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38 minutes ago, paulrivera said:

I rode on a (4) train today that went from Fulton Street to 149th Street in 25 minutes.

Andy Byford's speed initiative is actually working, at least on the uptown Lex Express. The downtown Lex Express doesn't seem to be much faster than usual tho.

Still too many issues though. The (A) train remains HORRENDOUS.  The trains come all packed up and then NOTHING, or you have to let one go by before you can on. Last night was really ridiculous.  I tried taking the train from 181st in Hudson Heights to 207th to the Bx7.  God forbid if I want to save some money and not call an Uber because of poor bus and subway service. Three (A) trains came packed together after an "earlier incident". It's like every single week I go up there now there's a problem coming home well after rush hour, so I gave up since there was no Bx7s coming (I missed the pack I saw on BusTime), and went to the Southbound track to go down to the BxM2. A train was due in 0 minutes. Waited and waited.... 10 minutes went by and then it finally came after switching from 0 minutes to 3 minutes.  It was the train that had skipped 181st and went straight to 207th.  

Edited by Via Garibaldi 8
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23 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Still too many issues though. The (A) train remains HORRENDOUS.  The trains come all packed up and then NOTHING, or you have to let one go by before you can on. Last night was really ridiculous.  I tried taking the train from 181st in Hudson Heights to 207th to the Bx7.  God forbid if I want to save some money and not call an Uber because of poor bus and subway service. Three (A) trains came packed together after an "earlier incident". It's like every single week I go up there now there's a problem coming home well after rush hour, so I gave up since there was no Bx7s coming (I missed the pack I saw on BusTime), and went to the Southbound track to go down to the BxM2. A train was due in 0 minutes. Waited and waited.... 10 minutes went by and then it finally came after switching from 0 minutes to 3 minutes.  It was the train that had skipped 181st and went straight to 207th.  

The lettered lines in general have seen almost zero improvement reliability-wise in the last two years. There was even an article about it in the Times showing the disparity between the numbered lines and the lettered lines.

It's no surprise the (A) is so problematic because it has the oldest fleet in the system while also having a long, busy route. The Rockaway branch south of Broad Channel is especially delay prone because the bridge the train uses is in a state of disrepair and still needs to be raised every so often for marine traffic. One missing train = 20 minute wait on a good day.

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Just now, paulrivera said:

The lettered lines in general have seen almost zero improvement reliability-wise in the last two years. There was even an article about it in the Times showing the disparity between the numbered lines and the lettered lines.

It's no surprise the (A) is so problematic because it has the oldest fleet in the system while also having a long, busy route. The Rockaway branch south of Broad Channel is especially delay prone because the bridge the train uses is in a state of disrepair and still needs to be raised every so often for marine traffic. One missing train = 20 minute wait on a good day.

Those new trains can't come in fast enough. I am really sick of it, and I only use the line 2 - 3 times a week.  I joined an advocacy group and I'm going to start seeing who to contact. The stations uptown are absolutely disgusting. The elevators are filthy and don't work. Often times all three are knocked out. It's ridiculous. Last night I kept looking at the floor because it was so warped heading Northbound and sunken in I thought my foot was going to fall through.  

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1 hour ago, paulrivera said:

the bridge the train uses is in a state of disrepair and still needs to be raised every so often for marine traffic

IMO this is an issue people undermine when talking about (A) problems. This bridge being raised can chain react train issues way down the longest line in the subway system by dozens of minutes at a time, and you better have some cojones riding the (A) in bad weather when the bridge frequently breaks down.

Not against boat movement, but the bridge needs to be upgraded or fixed for any train service along it to improve.  

Edited by NoHacksJustKhaks
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2 hours ago, paulrivera said:

I rode on a (4) train today that went from Fulton Street to 149th Street in 25 minutes.

Andy Byford's speed initiative is actually working, at least on the uptown Lex Express. The downtown Lex Express doesn't seem to be much faster than usual tho.

I was on a weekend (4) that went from Atlantic to 149 in 30 minutes. I couldn't believe it.

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Would it be possible to close the bridge full-time for a few months to fix it? Given the low ridership in the Rockaways you could run a shuttle ( (H) ) between Mott and RPK with a free shuttle bus between B90th and BC. 

You could also go further and cut service back to Howard Beach and rehab the first bridge as well.

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Looks like that subway action plan to deep clean 3000 cars is in effect. Most of the (7)’s fleet has been deep cleaned and some of Coney Island’s R160’s. The difference between the “dirty” cars and the deep cleaned cars are very very noticeable. Side note: I never understood why some of transit’s regular wash facilities couldn’t produce this. 

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12 hours ago, VIP said:

Side note: I never understood why some of transit’s regular wash facilities couldn’t produce this.

I think the normal car washes are basically a souped-up car wash; things like graffiti smears on stainless steel (I don't know how to describe it, but the spots on cars where paint was obviously cleaned off) as well as steel dust buildup and other grime probably penetrate deeper and are harder to clean than a simple wash. Also, it seems like they got some new end bonnets as well

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1 hour ago, Enjineer said:

I think the normal car washes are basically a souped-up car wash; things like graffiti smears on stainless steel (I don't know how to describe it, but the spots on cars where paint was obviously cleaned off) as well as steel dust buildup and other grime probably penetrate deeper and are harder to clean than a simple wash. Also, it seems like they got some new end bonnets as well

That's not truly the reason why. It's actually due to the fact that the cars are not regularly washed consistently enough. This provides grime and dust with the opportunity to solidify on the exterior/interior of the cars. In general, it takes a toll on the cars when upkeep is postponed.

