The T

[atlrvr]

Red Line

Ashmont (new station enclosure and plaza)

Fields Corner (new station enclosure and reworked Charles St.)

Charles MGH (new enclosure with full accessibility and reworked traffic circle...getting close to completion)

[atlrvr]

Blue Line

Maverick (new elevator access from the separate entrances and lengthening of the platforms to accept 6-car trainsets)

Government Center (see above in the Green Line. New JFK building entrance will have direct access to Blue Line and will replace the Bowdoin stop, which will close once the Blue Line is extended to Charles/MGH)

[atlrvr]

The MBTA finally received its first two new Blue Line cars from Seimans this past weekend....only 2.5 years behind schedule. They will begin testing the cars in the off-hours soon, and then hopefully start receiving more cars to put into service later this springs.

[atlrvr]

There was an article about selling off land around the Forest Hills Orangle Line state in today's Herald. There will be nieghborhood meetings, and the BRA will organize the planning.

http://business.bostonherald.com/businessN...rticleid=176108

The general goal is to get more housing and green space there, with the neighbors wanting sustainable,/enviro friendly design.

[JJK5]

This was posted on another site, but here is a link to a concept for Forest Hills redevelopment back in 2005. Looks great, but somehow I doubt the residents of JP would go for something of this scale....if anything of this magnitude were to be built, it would really make sense to reopen the E branch down to the Arborway/Forest Hills station.

For the city to keep from further sprawling, development of this magnitude needs to be occuring at ALL the heavy-rail T stops that aren't already built up. Ruggles, Community College, Sullivan Square, Wellington, Revere, Wollaston, etc.

[atlrvr]

Oops...thanks.

[atlrvr]

A group of Jamaica Plain residents have sued the state for scrapping the plans for restroring the E Branch of the Green Line back to the Arborway. They claim it was part the environmental rediation agreement as part of the Big Dig. The state says there are other priorities. While I agree that there are other priorities, Green Line to Somerville, Blue line to Lynn, and Charles MGH, and the Urban Ring, I think the Arborway reopening should definetly get completed as promised.

It would add another transit option to the Forest Hills area, that the above conceptual plan shows as a potential huge dense area.

[atlrvr]

I took the Orange line up to Malden Center yesterday, and parked at Wellington were the two shiney new Blue Line cars.....they were pretty damn sexy. I wish I had my camera. Hopefully testing is going well, so they can finish the order and get these into service.

[Cotuit]

There's a cool little video on Mac Daniel's blog about the last run of the Boeing green line cars.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/startsand...g_with_mac.html

[atlrvr]

The MBTA is going to upgrade the Columbia Junction switch and signal systems, which is down near JFK station. Apparantly this one problem spot is responsible for 60% of Red Line delays and has to be operated manually every time it rains.

http://boston.metro.us/metro/local/article...tches/7862.html

[atlrvr]

The D-branch of the Green Line will shut down between Fenway and Resevoir on June 23rd and stay closed through the end of August. They are upgrading utilities mosntly, but I do believe they are doing some track work. The only day it will be open is July 4th.

It is being done to up the speend and reliability of the route. The section of track between Fenway and Eliot can only be run at 10 mph....this will increase to 50 mph.

With all the work completed, the entire run from Riverside to Fenway will decrease by 6 to 8 minutes.....sounds worth it to me.

[DoctorGonzo]

The renovations to the D-Line will also allow the Breda cars to run in revenue service. At the moment they are under a strict 25mph speed limitation, as they are pretty much assured to derail if they travel any faster.

[atlrvr]

Excellent.....with the new Bredas being delivered and the upgrades to the D line.....is it possible that I won't have to see any of those old rusty Boeing's ever again?

[DoctorGonzo]

The Boeing feet was permanently withdrawn from service on March 16th.

On that day, LRV 3485 made a farewell trip from Riverside to GC and back again with a bunch of railfans on board (myself included). We rode through the Government Center loop and all the way into the Riverside yard where the train was promptly decommissioned on arrival and joined the rest of the Boeing fleet which sat there in the snow waiting to be scrapped.

I was the last passenger off of the last run of the last train.

You can view some of the photos I took here. I still have some more sitting around undeveloped (yes, I still use film - not by choice, though).

[Lowerdeck]

Sounds great, improvements to the D really needed to happen. That is one slow and rough ride in from Riverside.

Edited June 13, 2007 by Lowerdeck

[atlrvr]

Great pics DoctorGonzo.....I really enjoyed seeing the A-branch roll-down sign with Waterton as the destination....it really dates those trainsets.

[DoctorGonzo]

Great pics DoctorGonzo.....I really enjoyed seeing the A-branch roll-down sign with Waterton as the destination....it really dates those trainsets.

[atlrvr]

In an astounding turn-of-events, the D Branch of the Green Line will be re-opening a couple of days ahead of schedule. It was originally projected to re-open next Tues. Sept. 4th, but it will be up and running this Saturday Sept. 1st. I believe with the track repairs, they will be able to use the new Breda LRT vehicles on the D Branch as well as maintaining speeds in excess of 40mph all the way to Riverside.

[Lowerdeck]

Sounds good. Probably will give the D Branch a ride on Tuesday, see how it now is.

[Lowerdeck]

I was riding the D Branch yesterday. Coming in during the morning it took 40 minutes from Riverside to Park Street, so I'm not sure if that's faster than before. Seems some of the wobble problems the cars had along the route has gone away, but not completely... there's certain places it still does it.

Coming out, I went from Fenway station out after the Sox game... a fresh car to get everyone there back to Riverside. Beats having to deal with ultra crowded cars coming out from the rest of the route ... after it's stopped at Kenmore.

EDIT: I just remembered now. They really have built up the area around Woodland station in the past couple of years. Fairly new looking development complex and a parking garage over there to rival Riverside for commuter travel.

Edited September 4, 2007 by Lowerdeck

[DoctorGonzo]

A bit of shameless self promotion, but it's been a hell of a month on the T.

[atlrvr]

The new blue line cars have been delayed another couple of weeks, but T officials are optimistic that they will have the first 4-car set operating by the end of January.

[DoctorGonzo]

The new blue line cars have been delayed another couple of weeks, but T officials are optimistic that they will have the first 4-car set operating by the end of January.

Edited January 12, 2008 by DoctorGonzo

[northernbizzkit1]

Does anyone know when the Breda cars will be on the D line?

[Lowerdeck]

News:

Two trains collided on the D branch Green Line about an hour and a half ago from now. One slammed right into the back of another near Woodland station. There are a few injuries, and D branch is currently a shuttle west of Reservoir.

Too soon to tell anything, like what exactly happened.