Shortly after boarding one of the first three-car Green Line trains to be deployed in five years, Sonia Segal-Smith was glad to learn it could alleviate crowding on her commute home.
“I hope that would help out a lot,” she said as her train left Riverside Station at 8:45 a.m. “I find it’s always worse during the afternoon rush.”
Three-car Green Line trains ran on the B-Line in 2005 but technical issues shut them down. During last month’s “Join the GM” session at Riverside station, however, several customers asked GM Rich Davey to increase capacity during rush hour.
“We’re starting this up on a trial basis as personnel from the Green Line and Power Department closely monitor the performance of the train and the D branch itself,” Davey said. “If all goes well, we plan to increase the number of trips made by three-car trains and expand the program to the B branch.”
Susan Sharp, who was also riding the 8:45 train out of Riverside, was more pessimistic than Segal-Smith.
“Adding a third car won’t make any difference to me whatsoever,” she said. “Crowding is not that big of an issue. I’ve never seen them refuse anyone and tell them you can’t get on a train.
Sharp was sore about how often the D-Line goes express to Riverside.
“I’ve had it with this system,” she said. “If I could walk, I would walk before I took the train.”
Another gripe is that three-car trains will back up at Government Center.
“All of the train platforms on the D and B branches can accommodate three-car train sets,” Davey said.