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2 hours ago, AlgorithmOfTruth said:

That's not truly the reason why. It's actually due to the fact that the cars are not regularly washed consistently enough. This provides grime and dust with the opportunity to solidify on the exterior/interior of the cars. In general, it takes a toll on the cars when upkeep is postponed.

The contrast between the cleaned cars versus dirty is alarming and highly noticeable. The dirty R160’s even partially cleaned looks like they have a tan cast while the deep cleaned ones look factory fresh and have a glistening shine. I don’t know why NYCT doesn’t take car cleanliness more seriously. 

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5 minutes ago, VIP said:

The contrast between the cleaned cars versus dirty is alarming and highly noticeable. The dirty R160’s even partially cleaned looks like they have a tan cast while the deep cleaned ones look factory fresh and have a glistening shine. I don’t know why NYCT doesn’t take car cleanliness more seriously. 

Cleaning cars cost MONEY.  That's what it comes down to.  When the (MTA) talks about "cost savings", it's usually things like cutting back on service and cleaning.  They don't seem to have any problem buying new subway cars and letting them become filthy from a lack of cleaning. Same thing with the subway stations. They have renovated  a few them now and they are becoming grimy already. Waste of money if they can keep anything half clean. I went to the Bryant Park station the other night, and there was some strange liquid spilled from the top of the steps all the way down into the mezzanine level by the turnstiles and it was sticky too. Looks like someone dragged garbage bags or something that was leaking.

Edited by Via Garibaldi 8
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40 minutes ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

Cleaning cars cost MONEY.  That's what it comes down to. 

Theres a point reached where these dirty cars can affect reliability and viruses passing around. For the funds the (MTA) has, they can certainly do better on this. 

Edited by NoHacksJustKhaks
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50 minutes ago, NoHacksJustKhaks said:

For the funds the (MTA) has, they can certainly do better on this. 

Which circles right back to the new deep cleaning program :lol:

We're basically saying "gee, it sucks stuff isn't being cleaned" in response to the fact that they're cleaning more stuff in more thorough ways now. Hopefully they'll keep this up and expand the deep cleaning to more cars and stations. 33 St on the (6) definitely looks great – someone mentioned it got a deep clean and it really looks like it's 15 years newer from its prior renovation. 

Edited by Enjineer
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I miss the R44's, they had so much more pop (acceleration wise) than the 46s do. The 44s A/C was better as well. 44s were such an underrated subway car. I like the 46s cars but they would be so much better if the field shunting got put back in em.

 

 

That last summer the (A) line had 44s I remember riding them from Midtown to Nostrand Ave and man it was such an pleasant ride, good A/C, fast, etc.

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Just now, trainfan22 said:

I miss the R44's, they had so much more pop (acceleration wise) than the 46s do. The 44s A/C was better as well. 44s were such an underrated subway car. I like the 46s cars but they would be so much better if the field shunting got put back in em.

 

 

That last summer the (A) line had 44s I remember riding them from Midtown to Nostrand Ave and man it was such an pleasant ride, good A/C, fast, etc.

I certainly don’t miss them. Their A/C was crap, doors opened and closed too slowly, and their structural issues don’t help them either. I’m glad they’re gone.

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The MTA is having people going to the meeting go to the 75th Avenue station instead of the Union Tpke which is right next door!

Get Involved
We're holding our first public meeting to discuss the Queens Bus Network Redesign.

The Queens Borough Board Meeting
Monday, April 15, 2019
5:30 - 7:00 PM
Queens Borough Hall
120-55 Queens Boulevard
Kew Gardens, NY 11424-1015

Directions: E F to 75 Av station

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On 4/3/2019 at 7:15 PM, R68OnBroadway said:

Would it be possible to close the bridge full-time for a few months to fix it? Given the low ridership in the Rockaways you could run a shuttle ( (H) ) between Mott and RPK with a free shuttle bus between B90th and BC. 

You could also go further and cut service back to Howard Beach and rehab the first bridge as well.

I could see both the former option happening realistically and I support it, it has happened many times before and people deal with it good enough. The latter option may come a little bit later eventually since that bridge is fine. 

On 4/3/2019 at 7:43 PM, Lawrence St said:

Why not just ban marine traffic during rush hour?

That sounds like a legal nightmare frankly between the (MTA) and the city, it'll take years for that idea to pass in the area (if at all). I'd focus on making the raising and closing process of the bridge quicker and/or more reliable for now, or raising it higher.  

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12 hours ago, NoHacksJustKhaks said:

That sounds like a legal nightmare frankly between the (MTA) and the city, it'll take years for that idea to pass in the area (if at all). I'd focus on making the raising and closing process of the bridge quicker and/or more reliable for now, or raising it higher.  

Isn't it a turnbridge? Also, I know that they just brokered a deal to limit traffic through the Portal Bridge, so it's not an impossible idea. 

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52 minutes ago, 4 via Mosholu said:

About ten trains per hour.

It can turn much, much more than 10. Its closest equivalent in the system (Forest Hills) does 20, and there's no infrastructural restriction that I'm aware of that'd prevent it from going to 30+ with some ops changes. 

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