Bosco

5 hours ago, Union Tpke said:

The R179s are not CBTC-equipped. 309 sets of R160s will be CBTC-equipped for Queens Boulevard.

Speaking of which, while it's a ways from now and the priority (obviously) is just to get the R179s in service, is there a timeline for when they will get CBTC?  Perhaps after the shutdown?

19 minutes ago, VIP said:

Not a single 10-car R179 entered service, calm down. It’s been publicly announced that those cars will be assigned to 207th Street and East New York respectively. Every yard in NYCT will be UNIFORMED. That means 1 fleet or up to 2 fleet types per yard for cost efficient maintenance. That whole 3-4 different car classes in a yard will be a thing of the past... we should have known this when the R160’s damn near replaced 4 different fleets in one sitting. 

Not to invalidate your point (there needs to be as much uniformity as possible; this was a problem for bus depots as well), but those 60' SMEEs shared many parts and could run together if need be.  It is only with the NTTs that there are so many drastic changes between car types, even ones that were built at the same time.  The R179s are far more different from the R160s than the R32s are from the R42s (mechanically/electrically speaking), which further demonstrates the need for uniformity.  Even if a yard like Jamaica were to get the 5-car sets, that would mean entirely new spare parts and maintenance procedures for a yard that's already overwhelmed.

Unfortunately, the 5-car R179s will be an oddball fleet for most of their lives, as there is no one line that can handle with just 12 trains and they are incompatible with the rest of the fleet.  It sucks, but there's nothing the MTA can do.

4 hours ago, VIP said:

It wasn’t cleaned and it’s sitting at East New York yard OOS. 

There are photos on Facebook though of one of the R179s going to the car wash.  Not sure about numbers though.

1 hour ago, LGA Link N train said:

Today, Andy Byford came to my school and told my friends and I that he's heading to Plattsburgh tomorrow to see how things are going with Bombardier and the R179's. I'll say, it was an honor to meet him

Do you go to Transit Tech?  Have major MTA people paid visits to there in the past?

26 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Either this person was out to lunch or maybe they were confused about which train is which.  During the rush, it seems as if the express and the local trains along the Hudson Line are scheduled just minutes apart at times, which may give riders the impression that their stop was skipped, when in reality their train hadn't arrived yet.

In either case, I hate to say it but it is ultimately up to the riders to pay attention.  The same (perhaps more so) goes for the subway.  If it's a last-minute change or whatever, fine.  But for regular trains, people should know where they're getting off and plan accordingly.

Fortunately, the M9s will have indicators letting people know which car they're in (Car XX of XX).

13 hours ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

What train was this? We have a Metro-North train like this too at times and Metro-North claims that they can't add more service at this time. Well open up those cars then.  Six car train with only four cars open. 

The Hudson Line regularly has trains where only half the train is open to passengers.  I'm not sure why they do this as it is incredibly inefficient.

58 minutes ago, NewFlyerFan said:

Apologies if this sounds like a newbie question but will any of the older Local Service buses, both NYCT and MTA Bus be repainted in the new Blue and Gold scheme?

IIMN, all 2011 buses and up (plus the 1200s) were planned to get the new scheme sooner or later.  I don't know if this is still the case.

4 minutes ago, WestFarms36 said:

I really do not really care. As long as I have a vehicle that takes me from Point A to Point B it really doesn't make a difference to me, while the Bus moves, has Heating in the winter, and AC in the Summer, I am fine. All these new buses will be old someday. The XN40's are already turning 2 and we just got them the other day. The 1200's were just received the other day and almost 9, in an agency this big, buses will be old and nothing can be replaced overnight. Yes the RTS has been in service longer than originally intended, yes they aren't up to code on the most recent ADA Standards, and yes the Fuel Efficiency on those buses aren't prestine, but you can never expect an agency looking after 5,800 Buses with fleet expansion planned to not have old buses still crawling. Even small county agencies are up to this day dealing with older buses. Yes it is a public agency where you can voice your concerns, but fleet assignments happen where there is need. You can't take away new buses from a depot that is in need for new buses to send it elsewhere to please others. Many New Yorkers don't have a problem riding them anyway. Look at the train for example. People began complaining over the R32's being very stingy to ride on, swapped a few sets with the  , without it being a necessity. The never went 100% R160 anyway, and now those same R160's sent from the , guess where they have to go back again? Yes back to the Nassau St Line. Now due to lengthening of the  train, it is now getting R46's which are younger and in better shape, and probably share 5 R179 sets with the and the R32's running on the returning to where they came from in the first place. Which comes back to this, buses cannot be rolled around the city like dice, because 1 person wants new buses on their route. Sometimes those new buses are there for planned future +SBS+ routes, or to increase Bus capacity and prevent Bus Shortages *cough* Gun Hill *cough* West Farms *cough* eventually those depots with old RTS's will get even newer buses with the WIFI, USB Charging Ports, and Information Screens. Its just a matter of patience and acceptance. Therefore ENY is right, if it were not for this platform, most of us would be like the Papparazi's all around the 5 boroughs.

