THE ON-TIME PERFORMANCE of the commuter rail system took a sharp dive in late September and October, particularly on the Fitchburg, Franklin, and Providence lines.
According to statistics released at a meeting of the Fiscal and Management Control Board on Monday, the system as a whole was on-time (defined as within five minutes of the scheduled arrival time) 84.6 percent of the time in October, the lowest level in at least a year. The worst-performing line was the Franklin Line, with 79.2 percent on-time performance, followed by the Fitchburg and Providence lines, both at 80.2 percent.
Rob DiAdamo, the T’s executive director of commuter rail, blamed many of the problems on the Franklin Line on mechanical breakdowns. “Franklin has seen too many mechanical failures recently,” he said.
On the Fitchburg line, he said, the chief problem is slippery rail delays. Slipper rail is a phenomenon that occurs when wet leaves fall on the railroad tracks, reducing traction and forcing locomotives to slow down.
Keolis Commuter Services, the T’s commuter rail operator, has dramatically stepped up efforts to clean railheads of leaf debris. That effort resulted in a slight decline in overall delays on the commuter rail system so far this year through November 11, but the reverse happened on the Fitchburg Line. Delays more than doubled on the Fitchburg Line, rising from 657 minutes last year to 1,328 minutes this year.
Control board urges more PRIM investment
The T’s Fiscal and Management Control Board unanimously approved a resolution on Monday calling on the MBTA Pension Fund to invest all of $1.6 billion with the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board.
Steve Poftak, the general manager of the T, reported that the MBTA Pension Fund on Friday voted to invest $25 million in a PRIM private equity fund, the second such investment the T fund has made with the much larger state fund.
Brian Shortsleeve, a member of the control board, said all of the MBTA Pension Fund’s money should be invested in PRIM because of PRIM’s superior investment returns and more professional management. He said the investment returns would bring greater stability to the pensions of T workers and reduce the amount of money the transit authority needs to set aside to cover its pension obligations.
At the end of last year, the MBTA’s pension fund liabilities topped $2.9 billion, more than twice the size of its assets.
Winter is coming
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Editor, CommonWealth
About Bruce Mohl
Bruce Mohl is the editor of CommonWealth magazine. Bruce came to CommonWealth from the Boston Globe, where he spent nearly 30 years in a wide variety of positions covering business and politics. He covered the Massachusetts State House and served as the Globe’s State House bureau chief in the late 1980s. He also reported for the Globe’s Spotlight Team, winning a Loeb award in 1992 for coverage of conflicts of interest in the state’s pension system. He served as the Globe’s political editor in 1994 and went on to cover consumer issues for the newspaper. At CommonWealth, Bruce helped launch the magazine’s website and has written about a wide range of issues with a special focus on politics, tax policy, energy, and gambling. Bruce is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He lives in Dorchester.
About Bruce Mohl
Bruce Mohl is the editor of CommonWealth magazine. Bruce came to CommonWealth from the Boston Globe, where he spent nearly 30 years in a wide variety of positions covering business and politics. He covered the Massachusetts State House and served as the Globe’s State House bureau chief in the late 1980s. He also reported for the Globe’s Spotlight Team, winning a Loeb award in 1992 for coverage of conflicts of interest in the state’s pension system. He served as the Globe’s political editor in 1994 and went on to cover consumer issues for the newspaper. At CommonWealth, Bruce helped launch the magazine’s website and has written about a wide range of issues with a special focus on politics, tax policy, energy, and gambling. Bruce is a graduate of Ohio Wesleyan University and the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University. He lives in Dorchester.
State transportation and MBTA officials ran through their preparations for winter on Monday. For the most part it was standard stuff, but state Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver said his agency this winter will be testing how best to remove snow from bike lanes using the bike lane over the Longfellow Bridge as a test case.
Gulliver said the agency doesn’t plan to remove the stanchions separating the bike and car lanes and then plow the area. Instead, he said, the agency will use a special piece of equipment to clear the snow with the stanchions in place. He said the snow can’t be pushed into the car lane and will have to be removed, presumably by truck.
By the way, salt, the de-icer favored by the state Highway Department, is costing $50.02 a ton this winter.
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