the third rail but the problem of fourcing snow to the side would need a lot of thought. Another would to only plow above the level of the third rail. But neither seems to be without problems. May be some kind of snow melter ? ideas welcome. Of course some nay sayers are going to say " How often would such a unit be needed " Our RRs certainly don't need them often but when they do === ?
We don't need to invent new kinds of MOW equipment to solve this problem as it already exists:
http://secondavenuesagas.com/2009/12/18/snow-cancels-weekend-work-nostalgia-train/
Jet blowers work well for clearing third rail equipped lines and rotary snow brooms are also quite effective.
The problem is the "T" just did not have enough equipment and personnel for the amount of snowfall that occured in the short span of time. For instance, they only own 2 jet blowers to cover (perhaps I should have written "uncover") the third rail lines...
They wound up "borrowing" (for a probably considerable amount of $)some of the very MTA NYC equipment pictured in the link I posted.
"I Often Dream of Trains"-From the Album of the Same Name by Robyn Hitchcock
I have a friend who works for the MTA on the m of w crews. During winter storms he too is redeploy as a shoveler on platforms and r of w, its not all hi tech. Lots of laborers involved to keep things fluid.
Typically the MTA does not deal with 6 feet of snow, like what fell on Boston.
Keolis has stated that it will take the full month to repair the MBTA locomotivies. Could this be because these locos are equipped with DC traction motors ?
Actually, the new HSP-46s have been having a lot of trouble with the cold, too. These appear to be teething issues that will be resolved soon.
DC locomotives do have more problems than AC locomtives with snow in the traction motors, but it usually isn't a major problem.
Here is Keols link.
http://www.keoliscs.com/news/keolismbta-commuter-rail-recovery-update-added-train-capacity-adding-extra-trains-snow-clearing-complete/
blue streak 1 Keolis has stated that it will take the full month to repair the MBTA locomotivies. Could this be because these locos are equipped with DC traction motors ?
More likely they don't have enough repair parts to fix everthing that needs it and will have to get additional parts from suppliers.
Looks like the heads are still rolling. Now one at Keolis. How many persons were suspicious of Keolis getting this contract in the first place ?
http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2015/02/keolis_gm_bails_as_rail_flails
BaltACD
latest locomotives from MPI are AC equipped.
Have fun with your trains
Buslist blue streak 1 latest locomotives from MPI are AC equipped.
blue streak 1 latest locomotives from MPI are AC equipped.
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