MBTA (Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority) discussion

[Fenway]

You can't make this stuff up

https://www.universalhub.com/2023/green-line-speed-restrictions-not-lifted-most-t

 

[Brian Battuello]

There is a strange lack of front page stories about the "T" this morning, so dropped by with an unrelated report. There is a new book out with an overly complete history of Boston Transit.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0262048078
I am in awe of this book. In almost 600 pages, it covers Boston transit from canoes to the latest T maps. The author has an extensive collection of all sorts of tickets, maps, schedules, advertisements, etc. While the number of illustrations can only be described as excessive, there is detailed and easy to follow related text. While I doubt few will read it cover to cover, it is an invaluable reference source for all aspects of Boston transit. Highly recommended.

 

[Fenway]

The MBTA has unveiled its speed restrictions dashboard so you can see where somebody on a bicycle can pedal faster than a subway train - like much of the Blue Line and the Green Line between Chestnut Hill Avenue in Brighton and the Lechmere viaduct.

The T promises to update the page every day so riders can follow along as the T clears, or doesn't, the slow zones that have long plagued riders and all the new ones that were added over the past couple months.

The black triangles show where trains can't go more than 10 m.p.h.



​

 

[Brian Battuello]

And back in the bad news category, an analysis of the slow zones by the Globe shows that a red line train takes an average of 78 minutes longer for a round-trip ride Ashmont, Alewife, Ashmont than if the trains were run at the original design speed.

Not that any sane person would do that.

 

[Fenway]

It just doesn't end



Today I took a Green Line train from Union Sq to Woodland and it took 76 minutes and coming back it was 71 minutes.
Now the Blue Line has become a problem

https://www.bostonglobe.com/2023/03...rictions-have-trains-crawling-riders-bawling/

 

[Fenway]

Apparently, Governor Healy has decided on Phillip Eng, the former president of the Long Island commuter rail system to be the new GM of the MBTA.



https://new.mta.info/people/phillip-eng
https://www.cbsnews.com/boston/news...r-search-massachusetts-governor-maura-healey/

 

[Brian Battuello]

Job interview:

"So, if we put you in charge of the MBTA, how will you fix it and turn it into a world class system? And how long would that take and how much money do you think you'll need?"

 

[Fenway]

I wish him well

 

[Lcon]

I think that oversimplifies MBTA. The T isn’t just the Subway lines it’s a layer cake of networks spread over three states Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhodes island. Bus, light and heavy rail, ferry services.

You have what? at-least 8 major modernization and development projects for the rail aspect. South Station, Back bay station, the orange line , the green line extension, Rolling Stock on the commuter line, which is overdue. Draw bridge one off north station hasn’t even started yet. That’s before any pop up issues like Harvard Square. Or the new governor’s want to electrify the commuter rail system which would feed back into rolling stock and demand major changes to all the railways in the greater Boston area.
Oh then the North South connection project that has been boiler plate for at-least as long as the LIRR grand central.
This hasn’t even left the Boston metro area and we’re still on the rails.

 

[Fenway]

Didn't take long for the Boston media to question the hire

 

[BlackDiamond]

I thought the WGBH presentation brought up some good points. The lack of any mention in the 5 year plan of key projects like electrification and red/blue connector, and the fact that the T needs to both fix the current problems with the broken system but at the same time look toward the future such as the projects I mentioned. These will be challenges for the new GM to deal with.

 

[west point]

CRRC being investigated by feds.

Feds inspect the Springfield CRRC plant...

 

[joelkfla]

CRRC being investigated by feds.

https://www.masstransitmag.com/rail...-ensure-adherence-to-buy-america-requirements

"Congress “was so concerned with this” that as part of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, lawmakers included a provision banning federal taxpayer dollars from being used to purchase buses or railcars from foreign-owned or controlled companies, the trio of congressmen wrote."​

Isn't every current manufacturer of railcars foreign-owned or controlled?

