Truckie

1 hour ago, RR503 said:

I can all but guarantee you MNR will get M9s -- they too have M3s to replace. 

Everything will need to be replaced in time.  M3's are not the priority at the moment.

2 hours ago, R42N said:

So, why are they outfitting them with expensive security cameras, adding new and updated signage, re-paining the outside and keeping the interiors pristine, if the plan is to scrap them in 5 years?

Who said they were going to scrap them (or plan to scrap) in 5 years?  

18 hours ago, R42N said:

Ok, but you think that the M3’s are the biggest problem that Metro-North has? There are so many more pressing issues that would be better than replacing good railcars. 

First off, I would not say the M3's are "good" from an operational standpoint but that's a topic for another day.

I'm talking about equipment sitting in the yard in an unusable state because of the lack of available parts.  

11 hours ago, R42N said:

...... but MNRR’s M3a’s do not need to be replaced, invest that money into the LIRR replacement. 

MNRR and LIRR are two separate operations.  There is no taking money from one and giving it to the other.  Just like MNRR can't take the money  they get from CDOT and use it for NY operations. 

Regardless, if M9's are tabled for the time being there is still other rolling stock in need of replacement.

On 10/30/2017 at 6:27 PM, Bosco said:

Metro-North M9/As are tentative.  Just because it hasn't been confirmed yet doesn't mean it won't happen.  Even if the funding hasn't come through yet, soon they will need something to replace the handful of M3As still running.

The chance of MNR getting M9's this time around are slim to none.  The M3's may need to be replaced, but they are still running.  There is rolling stock that is not running with no replacement parts available.

12 hours ago, N6 Limited said:

So when through trains are used crews are swapped at state lines?

Trains were re-crewed at NY-Penn. A bunch of MNR crews (C&E) qualified from New Rochelle to NYP where the train was re crewed with NJT crews.  Mind you, per NJT, it was only the 1PM games that ran direct service.  NJT had an issue with equipment cycles for the night games.

3 hours ago, RailRunRob said:

I've seen a few trains over the years they seemed Moderately full.. maybe 60-75% full. Maybe it was an operation thing? Crew Scheduling?

Not sure of the exact reason but heard it was something on NJT's end.  Crew scheduling on MNR's side was covered on the extra list.  I don't know how NJT handled their scheduling.  It was their rolling stock used .  Might have been something with equipment cycles.  Again, can't say for sure.

22 hours ago, paulrivera said:

Did they discontinue thru service on the New Haven Line to Secaucus for football games at the Meadowlands? There's no schedule online, while AFAIK neither MN or NJT have outright said they weren't going to offer the service anymore.

Yes, direct service was quietly discontinued.

I love it when those people end up getting charged the full onboard fare

It's almost laughable some one comes up to me with a "dead" phone (sometimes another scam). Why is it MY problem YOUR phone is dead? Some I have charged the on board come back next time with a fully charged phone as they bought a Mophie (or similar battery pack). Oh, I forgot, NOBODY has those anymore.

Dude, nobody is carrying battery packs these days. Get with the times.

I guess the multiple people I see on a train day to day basis are "nobody" including myself. It's the responsible thing to do if they know they might be somewhere for an extended period period of time and they know they will need to charge there phone. In stead of wa, wa, waaing about it, they react accordingly.

Serious question, where is charging your phones a normal feature on trains? It certainly didn't exist when I was in Asia or Germany.

Even more interesting is pondering the thought of what people did with out cell phones. When involved in public transportation, one never heard others talking loudly with the speaker phone option on. You wouldn't hear others playing games or watching videos with out ear phones. Let's not forget those that Skype, etc...

 

Oh yeah, back to reality. How hard is it for someone to keep a battery pack with them. I could buy one for the cost of three peak tickets when I scam the railroad by not activation my e-ticket before I get on the train regardless of what the terms and conditions say.

 

I digress. Back to the question, the trains with out the modern "convenience" of outlets were manufactured 10 to 15 years past when there was no such thing as a phone "smarter" than the user. If they were retrofitted with outlets every four feet, then people would cry about the cost. After all it's public transportation, you get what you get. Just like flying, I've flown for hours with out charging ports, wifi or any modern convenience. You get what you get.

Wait, what??? How in the heck do they do that? Isn't there only one app available for Metro-North?

Yes, only one app. The problem is when they try to produce a ticket with out the app (screen shot, video clip, etc). The other issue is I've caught multiple people trying to use the same ticket. Once it is scanned, it's dead. The colors will still show, but it can not be scanned again. If I scan an e ticket, then some one else gets on the train and the phone gets passed to them, I will be able to tell it was already scanned the first time and on what train.

 

Another aspect of the scanning is accountability of staff. Management can see exactly when I'm (or anyone else) is collecting tickets as once it's scanned, it goes to the cloud. If I'm approached that I a spotter was on my train and claims no one was collecting fares, I'll say look at the record from the scans. It's on record when I scanned, on what train and the station combo of each ticket scanned.

They need better scanners then. As big as my phone is he had trouble scanning the barcode on it, so just imagine someone with a small phone. What happens if the barcode can't be scanned? Are you required to keep trying or what? Point is all of that nonsense holds up service, and means less revenue for the , so they'll either get better scanners, or more people will ride for free (I'm not complaining lol).

I'm not disagreeing with you. The only good thing about the scanning is catching those that try to cheat the system with fraudulent tickets on their phone (and plenty do). If scanning a ticket doesn't work, visual we're supposed to visually validate as in the past.

Everyone will soon be scanning. Mind you, it's not the conductors that want to do it but the carrier that is requiring it. Those that choose not to are being written up.

