bobquasit | I won't STOP! (MBCR)

What the hell. I wrote to the Governor.

The #715 Franklin commuter train is dangerously overcrowded. On Friday, 7/13/07, there was a medical emergency in the coach next to mine; a woman had passed out. Passengers tried to notify a conductor, but there were none to be found. When a passenger tried to come into our coach looking for one, he was completely unable to pass through the aisle. I counted 33 people standing in that coach, including myself. We had to resort to trying to shout out a message to be passed down the line to the next coach. It took several minutes, perhaps longer, to finally get a conductor.

I assume that the ill woman's condition wasn't serious (I spoke to a nurse who tended to her on the train). If her condition HAD been serious, the delay caused by the dangerous overcrowding of that train could have caused a tragedy.

I've been riding the #715 Franklin from Ruggles (departing at 4:19 PM) every day for several years. In that time, I've been able to get a seat less than ten times. I'm never the only one left standing; on average, I've counted 11 standees in each coach. Usually most of us are forced to stand until the train starts clearing out at Norwood Central. That's over 25 minutes standing on a lurching train, often in conditions so crowded that some passengers have nothing to hold on to.

At the same time, the Needham Heights train which stops at Ruggles at 4:13 always has AT LEAST eight fully empty seats per coach.

I and other passengers have written and called the MBCR. We've never received any satisfaction. Conductors are usually rude and unresponsive to complaints. I wrote to Governor Romney two years ago and after five months received a form-letter response and no other action.

And don't even get me started about coaches without air conditioning! On hot days the temperature in some coaches is in excess of 100 degrees. That's a medical emergency just waiting to happen.

Passengers are angry - I know, because we chat about the lousy service we're getting. We're sick of being told that there are plenty of seats. Our eyes (and feet) tell us otherwise. We've been lied to again and again by the MBCR, told that two-level coaches can't fit on the tracks (funny, they fit well enough on later runs on the same track), and that an annual survey ensures that there are more than enough seats for all.

That's simply not true, and we know it. We see other trains which have far more seating for passengers. To be honest, a lot of us have given up complaining, because it's obvious that management simply doesn't care. I wouldn't have bothered this time, except that the medical emergency on Friday made it clear that the MBTA/MBCR's negligence is going to have terrible results sooner or later.

I hope that you'll take action on this issue. Thanks for your time.

I hope he'll be more responsive than Mitt Romney was.

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Just curious - when you say no seats, do you mean that all the middle seats in the three-seat rows are full? I've noticed lots of times on the Middleboro line that those seats will be empty and people will opt to stand rather than ask for those seats (a mystery to me). I'm wondering if that is why the MCBR thinks there are adequate seats available.

Well, last night when there were 21 people standing (including three children), two seats up front were blocked by baby carriages and were therefore unusable. And I saw two three-person seats with two people in them; every other seat was full to capacity.

So there weren't anywhere near enough seats no matter how you count it.

But this raises an interesting point. The fact is, a large and increasing number of Americans are obese. Go onto any commuter train coach, and you're sure to see more than one person who is simply too large to fit within one of the provided seats. People like that fill up a two-person seat all on their own, and two such people fill a three-person seat.

Plus, of course, there are a large number of selfish bastards (thin and fat) who feel that it's vitally important that their baggage have a comfortable seat, rather than being subjected to the agony of the luggage rack or - horrors! - a lap. Or the floor.

A few days ago I was one of eight people forced to stand. A beefy young man with a shaved head (he looked a lot like a teenaged Curly from the Three Stoges) was in a three-person seat. His garbage bag took up the other two spots. When people approached him, he ignored them.

And when the conductor walked by, they ignored each other.

Thanks for the response. On the odd occasion that the Middleboro line has people standing in the aisles, most of the middle seats are empty so I just wanted to clarify.

I wish you luck in getting the problem fixed. That sounds like a frustrating, if not outright dangerous, way to end the day.

The press is starting to pay attention, so it looks as if things may get interesting. I've been thinking of starting an open blog for complaints about the commuter rail specifically; the "T Riders' Union" is a great idea, but they seem to be firmly focused on buses and the city of Boston only.

Commuter rail passengers deserve some attention too. Maybe a blog would help.

Get the word out on the poor service on the Franklin line. We need to really drive this message home. The inbound 7:45 AM this morning was short cars and extremely overcrowded due to the earlier train from Walpole "not running". If there was an emergency, you would never have gotten help to people, not to mention the ignorant people just watching this poor elderly person try to get off at Back Bay. The morons wouldn't even move to the platform and reenter the train as a courtesy.

Service has sucked this month. Seems like the usual excuses. Come on Deval step up and help the fare paying passengers that drive the boston economy.

I've ridden the train in from Hyde Park Monday, Tuesday and Thursday this week between 8:00 and 9:00 AM, and haven't found an on-time train once. This level of unreliability is outrageous, and causes real harm to the economy--not to mention peace of mind.

I don't know if the two Anonymous postings are by the same person or not, but either way I'll gladly give you posting access to the Charlie On The Commuter Rail blog. I agree, word needs to get out.

For example, someone I know mentioned that there were big problems on the commuter rail in Attleborough recently (or maybe it was South Attleborough, I can't remember). The train was packed with two or three trains worth of people (there had been problems, a suicide attempt), and they made everyone get out and walk across a long (two-story) ramp to get to another platform. As she was walking, she got dizzy - and then realized that the whole ramp was rocking and swaying.

It was old and rusty, clearly not well-maintained. She got off that ramp until the vast crush of people got off.

Does the MBCR/MBTA know about this? I don't know. But if I hear about a ramp collapsing in Attleborough any time in the next ten years, I'll remember her story.

Not that that will help any people hurt or killed in the collapse, of course!

I won't STOP! (MBCR)

Open seats

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