I’m not going to touch the old adage about the guy who made trains run on time, especially since the Charlotte Area Transit Authority says Blue Line trains still run on schedule 98% of the time, compared to an industry average of 88%. Still:
The Charlotte Area Transit System says it will increase the time between Blue Line trains by 90 seconds during weekday rush hours, beginning in April.
Nearly half of the vehicles in the line’s fleet need extensive overhauls, CATS says. The authority also acknowledges under-estimating the number of trains needed once the extension to UNC Charlotte opened in 2018.
The change in April means that, at peak travel times, trains will arrive every 9 minutes instead of every 7.5 minutes. The longer wait times will apply from 6:30 a.m. to 8:45 a.m. and from 3:30 p.m. to 6 p.m. on weekdays.
While fewer trains will run in those times, CATS says they will be more reliable. Blue Line riders have complained of 15-minute delays due to maintenance issues in recent days, prompting CATS CEO John Lewis to tweet an apology Friday for “daily delays.”
Charlotte Observer also reports CATS “has also learned that it takes longer than expected for Blue Line trains to travel from Interstate 485, its southern end, to UNC Charlotte on the north side.” CATS apparently also underestimated the number of cars it would take to make the UNC-Charlotte extension run efficiently. More cars hopefully will come available as funding comes available. All this as Charlotte continues to double down on light rail expansion at an estimated cost of $5-$7 billion.
