Pace831 Posted November 9, 2015 Report Share Posted November 9, 2015 I see a few things wrong with this picture.1) The HC is delayed due to "late arrival of equipment". How is that possible when the train is making its first run of the day? Maybe it was delayed between Joliet yard and the platform, but I'd think they'd list a different reason (such as "mechanical problems"). I've seen a few other scenarios where the announced cause of delay didn't match the actual cause, so I have to think they just make up an excuse sometimes.2) The alert for Train #401 doesn't mention a reason for the delay. It seems some time in the past few months, the delay notices are automatically added to the website based on GPS data from the train. Previously, an employee would type the entire alert, but now they just have to add the reason. The problem I see with this system is sometimes it displays alerts that a train is over an hour late when it is really on time. The computer must think the train hasn't departed yet.3) Train tracker has had a lot of glitches lately where it doesn't correspond to the alerts. Either an on time train is shown as very late similar to #2, or a late train is supposedly on time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted November 9, 2015 Report Share Posted November 9, 2015 The real question is how Metra claims to meet its on time performance goals when a line is delayed by someone run over by a train seemingly every other day.Your technology questions basically raise the issue of the best commuter railroad of the 19th century trying to operate in the 21st. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BusHunter Posted November 9, 2015 Report Share Posted November 9, 2015 Talk is that Metra will cut some runs in a service cut attempt to help pay for insufficient funding. So missing runs might be the wave of the future. CTA could be caught in this bubble too if no one passes a state budget.http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/7/71/1076891/metra-service-cuts-likely-bigger-fare-hikes-state-funds-slashed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted November 9, 2015 Report Share Posted November 9, 2015 Talk is that Metra will cut some runs in a service cut attempt to help pay for insufficient funding. So missing runs might be the wave of the future. CTA could be caught in this bubble too if no one passes a state budget.http://chicago.suntimes.com/news/7/71/1076891/metra-service-cuts-likely-bigger-fare-hikes-state-funds-slashedThe underlying assumption of that was if you cut a train crew, you cut all of its trains. May have a different effect on the CTA, where the last cuts were proportionate across the system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trainman8119 Posted November 10, 2015 Report Share Posted November 10, 2015 Unfortunately, the brass has put so much trust into this crappy system. More trains don't track..clocks are off and those who monitor don't have the first clue of what they are monitoring or what situations are going on. Also, crews are not supposed to be bothered by GPS under the FRA safety audit from earlier this year (which I might add has been totally ignored). If you stand at a station (and I have noticed this more and more, but Des Plaines inbound is a real good example), the time lag in the announcements is ridiculous. Like a train now arriving the platform there is actually 3 minutes away (I timed it) just out of the Cumberland Station or an announcement at South Chicago that an outbound train is now arriving in your station even though it is 3-5 minutes (or longer if an inbound is in the station) away. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted November 10, 2015 Report Share Posted November 10, 2015 ... If you stand at a station (and I have noticed this more and more, but Des Plaines inbound is a real good example), the time lag in the announcements is ridiculous. Like a train now arriving the platform there is actually 3 minutes away (I timed it) just out of the Cumberland Station or an announcement at South Chicago that an outbound train is now arriving in your station even though it is 3-5 minutes (or longer if an inbound is in the station) away.Are these automated announcements, or someone just making the announcements from the control center? How about the ones that the train scheduled for track 2 will arrive on track 1, and then when you cross over, the next announcement that it will be on track 2? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trainman8119 Posted November 10, 2015 Report Share Posted November 10, 2015 The arrival announcements are automated. The announcements of track changes are from the GPS center by live person. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTRSP1900-CTA3200 Posted November 11, 2015 Report Share Posted November 11, 2015 ...the time lag in the announcements is ridiculous. Like a train now arriving the platform there is actually 3 minutes away (I timed it) just out of the Cumberland Station...The ones at Crystal Lake seem pretty accurate though. I wonder how the announcements are triggered. If Metra somehow made them announce arrivals based on the scheduled time table instead of the actual train position, that would obviously lead to problems and confusion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pace831 Posted November 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2015 From "Random Metra":UP-NW line was messed up around Barrington this morning. Dropped someone off at Woodstock and their train got held at Pingree Road down the line because of a pedestrian incident.Chicago Tribune reported that it was a suicide.I saw that this morning and immediately thought of Busjack's comment about people getting hit by trains every other day. But the reason I posted in this thread was the "automatic alerts" for about 10 of the delayed trains this morning, which were not helpful at all. Many of those trains were stopped, but the automatic alerts