Tufts OTR: Tufts Reacts: MBTA Takes Seats Off of Red Line Trains

Tufts Reacts: MBTA Takes Seats Off of Red Line Trains

Posted by Bob Loblaw 12/08/2008 3:37 PM
Category: Tags: MBTA, red line, T, tufts reacts

In this series, Tufts reacts to news stories that directly affect the community and campus.

Last week the MBTA announced that they will be beginning the process of removing the seats on many Red Line train cars in order to accommodate the increased ridership during the rush hour times.

You can read the article here.

But seriously, WTF? Why remove all the seats? I have not been on one of these trains yet, but if a majority of the seats are gone, I won't be that happy. Apparently train cars with limited seating will be labeled, and certain cars will have reserved seating for the elderly and disabled. Why couldn't they just replace the seats with foldable ones that can easily slide up against the walls of the train? That way when the train is not as crowded you won't have to stand there next to that big sweaty townie.

What do you think about this? Post in the comments!

+ 7 comments

Anonymous says,

The idea of folding seats sounds great. Posted 12/08/2008 5:01 PMReply

Anonymous says,

Interesting idea with the folding seats - I wonder if they, for some reason, cost more.. removing the seats & then adding new ones is not likely within the MBTA's budget. Posted 12/09/2008 11:01 AMReply

Anonymous says,

If the T wants to add 10% more capacity to the system, they should be adding 10% more trains, not ripping out seats. Rail lines with trains every 2.5 to 3 minutes are not uncommon, and the published Red Line schedule indicates that the most frequent Red Line service is currently only once every 4.5 minutes.

--Joel N. Weber II Posted 12/09/2008 11:28 AMReply

Anonymous says,

Its more than that during the day. I commute from Quincy and sometimes I wait 20-25 minutes for a train to get there.

Also. Removing the seats would ****ing suck for people like me who are on the train all the time. Posted 12/10/2008 4:13 PMReply

Anonymous says,

Ugh. If this what MBTA plans to do on other trains, then I am not riding the T any longer!

What is this?! MBTA raises fares, raises parking, and does me so many inconveniences already, and what do they have to show for it? How do they show their gratitude for my patronage? Why, they TAKE AWAY seats?!

The greediness that the T shows is no surprise. It also comes across as no surprise that we never see MBTA employees (such as Dan Grabauskas) themselves riding the T. They ride their private automobiles instead, where they have no need to worry about not having a seat. If only they themselves rode these seatless cars to work and back every day for a month, maybe they would do better than to show such disrespect to their passengers Posted 12/21/2008 10:18 PMReply

Anonymous says,

many other cities have foldable seats that seem to save space and also provide more capacity. this is really a silly change and only mildly increases the space available.

more mismanagement and poor choices by the MBTA...nobody should be surprised. Posted 01/07/2009 9:21 PMReply

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