I agree with everything here.  The only thing I don't like about the RTS are the lifts.  Otherwise, they're good buses for their age and for the most part ride fairly well.  I live mostly near Ulmer routes and they take pride in maintaining their RTSs (especially the ZFs).  Not sure if it's preference of maintenance or the fact that the newer buses just aren't aging as well (case in point: 1200s LFSAs), but the XD40s ride horribly.  So newer isn't always better, either.  Politics does play a role in fleet assignments (for the subway as well), but that only goes so far.  If that was the primary driving factor in fleet assignments, the  and  would never have swapped fleets.  The only time I can think of when politics may have played a role was the  back before it got R160s, except Coney Island got them anyway because of the power issues in the Rockaways (which have since been resolved).

Back to the topic of new fleets, I do have a question.  Has the MTA considered getting CNG express buses for the BC depots (Spring Creek, College Point)?  I know NJT just got new CNG MCIs, and it would make sense for uniformity and to be more "green."

27 minutes ago, DueceDrives said:

B46+ turning arctic?..... I wouldn't be surprise in the future FB becomes an Arctic Fleet depot for some of their lines out there. 

They already maintain LFSAs for the B44 SBS.

1 hour ago, GojiMet86 said:

13) Was that 25 bus order supposed to be for Eastchester?

I believe so since they're the last BC depot to have a group of RTSs (not scattered like LGA or JFK), and the Hybrids don't belong there.

1 hour ago, JeremiahC99 said:

  On 8/3/2011 at 10:03 PM, East New York said:

New Flyer XD60 "Xcelsior" Low Floor Articulated (Base order delivery scheduled to resume shortly) 

5987-6286  &  

5987-6029 (43) Casey Stengel

6030-6108 (79) Tuskegee (100th St)

6109-6125 (17) East New York

options for TA(108) and BC(53)

6126-6233 (108) 51 for Clara Hale(146 St), and 57 for Flatbush

6234-6286 (53) 43 for Q52/3+

Does this mean the buses be shifted around for uniformity?  (Instead of having the odd numbers at Tuskegee and the even numbers at Casey Stengel?)

3 hours ago, LGA Link N train said:

Poor things. If you ask me, they should do an LCD enhancement on all R142A's/R188's like how Corona did with 7501

Include the R142s as well.  They are aging better than the R142A displays, but not by much.  I'm hoping they do it sooner than later as part of SMS.

Also, if the R142As are so great (and I can understand), be thankful they're off the .

On 5/23/2018 at 8:29 PM, trainfan22 said:

They made mechanical upgrades when the 142As got converted to 188s, the MTA admitted this in a document and plans to add these same upgrades to the remaining 142A's in the future. The spike in MDBF is likely due to the mechanical upgrades Kawasaki made.

I was referring to the spike the converted R188s had in 2016.  And it seems those mechanical upgrades are on almost all of the rest of the R142As, especially the door motors (which are one of the weakest links on the new trains).

2 hours ago, Lance said:

Besides, if anyone has the right to complain about old trains, it's the riders who have to endure the aging 32s, 42s and 46s that are so prevalent on the and  lines.

I just wish they'd get to the bottom of what's causing the maintenance discrepancy between cars at Westchester Yard and those elsewhere. Is it a matter of not having enough of a spare factor at Westchester or enough workers, or is it something else? As mentioned previously in this thread, the former 142As left the in a sorry state, but after several months of running out of Corona, they feel as if they're almost brand new cars, appearances notwithstanding of course because they still look beat up unfortunately. Inversely, the 62As, some of the highest performing cars in the entire fleet before the CBTC swap, are rapidly becoming one of the worst since then. Something's up and this needs to be investigated.

This whole thing.  

The MDBF converted R188 sets spiked around 2016, after more of the sets came in and got much-needed maintenance.  The R142As, meanwhile, had one of the worst MBDFs of any fleet, worse even than many SMEE fleets.  Those so concerned about the fleet on the  should be more concerned with maintenance, which is a much bigger factor on service reliability and fleet availability.  Remember that one set on the  that had God knows what issue and was sidelined for a few months?  That's a train that should've been in service and wasn't because of shoddy maintenance (if there was any).

As far as the converted sets looking beat up, with any luck, the upgrades they've been giving some of the trains (including older ones) will come to the R188s.  Several R62As on the  now have LED lighting, and there is at least one set of R142s with the new lighting and floor mats.  That should help not make the C-car stand out the way it does.

4 hours ago, Coney Island Av said:

I know, error. Just found out right before you quoted. 

