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The Needham Line is so late, you can get coffee while you wait
By adamg on Fri, 05/27/2016 - 8:28am
No, really. BranchDesign chronicled her commute this morning on the Little Line that Couldn't: The train that finally came was so crowded 40 people were standing just in her car and the conductor couldn't check tickets. Also:
Train so late that two women had one of their husband deliver Starbucks while waiting.
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Comments
Just convert it...
...should be a branch of the Orange Line to Needham Jct, meeting a branch of the Green Line coming down from Newton.
Oh wait, only proposed in 1945...
https://archive.org/details/reportofmetropol00mass
(And yes, I know we can't afford it, and Needham will never approve it, etc, etc, etc, etc. Just pointing out that commuter rail (as we have it here) really isn't appropriate for these lines, and that was known about 70 years ago...)
1945 proposal
Also contains a description of the Green Line Extension.
And to think...
...we can't even make West Medford, while they wanted to go to Woburn!
Or buy some one-employee DMUs
Or buy some one-employee DMUs and run them every 10 minutes, no further construction needed.
No DMU for you
Sadly, there are no DMU manufacturers in the USA at this time. The last company making them went out of business a few years ago. Any foreign company we would by from would also need to ramp-up a manufacturing facility here to meet conditions of the BUY AMERICA ACT.
That said... hold on and wait... The MBTA is actually looking at rebuilding some of its retired locomotives to make them rail-worthy again, and then change the gear ratios in the motor trucks to accommodate faster starts and stops on lines such as Fairmount. At present the locomotives are geared for maintaining speeds of 59 mph through 125 mph or top speed. Slower trains that have stations closer together do not need that and can be geared for that. For those who didn't know the Red, Orange and Blue line are locked down at 40 mph so while it may seem they go faster at times, they don't and cannot unless they are going downhill.
The dedicated train sets would run Fairmount oly and if successful might also be used for mid-day service on other lines such as Needham. That project is still on the drawing board but is getting some serious consideration. Each trainset would have about 3-4 cars and no more and run on more-frequent headways like a subway train.
Please
I was on the same train! It's a Friday before a long weekend, she should have moved cars. I had an entire bench to myself.
Ya it was 10 min late, the horror.....
Get over it lady......
I know no one likes the middle seats...
...not even me, but it looks like there are some open in the photo. That's not exactly Worcester or Providence line conditions...
I think every seat is taken
I think every seat is taken in the photo, and those heads on the left edge are in the middle seats.
I can't speak to other
I can't speak to other commuter rail lines, but on the Needham Line you have this culture where people put their bags on the middle seat. So by the time the train gets to Roslindale, usually those middle seats are the only open ones. And some of the people sitting give you dirty looks when you ask them to move their bags so you can sit. It's grand.
And those are the adults!
I'd rather stand than be bunched into a middle seat, but for those that can't or would like to sit, it is pretty silly how people are so hesitant to let someone sit next to them.
Seat hogs
Happens to me all the time on the CR. To the evil "Person on the Aisle", the train is a rush hour one and will be jammed, stop pretending you're sleeping and take your bag off the seat. And don't sigh when I ask to sit there, it's a seat for three people. And just push over in the middle, standing up slowly with all your stuff and letting me in the middle only creates a backup of people trying to board and delays everyone.
Train
Actually, the 7:32 out of Needham Heights was delayed because of engine trouble. The conductors then said that train would become the 8:10 out of Needham Heights but it didn't get moving until after 8:20. As a result my morning commute took two hours when the train finally shuffled into S. Station around 9:25. No fares were taken at any point on the train.
BS
I took the 7:32 which was ten min late arriving in West Rox, but managed to get us to SS by 8:25.
I'm confused
How did Adam post at 8:28 about the horrid commute that began, by your timeline, 8 minutes earlier? The train wouldn't have crossed Route 128 by then.