A person was struck and killed on Friday at about 3:40 PM when hit by the southbound Acela #2171 (Bullet Train) on route from Boston to New York. Channel 7 also reported it was just west (south) of the Mansfield Mass. MBTA commuter station. No one on the train was injured.
(yes, it is a “High Speed” zone for the Acela) (no, the Right-Of-Way is not fenced)
When will they learn? That Headlight comming around the curve a 1/2 mile away will be on you in 12 seconds!
The first of the Amtrak Acela entered service in 2000. There are now 20 Acela Train Sets in service running every hour between Boston, New York, and Washington.
The track between the Boston beltway (Rt 128 Station) and Pawtucket Rhode Island as well as through southern Rhode Island is posted for 150 mph track speed. This is the second death in this area, the first was a passenger from a Commuter Train cutting accross the tracks to the Commuter Parking Lot rather than using the underpass.
An Acela coming around a curve 1/2 mile away would take far less then 10 seconds to hit a person or an object. I understand there are still about 10 level crossings in Connecticut. Is anything being done to get rid of these level crossings & with the trespassers on the right of way, what is being done to gradually increase the amount of fencing? Any report of how fast that acela was actually going?
Those crossings are in CT, not MA or RI. There’s no track good for 150 in CT… IIRC, the maximum speed in CT is around 90. Speeds on those crossings are probably slower.
As “TrainManTy” said, the 6 Grade Crossings are from the town of Westerly RI to New London CT. along the coast. Even with 4 Quadrant Gates, it still requires an 89 mph speed restriction. No grade crossings from Boston to Westerly RI and none south of New Haven. The Northeast Coridor is 2, or 3, or 4 tracks and is all under Catenary.
In addition, as the trains run the coast line (in some places along the beaches) you have the 100 year old Draw Bridges to contend with and there speed restrictions. In one place west of New London, Amtrak is limited to 32 Passenger Trains a day so as not to obstruct River Traffic.
As for the Mansfield accident, the"Black Box" and “GPS” will tell the story. Was it doing the full 150 (should have been), did the engineer have time to go into emergency before dropping into the “safe zone” behind his seat? At the station, was all the red Scrolling Station Warning Signs working? Was the Mansfield Station speaker system blasting away “Stand Back – High Speed Train Approaching” .Was the southbound Acela on the southbound track or fleeted south on the northbound track ?
Sorry, but 180 MPH = 3 miles/minute which equals a 20 second mile/ 10 second 1/2 mile, so at 150 MPH, it will take MORE than 10 seconds, not “far less then 10 seconds” to cover 1/2 mile, so NO, not enough time to take a Liesurely Stroll, but still more than 10 seconds to cover that 1/2 mile.
Always remember when you drive your car, 60 mph is “A Mile A Minute”. A half mile would be 30 seconds at 60 mph. 150 would be 2 1/2 miles a minute, 5 half miles a minute is 12 seconds for a half mile.
Are you sure? I thought the only track in the US good for 150 MPH is the track on the NEC in MA and RI?
Also, the TurboTrain was tested up to 180 (or was it 170?) somewhere on the NEC, and I guess the Acela can’t go that fast. Wasn’t the Acela tested up to only 165?
I doubt the problem will ever entirely go away. As long as the shortest distance between two points is a straight line, there will be people who will want to use that straight line, even if doing so puts them in harms way.
We recently had an incident where two young men climbed down a rather steep hill and crossed an Interstate in order to reach a restaurant on the other side. This was around two hundred yards from a perfectly fine overpass with sidewalks. One didn’t make it across.
Thanks for clearing me up about that 10 seconds. I was never that good at math in school. Still a train speeding down the track several miles away would surely make me jump for my life. As a kid I used to walk along a straight stretch of track and would be looking back every few minutes or so.
This is the Boston to Providence section of the Northeast Corridor. The accident was at, or just south of, the Mansfield Massachusetts Station used by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (Commuter Rail) and is located about 25 miles south of Boston. It’s a double track high speed line with a fence between the two tracks.
Amtrak runs the Acela bullet trains at 150mph and the Northeast Regional Trains at 110mph on this line electrically powered from overhead Catenary. Amtrak does not stop at this station.
The MBTA runs Diesel powered Commuter Rail on this line at 80mph with F40PH rebuilds and GP40MC locomotives.
The line is owned by the State of Massachusetts, it is signaled and dispatched by Amtrak.