But this is the end of an era. The R142As made a smooth arrival in 2000, and made their way onto the  and  lines. However, in 2013, the  had to sacrifice most of its R142As in order to make the Flushing line fully NTT. The R142As made their last run on the  yesterday April 21, 2018, almost 18 years after it first began service.

All that's left now are old, metallic, R62As from the 80's, which all came from the ...

The  will never be the same ever again. 

They actually had numerous teething issues, along with the R142s.  Granted, they weren't AS bad (and didn't need that extensive reworking back in 2006-2007), but by no means was the arrival smooth.  And while I liked R142As on the  as much as the next guy, besides needing them for Flushing, Westchester treats their fleet like garbage anyway.  The R62As that came from Corona were actually fine, it's just that time has taken its toll especially being maintained under a different roof.  The  will be fine and it will be the same in about 10-15 years, when the replacements for the R62/As arrive.  Until then, sit tight, and fan the  if you MUST see the R142As...
 

3 hours ago, Calvin said:

Here's a thought, with the just being R62As, will the MTA restore the reduced runs back on the schedule since they do have enough trains now?

----

Also, before SAS occured, the had 45-46 trains total but now, up to 43. The train total was shortened by 3. 

They no longer have an excuse not to.  It was very shortsighted (although I kinda understand why from a fleet perspective)--unfortunately it won't be for a few picks if they decide to restore some service.  Another idea I had (since the R142As are better from a capacity standpoints with their wider doors and clearer announcements)--why not maintain all R142As out of Mosholu, but have a few sets with maps reserved for rush-hour service?  They were doing put-ins before the cuts came about, and certainly the  will have those few trains to spare (unless the R142s they're bumping out are to increase  service).

1 hour ago, jon2305 said:

Any status on the 240th yard R62As sets, are those stay on the ?

Calvin already answered, but I'd like to add that the  is one of the few lines with a decent (for MTA standards) spare factor.  Speaking of which, I know the lone R62 set (containing the Union Square consist) recently got  maps, but are there plans to put that set back on the ?

1 hour ago, VIP said:

I guess for back up or garbage service... & Does the  still have it’s R142a set?? 

Wasn't there an R127/R134 at Corona Yard too?  It is still possible that it can be used for garbage and/or work service though, just wondering.

2 hours ago, VIP said:

East New York is gonna be left with R42’s along with whatever R160/143’s it has and their R179’s then...

Nope, even the R42s will go out to another line (although which line is speculation ATM).  There's a reason all the four-car sets are being delivered first--the priority is to get ENY to be 100% NTT before the shutdown so as to improve running times (although the time gain is negligible unless they remove the timers).  Still, having newer trains will still help out the  and .

4 minutes ago, subwaycommuter1983 said:

Awesome!! If things continue to work smoothly and no more issues occur we may have all r179's by the end of the year. Lets keep our fingers crossed!!! 

End of the year?  Absolutely not.  Before the Canarsie shutdown?  Possible at the current rate, but let's remain "cautiously optimistic."  Don't want to jinx anything else.

12 hours ago, Fan Railer said:

Still missing 70-77?

Either that set was built with some of the old specs or is especially a lemon (one of the converted R188 sets actually took awhile to enter service IIRC).  Still, it's weird that we haven't heard anything about that set, especially with 3050-3057 now in service.

On 5/8/2018 at 8:52 AM, VIP said:

I think it would be nice if the R211’s had a Live map feature, like they do on Jet blue planes... so people can see (geographically) where they’re traveling to/from...

Perhaps on the subway maps, which are going to be digital anyway.  That would be very useful actually.

1 hour ago, 4 via Mosholu said:

That could work; the only question is whether the modification would be worth the cost.

I would suggest doing that for the new displays on the R160s instead.  Plus, even though the FIND screens are bigger on the R179s, they're still pretty small to display service status.

9 hours ago, RR503 said:

There are 3tph of  scheduled to go express. Beyond that is unnecessary -- remember that 3tph  will end at BedNos, making only 12tph run through to Church. 

That makes sense so as not to screw over Park Slope/Carroll Gardens.  Since it's relatively low, however, will it be listed on the maps?  There are many other rush hour variants even along the lettered lines ( to 168 St,  to 179 St) that are not on the full map but in the schedule.

1 minute ago, Lance said:

In all likelihood, they'll range in the 3000s and/or 4000s. Besides the incoming 179s (lower 3000s range), the only cars in those ranges are the 32s and 42s, both of which will eventually be replaced by the 211s. Starting from 3950 (3949 is the last numbered R32 car) and running through 4549 (4550 is the first numbered R42 car), that gives 600 car numbers for the initial order without overlapping any existing designations (in service or recently retired).

