I used to live near a major trainyard. It's amazing how much they block the road. They have this hugeass trainyard and half of it is empty while they block a road to organize cars. On occasion someone waiting would blow their horn. That didn't help at all.

This never would have happened if Mussolini was in charge.

Perhaps if they put some stickers on the trains they would go faster.

Meanwhile in Tokyo, 100,000+ train arrivals and departures per day (yes, really) of which on an average day maybe a handful are late, and by 'late', i mean 'Japanese late', which means more than a minute or two late.

boobsrgood

No, those are silly. I want a GP40MC "Type R" for my ride.

Eh. It's still faster, more economical, and better for the environment than taking the Mass Pike into the city everyday.

well perhaps the tardiness has a lot to do with passenger loading (i.e. more people, more delays) as either due to passengers or due to road users/vandalism, most train delays are caused by things outside the control of the train operators

Meh. It still beats flying.

Exactly - NJTransit is hell (mostly because they share track with Amtrack)

Trains are blameless, holy creatures. They have no time for you corn-shucking crackers!

The Long Island Snailroad is awful

Tillmaster: Meh. It still beats flying.

I dont know, i have kinda gotten used to the strip searches, hours waiting in line for incompetent people to rifle through my luggage, flight delays / cancellation, missing connecting flights so i can sleep at the airport, no food being served with only a bag of peanuts to hold a grown man over for 4 hours or more at a time.... so I don't understand your statement.

if it were only five minutes late when it happens I could and would deal. twenty extra minutes waiting around getting hit up for spare change by that guy who says he only needs a dollar to get a ticket home from south station is not my idea of a good time

It's for your safety and convenience. Thank you for your support.

Tell me about it. I've ridden the Boston commuter rail to work every day for the last five years. Wintertime is absolutely brutal. If some of the higher-ups at NCBR had to wait half an hour for a late train on a sub-zero New England morning, they might to do something more than just offer us words.

The counter-argument is that fixing the trains requires money. All of the engines in use now are at least 20 years old, maybe older. But instead of getting never engines or even repairs to the ones we have, we get wi-fi on one car of the train. Gee, thanks. Now I can e-mail my boss and tell him I'm running late.

Xai: well perhaps the tardiness has a lot to do with passenger loading (i.e. more people, more delays) as either due to passengers or due to road users/vandalism, most train delays are caused by things outside the control of the train operators

yeah, my thought exactly. Of course it takes longer to run a service when you have 3 times the amount of people trying to get on and off.

You either load the schedules so that the train sits in the station for ages when it doesn't need to or end up with trains running late when lots of people are using them.

/I'd actually prefer the former

oh yea! have the mbta higher-ups returned their company-paid cars and started taking their own commuter services yet?

I worked in the Back Bay on a contract last year and finally gave up on the T after being 20+ minutes late every day.

Parking is only slightly more expensive, so it beat having to explain to my clients "Oh yeah, the T was late again. Sorry."

Plus I didn't have to listen to the guy with the fuzz guitar at the bottom of the steps playing CCR music atonally every damn night.

If you ever get annoyed, look at me, I'm self employed. I love to work at nothing all day.

/yeah, so old I know BTO lyrics.
//lawn, go now.

Archon Fung. Why has nobody else commented on that name yet?

If it's anything like the DC Metro, the extra delays are likely because:

1. Assholes trying to get on the train don't let people unload.

2. Assholes trying to get on the train will block the door trying to squeeze on when there is no room.

3. Longer unload/load times even without the aforementioned assholes due to larger numbers of passengers.

Plus, when one train on a circuit gets delayed, then the trains behind it usually have to slow down a bit, which means that the delays just cascade.

Shadowe: Archon Fung. Why has nobody else commented on that name yet?

Scared he would Fong me until my entrails became my extrails.

/What? It's only one letter.

Sid_6.7: If it's anything like the DC Metro, the extra delays are likely because:

1. Assholes trying to get on the train don't let people unload.

2. Assholes trying to get on the train will block the door trying to squeeze on when there is no room.

3. Longer unload/load times even without the aforementioned assholes due to larger numbers of passengers.

Plus, when one train on a circuit gets delayed, then the trains behind it usually have to slow down a bit, which means that the delays just cascade.

This.

Bomb Head Mohammed: Meanwhile in Tokyo, 100,000+ train arrivals and departures per day (yes, really) of which on an average day maybe a handful are late, and by 'late', i mean 'Japanese late', which means more than a minute or two late.

True, but Tokyo trains are also the ones where they overcram them to ridiculous degrees.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STNWc7Rlpfk

If a train is consistently 20 minutes behind schedule, maybe they should change the schedule?

Ecobuckeye: If a train is consistently 20 minutes behind schedule, maybe they should change the schedule?

or add more cars.

Still, the worst day on the train is still less stressful than the best day fighting traffic on the road.

I wish my area had any public transit, let alone decent transit.

In general private transportation works better at off times and public transportation works better during peak times.

If a train is consistently 20 minutes behind schedule, maybe they should change the schedule?

They are adding adding a few minutes to account for slower loading and unloading during peak hours. (Why now and not ten or twenty years ago, I don't know.) If you care about 20 minute delays you're still out of luck.

This got the green light?

Evilmogwai: Xai: well perhaps the tardiness has a lot to do with passenger loading (i.e. more people, more delays) as either due to passengers or due to road users/vandalism, most train delays are caused by things outside the control of the train operators

yeah, my thought exactly. Of course it takes longer to run a service when you have 3 times the amount of people trying to get on and off.