 

[jis]

"Congress “was so concerned with this” that as part of the 2019 National Defense Authorization Act, lawmakers included a provision banning federal taxpayer dollars from being used to purchase buses or railcars from foreign-owned or controlled companies, the trio of congressmen wrote."​

Isn't every current manufacturer of railcars foreign-owned or controlled?

That unfortunately is an overly broad statement. That is not what S.846, the Bill in question says. The summary of the Bill as presented in Congressional Records says:

Transit Infrastructure Vehicle Security Act

This bill prohibits the awarding of a contract to an entity for the procurement of rolling stock for use in public transportation if the manufacturer of the rolling stock is (1) incorporated or has manufacturing facilities in the United States; and (2) is owned or controlled by an entity based in a country that is identified as a nonmarket economy country, was identified by the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) as a priority foreign country (e.g., a country that does not protect intellectual property rights), and is subject to monitoring by the USTR. This includes the People's Republic of China.

Any recipient of financial assistance for public transportation that operates a rail fixed guideway service must certify that it will not award any contract for the procurement of rail rolling stock for use in public transportation to a manufacturer of rolling stock that is described by this bill. A recipient that operates a rail fixed guideway public transportation system must certify that it has a written plan for identifying and reducing cybersecurity risks.

The Cornyn, Baldwin, Crapo, Brown Amendment that went into the Defense Bill does the following:

Specifically, the Senators’ amendment would prevent federal transit funds from being used by transit agencies to procure Chinese rail assets and ensure transit agencies develop and execute a cybersecurity plan.

• Limitation on Certain Rolling Stock Procurements: This legislation prevents federal transit dollars from being used to award a contract or subcontract for the procurement of passenger rail cars or transit buses to Chinese state-owned, controlled or subsidized enterprises. The bill would create a certification process for transit agencies to ensure their funds are not being used to purchase rolling stock from a covered manufacturer. A narrow exception would be made for transportation agencies with a pre-existing contract or subcontract with a covered rail rolling stock manufacturer executed prior to the date of enactment.
• Cybersecurity Certification: Given the level of technology and growing complexity of rail rolling stock assets, it is important that proper cybersecurity standards are in place. This legislation would require any transit operator that operates rail transit service to develop and execute a plan for identifying and reducing cybersecurity risks. Recipients of federal transit assistance would be required to review best practices and to identify any hardware and software components of new rolling stock assets that should undergo third-party testing.

The bottom line is that the stipulated limitations apply only to those countries that do not meet certain free market and trading requirements, which at present make Chinese companies ineligible to be selected as vendors. Specifically Western and most Central European countries are fine. So one does not have to stop ordering stuff from Siemens, Stadler, CAF and Alstom for example. South Korea is fine too, so Hyundai-Rotem is fine. But CRRC is out

 

[BlackDiamond]

I believe the MBTA did not use federal funds for the CRRC car purchases so this provision would not apply to the Red and Orange line orders.

 

[joelkfla]

That unfortunately is an overly broad statement. That is not what S.846, the Bill in question says. The summary of the Bill as presented in Congressional Records says:



The Cornyn, Baldwin, Crapo, Brown Amendment that went into the Defense Bill does the following:



The bottom line is that the stipulated limitations apply only to those countries that do not meet certain free market and trading requirements, which at present make Chinese companies ineligible to be selected as vendors. Specifically Western and most Central European countries are fine. So one does not have stop ordering stuff from Siemens, Stadler and Alstom for example. South Korea is fine too, so Hyundai-Rotem is fine. But CRRC is out

Found the letter, and that wording was in the letter itself, not misquoted by the news source. One would hope members of the Transportation Committee (or their staffers, who probably drafted the letter) would have a working knowledge of relevant legislation.

 

[jis]

Found the letter, and that wording was in the letter itself, not misquoted by the news source. One would hope members of Transportation Committee (or their staffers, who probably drafted the letter) would have a working knowledge of relevant legislation.

Either they are incompetent, ignorant or just knowingly grand standing. The relevant legislation does not say what they claim it says. You correctly noted that if what they say is true there would be nowhere to buy any passenger rail equipment from.

