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Why does the LIRR take so damn long? Why can't they make their trains faster with less stops?

lawnguysland

By lawnguysland,
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lawnguysland

lawnguysland

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A typical amount of time to get into Penn Station from Ronkonkoma directly is about 1 hour 15 minutes to about 1 hour and 20 minutes. This is just pathetic. Think about it...Ronkonkoma is around 50 miles away. I've driven there (Manhattan) on the LIE and made it in 55 minutes with a bit a traffic too. To get to Penn in over an hour by train means it averages well less than 50 MPH during the trip. There are trains in Europe that easily go 100 MPH. I understand there are so many stops to make and that is one reason why they can't go that fast, but why can't there be a few express LIRR trains that just make like 3 stops and go much faster? There are barely any turns, from Ronkonkoma to Penn is pretty much as straight a shot as there is. I have even heard of some trains exceeding 300 MPH in Asian countries. Taking nearly an hour and a half to get into Penn from Ronkonkoma is a joke. I have always dreamed of some sort of monorail system above the LIRR that goes 100+ MPH and straight into NYC to make commutes much easier.

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lawnguysland

lawnguysland

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A typical amount of time to get into Penn Station from Ronkonkoma directly is about 1 hour 15 minutes to about 1 hour and 20 minutes. This is just pathetic. Think about it...Ronkonkoma is around 50 miles away. I've driven there (Manhattan) on the LIE and made it in 55 minutes with a bit a traffic too. To get to Penn in over an hour by train means it averages well less than 50 MPH during the trip. There are trains in Europe that easily go 100 MPH. I understand there are so many stops to make and that is one reason why they can't go that fast, but why can't there be a few express LIRR trains that just make like 3 stops and go much faster? There are barely any turns, from Ronkonkoma to Penn is pretty much as straight a shot as there is. I have even heard of some trains exceeding 300 MPH in Asian countries. Taking nearly an hour and a half to get into Penn from Ronkonkoma is a joke. I have always dreamed of some sort of monorail system above the LIRR that goes 100+ MPH and straight into NYC to make commutes much easier.

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dman1455 Track Worker

dman1455

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A typical amount of time to get into Penn Station from Ronkonkoma directly is about 1 hour 15 minutes to about 1 hour and 20 minutes. This is just pathetic. Think about it...Ronkonkoma is around 50 miles away. I've driven there (Manhattan) on the LIE and made it in 55 minutes with a bit a traffic too. To get to Penn in over an hour by train means it averages well less than 50 MPH during the trip. There are trains in Europe that easily go 100 MPH. I understand there are so many stops to make and that is one reason why they can't go that fast, but why can't there be a few express LIRR trains that just make like 3 stops and go much faster? There are barely any turns, from Ronkonkoma to Penn is pretty much as straight a shot as there is. I have even heard of some trains exceeding 300 MPH in Asian countries. Taking nearly an hour and a half to get into Penn from Ronkonkoma is a joke. I have always dreamed of some sort of monorail system above the LIRR that goes 100+ MPH and straight into NYC to make commutes much easier.

 

Ok, Let the train do a 100 on a curve and derail. Enjoy coming into work 10+ hours late... do with what we have now. Remember who owns LIRR ( the MTA)

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dman1455 Track Worker

dman1455

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A typical amount of time to get into Penn Station from Ronkonkoma directly is about 1 hour 15 minutes to about 1 hour and 20 minutes. This is just pathetic. Think about it...Ronkonkoma is around 50 miles away. I've driven there (Manhattan) on the LIE and made it in 55 minutes with a bit a traffic too. To get to Penn in over an hour by train means it averages well less than 50 MPH during the trip. There are trains in Europe that easily go 100 MPH. I understand there are so many stops to make and that is one reason why they can't go that fast, but why can't there be a few express LIRR trains that just make like 3 stops and go much faster? There are barely any turns, from Ronkonkoma to Penn is pretty much as straight a shot as there is. I have even heard of some trains exceeding 300 MPH in Asian countries. Taking nearly an hour and a half to get into Penn from Ronkonkoma is a joke. I have always dreamed of some sort of monorail system above the LIRR that goes 100+ MPH and straight into NYC to make commutes much easier.

