Lance

A couple of things with the idea of waiting for the 62As to retire. First off, it obviously hinges on the 62As being retired. We all know they'll hit the end of their optimal lifespan sometime in the mid 2020s, depending on the car. That does not mean the cars will all be removed from service at that time. They may be scrapped earlier or later. It all depends on how the cars perform in the intervening years. That does little to fix the myriad of issues plaguing the Flushing line, like how the signals over there are ancient, or how busy the line is and that it's at or near its present capacity. Secondly, I'm sure we all know how the MTA is concerning schedules and timetables. Even if the cars were ready to be removed exactly in 2025, do we have an idea of when the MTA would order their replacements? I remind you the 32s presently on the rails are nearly 50 years old, but various circumstances have forced the agency to constantly delay the 179 order to replace those aging cars. What's to say something similar won't occur a decade from now. And before someone asks, no, the 142As could not have gone to Flushing back in 2000. Corona couldn't do anything with the cars until their recent yard upgrade a few years back. Also, I want to address a couple of other things. 1) Yes, this is a forum and all opinions should be respected. The problem lies in those few who pass their opinions as definitive facts. It's especially annoying when they don't stop or realize it. If there is some change in the plan for the 62As and the converted 188s, it really needs to be backed up with proof. If people are outright avoiding the 62As for whatever reason (which I don't believe in the slightest to be frank), we need some proof to prove your claim. 2) What is it with your fixation with that "express stops in the Bronx" announcement Flushing Express? I'm kind of curious because it's bordering on an obsession. It's just a recording done by a near-catatonic Catherine Cowdery, based on how slow and subdued it is. Between this and that long-winded F transfer at 59 St, the next stop announcement, the part most passengers care about, is cut off a lot because they're too damn long. Just felt I should say something.

Where's the fun in that?

To dispel any rumors about this, the car swap will continue as intended: 62As to Westchester in lieu of eventually converted 142As. By the way, 7211 and company are still out of service. I have a feeling there won't be any new conversions until they figure out what's causing the problems on this set first.

I don't see how they'd be any different from before. 207th didn't do anything to them during the time they ran on the C.

It was deleted some time last week, but it obviously came back, now as a two-weekend shutdown. Let's just hope it doesn't snow again to cancel it.

He means it's internal information to the MTA workers only. It'll be posted to the car assignment sheet over on JoeKorner soon enough.

You were saying?

I'll take these one by one: 1) eliminate Jamaica skip-stop - The purpose of the J/Z skip-stop is not just about saving a few minutes. It's primarily about crowd control. Running all local service on the Jamaica elevated during the rush hours will lead to very crowded trains and platforms. Unlike the Broadway skip-stop on the 1 and 9 lines which bypassed several important stops, most riders are heading to Manhattan, so it doesn't matter which trains stops at a particular station 2) J to Broad St all times - Unnecessary since the 4 and 5 easily pick up the slack. 3) M to Essex St during off-hours - That's already in the works (at least during the daytime/evening hours of the weekend), starting this June if I'm not mistaken 4) M/R to 179 St - It's not necessarily a bad idea since it would potentially eliminate a transfer at Forest Hills or Roosevelt Av. The question is however, how many people will benefit from one or both lines serving Jamaica. 6) split R at all times - I'm going to assume you're only talking about the duration of the Montague closure. That would force riders along the R-line to make what's usually a one-seat ride into a three-seat one. The only reason it's done this way on weekdays is because the B runs during those times. Other times, DeKalb junction isn't as congested to require the split R line. 6, 7) extended hours for the C, expanded service on the D - Those aren't bad ideas and probably should be implemented. 8) return of the W, restoration of the pre-2010 Broadway line service patterns - Again, those aren't bad ideas. However, it won't eliminate the merging problems since the N would merge over to the local tracks to hit the 60th Street curve. 9) run the 5 from Nereid to Flatbush on weekends, Dyre Avenue service relegated to shuttle - I'm not liking how you shafted the Dyre Avenue riders to a two-seat ride for any service south of E 180 St. With that said, weekend service to Flatbush Av should be looked into and service along White Plains Rd should be boosted as needed, though I'm not sure sending the 5 up to 238 St is the answer. I think that's it.

With all these snowstorms, arctic blasts and polar vortexes, I have a feeling it's going to be a bad spring in terms of service disruptions. I'm sure that most of this work can't be FASTRACKed away or simply done during overnight hours. Speaking of which, how many FASTRACKs have been truncated or outright cancelled because of the weather so far this year?

The line shutdown scheduled for this weekend has been cancelled as well as the daytime Astoria shutdown (for like the fifth time since it's been attempted)

Now Manhattan-bound trains are running via the line from Stillwell Av to 36 St. Coney Island-bound trains have resumed normal service.