don't say that, just the number of minutes behind schedule. Things were better before when a person in the control center manually entered an alert for each train, which would include whether the train is moving or not. About a year ago Metra said they were going to start issuing "blanket alerts" when there are major delays affecting several trains. They've been doing that, but now they have automatic alerts in addition to blanket alerts to make things even more confusing than they were before. Someone standing on the platform would get even more frustrated than they probably are already by trying to figure out where their train is, thanks to the conflicting information between blanket alerts, automatic alerts, train tracker, and platform announcements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twyztdmynd Posted November 11, 2015 Report Share Posted November 11, 2015 (edited) Here's a new one affecting all Union station and Electric lines... Milwaukee District / North Line [MD-N]InboundandOutboundTrainsExperiencingExtensiveDelaysInbound and outbound trains are on the move and are experiencing extensive delays due to a signal and power failure. Please listen to platform announcements for the location of your train or refer to Rail-Time Tracker for current delay information.11/11/15 | 01:23 AM Edited November 11, 2015 by twyztdmynd Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pace831 Posted November 11, 2015 Author Report Share Posted November 11, 2015 Here's a new one affecting all Union station and Electric lines... Milwaukee District / North Line [MD-N]InboundandOutboundTrainsExperiencingExtensiveDelaysInbound and outbound trains are on the move and are experiencing extensive delays due to a signal and power failure. Please listen to platform announcements for the location of your train or refer to Rail-Time Tracker for current delay information.11/11/15 | 01:23 AMGood example of how unhelpful the blanket alerts are. This one was issued at 10:56 PM according to the alerts posted on Twitter. At that time, there are so few trains running that they should just issue alerts for those specific trains. (There are 2 each on MDN, MDW, BNSF, 1 on SWS, 5 on Electric). They probably had the automatic alerts in addition to this, but again, those don't clarify whether the train is stopped or just running late. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pace831 Posted January 17, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 http://wgntv.com/2016/01/16/metra-trains-delayed-by-amtrak-crash/ Amtrak train hit a truck apparently parked too close to the tracks by a BNSF welding crew, injuring the two welders. Metra service alert was surprisingly specific, instead of just calling it a "track obstruction". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pace831 Posted January 21, 2016 Author Report Share Posted January 21, 2016 Now that the earlier CTA delays are cleared up, it's Metra's turn. UPNW hit a car in Arlington Heights, and there's this on RI: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pace831 Posted February 9, 2016 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 Delays on UPW caused by an electrical fire in Melrose Park affecting signals and switches. Could take until Thursday to repair. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTRSP1900-CTA3200 Posted February 9, 2016 Report Share Posted February 9, 2016 38 minutes ago, Pace831 said: Delays on UPW caused by an electrical fire in Melrose Park affecting signals and switches. Could take until Thursday to repair. Yeah, and that's one of the worst places on the line congestion-wise too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
garmon757 Posted February 10, 2016 Report Share Posted February 10, 2016 4 hours ago, Pace831 said: Delays on UPW caused by an electrical fire in Melrose Park affecting signals and switches. Could take until Thursday to repair. Oh man! I used to take that line out there a lot!!! Also that might interfere the construction on behalf of the 25th Ave bridge between St. Charles Rd and Lake St. 3 hours ago, MTRSP1900-CTA3200 said: Yeah, and that's one of the worst places on the line congestion-wise too. You ain't never lying because they haven't place the third f'ing track between Melrose Park and River Forest yet!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MTRSP1900-CTA3200 Posted February 11, 2016 Report Share Posted February 11, 2016 22 hours ago, garmon757 said: Oh man! I used to take that line out there a lot!!! Also that might interfere the construction on behalf of the 25th Ave bridge between St. Charles Rd and Lake St. You ain't never lying because they haven't place the third f'ing track between Melrose Park and River Forest yet!!! Kind of amazing that they still manage to even run that route with that amount of traffic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artthouwill Posted February 12, 2016 Report Share Posted February 12, 2016 On 2/11/2016 at 6:45 PM, MTRSP1900-CTA3200 said: Kind of amazing that they still manage to even run that route with that amount of traffic. I can tell you the inbound UP trains were always 14 minutes late during off peak times. I guess they are still considered on time even at 14 minutes late. So now the only time I take an innbound UP-W train is if I am connecting to another UP line or a Metra Line out of Union STaion. Otherwise it is CTA Green Line. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pace831 Posted December 7, 2016 Author Report Share Posted December 7, 2016 A car crash at 95th and Vincennes is affecting Metra trains. NBC5 article As usual, Metra's website was very reliable: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pace831 Posted November 29, 2017 Author Report Share Posted November 29, 2017 A Derailment of a SWS train at Union Station last night is causing delays today due to track damage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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