Fog lifting on commuter rail windows
T begins replacing 6,000 blurry panes to end complaints
MBTA commuter rail riders may often feel they're having vision problems, with the train's windows so waxy and scratched they are more barrier than portal.
But starting today on the Haverhill line (coach No. 1638 on the 214 train, scheduled to leave Haverhill at 8:43 a.m.), about 200 commuter rail cars will get their cloudy windows replaced.
In all, 6,000 of 10,000 windows -- mostly on single-level coaches running out of North Station -- will be replaced within the next year, said MBTA General Manager Daniel A. Grabauskas.
The new windows were promised in 2003. Since, about 300 windows have been replaced out of 600 targeted for repairs for safety reasons rather than fogginess.
The replacements are part of a $2.5 million program approved by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority board of directors in September.
Grabauskas, who is heavily emphasizing customer service as the MBTA proposes another fare increase starting in January that would raise the price of commuter rail passes 22 to 26 percent, said the change is part of a larger upgrade in commuter rail service.
Other improvements on the way, in the next 18 to 20 months, include new bathrooms, new air-conditioning units in some older commuter rail cars, and new car supports for a smoother ride.
Grabauskas said that in talking to passengers about needed changes on the commuter rail, ''they all said we'd love to have bathrooms, we'd like to have working air-conditioning.
''But time and time again, the inability to see through the windows came up."
Some of the polycarbonate windows are 19 years old and so opaque from age, wear, and prolonged exposure to ultraviolet light that riders have reported missing their stops.
''You sort of have to guess looking out the foggy window whether you're at Hyde Park or 128," said Gretchen E. Barron of Stoughton, who commutes to Boston on the Providence line.
''It's kind of like you're on a submarine and you have to come up for air to figure out where you are."
Mac Daniel can be reached at mdaniel@globe.com. 
