This is neither a rant, nor a rave about the Red Line. For a lack of better terms , I'll call this an Info-Post.
If you're a regular rider of the Red Line between Harvard and Porter, you've probably noticed that the T crawls along the tracks at 6 m.p.h. just outside of Harvard northbound to Alewife. I think they may have found some fractures in the rail and have reduced the speed to prevent further damage. In the subway section between Harvard and Alewife, the rails are bound to concrete, instead of your typical wooden ties. As a result, its a bit more cumbersome to replace the rails than the rest of the Red Line.
On the other hand, there have been a number of slow zones lifted from the Red Line! Over in my neck of the woods, inbound trains are back to 50 mph between Central and Kendall, plus the Longfellow Bridge limit has been raised back to 40 mph. Plus, south siders can enjoy a 50 mph ride between JFK and North Quincy.
Many thanks to my fellow railroad pals posting on this thread over at railroad.net for the info.
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As a fellow Denizen of Porter Square, I've not only noticed that, but it annoys me to no end. I've also noticed the horrendous screeching sound that accompanies the distressingly slow travel through that section of tunnel.
I haven't been a frequent user of public transportation in a while. I CAN tell you that the one thing that grinds my gears about Porter the most is the Star Market parking lot. Is it a Shaws now, officially? I'm in there at least once a week and I haven't noticed. Anyway, I'm not sure who designed this new(er) lot. Back in the day, before the CVS building came along, the spaces were a lot wider. And there wasn't a lot of that landscaping nonsense.
First of all, the awful screeching of the Red Line entering and exiting Harvard is absolutely nasty. One of the reasons its so loud around there is because the rails are clamped down to concrete slabs - which really seems to amplify the screech, and makes for an extremely loud subway ride from Harvard out to Alewife.
In Chicago, the L has curves with an even tigher radius, but with less screeching sound. The CTA installed installed some sort of guard rails that spray grease on the curve when the train pass through it. The grease on the rails makes for a much quieter curve. Maybe the MBTA should consider installing a contraption like this, or simply grease the rails more often to cut down on the noise.
As far as the Porter Square mall parking lot - I'm astonished at how absolutely HORRIBLE it is. Cars have only about 6 inches between eachother when parked in the "compact" spaces. I would never ever park a car in there - its way too easy for some shmuck to smack into the side of your car when trying to park or back out.
Furthermore, there are just WAAAAAY too many cars trying to go in and out of that lot. When the mall is busy, trying to walk through the lot is like marching through a war zone. There are cars coming at you from every single angle. I'm really suprised more people haven't been run over by cars in that lot. Its scary.
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