[PRCo] Baltimore Light Rail Shuts North End

[Schneider Fred]

You guys will love this one ... modern technology forced the closure  
of the north end of the Baltimore Light Rail line indefinitely on  
Monday because of falling leaves.   I guess we never had sap on the  
rails before.  Something new and different like my cynical sarcasm.    
Today's news is that they are also running short of buses.   (Some of  
you -- Jack, Phil, Dave H. are getting blind carbons to not disclose  
addresses.)   Comments back to me will be appreciated.


www.baltimoresun.com/news/local/bal-te.md.rail18nov18,0,3518289.story

baltimoresun.com

Half of light rail halted indefinitely

Leaves trigger braking glitch, causing trains to slide, wheels to bend

By Michael Dresser and Brent Jones

November 18, 2008



Thousands of Baltimore-area commuters were forced to abandon trains  
and board buses yesterday, the first workday disrupted by a light  
rail shutdown that closed the northern half of the system. State  
officials were unable to say how long service would be curtailed by a  
problem caused in part by the fall of autumn leaves.



Commuters attempting to take light rail between North Avenue and Hunt  
Valley were diverted to shuttle buses, which passengers said added as  
much as 90 minutes to the trip.



Light rail typically serves 30,000 riders a day - about half of whom  
use the northern stations.



MTA officials were scrambling to find a way to fix a computerized  
safety system that regularly over-reacts to slippery conditions and  
brings trains to a hard stop, frequently damaging their wheels and  
making them vulnerable to catastrophic cracking.



"I understand there has to be train maintenance, but there seems to  
be lots of train maintenance recently," said Lori Biddle, 30, who was  
among several dozen commuters waiting for a shuttle to arrive at the  
North Avenue station about 4:45 p.m. yesterday.



Biddle said it took her an extra half-hour yesterday morning to go  
from Lutherville to Camden Yards, where she works: "It is a bit  
frustrating."



Maryland Transportation Secretary John D. Porcari defended the MTA's  
decision over the weekend to suspend service on the northern section.  
"They take customer service interruptions very, very personally, as  
do I," Porcari said. But, he said, "if we ignored it, it could be a  
safety issue, and safety trumps everything."



Problems with light rail go back to the original design and route of  
the system, which opened in 1992 under pressure from then-Gov.  
William Donald Schaefer to get it running in time for the debut of  
Oriole Park at Camden Yards. The northern section of the line follows  
a narrow, old railroad right of way along the Jones Falls Expressway  
through forested parkland before emerging from the woods north of  
Ruxton.



The problem, Porcari said yesterday, is that trains run over fallen  
leaves and can grind the wet plant matter into what he described as a  
"gelatinous substance."



When another train comes along, the wheels of its cars can slip and  
slide on that substance, triggering an emergency response from a  
computerized "train protection" system installed after two light rail  
crashes at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall  
Airport, in which 35 people were injured.



The computerized system, in use since 2004, has succeeded in  
preventing trains from crashing into each other or into barriers at  
the end of the line. But according to MTA administrator Paul J.  
Wiedefeld, its hair-trigger response to slippage on the tracks has  
resulted in hard, sudden stops that can flatten the metal surface of  
the wheels - putting them in added danger of cracking.



Wiedefeld said the MTA has paid more attention to the issue of wheel  
damage since the discovery last spring of a crack in one of the  
wheels of a car in a rail yard.



That discovery prompted the agency to inspect wheels much more  
frequently than the 45-day schedule recommended by the manufacturer.  
That led to service disruptions, including severe crowding and long  
waits at platforms.



Last week, as train slippage caused by leaves sent a growing number  
of cars to the shop, the MTA announced that it would terminate its  
northern service at Timonium, using buses to serve stations between  
there and Hunt Valley. But by the weekend, the MTA had so many cars  
out of service that it decided to call an emergency halt to service  
north of North Avenue - the most leafy section.



Wiedefeld said the agency is attempting to find an interim solution  
to the problems by recalibrating the train protection system so that  
it acts more like the anti-lock brake systems found on cars. The  
"ultimate fix," he said, will not come until the MTA completes its  
planned midlife overhaul of its train cars - a project expected to be  
finished about 2011-2012.



Until then, Wiedefeld said, the MTA has its maintenance shop working  
around the clock to repair or replace wheels. He said the flattened  
wheels can be fixed three times before they require replacement - a  
procedure that can put an entire car out of commission for 15 days.



Wiedefeld said he does not have an estimate now of how long it will  
take to fix the computer problem. He said any proposed solution would  
have to be tested on the main line and then verified by an  
independent contractor before it can be implemented. He added,  
however, that he doesn't think the disruptions will persist for months.



Porcari echoed Wiedefeld's reluctance to be pinned down to a target  
date for the return of full service, noting that the weather could be  
a factor in how long the disruptions continue.



"The natural tendency is to be conservative in your estimates and  
then over-deliver if at all possible," he said. He noted that when  
transportation officials discovered weaknesses in the Bay Bridge's  
side barriers after a fatal tractor-trailer crash last summer, they  
originally estimated 10 weeks of severe lane closings but ended up  
wrapping up the work in about two.



For riders of light rail, relief can't come soon enough.



Lee Russell, 60, said it took him an extra 90 minutes yesterday  
morning to get from Timonium to his job at the state Department of  
Health and Mental Hygiene near the Cultural Center stop. Russell said  
he learned about the shuttle buses when he arrived at the Timonium  
station, and traffic and the frequent stops stretched out his trip.

Russell, a longtime rider, will continue to use the transit system  
because he doesn't have a downtown parking pass, but he added that he  
expects delays to be reduced substantially.

"I've put up with a lot over the years, including when they were  
laying double tracks," he said.



Jim Dutt, 65, who commutes from Mount Washington to the Mount Royal  
Station, said he learned only yesterday morning that he would have to  
board a shuttle bus. He said he was 30 minutes late to his job at the  
University of Baltimore.

"I think [MTA] needs to explain a little bit more as to why this is  
taking place at this point and why it's taking so long," Dutt said.  
"Last week, they were running single cars. And now it's gotten worse."

Dutt said he will continue to ride the train but will adjust his  
start time.



"It's one of the hazards, I suppose, of using the light rail," he  
said. "But I'm not going to switch. I enjoy coming to work by rail  
and not having to worry about a place to park."

Autumn leaves are not a problem unique to Maryland's light rail  
system, said Martin Schroeder, program manager for rail at the  
American Public Transit Association. He noted that when the trade  
group held its 2006 rail conference, it put together a panel of  
experts to deal with that issue alone.

"It's a problem of physics," Schroeder said, adding that leaves can  
reduce friction on the rails to about one-sixth of normal: "It's like  
your car on ice."



Porcari said the problems with leaves reach their peak in late  
October and November but subside soon after that.



"The leaves will all be done very soon," he said. "A couple of good  
winds, and we'll be off to the races."

Copyright © 2008, The Baltimore Sun