 

Furthermore, from a users standpoint, it's in the terms and conditions of the app that electronic scanning may be required.

 

As annoying as it is, from both sides, it's here to stay.

 

Day to day, only the single ride and ten trip tickets are being scanned. This month, weekly and monthly e tickets are being scanned on "punch day".

Ive been with liberty lines for 22 years, Im thinking of calling it quits with this company. Not going to go into detail but it isnt what the job used to be like back in the day. Im only 43 yrs of age. is there a age limit?

They have hired older.

Believe it or not nothing was asked about any type of criminal record, neither on the initial application or my application before the interview. I was just told my tentative salary and tentative work schedule and that they would be sending me a disclosure agreement to check my criminal, motor vehicle and work history background. It was an AI so will not show up in criminal but obviously will show up in motor vehicle. I have everything from my disposition to counseling that shows I'm low risk to passed tox screens through my previous employer to show it was a big mistake that will never happen again, just hope that holds some water over it being a year ago.

All I can say is if you don't disclose it where asked and they find out, it's a done deal. If you do disclose it, I can't say what will happen, but the chances will be better.

If you already interviewed they likely know already (if they are going to know). The key is what you put on any paperwork. I know the application, at a minimum, asks about convictions of felonies. Did it ask about arrests? If it asked about arrests (any arrests), and you didn't include it you could get hung up on lying on the application, even after you get hired.

 

If they didn't ask previously, and you didn't tell, I wouldn't worry about it.

Shouldn't the prices match their physical ticket counterparts?

They do.

 

There is no, or never was, a discount of a peak ten trip ticket. The off peak ten trip is discounted 15% over the cost of ten one way off peak tickets.

I wonder how a 10 pack works though?

 

 

They work the same.  When you buy a ten trip, ten individual rides go into the ticket wallet.  The only difference is when a ten trip off peak is stepped up to the peak fare it costs a couple dollars more to make up the discount as it does with a paper ten trip.

Not because of consolidation.  Bombardier is doing the PTC install, Since Bombardier had shop set up there in the past, the cars are being sent over there.

Placing CT at any zone higher than 10 pushes costs to them. I feel that if they pay more they have the right to say more. But the MTA is tone deaf to everyone.

 

Has nothing to do with costs.  New Haven Line zone 12 (Mount Vernon East, Pelham and New Rochelle) is the same cost as Harlem and Hudson Zone 3 (Mount Vernon West, Yonkers, etc).  The difference is where the $$$ goes.  Hence the rediculous reason that someone with a one way ticket to Mount Vernon East can't use it to Mount Vernon West regardless the two stations are less than a mile from one another.

 

MTA has no say over CT fares.  CDOT sets the fare.  This is why there was a fare hike for only Connecticut earlier this month.

GCT to Harlem is Zone 1

Bronx is Zone 2

Westchester is Zones 3-6

Putnam is Zone 7

Dutchess is Zones 8 thru 11

Columbia is Zone 12

and I believe Connecticut is Zone 13 and up

 

Between Zones usually btwn $3 and $4. For example, my round trip ticket from 233rd St <> White Plains is $7.50 [iNT].

When you board outside of Zone 1 your ticket drops in cost by as much as $7.

 

Two minor corrections:

 

Metro North does not go into Columbia County, the furthest north is Wassaic in Dutchess County which is Zone 10.  Zone 11 does not exist.

 

New Haven mainline is Zone 12 to 21 (Zone 12 to 14 are NY stations).  New Canaan branch is Zone 31.  Danbury Branch Zone 41 and 42.  Waterbury Branch is Zone 51.

Between the express bus, Metro-North and the Hudson Rail Link, I spent $400.00 last month. Not exactly that much cheaper than folks who drive...

 

Again, an unfair comparison.

 

I was talking about specifically, your comment regarding the $2.75 for the rail link to get to the station, compared to someone that drives to the station.  Each would pay the the same $8.75 from the train to NY, plus the same express bus costs.

 

You're $2.75 x 2 for the round trip is $5.50.  Depending on how you pay, it can be paid for by pre tax money, or it can be used as a deduction when filing. 

 

Someone that drives to the station will pay (per LAZ Parking) $4 a day at RIverdale (tax deducible).  Additionally, gasoline, car insurance at a minimum.

 

Breaking that gasoline and insurance, for the sake of argument someone that uses 3 gallons of gas a week for driving from home to the station weekly will cost on average $1.34 per day (not tax deductible).  For auto insurance I pay $90 per month for my vehicle alone.  That calculated on average to $3 per day (not tax deductible). 

 

In conclusion, the $5.50 you spend for the bus is a bargain compared to the $8.34 someone who drives back and forth to the station or as you originally put it, your $11.50 one way commute would be the equivalent of $12.92 for someone that drives. 

 

For purposes of the calculation, I only included the three largest expenses of a vehicle owner (parking, insurance and gasoline).  Additional expenses that would marginally raise that number are maintenance (oil changes, tires, etc) and registration costs.

From my neighborhood a peak ticket is $8.75, not including the $2.75 for the shuttle bus, making a one-way commute $11.50, more than three times what they pay in the South Bronx ($3.00).

 

You have to compare apples to apples.  The $2.75 for the shuttle bus to get to the station is a steal compared to someone that drove having to pay for parking, gas, registration costs, wear and tear, insurance, etc. 

 

That in reality, makes your commute cheaper than someone that drove to the station. 

 

Not to mention, taking the shuttle bus is tax deductible where driving to the station (minus parking costs) is not.

Oh ok. Just a drop in the bucket of what to expect in class.