On the Orange Line

Ah, the Orange Line, the creaky, poorly-rerouted, mildly decrepit remnant of the Main Line Elevated. A truly unique example of a distinctive Boston subway line. And not really in a good way. The Orange Line, as in cars, has followed the example of the Blue Line, this time in terms of operations. The line recently switched from the longstanding operating policy of having a two-person crew, one to operate the train and another for doors and announcements, to One Person Train Operation. In some places, a switch like this would reduce costs, by decreasing train crews and therefore the required wages for said crews. To prevent layoffs, the former guards/attendants could be given customer service jobs, negating the need to hire and train new employees. But this is the world famous MBTA, home of the oldest and least logical transit system in the nation. So with OPTO on the Orange Line, as with many projects, they've bungled it. Again. The (T) seems not to have done much in terms of training, the trains are slower to fully enter the stations, with a notable, if understandable, lag from then till the opening of the doors. Additionally, it takes longer for the doors to close, and then for the train to leave the station, not a concern in normal operations, but what about for an already delayed train? Furthermore, many stations now have personnel on the platforms assisting the operators in door closing, despite the presence of purposely-installed cameras and screens for viewing the doors. All of this combines to form an unpleasant picture. The costs of the OL have not been reduced, the trip times have not been improved, the safety level may have gone down, and there is next to no upside to the transition to OPTO. It really shouldn't be like this. Washington's Metrorail has run with OPTO on every line since its creation. Their stations lack the video monitors positioned near the operator's cab, and most lack even simple mirrors, and many have less lighting than the OL stations. Metro runs many trains with six cars that are each longer than the OL cars, with one operator and few aids. Plus they run eight car trains with the same one-person crew, and they run pretty efficiently, even since the switch to full manual operation. And they accomplish this without legions of platformed employees waving flashlights to indicate the doors are clear. The (T) seems to have transitioned to OPTO on the OL rather carelessly, not bothering to make it efficient, and certainly not exploiting the potential upsides, such as more frequent service. Yet again, the MBTA has proved that while they can make progress in what they do and how they do it, such progress is usually slow, poorly-executed, badly planned, and downright horrifically illogical, and something of a disgrace to the first subway in America, though by no means an unexpected one.

And so it goes, another day riding forever 'neath the streets of boston.