TwoTimer

The only, place I can ever see FASTTRACK outside of Manhattan is the Concourse line.

Honestly, the thread is fine if there was a way for post to auto-delete themselves after... lets say 30 days. The one main thing of all those 12-9 and service diversion threads have in common is that they die out in a week (leaving the archives littered with stuff).

That's what happened in Atlanta...only it wasn't for a railroad or any other transportation endeavor.

Oh the woe of property values...if it was a blighted row of living spaces, bulldozers would have already had their rampage and the railroad would be in its final stages of initialization.

It would get some ridership, but less than what you might think. Co-op will use it a lot as its a 30 min schlep to a subway station (except those who are lucky enough to live near the footbridge that goes to Baychester Av ). Parkchester not so much, it may go a long way towards eliminating the need for an express bus line here though. Parkchester will use the station too, but lets not make it like its subway station is going to be barren because of it. "Morris Park" might use it more, although the station would probably be bypassed non-rush hours like the other MNR stations in the Bronx.

When I actually visited the Renorth world website, it's big advertising mantre is basically a hop skip and a jump from Times Sq. Now we all know that's a stretch lol, but basically all Genting wants is normal systemwide based headways to the Rockaways, and express (which is basically a decent 10 min headway with express). Of course, during the midday, that headway is roughly 15mns, it only drops below 10 in the rush hour, and peak direction at that.

Its difficult to really pin what ridership demands will want over there on SAS. Clearly those east of 2Av will gravitate toward it, its really about whether you try to make a play for those between 2Av and Lex or not. The one-seat ride to midtown will appeal to many, but for lower Manhattan its a tossup between more frequent express service on Lex vs which is actually a closer walk for that given person vs whatever ends up 2Av will not be a one seater to lower Manhattan (all that's certain is whatever is up there is going over the bridge) vs how much frequency is really warranted up there. The only other battle to wage is whether anything coming from 60st will be express with it (if so, a punch box must be installed at 5Av, and can a train even afford to wait for a crossover at that juncture of the railroad the way the 60st congo line runs). Right now, the signal leaving 5Av s/b is either red or green. It stays red until it clears to green, and it does well spacing out trains nicely from 57th going south. Conventional wisdom says everything coming from 60st is local (otherwise a bottleneck at 5Av would result), but at the same time, whatever comes north from Sea Beach must be express on 4Av (which suggests over the bridge and express in Manhattan too). So really, its what one would prioritize over the next (2Av gets two services or one, what's a fair headway for 2Av, still gonna give Astoria express service or a one seat ride to lower Manhattan, and the turning capacity at Whitehall).

Oh, Lord, another (W)ally hijack. What's next, complete the IND second system?

I had to throw a service bone to generate convo (as its what you likes LOVE to do). Just a few things to remember... 1. You don't want switching anywhere along the Broadway or 4Av corridor with the increased service (just like you see on Lex, 7Av and 6Av). What starts on a certain track must stay there. The switching at 34th like it has been will be gone, it will cause tieups up and down the line. 2. Whitehall is a one pocket terminal with no relay position and trains have to leave via the same switch they came on in. It can't maintain a short headway. was fine the way it used to be because the was up there too, and there wasn't too many (W)'s. Still had backups going back to Cortlant back in those days. 3. You don't want to turn revenue service on yard leads, as the train would have to be cleaned out (which means the crew walk through the train to ensure no passengers are left). That's why only the last few ®'s got turned at Canal St, and even then it plugged the , so now they turn at Whitehall. 4. Letter designations do not matter. The all have spent time at Astoria, for those who are hung up on maintaining letter designations at the terminals they serve. It wasn't an either or situation like over on the Myrtle Av line. 5. There is no punch box at 5 Av, which is the big dilemna. If there was, service could just be what it is now with switching done seamlessly north of 57 ( goes back to express). Right now, there is no way for City Hall to know which train is which at 5 Av to do any kind of joining up or separating. Adding a punch box is expensive.

I wouldn't call Throggs Neck low income, now (outside of the housing projects by the end of the Bx42). As was stated in other thread, the simplest thing to do is just tunnel it up to 159 and 3 Av, there's vacant land there for a portal, and have it piggyback the MNR ROW as structure up to Fordham. The MNR Harlem line stations below between Fordham and 125 can then be closed, as they're low ridership and often bypassed anyway. TA should owns all that land and airspace anyway, including that bus layover area in Fordham Plaza over which a terminal can be built. Then you're really seeing progress.

