The Red Line is the central artery of the MBTA, carrying more passengers than any other subway line, two-times more passengers than the entire commuter rail system and 70% as many passengers as all bus lines combined. Red Line service has been unstable over the past few weeks and I’ve heard from many about that, but there is reason for hope, in the long term, for big increases in both reliability and capacity.
Last week, a group of Senators representing districts along the Red Line met with Brian Shortsleeve the Chief Administrator of the MBTA and Jeff Gonneville, the Chief Operating Officer to talk about the future of the Red Line.
Jeff Gonneville’s passion for making the system work better has been evident in every conversation I’ve had with him about the Green Line and about the Red Line. No less so in this recent conversation. Both he and the Chief Administrator know how much the system matters and also how bad things have been. They went through the litany of problems they’ve had recently and how urgently they are working to minimize their recurrence.
The focus of the meeting was on long term plans. Currently, there are three generations of cars running on the Red Line, the oldest going back to 1969 and the most recent dating from 1992. The oldest vehicles have millions of miles on them. It is a testimony to both the quality of their original construction and the skills of the MBTA’s maintenance shops, that these vehicles are still running at all. But reliability has become a real issue — of 218 cars altogether, 50 are in the shop on any given day.
In 2014, the MBTA set in motion a procurement to replace the oldest two generations of cars. New cars are expected to begin arriving in 2019 and continue arriving through 2022.
At the same time, the MBTA has been improving the Red Line tracks themselves and, most importantly, studying how to improve the signal system — signal system outages often contribute to delays.
The current system is a “fixed block” system — trains are permitted to proceed from track block to track block as the blocks ahead clear. More modern systems don’t depend on track blocks — instead, they track the actual spacing to the next train using communications.
Moving to train control based on spacing on the Red Line would cost the better part of a billion dollars. But the MBTA’s engineers have been carefully studying their options and have developed an exciting alternative. They can upgrade to a reliable digital system still using the fixed block model for a relatively inexpensive $200 million. The MBTA’s signal blocks are short enough that they approximate a continuous spacing model pretty well and can pace trains almost as efficiently.
The huge savings from the preferred approach can be used to acquire additional cars and completely replace the existing fleet. In addition to the obvious maintenance advantage of having a single kind of car in the fleet, a fleet composed entirely of the new cars could allow a big increase in capacity, up to 50%.
The new vehicles will be able to both accelerate and stop more rapidly than the older vehicles. Their braking distance will be 30% shorter, meaning that they can be spaced more closely. Also, since they will accelerate faster, they will spend more time running at their top speed. Overall, the engineers estimate that capacity could increase from roughly 13 trains per hour to 20 trains per hour at rush hour.
All of this will take 8 or 10 years to achieve. For now, while we can hope for slowly improving reliability, service is likely to remain uneven. The MBTA faces a host of tough management and engineering challenges. As your State Senator, I will continue to do everything I can to support their efforts to improve.
Update, December 13
On Monday, this plan was approved by the board of the MBTA. Read the Globe story here.
Using the T can be tough. Parking to use the Purple line is limited at many train stops particularly in a bad storm. Alewife Station parking fills up fast. This leaves people with limited and often expensive parking options or running around filling parking meters.
Are there any plans to address station infrastructure concurrent with train replacements/upgrades? Harvard station is really showing its age, and the lower busway is concerning because on rainy days there is brown water leaking out of old light fixtures. (If there’s water making its way that far underground I can only imagine what impact the water has had on the structural supports on the way down…)
The MBTA’s capital plan does include station upgrades, mostly for accessibility. There are many stations that are less accessible or in worse shape than Harvard, so it probably isn’t that high on the list, but we will check.
As a former D.C. resident, I fear that the Red Line will be the Capital Beltway revisited.
By the time the darn thing gets finished, it won’t be able to handle the traffic that will have increased over the long course of the improvement plan.
I hope I’m wrong.
Substituting for parking, better, faster, more reliable bus service to the Alewife T over its 7 MBTA bus routes could attract more commuters. The slip ramp from Route 2 and the jug- handle returning to Route 2 are used as two lanes during rush hours. One lane each could be a bus lane with ‘don’t block the box’ on the ramp at the right turn and the jug- handle under the tunnel.
All it takes is signs, striping, and initial enforcement. Can we experiment with these two bus lanes?
Let’s not wait ten years.
Hi Arthur, the Alewife bus service and access is much harder to improve than it may look. The issue was fully studied most recently in 2008-9. Please see this post and related posts under the same category. The major intersection recommendations from that study have been substantially implemented.
