Railfan 007

Some folks were unable to view the images the first time, since it was required to sign-in with a google account to view them, so here are the same images, but shared properly without the need for a google account. I apologize for the double posting, as it seems like there is a time limit for editing posts (Today I Learned lol)

IIRC, its still the same way on the J FIND screen for the R179s, right?

Yeah, I thought so too. However, testing started on February 10th. Its actually been 24 days lol

3010-3019 has ads in the train. Aren't the test sets not supposed to have ads yet? Or is it since more than 15 days have passed, MTA "expects" the train to pass? (Today is Day 24. I miscounted as I forgot the start date lol)

False alarm...... train is still in service. Confirmed through someone who is currently riding it. Plus, its not halfway through, today is Day 27 for 3010-3019. Once nothing happens over the weekend, and it completes its run on Monday, it has passed. Time flies once the foamers disappear lmaoooo

TL;DR: Even though this idea is pipe dream, in my opinion this idea of mine would increase reliability for the . Make it express in Manhattan, and remove it from 60th and place it in 63rd to help increase its frequency. This also a plan to de-interline the Broadway lines for increased reliability. A lot of one-seat rides disappear for more frequent, reliable service. : Coney Island to 96th St-2nd Av; via Sea Beach, 4th Av express, Broadway express, and 2nd Avenue : Coney Island to Astoria Blvd; via Brighton local/exp, stop at DeKalb, Montague tunnels, Broadway local, 60th St tubes. : Bay Ridge-95th St to Forest Hills; via 4th Avenue local, stop at DeKalb, Broadway express, run via 63rd Street, then Queens Blvd local For Dekalb Interlocking: DeKalb interlocking is built in such a way so 4th Av local trains can head to the Manhattan Bridge at the same time Brighton trains can head to Montague tubes, without needing any new construction. This means s heading for the bridge can continue without delaying s heading to the tunnel. s proceeds its normal route with no issues, and now either increase the frequency of the and route s to 9th Av / Bay Ridge-95th. With the being the only provider of service for Brighton, makes a comeback as a weekday line for Brooklyn, specifically Brighton express. 34th St-Herald Sq crossover, current choke point as the switches from local to express/vice versa: Nothing merges here anymore, so no more bottleneck! Plus, with the doing the express and alone (although running frequently), there isn't any need for switching here. 63rd St connection for the / and / merge This will be a new bottleneck, and I need to do more research, but this idea would also require the swapping of the /. It can probably work without an / swap, but it maybe more problematic with scheduling in between s and then line it up to . If the moves to 63rd however, the will have to make a comeback on Queens Blvd, as 36th St to 65th St would only be served by 63rd tunnels with no connections to 53rd. Hopefully in the future Lexington Av-63rd St station and Lexington Av-59th St stations can have an in system connection. Late night service would require Roosevelt Island and 21st St-Queensbridge to have some service if the / are doing 63rd, so it would make sense to keep the via 63rd. Either these 2 options: 1. Weekdays run via 53rd and nights run if via 63rd 2. Leave the on 53rd and have buses serve the stations at nights Another issue I see people complaining about is lost in system transfer at Lexington Av-59th St station for the 60th Street tunnels The Q will be the sole provider for the Astoria line and coming off the high frequencies from both / from Brighton, funneling it all up Broadway local, and then over to Astoria, it should provide very frequent trains for Astoria riders to not complain. Yes they lose express service, however its a simple cross platform transfer at 57th, 42nd, or 34th, as the are running together express. Fleet movement With the reduced in route length, a few trains can be diverted to the . Same for the , as its running via 4th Av instead of Brighton. With the express, it would also reduce its fleet by a little, further providing sets for , and with the being rolled into , more sets.

The R160s propulsion is nearly 20 years old lol. It could be the same propulsion for parts commonality, but with the R179s having a different propulsion than the R142A/143/188, even though both trains have Bombardier propulsion, I doubt the R211s will have the same propulsion package as the R160s.

Those should also be testing. They have been delivered, so if they are not in service yet, they are still testing. Surprised @Coney Island Av missed those sets lol

Plochochi is the name (paused the video where there is no CC) and he says around the 58:40 mark that the R211s will have Alstom propulsion, for people who want a source to quote:

For those who want a more specific time, yesterday it left 207th at 6:30pm, terminated at Lefferts, and then was NIS heading to the yard at 8:00pm

Unless you work for MTA/know someone who knows the time the train leaves tomorrow, you will be flying by the seat of your pants lol

I highly doubt the / will get these first. If the swap to make the / fully NTT with R160s doesn't happen by 2020, then they will be getting R211s from the base contract. The excess sets from the base contract can then head to the / until the option orders come in to fully replace the R46s on the /.

I think he was being highly sarcastic. Only person who would say something like that and mean it is Flushing Express.

I doubt MTA would do that. The entire fleet for IRT is all in 5 car sets, except for the shuttle and half of the fleet. Plus, there is(was?) a plan for the shuttle to be expanded to accommodate 5 car trains while also opening a transfer to 6th Avenue station on 42nd Street. Idk if that plan still going through though.