You either load the schedules so that the train sits in the station for ages when it doesn't need to or end up with trains running late when lots of people are using them.

/I'd actually prefer the former

Yep, though too much wait time per station would make the commute ridiculously slow. What they need is backup trains that can be added if a train gets more than 10 minutes behind schedule. Hopes and dreams..

Hey, it's not just trains. It's copiers/scanners, computers, vending machines, your 0.5mm pencil, your assistant/boss, the reservation system, whatever. They all sense you urgency level and slow down or stop functioning accordingly.

And if you aren't desperate enough at any time, then that IT forced security update requiring a reboot comes along while you are on the phone working out a problem using your computer with someone a long distance away with their own time issues.

It's a machine conspiracy I'm telling you. We must find Sarah.

Funny you bring this up Subby, just last night i was the caboose while running a train on your mom and she was complaining about my tardiness pulling into the station

Bomb Head Mohammed: Meanwhile in Tokyo, 100,000+ train arrivals and departures per day (yes, really) of which on an average day maybe a handful are late, and by 'late', i mean 'Japanese late', which means more than a minute or two late.

Because Japanese commuters know WTF they are doing. Every late departing train I've ever seen on the DC Metro system was caused becuase some self important asshat decides to jump on at the last second causing the doors to open up again, causing more self important asshats to do the same thing.

OregonVet: I used to live near a major trainyard. It's amazing how much they block the road. They have this hugeass trainyard and half of it is empty while they block a road to organize cars. On occasion someone waiting would blow their horn. That didn't help at all.

Sounds to me you don't understand how rails work. You can't just jump from rail to rail, you have to go to the point where the rails merge. Often, that is also right by where a road crosses.

The worst is when the train stops about 50 feet from the crossing but close enough to trigger the gates.

"Any delayed train, in my mind, is a delayed train and in my mind we can't have that," said Richard Davey, general manager of the T's private contractor.

"It's no coincidence that I talk to my senior staff immediately after every morning rush hour and immediately before every afternoon rush hour."

You're doing a heckofajob there redundancy Richard. Your "talks" and $4 might get you a cup of joe (or $2 if slumming it at the Dunkin Donuts).

lelio: (or $2 if slumming it at the Dunkin Donuts).

THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH DUNKIN' DONUTS,DAMN IT!
*wipes tears*

It sucks when the trains are behind schedule. The Newburyport line runs behind my place. When it heads inbound and has to wait for the track to clear, because of delays, it parks out back and idles.
Loud sons o biatches too, but it sounds cool when they throttle up.

Anyway, you can get a "Train delay refund" around here.
Clicky here:
Train Delay Refund

worthlessjuan: It's a machine conspiracy I'm telling you. We must find Sarah.

I also blame Sarah Palin.

Tedowski:
Anyway, you can get a "Train delay refund" around here.
Clicky here:
Train Delay Refund

That program always makes me laugh. Yeah, getting that five bucks back will be real helpful after you've been fired for being late ten times in a month.

chixdiggit: This never would have happened if Mussolini was in charge.

It's simple enough to implement his solution to late trains.
All he did was kill all the guys in charge of the trains.

Dmala:
That program always makes me laugh. Yeah, getting that five bucks back will be real helpful after you've been fired for being late ten times in a month.

HA HA very true. They make it hell hoping you'll just give up.

This thread is Exhibit A why no person with an IQ above gravel goes into politics.

I bought a house 50 miles from where I work! Give me city water and sewers! -water mains go in- NOW MORE PEOPLE WANT TO LIVE OUT HERE! The roads are packed! I'm late to work everyday! And the gas bills are killing me! BUT YOU CAN'T EXPAND THE ROAD! The construction will make me even later, and more people will want to move out here when it's done! GIVE US COMMUTER RAIL!! -commuter rail starts up THE TRAINS ARE PACKED! AND TOO EXPENSIVE!! AND THEY RUN LATE! Add more trains! Without raising fares or taxes! And the trains are noisy! Make them stop blowing their horns! OH GOD! A CARLOAD OF TEENAGERS GOT BLOWN AWAY BY A TRAIN! Make the now-hornless crossings safe again, without raising taxes!

I could go on.

I don't care how many excuses they come up with that are "outside of their control". If your trains are late every day, the schedule is unrealistic and needs to be changed. Just because you write some numbers on a table doesn't mean they will magically come true.

boobsrgood: Perhaps if they put some stickers on the trains they would go faster.

They just need to paint them red.

Tedowski: Dmala:
That program always makes me laugh. Yeah, getting that five bucks back will be real helpful after you've been fired for being late ten times in a month.

HA HA very true. They make it hell hoping you'll just give up.

See, this is why they need to release the data about train tardiness. One of the first mashups would be a "keep track of my train late refunds for me", where you set up a profile to say what train you take and the app automatically keeps track of your refunds. . .

Oh, would that rock. Free money on the MBTA's dime until they improve service. They'd probably just jack up rates instead of working to fix the problems, though.

And don't get me started about how the stupid $168 zone 3 pass I've got doesn't work with the RFID "pass here" thing. Slows you way the hell down.

Still, it's better than driving. I wonder how long I can continue to say that?

IKillBugs: Ecobuckeye: If a train is consistently 20 minutes behind schedule, maybe they should change the schedule?

or add more cars.

or maybe you could take an earlier train

razordu30: True, but Tokyo trains are also the ones where they overcram them to ridiculous degrees.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STNWc7Rlpfk

I cringed just watching that.

Tainted1: boobsrgood: Perhaps if they put some stickers on the trains they would go faster.

They just need to paint them red.

Everyone knows BLACK is the fastest color.