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Commuter rail delays not nice; at some stations, also ice
By adamg on Tue, 02/16/2016 - 7:45am
Alexis Deise peered down the stairs at the Newtonville stop on the Worcester Line this morning.
At 7:45 a.m., there were delays on numerous lines due to mechanical problems, "late turn of equipment" and, of course, train traffic.
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Comments
Keolis got caught off guard
They normally are very ahead of the game on platform clearing, but this morning I think they were surprised how bad it was north and west. Up in the Merrimack Valley we had 2-4 inches of snow with an inch of sometimes solid ice on top.
Thanks to a 20+ min delay, I did get to see the platform crew show up and were making short work of it once they got there.
Are all the platforms Keolis'
Are all the platforms Keolis' responsibility? Because I was told that Worcester was still unshoveled on Wednesday and Thursday last week because it was the station's reponsibility.
It's possible...
...but I thought that due to railroad right-of-way issues it's all done by commuter rail employees. I wonder if at Worcester it's the access to the platform that's done by station management?
http://www.mbta.com/schedules
http://www.mbta.com/schedules_and_maps/rail/lines/stations/?stopId=237 answers that question:
"City of Worcester is responsible for ... station and platform snow removal"
The principal delay
on the Reading line this morning was because of a crossing circuit malfunction at Broadway in Wakefield. Not only did trains have to flag that crossing, but outbound trains approaching the crossing triggered both the crossings at Broadway and Albion Street.
And it was another morning of musical trains on the Green Line, with C trains being short turned at Park Street - but having to loop at Government Center. And in the midst of all this, I heard a very unnecessary radio transmission. All operators were instructed to contact a yardmaster upon return to their terminal station. The purpose of this contact - so they could remove the little orange booties on the couplers.
I was on 204...
...and heard them talking about it - I don't think we stopped, but something must have happened after we came through. 204 was also late out of the yard at Bradford due to mechanical issues (was 20+ late at Andover), and also held up 206 doing the Bradford/Haverhill yard dance.
Wouldn't surprise me if they want the coupler covers off since it's getting warm. Might not want to trap moisture on the electrical contacts on the couplers, which might cause corrosion. They seem to do wonders with keeping ice/snow off the couplers, but I could see why you don't want the plastic on there when it's above freezing.
The stairs were clear when I
The stairs were clear when I got there at 8:30, heavily salted, and they had a little bit of the Platform cleared. About 5 guys working with shovels and a blower.
One might ask
why in 2016 the stairs (and platforms) on these stations don't have awnings.
All Commuter rail platforms
All Commuter rail platforms and walkways are the responsibility of Keolis.