 

Ok, Let the train do a 100 on a curve and derail. Enjoy coming into work 10+ hours late... do with what we have now. Remember who owns LIRR ( the MTA)

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lilbluefoxie

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A typical amount of time to get into Penn Station from Ronkonkoma directly is about 1 hour 15 minutes to about 1 hour and 20 minutes. This is just pathetic. Think about it...Ronkonkoma is around 50 miles away. I've driven there (Manhattan) on the LIE and made it in 55 minutes with a bit a traffic too. To get to Penn in over an hour by train means it averages well less than 50 MPH during the trip. There are trains in Europe that easily go 100 MPH. I understand there are so many stops to make and that is one reason why they can't go that fast, but why can't there be a few express LIRR trains that just make like 3 stops and go much faster? There are barely any turns, from Ronkonkoma to Penn is pretty much as straight a shot as there is. I have even heard of some trains exceeding 300 MPH in Asian countries. Taking nearly an hour and a half to get into Penn from Ronkonkoma is a joke. I have always dreamed of some sort of monorail system above the LIRR that goes 100+ MPH and straight into NYC to make commutes much easier.

 

Its not running at full speed at all times, it has to slow down in Hicksville for Divide interlocking, then in Mineola, for Nassau interlocking, then near Jamaica it has to slow down to get through the tangle of tracks leading there. Then in Penn it has to slow down in the tunnel to find which track to arrive on.

 

Ronkonkoma branch is already semi express, after Hicksville it makes only two stops in between Hicksville and Jamaica on weekdays and one on weekends, Mineola and Hillside Support Facility.

 

if its taking you 55 minutes to get from all the way out there to Manhattan you are either a) exaggerating or ;) risking a big fat speeding ticket. Google maps says that the trip takes 1 hour and 4 minutes approximately, and I've been on the LIE in rush hour traffic, there's no way you're making it all the way there in 55 minutes.

 

I have the timetable here, you got a few expresses, the 6:24 from ronkokoma makes one stop in hicksville then runs express till penn. Then theres the 7:19 whcih only stops in Central Islip and Brentwood then express to penn. The 7:04 has 4 stops till penn, deer park, wyandanch, farmingdale, and Betpage. Its just one of those things about living so far out. Unfortunately its very difficult to add more express service on a system that's already at capacity. They need to add more tracks to run more express service.

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lilbluefoxie

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A typical amount of time to get into Penn Station from Ronkonkoma directly is about 1 hour 15 minutes to about 1 hour and 20 minutes. This is just pathetic. Think about it...Ronkonkoma is around 50 miles away. I've driven there (Manhattan) on the LIE and made it in 55 minutes with a bit a traffic too. To get to Penn in over an hour by train means it averages well less than 50 MPH during the trip. There are trains in Europe that easily go 100 MPH. I understand there are so many stops to make and that is one reason why they can't go that fast, but why can't there be a few express LIRR trains that just make like 3 stops and go much faster? There are barely any turns, from Ronkonkoma to Penn is pretty much as straight a shot as there is. I have even heard of some trains exceeding 300 MPH in Asian countries. Taking nearly an hour and a half to get into Penn from Ronkonkoma is a joke. I have always dreamed of some sort of monorail system above the LIRR that goes 100+ MPH and straight into NYC to make commutes much easier.

 

Its not running at full speed at all times, it has to slow down in Hicksville for Divide interlocking, then in Mineola, for Nassau interlocking, then near Jamaica it has to slow down to get through the tangle of tracks leading there. Then in Penn it has to slow down in the tunnel to find which track to arrive on.

 

Ronkonkoma branch is already semi express, after Hicksville it makes only two stops in between Hicksville and Jamaica on weekdays and one on weekends, Mineola and Hillside Support Facility.

 

if its taking you 55 minutes to get from all the way out there to Manhattan you are either a) exaggerating or ;) risking a big fat speeding ticket. Google maps says that the trip takes 1 hour and 4 minutes approximately, and I've been on the LIE in rush hour traffic, there's no way you're making it all the way there in 55 minutes.

 

I have the timetable here, you got a few expresses, the 6:24 from ronkokoma makes one stop in hicksville then runs express till penn. Then theres the 7:19 whcih only stops in Central Islip and Brentwood then express to penn. The 7:04 has 4 stops till penn, deer park, wyandanch, farmingdale, and Betpage. Its just one of those things about living so far out. Unfortunately its very difficult to add more express service on a system that's already at capacity. They need to add more tracks to run more express service.

