Best Express

[Andres]

 

Bronx Express why? because its one of only 3 express services in the bronx

[TwoTimer]

Bronx Express why? because its one of only 3 express services in the bronx

 

It may be early for most, but who doesn't love being on one of those first Thru expresses a little after 6am and blaze all the way downtown (180-Franklin) with moderate ridership and into Brooklyn before the line becomes congested after 7am? You'll be amazed how quick ya got to Flatbush on those early runs.

[j express]

My favorite

 

96 st-Chambers st

125 st-Brookyln Bridge

Queensboro Plaza- Mets Willets Point

(D)125 st-59st

( Prospect Park-Sheepshead Bay

71av-Queens Plaza

Marcy av-Myrtle av

34st-59st pre June

[Juelz4309]

I Think The express from E180 -59 sts...I used to live Much closer to Tremont station...But during my early security Years. Id walk to 180 for the ..On a good day (if the dont cut in front at Jackson..Happens at least 50% of time)

I get to 59 in jus over 30 Minutes!..Afternnon I did the same thing...

 

I live by 155 st Stop Now...The would be great if they Didnt use those Heavy ass R44s...They should be all R32s I think..If i need true express service I ll use the ....Those R68s move faster...Or I jus go across the Bridge to Yankee stadium for the ...Another Great express too! :cool:

[S78 via Hylan]

My favorite express:

Between 59th Columbus Circle and 125th

Brooklyn Bridge-125th

Queens Plaza-71 Av

Chambers- 96 St

 

Not so favorite:

Pacific St to 36th. I'm not sure if it's me but I notice that Coney Island bound trains tend to slow down while passing 25th or sometimes Prospect Av even if there isn't a train directly ahead.

 

Broadway Express

I'm not the only that has said this before, but sometimes, the line is held up by a passing at Dekalb Av and/or 34-Herald Sq.

[pjbr40]

For those who love D and N express in Brooklyn, train tend to slow down as it touch 25 street back in the 70's and 80's. Now these days i noticed the train slow down once it hit Prospect Avenue. What the use to slow them down that far. Is there timer there?

[alejr88]

You mean southbound? Probably there's a timer there. At least the 4th Avenue express isn't like the Fulton express.

[Roadcruiser1]

Timers should have never been added to the NYC Subway. The original builders of the subway (IRT, BMT, & IND) never put timers into the subway so why do it now? If it was for safety I don't f**king care. FOR GOD'S SAKES WE ARE THE LARGEST SUBWAY SYSTEM ON THE F**KING PLANET WE NEED DAMN SPEED.

[overclocked]

Timers should have never been added to the NYC Subway. The original builders of the subway (IRT, BMT, & IND) never put timers into the subway so why do it now? If it was for safety I don't f**king care. FOR GOD'S SAKES WE ARE THE LARGEST SUBWAY SYSTEM ON THE F**KING PLANET WE NEED DAMN SPEED.

 

Who needs speed? I would pick safety over speed any time of the day, and so as many others, I assume. Speed restrictions are there for a reason, remember Aug. 28 1991 or Malbone Street Wreck? If the timers/strict enforcement of speed limit were in place, those accidents could have been avoided.

Although I would like to trains to go faster, it's impossible since the presence of switches/curves/bridges/elevated structures and the fact that stations are just too close to reach high speeds. I am perfectly fine speed wise with the way trains operate today.

[Roadcruiser1]

But the timers in this system has been overdone. They add timers at locations where they aren't needed.

[overclocked]

But the timers in this system has been overdone. They add timers at locations where they aren't needed.

I agree that locations of some timers are questionable, but they might have hidden meanings to the engineers and HQ. And if it is for safety then I'm all for it, if it's for other causes, e.g. need to seriously rehabilitate roadbed or trains overshooting the platform, then yes timers are not the solution.

[Roadcruiser1]

The IND Fulton Street Line comes in as questionable.

[dman1455]

My favorites are

 

4th Avenue express between 4th Avenue 9th st and Union St ( Uptown )

Queens BLVD Express ( the whole thing )

4th Avenue express 36th st to 59th st ( downtown )

 

 

that's about it B)

[FlushingExpress]

IMHO, the only good express runs in the entire system are on the Seventh Avenue, Flushing, and Queens Boulevard Lines. New York City Transit really knows how to destroy the purpose of express trains and here are some ways they are doing that:

 

1. R46s and R68/68As, which are the fattest and slowest cars in the system, being assigned to the , which by sheer coincidence have among the longest express sections of all trains in the system. They really kill the runs on Brighton, 4th Avenue, 8th Avenue/Central Park West, and Fulton Street. The "dash" between 34th Street-Herald Square and West 4th Street-Washington Square is the only place where the B and D can go past 45 MPH and the Jamaica Bay crossing on the A is faster than its Brooklyn and Manhattan sections. The local trains, which happen to use the two fastest cars in the system (R32s and R160s), can outrun their express counterparts in service until they reach a local station.

 

2. The constantly being held at 34th Street-Herald Square and/or Prince Street to let the or that it just passed by go through first, effectively canceling out any time the Broadway Express saves and making people run back and forth between trains, which can be funny sometimes.