 

[Bostontoallpoints]

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/...d-electrical-company-general-manager-charged.
BOSTON – The former Assistant Chief Engineer of Facilities for Keolis Commuter Services (Keolis) and the former general manager of a Massachusetts-based electrical company have been charged in a scheme to defraud Keolis of over $8 million.

John P. Pigsley, 58, was indicted by a federal grand jury on five counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, six counts of tax evasion, one count of filing a false tax return and four counts of structuring financial transactions to evade reporting requirements. Pigsley was arrested this morning and will appear in federal court in Boston at 1:45 p.m. today.

John Rafferty, 69, of Hale’s Location, N.H., has been charged by an Information and has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

2019 Heartland Fuel 352 Camper, VIN: 5SFCG3927KE404401, valued at $37,150.00, seized by the FBI on March 03, 2022, from Lorna Jean Noel and John Patrick Pigsley in Beverly, MA for forfeiture pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 981(a)(1)(C). 22-FBI-002284:

 

[jis]

I believe the MBTA did not use federal funds for the CRRC car purchases so this provision would not apply to the Red and Orange line orders.

The MBTA order is actually not subject to this audit. It is the SEPTA Multi-Level Car order that is.

 

[Fenway]

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ma/pr/...d-electrical-company-general-manager-charged.
BOSTON – The former Assistant Chief Engineer of Facilities for Keolis Commuter Services (Keolis) and the former general manager of a Massachusetts-based electrical company have been charged in a scheme to defraud Keolis of over $8 million.

John P. Pigsley, 58, was indicted by a federal grand jury on five counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, six counts of tax evasion, one count of filing a false tax return and four counts of structuring financial transactions to evade reporting requirements. Pigsley was arrested this morning and will appear in federal court in Boston at 1:45 p.m. today.

John Rafferty, 69, of Hale’s Location, N.H., has been charged by an Information and has agreed to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

2019 Heartland Fuel 352 Camper, VIN: 5SFCG3927KE404401, valued at $37,150.00, seized by the FBI on March 03, 2022, from Lorna Jean Noel and John Patrick Pigsley in Beverly, MA for forfeiture pursuant to 18 U.S.C. 981(a)(1)(C). 22-FBI-002284:

The reaction of commuters says it all



meanwhile this also happened

 

[Bostontoallpoints]

The reaction of commuters says it all



meanwhile this also happened

So their accounting system allowed this for 7 years. Keolis is either incompetent or there are others involved. Pigsley was scrapping thousands of pounds of copper wire daily, sometimes twice a day.

 

[Trogdor]

Pigsley was scrapping thousands of pounds of copper wire daily, sometimes twice a day.

Well, he was charged with wire fraud, so…

 

[Fenway]

As of today, the T has modified the countdown boards at several stations

 

[Metra Electric Rider]

Well, he was charged with wire fraud, so…

LOL - I find the name ironic (and also close to Pugsley...).

I'm too lazy right now to look, but somebody mentioned earlier about the Blue Line being relatively trouble free. Last time I was in Boston (about 16/17 months ago) I had to take every other line to get to Logan since the inbound blue got stuck somewhere, blocking other inbound trains (if I understand operations correctly, they reverse at Bowdoin). Ah well, I got to ride everything else to get to Logan.

 

[Bostontoallpoints]

https://www.bostonherald.com/2023/04/13/trains-nearly-hit-mbta-employees-four-times-in-past-month/
A breakdown in safety communication at the MBTA led to four “near misses” in the past 30 days, incidents where employees were almost struck by trains.
Chief Safety Officer Ron Ester said Thursday that two near misses in March occurred when employees were working on the tracks without authorization, and a third incident involved a train operator who disobeyed a flag-hand signal to stop and instead picked up speed when T workers were in the right of way.

Another near miss occurred earlier this month when the final eastbound Green Line train, which had been delayed and thus was late, unexpectedly passed through an area where employees were working on the tracks, Ester told the T’s safety subcommittee.