Wi-Fi roll out on Amtrak Northeast Regional!

Ahh WI-FI! Commuters who ride the MBTA Commuter Rail know WI-FI all to well. I feel that we are very spoiled to have full (sometimes high-speed) wireless internet access on basically every train in the system! Yes, sometimes it does get frustrating when your trying to publish a post and the internet cuts out and everything is erased (yes it has happened) but c'mon its free!

Ever since its initial trail process in 2008, which made the MBTA and MBCR the first railroad operators in the U.S. to offer free WI-FI service on Commuter Rail trains, the service has been implemented on 258 of of the MBTA's 410 coaches and is being utilized by over 10,000 commuters daily!

In 2010 Amtrak launched its first free Wi-Fi service on their Acela Express service between Boston and Washington. Right away the service took off leaving commuters who use Northeast Regional and other Amtrak routes around the country demanding Wi-Fi service on their trains! After the Acela launch Amtrak created similar programs for their Cascades train in the Pacific Northwest and my favorite train The Downeaster! Well finally the day has come where more trains in the Amtrak system are receiving free Wi-Fi !

Today, October 31, 2011, Amtrak is rolling out full free Wi-Fi service on 7 of their routes including: Northeast Regional, The Vermonter, Empire Service, and The Carolinian! Limited Wi-Fi service (only selected coaches per train) is also being rolled out on four other Amtrak routes including: The Adirondack and The Palmetto. For a full list of Amtrak's new Wi-Fi connected routes visit Amtrak.com!

Wi-Fi- service has long been a priority for Amtrak. Their largest barrier for expanding service was that there was limited bandwidth on many of their routes. Amtrak's Wi-Fi service or "Amtrak Connect", just like the MBTA Wi-Fi, receives its coverage from cellular companies (The MBTA's is at&t). This sometimes causes inconsistencies in internet access as the trains travel along their routes due to the fact that some areas still don't have 3G towers. Amtrak is currently working with numerous cellular companies to try and expand their coverage. The "Amtrak Connect"technology is currently running on existing infrastructure but the way that it is designed it can take advantage of upgrades like 4G connectivity.

MBTA to close Red Line north of Harvard!

Well, October is almost over and what a month it has been! Unfortunately, it hasn't really been that great for the T. This month has been a very interesting and frustrating one for commuters on the Red Line. In the past week there has has been over four disabled trains, a power outage, and a fire! I always try to be understanding when it comes to the MBTA's problems, especially when I get caught on a disabled train (like I did Friday at Davis!), but it's starting to get very old.

Disabled Train at Harvard Station

The infrastructure of the Red Line is a mismatch of old and new. The Red line fleet consists of cars that were put into service between 1968 and 1994. The stations on the Ashmont branch are brand new and the stations north of Harvard haven't been touched since the extension was built in 1985. Overall, the entire line is trying to cling to its youth, but it's just not working out!

This past Saturday the MBTA announced that they would be closing the Red Line north of Harvard during weekends, from Nov 5th, 2011 until March 5th, 2012, so they can perform $80 million worth of back logged maintenance. The first note I would like to point out about this entire situation is that the MBTA did not actually formally announce this closure until mid-afternoon on Monday but the Boston Globe broke the story on Saturday! This left many commuters, especially ones who live in Somerville, the area affected by the closures, very angry.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand! The closures will leave commuters who regularly travel from Davis, Porter, and Alewife on the weekends scrambling. The MBTA, however, is providing shuttle bus service between Alewife and Harvard but we all know it will probably be faster to just walk to Harvard. The project will allow MBTA crews to plug tunnel cracks, seal water leaks, replace eroding concrete bases and electrical wiring. They will also be replacing damaged sections of track and third rail.

Crews working on Tunnel
Near Davis. You can see the water leak at the top!
Originally published on Boston.com

This project has been needed for many years now but because the MBTA has an ever building maintenance backlog, now estimated at well over $4.5 Billion, it has been pushed off. It first came into public light in 2009 when Gov. Deval Patrick ordered an independent study on the safety of the T. The report came back to say that on this particular section of trackage if maintenance was deferred any longer the threat of train derailment would become even more significant and eventually make it unsafe to travel between Harvard and Alewife.

The T did, however, put this on its five year capital improvement plan which plans to spend $420 Million this year to maintain and replace vehicles and maintain infrastructure that is in despair. They also received a little over $4.3 million in stimulus money to help outset the cost of the project. Here is the actual funding request (You'll notice that the request says "high priority!")

Despite what the 2009 report stated, the MBTA is continuing to stress that there is no immediate danger of a derailment. The T fully inspects the tunnel twice a week, but if the maintenance was prolonged it would eventually cause major problems.

One of the main reasons why this project has been put off for so long is due to its complexity. The Harvard to Alewife extension, which opened in 1985, has a specialized track that runs along thousands of concrete slabs instead of wooden ties. These slabs float on rubber disks, almost resembling hockey pucks, that help to cushion the trains vibrations. Over the years, though, tunnel leaks have caused these slabs to crack and their rubber disks to corrode, which poses a risk of rail movement.

The T expects to work most weekends through the end of March, though trains will run during the Christmas and New Year’s weekends. Buses will otherwise provide substitute service, picking up and dropping passengers off outside the closed stations.The project cannot be managed solely within the 3 ½-hour window each morning when the T is closed, without disrupting service. Materials must be hauled in and out each weekend on special trucks outfitted to drive on rails, with the nearest entry point at the mouth of the tunnel near Kendall Station two miles from Harvard and nearly five miles from Alewife. 

Lastly, for those of you who are still complaining about how inconvenient this is ask yourself this: 
Would you rather the T willingly suspend service to address the problem or have a derailment cause the T to suspend service to address the problem?

A Night at South Station

This past weekend Aaron and I decided were going to go on a photo shoot around the city! Our first stop on the trip was South Station and then we got stuck on a disabled train at Davis, but thats a story for another time.

One of the first things I noticed when I walked onto the platform was a set of Pullman and Budd Coaches! After some investigation I found that they were part of a Coors Light advertising campaign! Coors Light had two V.I.P. trains (one departing from Washington and one from Boston) traveling to New York City for a special concert. Legal-drinking-age consumers won trips on the Silver Bullet Express through local promotions over the past six weeks, including pre-parties where tickets to the big event in New York City were given away.

 Each Silver Bullet Express train featured special Coors Light décor inside and out, and also a local DJ. The trains also featured Coors Light bars, video game stations, and iPads so winners could provide social media commentary about their experience!

The coaches for the train were leased from The Mid America Rail Car Leasing Company and consisted of coaches once used on the Souther Pacific Railroad. We did not end up seeing the Locomotive that would be pulling the train set. In the past companies that do campaigns like this will utilize Amtrak for their operation.

 Something I have been wanting to see for a while at South Station was an MBTA coach that is used for Old Colony Service! Before reading a post on iridetheT I had no idea that all of the MBTA coaches have power doors! Unfortunately the only lines that the power doors can be used on are the Old Colony lines because there are no low-level platforms. You will notice on this bi-level that there is no door handle! Gotta love Automatic doors!

This is is a Acela Express train just coming in from D.C.! This is an older train set you can see how the aluminum body of the coaches is dented every where!

Well I will leave you with a shot from the platforms at South Station looking out into the Financial Districts skyline! If you want some more cool photos of interesting things found at South Station visit iridethet!