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lawnguysland

lawnguysland

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No way it takes me 55 minutes in rush hour...I mean if I drove from Sayville to the very beginning of Manhattan at an off hour like early morning on weekends. I drove from Sayville to 122nd street right on the outskirts of Harlem all the way uptown and made it in 1 hour and 10 minutes. Obviously these times only happen at the perfect hour, but I still made it in that time nonetheless. If I can drive to Harlem in about 1 hour and 10 minutes, why in the world does it take me 1 hour and 20 minutes to get 100 blocks closer?! It's a broken system. When driving can get you somewhere 20 minutes to a half hour quicker than by train there's a problem. I consistently drive to the Nassau border in 25 minutes and the Queens border in 45. Those aren't records, they're the norm. It makes sense too...people go fast on the LIE and Queens is about 40 miles from me, so averaging around 60 MPH which is easy for most of the way until I hit Nassau is very realistic and makes the 45 minute figure fairly normal.

 

Also, why can't we build a dedicated line to go 100 MPH? Other countries have high speed rails like it's nothing. And Ronkonkoma is not really far out. It's central Long Island. If you split the island right in half I live much closer to Queens (start of NYC) than Montauk.

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lawnguysland

lawnguysland

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No way it takes me 55 minutes in rush hour...I mean if I drove from Sayville to the very beginning of Manhattan at an off hour like early morning on weekends. I drove from Sayville to 122nd street right on the outskirts of Harlem all the way uptown and made it in 1 hour and 10 minutes. Obviously these times only happen at the perfect hour, but I still made it in that time nonetheless. If I can drive to Harlem in about 1 hour and 10 minutes, why in the world does it take me 1 hour and 20 minutes to get 100 blocks closer?! It's a broken system. When driving can get you somewhere 20 minutes to a half hour quicker than by train there's a problem. I consistently drive to the Nassau border in 25 minutes and the Queens border in 45. Those aren't records, they're the norm. It makes sense too...people go fast on the LIE and Queens is about 40 miles from me, so averaging around 60 MPH which is easy for most of the way until I hit Nassau is very realistic and makes the 45 minute figure fairly normal.

 

Also, why can't we build a dedicated line to go 100 MPH? Other countries have high speed rails like it's nothing. And Ronkonkoma is not really far out. It's central Long Island. If you split the island right in half I live much closer to Queens (start of NYC) than Montauk.

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lawnguysland

lawnguysland

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If you drive like a granny, your times can be very different lol I keep up with traffic on the LIE which means 70-75 MPH. Ronkonkoma is only 35 miles from the Queens border. Thirty five. Google maps says 48 minutes and most of the time you can make it 5-10 minutes quicker than what mapquest and google maps will tell you. But let's go with what google maps says from Ronk to the Queens border: 48 minutes. From Ronkonkoma to the Queens border will easily take you a little over an hour. That's basically a 15 minute addition. Why can't the LIRR increase the speed even to 60 MPH? That would put you in Queens at about 45 minutes and Penn in exactly an hour. How is this such a big deal to do? For god's sake we put a man on the moon is 60 MPH for a train in 2011 so much to ask in the suburbs of the greatest city in the world?

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lawnguysland

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If you drive like a granny, your times can be very different lol I keep up with traffic on the LIE which means 70-75 MPH. Ronkonkoma is only 35 miles from the Queens border. Thirty five. Google maps says 48 minutes and most of the time you can make it 5-10 minutes quicker than what mapquest and google maps will tell you. But let's go with what google maps says from Ronk to the Queens border: 48 minutes. From Ronkonkoma to the Queens border will easily take you a little over an hour. That's basically a 15 minute addition. Why can't the LIRR increase the speed even to 60 MPH? That would put you in Queens at about 45 minutes and Penn in exactly an hour. How is this such a big deal to do? For god's sake we put a man on the moon is 60 MPH for a train in 2011 so much to ask in the suburbs of the greatest city in the world?

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lawnguysland

lawnguysland

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To back up what I said here is what google maps says to go from Sayville to W 122nd St. right outside Harlem: 58.3 mi, 1 hour 16 mins Southern State Pkwy. I said I made it in 1 hour 10 minutes. How is that much different? That'e entirely possible.

 

From Sayville to the Queens border 39.6 mi, 52 mins I-495 E. 52 minutes...I said I made it in 45. That's easily possible too. What I'm saying isn't that crazy except the 55 minutes to Manhattan thing...that was only a 1 time thing lol.