The has 4-car sets testing on it since the sets go through preliminary testing at Broad Channel test track, and its easy just to run the set on the , as Pitkin Yard is handles the preliminary testing. The 4-car sets are running on the to help familiarize the crews/yard personnel before the 5-car trains come in and run on the /.

I really hope this trash Coumo is spewing has to be approved by the board. Everyone, from the communities to the MTA themselves have spent too much time planning for the shutdown only for Coumo to say "Its not going to happen folks, not on my watch!!" That is a waste of time and money that MTA has spent, and would be quite sad it could be canceled like this. Plus, I doubt the tunnel work could be done in 15-20 months via weekends and late nights. Highly doubt. The will get it 480' trains whether the L shutdown happens or not. If the MTA decides to send have a higher spare factor of cars, then the G won't get its 480' trains. Like others have said before, and it will be said again, there will be a surplus of 480' trains. Only place for them to go is either the or the . If the doesn't become 480' after all the R179s are delivered, then when the R211s come in the will be 480'.

I doubt MTA will publicly say which fleet goes where, but the basics of what lines get service increases and what lines will need a fleet change are already said publicly. If you want to know which cars are going to go where and and what line, you will find out April 2019, as MTA is not going to publicly say that information.

My own clips of 3150-3157 running on the , and if you have seen too much of R179 service, you can fast forward to 7:58 in the video for 3162-3165 heading to the test track. Enjoy!!

I know that clearance testing was long time done. What I meant by the train could pass testing on any line was burn-in testing. The sets have done burn-in on the and the , and recently on the . There is nothing to prevent them from doing burn-in on other lines to make where ever the cars are sent, they will be able to run in revenue service. But like Lance said, it was most likely announcement testing MTA was doing.

That would be not be a reason at all to why MTA would test the cars on the F. I do not have an idea why they would test on the F, but your reason does not make sense. Run a full train from Coney to 179th and back because trains are occasionally rerouted? That is a definite no. Most likely it was testing on the F to make sure the cars can pass on any line they are placed on. 3170-3173 is delivered and heading to the flats, but 3070-3073 is still not on MTA property yet. Surprising the car numbers keep going higher and higher and 3070-3073 still is not in NYC yet.

Same set (3150-3157) caught on Reddit doing burn-in at Columbus Circle

A standard bus can carry ~80 people, while an Articulated bus can carry ~110 people. Last time I heard, they will be running buses at 4 min intervals during rush hours, which will mean 15 buses per hour. 15 standards in an hour, packed, it ~1,200 people, while 15 Artics per hour will be ~1,650. Will it be enough? Possibly. However, including the M14SBS route, on top of the M14A/D, which already runs artics, and increasing the frequency of those routes too, I think it will be enough, as the carrying capacity should be close to 3-4k people per hour. 1st and 3rd Avenue are not generating that many people that buses can't keep up with. If the buses are slammed the first week, MTA will make adjustments. My only concern with the plan is morning rush hour probably can't be covered by buses, as it probably will be too many people arriving at once. All other times, the buses should do fine for Manhattan, once they are not held up in traffic.

Are the / most unreliable lines? Really? What fact are you making this statement on? Nah don't answer that unless its a link to an article/MTA pdf. Last time I checked, the are the most unreliable in terms of on-time performance (Link to a NYTimes Article). But yeah, sure continue talking. Nah, wait, find facts before talking again next time. Now, those same people are the ones who are fighting the alternatives that the MTA/DOT are proposing, such as bus only lanes along 14th Street, and banning traffic along 14th Street during the day to increase the reliability of the buses. MTA has got New Flyer/Nova pumping out buses like faster than 32s leaving East New York yard for 207th, so there definitely won't be a shortage of buses during the shutdown. So, if they continue to fight the MTA/DOT on the bus improvements they are planning for 14th Street, that's their problem to deal with when they have to walk to 14th-St Union Sq instead if having the option of taking a bus to Union Sq. No one should feel sorry for the people of Manhattan as they fight against the MTA/DOT, when all NYC/DOT want to do is help alleviate some of their problems they will have when the closes. R179 3093 was tagged back in July, so it seems like the "artists" have started to make "their mark" on the new cars It seems like the cars are coming in a little faster now, as 12 cars showed up within this month, and maybe more on the way. Bombardier/MTA is still cutting it real close to April 2019 for full delivery, but we'll see

That issue happened due to the fact none of the NTT's had programs for a to Metropolitan Avenue, which was fixed the second time that G.O. happened. Every single time I have rode the out to the Rockaways (which is a good 15-20 times now), the conductor ALWAYS makes an announcement as the train approaches Rockaway Blvd, stating the destination, and if they need to transfer wait for Lefferts Blvd/Far Rockaway Bound at Rockaway Blvd. Every time. Even when the train in on the platform the conductor 9 times out of 10 states the terminal AGAIN, telling people if they need to wait or not, before then announcing the next stop and closing doors. Some PA systems need work done, as it is muffled, but most times it is loud and mostly clear. I wondered why Jamaica's R46s have been getting the LED and double pole treatment, when by the time 2023 comes (if the R211s are not delayed 🤞) the R46s will be history. These upgrades haven't reached Pitkin's sets yet, but time will tell