p508 Train Adventure
Taking the P508 from Framingham can be an adventure - sometimes.
Today was my first day on how this can be a frustrated commute. (Based on Twitter post by other users, it appears that the P508 is cursed.) This morning started with this 4am tweet from the MBTA:
Framingham/Worcester Train 508 (7:00 inbound) delayed 10 to 20 minutes out of Worcester.
— MBTA Commuter Rail (@MBTA_CR) September 29, 2015When I arrived at the Framingham platform, about 4 minutes before the train was to arrive, I saw that the train would be 45 minutes late.
Instantly I thought that I better stay on track 1, and wait for the p507 train. The p507 train normally scheduled to arrive at 7:51, it waits at the track for 15 minutes and then becomes the p510 to Boston.
I tweeted several people, some on the p508 train and they all confirmed my theory. Dave, N42_21_W71_04, sent me a great link to watch the two incoming trains to see what train would be arriving first. While the
The P507 train was the first to arrived at the station, however the conductor told everyone that the P508 train would be the next train into Boston. This caused the crowd to rush over the pedestrian bridge back to track 2.
Confusion over the P508 in Framingham. @MBTA_CR pic.twitter.com/dh7Jqvizv7
— Christopher Ryan (@cryanweb) September 29, 2015About 10 minutes later the P508 train pulled into the Framingham train station. I boarded the second to last passenger cab and discovered plenty of available seats on the train. In fact, as we continue to the the next couple of stops all the passengers were able to find seats.
When I was on the train, I saw this tweet and I don't know if this was one of the reasons for the delays this morning:
New even for @MBTA_CR - said they sent a conductor in a taxi from Boston out to drive train & he never made it. #MBTA_CR @N42_21_W71_04
— Lara @GoodCookDoris (@GoodCookDoris) September 29, 2015The p508 train arrived at Back Bay around 9am, about 30 minutes late. Dave tweeted:
#MBTA Framingham Worcester P512 arriving South Station at 9:40 AM, ~32 min late. But Wor, Grafton, Wboro original P508 pax are ~72 min late
— Dave (@N42_21_W71_04) September 29, 2015My lesson learn this morning is to pay attention to the signs at the train station. The sign indicated that Track 2 would be the next train to Boston. Even thou that another train was going to arrive on Track 1, the MBTA was going to hold that train so the express train would go ahead.
The late train caused a lot of problems for the remaining peak trains on the Framingham/Worcester schedule. Not only were all the passengers on the 508 trains late, but so were those awaiting for the p510, p512 and p514.