 |
(Joanne Rathe/Globe Staff/file) |
Needham
Alan Muster will be the first to admit that reading SumNews - the glossy, bimonthly magazine put out by the Massachusetts Society of Certified Public Accountants - isn't exactly the most scintillating activity in the world, even for a CPA like himself.
But it beats staring at a vacant commuter-rail station or down a long, empty expanse of track, something Muster and other Needham residents have been doing a lot lately.
"I can get through the whole magazine now," Muster said as he sat in his SUV waiting for his girlfriend's train to arrive at the Needham Center station one evening last week. "It didn't used to be like this."
At 6:14, the train that was due at 5:59 finally pulled into the station.
As late as midsummer, commuters say, the on-time performance of the MBTA's Needham Line was rock solid and dependable. But that began to change in the fall, and it has gotten steadily worse, they say. Five-minute delays became 10, then 15. Trains that had been late once a week are now tardy every other day, and even the company that runs the trains for the T admits that on-time trains are now the exception rather than the norm, due at least in part to a rule change on how trains must handle accessibility for its riders with physical disabilities.
Scott Farmelant, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Co., confirmed last week that, while the overall performance of the commuter rail has been off lately, the Needham Line has been particularly troublesome.
In September, he said, 66.6 percent of Needham Line trains going to and from South Station in Boston were on time. The number dropped to 48 percent in October, and fell to 40.3 percent in the first half of November, Farmelant said.
Recent rule changes at the two farthest stations, Needham Heights and Needham Center, Farmelant said, have made it virtually impossible for inbound trains to run on time.
At both stations, access to trains for the disabled is made possible by elevated platforms at the far end of the station, as much as 300 feet from the area where other passengers are picked up and dropped off. To pick up a handicapped person, the train must make two stops at the same station, Farmelant said.
In the early fall, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority officials said they had learned that the trains were stopping at the handicapped ramps only if someone was visibly waiting there, he said. Under MBTA guidelines, all trains are now required to make separate stops at the two ramps regardless of whether a potential passenger is visible, he said.
Since it takes several minutes to pull a train forward, stop, and then get underway again, and since by contract any train arriving at its destination more than four 4 minutes and 59 seconds behind schedule is officially deemed late, the on-time performance of the line has suffered. The recent Red Sox victory parade, mechanical problems with an aging train fleet, several medical emergencies, and a small rash of deer strikes have made matters worse, he said.
"MBCR certainly apologizes to its customers for the delays," said Farmelant, who added that his company is preparing to install signal equipment that will allow for single stops at both stations and hopefully ease the delays.
That will be welcome news to Needham commuters like Christine Morocco, an event planner who said she has been missing 9 a.m. phone calls at her Boston office since late August. But, like any veteran rail commuter, she said she also knows that another reason for a delayed train is waiting around the corner. "I'm a realist."
© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.
