No Red Line service, Sat-Sun, January 2-3

[ron_newman]

The Red Line between Harvard and Alewife will be shut down for repairs this coming Saturday and Sunday, to be replaced with shuttle bus service.

Comments

[magg1es.livejournal.com]

Thank you for the reminder!

I read that the other day, but I completely forgot!

[maelithil.livejournal.com]

Well, I know whose taking a taxi back from the airport, then!

[teele-sq.livejournal.com]

mine?

[benndragon.livejournal.com]

They wouldn't listen (http://community.livejournal.com/davis_square/1992583.html) until an actual derailment (http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view/20091225broken_wheel_caused_red_line_derailment/) happened in that stretch of red line. I'm just glad no one had to get hurt for someone to frickin' do something already.

I thought this was due to a broken wheel.

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

But I suppose it's possible a wheel broke BECAUSE of track misalignment.

Re: I thought this was due to a broken wheel.

[benndragon.livejournal.com]

I don't think the broken track caused the broken wheel, but I suspect the broken track caused the broken wheel to be a problem there rather than somewhere else between Boston's South End and Cambridge. Another instance where a series of small problems turned into one big problem, rather than a single major event occurring.

Re: I thought this was due to a broken wheel.

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

I agree. These chains of events can snowball into unpredictable disasters, at times. Glad they are working on it. But it's only down for 2 days. So, it's likely to be patches and cosmetic work.

Re: I thought this was due to a broken wheel.

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

I'd guess that the derailment happened at Alewife not because of a track defect, but because that's the first place the train would switch to the other track after leaving South Boston northbound.

Nobody said that the tracks between Harvard and Alewife are out of alignment yet. The report said water leakage in the tunnel could cause the tracks to shift in the future.

Re: I thought this was due to a broken wheel.

[benndragon.livejournal.com]

It's not like neon signs are going to declare when those tracks are sufficiently out of whack to cause a derailment. That's probably why the writer of the report pointing out how problematic this particular maintenance delay is "told The Associated Press on Wednesday he would not ride the portion of the Red Line highlighted in the report" (source (http://www3.whdh.com/news/articles/local/BO128679/)). It's really nice he has that option; my companion does not if he wants to get to work on time and I'm pretty damn worried about it.

Re: I thought this was due to a broken wheel.

[avjudge]

Yeah, the statement they put out said, if I understand it right, that it's because the train switched directions so what had been a trailing (broken) wheel became a leading (broken) wheel, or something like that, and what didn't cause problems in one position on the train did when that position (relative to direction of travel) changed.

n00b question

[jesseh.livejournal.com]

Or, actually, oldster question -- it's been almost 20 years since I was taking the bus in and out of Harvard Sq. regularly. But anyway, does the 96 leave from that same area of the Harvard Square station as the 77?

I'm thinking regular busses might be better than the shuttle busses -- any thoughts on that?

Re: n00b question

[aquaflame16.livejournal.com]

yes, the 96 leaves from the same area of the Harvard busway as the 77, right next to it, in fact.

and, yes, in my experience, if it's all the same to you otherwise, and the timing works out, grabbing a regular bus is usually preferable to dealing with the shuttles. Although this may be different on a weekend.

Re: n00b question

[jesseh.livejournal.com]

Sweet, thanks. It looks like the 77 is at 9:30 or 9:40, and the 96 is at 9:35, and I should be there around that general time, so that should all work out perfectly.

Re: n00b question

[boblothrope.livejournal.com]

Also, keep in mind that the Red Line south of Harvard will have huge delays, since trains will back up waiting to switch tracks and unload a very large crowd.