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Gremlins go to town: Red Line train is down
By adamg on Fri, 05/04/2018 - 10:54am
The MBTA reports Red Line delays of up to 30 minutes because an inbound train is experiencing "a mechanical problem" approaching Harvard.
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Comments
City life isn't sound as a
City life isn't sound as a pound when a red line train is down
How'about: Catastrophe on the track, time to assess Pollack
This is not time for amateur hour at the T. Baker needs to do some switching. Pollack should be a T spokesperson, Ramirez should crunch TOD numbers. Gonneville+Dalton should run the entire op
My apologies for repeating myself...but we are not World Class
I was just in Hong Kong for a week with friends, a group of 8 taking the public transportation system all over the City and countryside with 2 children and a baby stroller. The trains were all spotless, everything worked, everything ran on time, never had to wait more than a few minutes, elevators took the stroller up and down, staff was friendly and courteous. Flawless cellphone and internet service hundred of feet below the ocean. The dirtiest car I saw (none really) was cleaner than any subway car I've seen anywhere in the USA.
Just think someday we could aspire to be as good as the Chinese !!!
This isn't a one off. Travel to Shanghai, BKK, Japan or to UK or Europe, (generally not as good as HK or Tokyo but better than USA). This is what as meant as 'World Class'. Let's break it down....the CLASS OF THE WORLD, meaning the best or as close to the best as anywhere else in the World. We simply are not that good. That is why some of the people who comment on this board use the term "world class" sarcastically because they have been outside the USA and seen how some things are done in other places and they work better than here. (Or maybe they haven't been outside the country but they know how to do research) So they understand that saying that it is possible to have clean reliable trains, pleasant staff, on time service, expanded hours, integrated service, etc. are not pie in the sky things to ask for. It has been achieved.
Let's not even start to talk about health care systems and outcomes ......
We do many things very well in America, other places do some things better, many places are much worse. The ideal of America to me is of taking great ideas from wherever they come from and adopting them or making them even better. The shame is that we aren't doing that enough and that collectively we seem not to insist on higher standards anymore.
WE ARE NEVER GOING TO HAVE A WORLD CLASS PUBLIC TRANSPORT SYSTEM
Let me repeat that.
WE ARE NEVER GOING TO HAVE A WORLD CLASS PUBLIC TRANSPORT SYSTEM
U-hub can post all the articles in the world about late trains, shitty busses, bad behavior etc - Its never going to change. Its never going to be better than what it is now.
The systems in other countries are designed with long term planning. They are designed with 20-50 year time frames and implementations. The planning spans multiple governments all with the same goals. Better public transportation FOR ALL. The systems grows as the population grows. The government plans for growth and builds accordingly. The system is maintained because it is part of the social fabric of the cities and towns.
Here in the United States the system is backwards. We allow areas to grow without planning for public transportation. (See Boston Seaport). We allow lines to die (See Heath Branch).We don't maintain our systems because it is not a priority for government. Then we do nothing about it.
Every 4 years we have an election and we vote for people who promise to cut government spending.
We are the ones who keep voting for bad policy and bad planning.
We are to blame for not having a world class transportation system because we go on message boards and complain but will vote for the same people who give us crappy service because they are on "our team'.
So.... Stop voting for clowns?
Suerte!
Then we need non
clowns to run for office? Interested?
Glum
we'll never make it...
I dunno, man. The shit I put up with going to Boston Latin in the 80s... seriously. This system seems far superior. I never use public transportation so I guess I should forgo the Uber and try a few train rides next time I go to Manhattan. I'll report back.
The Hong Kong metro is 30 years old
Give them another 50 and it will be just like ours,
I was on this one
It ground to a halt with a puff of air. Then followed several "mechanical issues, please stand by" announcements interspersed with air sounds of various volumes and rhythms. A couple times there were backwards jolts, or attempts at moving forward and abrupt stops. (I wonder if there were issues with the brakes -- they use air brakes, right? Maybe a leak.) We pulled very slowly into Harvard, and the train was taken out of service.
Maybe 10 minutes later, a new southbound train pulled in... and was taken out of service.
I ended up walking to downtown. Pleasant enough, although it took an hour or so.
You did the right thing, Tim Mc.
Walking's healthier for people, anyhow.