I can remember the days when we called the T, Rapid Transit. Perhaps one day we can again.
I have often wondered where the man power (read $$$$$$’s) comes from on all tracked lines when a breakdown occurs and buses are pressed into service to circumvent the problem.
As someone who has been stuck on some of these slow trains, I appreciate your concern. Happy Thanksgiving!
Thanks, Wil. For the update. MBTA would substantially reduce frustration if they would publish this info, but we riders appreciate you filling the media vacuum and keeping your constituents informed.
All the best.
Thank you. To be fair, this capacity increase has gotten some previous coverage in the media.
Thanks for the info, Will. Welcome news, eventually. Would more tax revenue move the project along at a faster pace?
No. The funding is in place. It’s just a matter of doing it — which is hard.
If this is an indication of the conversation, I think Gonneville’s missing the main point. It’s not to add capacity. That would just mean more trains out of service. Are the older ones by definition less reliable? You don’t say.
More than anything, what we need is the Red Line, to paraphrase the Cubs manager,to try not to suck as much. Reliability is the key. THEN lets get to capacity and speed.
No, they get that — reliability before expansion, but in this case, it’s all part and parcel of the same thing. The newer cars and signals will be much more reliable. In addition, they will be faster.
We are visiting family in Duesseldorf, Germany. I hope that the MBTA officials have studied some of the public transit systems in Europe. They are a joy to ride and very efficient.
I agree. We should be looking to Europe as a model. I recently returned from a two week trip to Germany. Every time I visit Europe I marvel at how well transportation works there.
The red line as the central artery is the problem regardless of the systems operational status. There is no “alternate route” when service is down. What is needed is crosstown connectors to “map around the damage when the redline is on the fritz. I used to do this when I was in college, I would take the Watertown branch of the greenline to pick up the #70 bus to waltham then #61 to Lexington center. They eliminate the #61 bus in their infinite wisdom
Yes, USA should study some European public transport systems which run pleasantly, affordably, and efficiently.
In this country taking public transport is close to riding in the gutter.
We need short-term improvements for the Red Line now. There are too many problems and delays that make us late to work and school. This morning, my Alewife train sat outside Park Street for 15 mins for no reason. There was a train ahead that was taken out of service for no reason, I was late for a meeting at Boston University and couldn’t take it anymore with the delays. Why is there always signal problems at Alewife constantly even though weekend work was done and this should have been dealt with? I am a college student and I pay so much money for my monthly pass but these delays and problems make me furious and late to my classes and other commitments.
I don’t blame you for being frustrated. I am frustrated too as a rider.
The MBTA leadership has great challenges!
Will,
I am not pointing a finger at you personally and I am glad to hear that you use the subway to get to the statehouse so you know first hand how terrible it is.
Buy I simply do not understand how the subway system was allowed to deteriorate to this level except through gross negligence and malfeasance by our state government. Now we need to wait another 8 years? Just for the Red Line?? What is being done about the totally inadequate Green Line? It is overwhelmed and we keep throwing up more and more high rises without any regard to transportation infrastructure and traffic. Look at the Seaport. Two bridges to access it and no public transportation except a Silver Bus? This is government at its worst.
Sorry to vent but I have been living and working in the city for 25 years and use the Green Line every day. It is dreadful.
Hi Tony,
I have also been giving attention to the Green Line and have written a lot about it at this link.
I am actually even more focused on the Green Line than the Red because so much of it runs through my district and because it needs so much improvement.
Is the existing power supply sufficient for greater acceleration and (double?) the train electric load over the same distance?
Thank you.
They are on top of the related signal and power issues.
How much can the state pay for the Red Line cars in advance? Like place orders from a revenue stream in the near term and borrow later to fund the balance in order to keep finance charges down. (I.E. pay cash for the first 5 cars a year initially). If you don’t you will be paying much more later.
The key strategy is to lock in the production line at a fixed price and that is exactly what the T is doing.
I hope they (supplier) can hold the line and the T can keep it’s promise. I would be concerned about long term borrowing costs spiraling now that interest rates are starting to rise and stagflation is setting in.
Thank you, Will!!! As a passenger on the Red Line, this is a great improvement in timely service.
How does the taxpayer weigh in on this?It looks like a bunch of directors of the T decides they need new cars and self-approve the sale and sticks the taxpayer with the bonds
I think the T board made a good decision for the public benefit. But if you want to weigh in, they do have a public comment period at each meeting.
Sole Sourcing is pretty dicey stuff. Let’s hope it doesn’t bite MassDOT in the butt; like the Democrat 2006 wall legislation