@Wallyhorse: Just an honest question here: Do you ever think about how your ideas would be implemented or how they'd be perceived by the riding public? I ask this because it seems like little thought is given to questions like these when you make these sometimes strange and other times, simply impossible proposals. I know it's really not the subject of this thread, but since it keeps being brought up, I feel I should address it with some sort of logic. Let's take your weekend to Harlem/Washington Hts idea. First off, you're confusing many riders along 6th Avenue and Central Park West because you have two very different lines serving these sectors depending on which day of the week it is. And it isn't an issue of people not paying attention. At least not entirely. You must remember that the general riding public aren't rail enthusiasts; they're just trying to get from point A to B. Running completely different services along the same stretch of line on different days is hard to convey to the casual rider in both written form as well as on the map. That's explicitly why Transit doesn't run lines like they did decades ago. Secondly, what is the purpose of sending the up Central Park West anyhow? If it's to add more service to Central Park West and/or 6th Avenue, that can be done by extending the hours/days of operation on the already existing line, which everyone knows about, rather than sending a line that usually runs to Queens, up to Harlem. If the purpose is to link the Jamaica/Myrtle Avenue elevated lines to 8th Avenue, wouldn't it make more sense to create and run such a route during the times when it would pick up the most traffic, instead of only on weekends? Also, is the ridership even there for such a route in the first place? And no, I'm not talking about a couple of riders who'd benefit from a one-seat ride. The ridership has to justify its cost. These are some of the questions you have to ask yourself when you're about to post these ideas and fantastical proposals. Concerning this forum, I think you need to ask yourself whether your posts actually contribute something to the subject at hand or will it just be perceived as spamming. Just saying.

Due to the inclement weather: - uptown and trains run local from 34 St-Penn Station to 96 St - service is suspended; all service is local in the Bronx - Coney Island-bound trains are running via the line from 36 St to Stillwell Av Updates to follow as they come in.

I wouldn't be surprised. As stated in another thread, there's no way the 5 will be able to handle the entire Lexington express at its regular intervals.

New station rehabs: Coney Island-bound platforms at Parkside Av, Beverley Rd and Cortelyou Rd are closed for renovation All times, beginning 11:45 PM Friday, Feb 21 until early Summer For service to these stations, take the to Church Av or Newkirk Plaza and transfer to a Manhattan-bound . For service from these stations, take the to Church Av or Prospect Park and transfer to a Coney Island-bound . and a Brighton shutdown: No trains between Prospect Park and Stillwell Av trains and free shuttle buses provide alternate service Weekends, 10:30 PM Fri to 5 AM Mon, Feb 28 - Mar 3 • Mar 7 - 10 service operates between Ditmars Blvd*/57 St-7 Av and Prospect Park. *service is extended to Ditmars Blvd because of the 7-line outage between Queensboro Plaza and Times Sq.

Until they have an idea of when service will be restored, any press release posted on the MTA website will say the standard "We're working to restore service as soon as possible...", "customers are advised to leave additional time when planning their trips", etc. Those form letters don't really do much but reiterate what the service status page already says. I do hope they're adding more C trains along 8th Avenue, because it's bad enough it runs at "meh" intervals as it is. Combine that with the passengers from 7th Avenue and that's just asking for more trouble.

Just one from a line we really shouldn't have gotten rid of yet: 132nd Street and Alexander Avenue (IRT 3rd Avenue Elevated) Part of the William J. Myers Collection, Courtesy of James McGinty nycsubway.org Alas, the beauties and tragedies of hindsight.

I've said this before on one of MattTrain's photo threads, but it bears repeating. It will not be difficult to tell which trains are the converted sets and which are brand new. The MTA couldn't even be bothered to spring for a couple of mops, some sponges and some Orange Glo to clean the floors and other surfaces. It's quite sad if you ask me.

I think you mean Nereid Av since that's the other northern terminal, though your point still stands. That's why Wallyhorse's posts are quite groan-worthy at times. I just realized I really didn't comment on the subject itself. While I'm not opposed to running the B to Bedford Park during the midday hours, I don't see how it would solve the merging issues. Instead of holding up trains because of the switches just south of 145 St, the merger would occur just north of 135 St where the B and D split up to run local or express respectively along Central Park West, which would likely create the same delays as it does when the B terminates on the middle track at 145 St on the lower level.

G.O.-related reroutes are different, and even then, the lines don't stray too far from its original (normal) route unless it's necessary. The MTA doesn't want to repeat what it did in the '80s and '90s, where some subway lines had widely different terminals and sometimes different routes altogether depending on the time of day. The idea nowadays is to keep it (service patterns that is) as simplistic as possible so as to minimize confusion among the riding public.

Well, there's a train that's never late. You can always count on Wallyhorse to bring forth a proposal that literally no one else thought about or even asked for. It's like clockwork.

Why would the N be rerouted to Forest Hills? There's nothing happening on the Astoria line this weekend.

Yep. The Lov-Vs relayed at 167 St on the middle track, so the clocks read that as the trains terminating there and not 161 St.

I think the main problem preventing such a connection is making it ADA-compliant. Any new construction, whether it's a new station or a new transfer between existing stations, must be built to be fully accessible. And if the transfer has to be accessible, both stations would likely have to be as well. If it was built at least 25 or so years ago before the ADA became law, you could get away with a narrow bridge over the freight tracks and a couple of staircases connecting the two stations. Today, not so much.

It's not that surprising to see a running to 241 St, especially if something's holding up the trains somewhere along the line. If you mean via White Plains Rd, then no, all AAS options to 241 St are local in the Bronx.