Can't cut Sea Beach service. What you might see is this (similar to Mike Gerald's solution): Coney Island to 96th/125th. Express 57-Canal and over the bridge. Forest Hills to Whitehall. Local Queens/Manhattan. No night service. Coney Island to 96/125th. Express 57-Canal and over the bridge. Nights shuttle to 36th. Astoria to Bay Ridge. Local. All times. Remember, letters really dont mean anything, just placeholders. Of all the services, the runs the least (since the is in Queens too) and can be turned at Whitehall. The Bay Ridge service can then be boosted to provide adequate service to both Astoria and 4Av as the only local in Brooklyn and the only thing up at Astoria. I don't want to hear about "Oh Sea Beach want direct Manhattan service at night..." I operate the often, there is NOBODY out there until I get to 8 Av. A handful at New Utretcht, and thats it.

Interesting thing: Obviously the is slated to go up to 125/96, and run thru express from 57-Canal and over the bridge. The may or may not still be in Astoria (leaning toward the affirmative), and it may or may not continue to be the local in Manhattan. It may or may not continue to go over the bridge during the day (leaning toward the bridge). It may also run express from 57, or from 34 as it does now. There may be a running with it to Astoria or there may not. Funny thing is, there's no punch at 5Av to designate express or local lineup before 57, or N/W/R/Q or whatever is on 60th St then. Its probably why the express starts at 34 like it does now from trains coming from 60th St. There is no way for City Hall to know the order of trains coming up from the tube except by gap sheets.

They couldn't even get congestion pricing passed in the midst of record-setting gas prices!

What's often thrown about is whether the can handle Astoria by itself at current levels (answer is no, in rush hour anyways). No one seldom brings up whether the can handle 2Av by itself, I mean it will be the only trunk line that runs by itself N-S in Manhattan.

Frankly, I don't ever think the will end up in the Bronx. It will be a . Also, I don't think there ever will be constuction below 63rd, hence no . Put two and two together...

By the way, the NEC spends large portions of its run not near housing, and those that are nearby does generally have faster options. Couple hypotheticals: Why would Parkchester hop on a or whatever is there to go down 2Av local that came from Co-op and is already full when they can still catch a at Parkchester and take it to express services on the east side at 125 or an empty at Parkchester itself? Would Co-op bare not having express service on its new one-seat ride (that they have to go to section 5 to access, its not like its convenient to ALL of Co-op) when express buses already get them downtown faster and section 1 and 2 can walk to Baychester and catch express trains from there? I bet if you poll them, they would rather Metro North trains that cost the price of an express bus, originate from Co-op or New Rochelle, and only make a stop in Parkchester, then straight to Penn Station!

It was as I said in prior threads, that NEC line screams MNR, not a subway. Not everything has to be a SUBWAY. Most of the Lex congestion comes from the BRP on westward (there's enough service east of Parkchester to meet demand, and NEC doesn't help "express bus ville" as the line stays heading northeasterly. It's nice to help out the , but Co-op would rather speed to Manhattan, and they will pay for it, than just a direct line and a discount). They've paid for express buses for decades, they can afford MNR to get them downtown way faster than a direct subway ever can. Remember the original goal of the SAS which was to improve access of ALL the Lex lines, not just a couple communities near the andd perhaps the (the latter which has no ridership problems at all). A line extended up 3Av or Park Av (to at least Fordham) will assist the ( and will solve problems on each of those lines.

It was mistaken, no one ever suggested any subway go over Hell's Gate, the connection was to be made nearby, but there shouldn't even be any subways over there as the (again) is nearby, and the area is purely industrial until one reaches Hunts Point. Leave it for what it was meant to do, which is to bring Metro North trains into Penn Station someday.

Yeah, it appears to be the cheapest option (which is why its discussed so much), too bad it does nothing to solve issues on the as the is a mere two-three blocks away from most of the NEC.

Well ®'s are rerouted every now and again when there are problems with the tube, 60th st stations or at Queens Plaza.

That happens from time to time. I remember yesterday evening there was a sick passenger at Penn Station on an and a had to go down 6Av.

Probably a separate GO not associated with FASTRACK. Please note that there are other GO's running (both on affected and unaffected lines) during FASTRACK week.

Its better up Park or Third, sorry. That railroad mimics the and for most of its route. Its only the Amtrak portion from parkchester to coop that begins to distance itself from existing subways. Remember, most of the people and density of the Bronx is in its western half.

It has more to do with density than just pure subways = crime. Areas with generally lower density have a higher class of people which leads to less violent and property crime. Whether they have a subway nearby or not is mostly irrelevant, althought it helps keeps baddies from other neighborhoods away.

I wasn't around when the R38 ran. The R32's are ok, hit and miss. It takes a lot of brake to stop them at times, and smoothness is sometimes hard to achieve without losing time. Its difficult to get a "good train" there because there are actually four pairs in a consist on the . Hard to get four good pairs, unlike all other lines where its just two halves. But just one or two will carry you a long ways.