Plus, with the second option, there could be 1612 cars, which means (assuming they start with 3330 as the R179s could likely end with 3326) it could run up to the mid-high 4900s.  It actually works out nicely.

3 hours ago, Lawrence St said:

So we only have half a 10 car set right now?

Yes, but it's entirely possible that 3010-3014 will go to Bombardier for the same mods as 3015-3019.  Not really a huge issue (relatively speaking) since the full 10-car train won't be in service for at least a few months and the priority is to get ENY to be 100% NTT as soon as possible.

10 minutes ago, Lawrence St said:

What happened to the other half of 3010?

3015-3019 was sent up to Bombardier for modifications a few weeks ago.  As DJ Hammers explained, it's not necessarily a bad thing in itself; the mods are being done there because the MTA does not have the resources to do them.  The mods are necessary to bring them up to spec so they can enter service.

23 hours ago, Coney Island Av said:

Now that 3106-3109 are on their way, and 3050-3057 have entered service, this is an update. 

Currently in service: 5 sets total! 

3050-3057

3058-3065

3066-3069 & 3090-3093 

3086-3089 & 3094-3097

3082-3085 & 3098-3101 

Bombardier: 

3015-3019

3106-3109 

Testing: 

3010-3014

3078-3081 & 3110-3113

3114-3117 

Just waiting on 3070-3077 and there will be some continuity.  It's also a good sign that one of the first sets delivered is finally in service.

Just an FYI, it's likely that 3010-3014 could go back to Bombardier for the same mods as 3015-3019 in the near future.

3 hours ago, RR503 said:

125th's being scaled back honestly isn't much of a loss. 3 tracks at a terminal really don't gain you much capacity. The real atrocity was 72nd, whose 3 track set up would have allowed 10-15tph Broadway express service to end there, permitting deinterlining post phase 3. 

Fair enough, but it's just the idea that once again, even as things get scaled back, the costs still go higher than projected.  These projects need to get done but there needs to be at least some accountability.  ESA just went up another billion.

39 minutes ago, m2fwannabe said:

Totally agreed.  And so would unfold the final chapter of the R-188 rollout.

In 2012, the projected "final" assignments called for the unitization of 1926-1965 for use on , with 1901-1925 to be left as single units for assignment to and in Work Service.

Don't know if that's still the end game, but of course would require a multitude of juggling to rationalize the fleet.

Then there's this more recent idea about two tracks using longer consists on the shuttle, instead of three with the 10 cars its had since 1964, if not before that.

The shuttle overhaul is a question of when, not if.  The ADA improvements were approved last week which include reconfiguring the shuttle platforms.  I would imagine at that point 24 cars would be assigned to the  (4 6-car trains, 2 for service, 2 spares).

59 minutes ago, kosciusko said:

Wait; so to bring a train from Corona to Westchester, it has to go via the  to Atlantic, then via the  up 6th ave to concourse yard, then via the  to 125th, then via the  to Westchester? Jeez that's a long trip.

Yup.  The only connection between the Flushing Line and the rest of the system is a diamond crossover just east of Queensboro Plaza, a remnant from the days when the BMT and IRT shared Astoria and Flushing.
 

16 minutes ago, m2fwannabe said:

There's only enough single units to make up two 5-car match-ups at most, IF that's the case:

1954-1957-1958-1959-1960 (cab);

1924 (no LED)-1926-1934-1938-1942.

Even so, 1954, 1942 and 1924 would all have to be modified as "end" cars (full-width cabs & WABCO brake valves at one end) to be moved to  as are 1943-1944-1947-1948-1949.  That would take a little time.

But if this DOES happen, chances would favor a return of the cars on back to , and then those "lovely" Kawasaki R-62s could go back to .

Being equipped as 4-Trippers, I don't think you'd see 1901-1905 matched up as such.  The 1901-1910 group (less 1909) is needed for Work Service as shared with road use.

Some may stay at Corona; the rest may be destined to Livonia and 239 ultimately.

 

If the  gives the  back the few 2200s and 2400s it has, would that mean the 1800s at 240 St would go back to the ?  Have to say, it's kinda weird having that split between 240 and Westchester.

It also looks like 125 St will suffer the same fate as 72 St, and there doesn't look like anything will be built toward the Bronx except for bellmouths.  Even as the project gets scaled back, the cost continues to go up.  What is the MTA thinking?  Where are the people holding these contractors accountable?  Oh, that's right, union corruption is not a priority for our Emperor.

On 4/30/2018 at 10:05 PM, jon2305 said:

When I rode an R188 on the last week, the majority of the trip from Times Square to Willets Point was on CBTC bypass.

That's the only way an R62A could run along the line at this point.

On 4/30/2018 at 9:56 PM, bobtehpanda said:

Engineering companies =/= software companies, unfortunately.

Have you been following the R179 situation?