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lawnguysland

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To back up what I said here is what google maps says to go from Sayville to W 122nd St. right outside Harlem: 58.3 mi, 1 hour 16 mins Southern State Pkwy. I said I made it in 1 hour 10 minutes. How is that much different? That'e entirely possible.

 

From Sayville to the Queens border 39.6 mi, 52 mins I-495 E. 52 minutes...I said I made it in 45. That's easily possible too. What I'm saying isn't that crazy except the 55 minutes to Manhattan thing...that was only a 1 time thing lol.

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lilbluefoxie

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If you drive like a granny, your times can be very different lol I keep up with traffic on the LIE which means 70-75 MPH. Ronkonkoma is only 35 miles from the Queens border. Thirty five. Google maps says 48 minutes and most of the time you can make it 5-10 minutes quicker than what mapquest and google maps will tell you. But let's go with what google maps says from Ronk to the Queens border: 48 minutes. From Ronkonkoma to the Queens border will easily take you a little over an hour. That's basically a 15 minute addition. Why can't the LIRR increase the speed even to 60 MPH? That would put you in Queens at about 45 minutes and Penn in exactly an hour. How is this such a big deal to do? For god's sake we put a man on the moon is 60 MPH for a train in 2011 so much to ask in the suburbs of the greatest city in the world?

 

ive seen rush hour LIE traffic when I Went to NYIT, theres no way anyones gettin there from Ronkonkoma to NYC in 55 minutes with rush hour traffic, only way is like you describe, with no traffic and doing 75mph.

 

and the LIRR does do aorund 60, Ive sat in teh seats across from the engineer/conductor cabs and the panel has been open on that side, revealing the speedometer. It gets in the 70s between bethpage and hicksville, and goes around 60mph between hicksville and hillside, but then has to slow down for the stops, it does about 30mph around jamaica.

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lilbluefoxie

lilbluefoxie

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If you drive like a granny, your times can be very different lol I keep up with traffic on the LIE which means 70-75 MPH. Ronkonkoma is only 35 miles from the Queens border. Thirty five. Google maps says 48 minutes and most of the time you can make it 5-10 minutes quicker than what mapquest and google maps will tell you. But let's go with what google maps says from Ronk to the Queens border: 48 minutes. From Ronkonkoma to the Queens border will easily take you a little over an hour. That's basically a 15 minute addition. Why can't the LIRR increase the speed even to 60 MPH? That would put you in Queens at about 45 minutes and Penn in exactly an hour. How is this such a big deal to do? For god's sake we put a man on the moon is 60 MPH for a train in 2011 so much to ask in the suburbs of the greatest city in the world?

 

ive seen rush hour LIE traffic when I Went to NYIT, theres no way anyones gettin there from Ronkonkoma to NYC in 55 minutes with rush hour traffic, only way is like you describe, with no traffic and doing 75mph.

 

and the LIRR does do aorund 60, Ive sat in teh seats across from the engineer/conductor cabs and the panel has been open on that side, revealing the speedometer. It gets in the 70s between bethpage and hicksville, and goes around 60mph between hicksville and hillside, but then has to slow down for the stops, it does about 30mph around jamaica.

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lawnguysland

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Yes obviously I was doing 75 mph on a very off hour to get there in 55. And I mean average 60 MPH. Ronkonkoma is 45 minutes from the Queens border and takes like 1 hour 5 minutes to get into Queens. 15-20 minutes down the toilet. Makes no sense. There is no way the LIRR Ronkonkoma line averages more than about 45 MPH.

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lawnguysland

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Yes obviously I was doing 75 mph on a very off hour to get there in 55. And I mean average 60 MPH. Ronkonkoma is 45 minutes from the Queens border and takes like 1 hour 5 minutes to get into Queens. 15-20 minutes down the toilet. Makes no sense. There is no way the LIRR Ronkonkoma line averages more than about 45 MPH.

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Nova RTS 9147

Nova RTS 9147

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Yes obviously I was doing 75 mph on a very off hour to get there in 55. And I mean average 60 MPH. Ronkonkoma is 45 minutes from the Queens border and takes like 1 hour 5 minutes to get into Queens. 15-20 minutes down the toilet. Makes no sense. There is no way the LIRR Ronkonkoma line averages more than about 45 MPH.

 

Well of course you're going to beat the train then if you're driving at an illegal speed...

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