 

3. For some unexplained reason, the have lately been running much slower than normal in Manhattan, especially Brooklyn-bound trains between 59th Street and 14th Street-Union Square. They normally run 40+ MPH, but now barely top 20. The is faster than them for pete's sake. The slow down cannot have resulted from construction since there are no track workers and trains do not honk or run at restricted speed.

 

4. New York City Transit's refusal to implement express service on lines where they definitely could be used, particularly the Jamaica and West End Lines. From my experience, whenever the gets rerouted via West End Express, it is more crowded than the . Hopefully, once the station renovations are completed, NYCT will consider adding revenue express service there (it is not that hard. They just run more D trains that alternate between express and local. There are plenty of spare cars to do that). The express run between Myrtle and Marcy Avenues, while unique, is lame (I have a video of this run on YouTube titled "Railfanning on the Jamaica Express." It was one of my first mass transit videos shot over four years ago). It saves no more than 90 seconds from the local and train sometimes get held at Hewes Street to let the go through first. This only doubles the waiting time for riders at the three stations the express trains bypass. Skip-stop service definitely needs to be expanded to operate during the full rush hour frames and in both directions. People fear riding the J because it is an all local route. They would transfer to the at Sutphin Boulevard or at Broadway Junction due to their express runs in Queens and Brooklyn, respectively, even if this tactic does not save time.

 

5. If you think a train that normally runs local is rerouted to express due to construction saves time, think again. Due to workers and work trains on the adjacent tracks, trains often have to run less than 10 MPH in most or all of the express sections, in turn making it slower than its normal local service and requiring everyone to allow additional travel time even if their stop is not being bypassed.

 

There are two unique express/local points in the system. The is the only service to stop at a station on weekdays, but skip it on nights and weekends (49th Street). It is usually the other way around since trains traditionally ran express on weekdays, but local on nights and weekends. On the Queens Boulevard Line east of 71st Avenue, the runs express and the runs local on weekdays, but during overnight hours west of 71st Avenue, it is the other way around.

 

There are some great local routes in the system, however (I do not feel like posting in the "best local" thread since it is about the same basic thing as this one). They include:

 

1. Brighton Line: the R160s on the make the local run fun since they can easily top 30 MPH despite the close distance between distance. I learned to appreciate the local only service and not whine about loss of express. It only takes 25-30 minutes to get from DeKalb Avenue to Sheepshead Bay. The R68/68As on the , though, are a completely different story. They can barely hit 20 MPH before having to slow down for the next station. That is why I hated riding the Q when it used those cars.

 

2. 8th Avenue and Fulton Street Lines: the lightweight R32s and shorter-than-normal trains on the make the local-only route quite fast, even faster than the sometimes.

 

3. The IRT Broadway-Seventh Avenue Line north of 96th Street is also very fast and has some unique features like the Broadway Bridge and 125th Street viaduct.

 

4. Local trains on the entire Lexington Avenue Line can pick up decent speed between stations.

 

5. The Astoria Line is short and sweet. Express service is not really needed there, although it would have great if the line was extended to LaGuardia Airport as planned as recently as 2003.

[IRT Bronx Express]

Flushing Express, showing more hate towards 75-footers... again.

[SubwayGuy]

But the timers in this system has been overdone. They add timers at locations where they aren't needed.

 

Many of the timers added are added as a result of actual incidents that occurred.

 

Are some too restrictive? Absolutely, but the vast majority of them are necessary to ensure trains are doing the proper speed.

[CenSin]

IMHO, the only good express runs in the entire system are on the Seventh Avenue, Flushing, and Queens Boulevard Lines. New York City Transit really knows how to destroy the purpose of express trains and here are some ways they are doing that:

The Brighton express is pretty good, if it didn't terminate a few stops short of Coney Island. The MTA does a lot of things that aren't smooth for operations, and I think having express trains run to Coney Island and local trains terminate at Brighton Beach should be one of those things. The people who need to travel the farthest spend the most time traveling along the Brighton line currently.

 

1. R46s and R68/68As, which are the fattest and slowest cars in the system

I can't really tell the speeds, but the bumpiness of the rides make them feel just as fast if not faster.

 

2. The constantly being held at 34th Street-Herald Square and/or Prince Street to let the or that it just passed by go through first, effectively canceling out any time the Broadway Express saves and making people run back and forth between trains, which can be funny sometimes.

Agreed… And I think the Flushing line is one of the few lines where they don't bullshit you with the yellow holding lights and scheduled delays. For many of the B Division lines, sometimes I think they need to record a new announcement for the delays: "Ladies and gentlemen: to ensure the worst possible service for all of our customers, we are waiting for connecting passengers on an arriving train that this train waited for already at the previous express station."

 

3. For some unexplained reason, the have lately been running much slower than normal in Manhattan, especially Brooklyn-bound trains between 59th Street and 14th Street-Union Square. They normally run 40+ MPH, but now barely top 20. The is faster than them for pete's sake. The slow down cannot have resulted from construction since there are no track workers and trains do not honk or run at restricted speed.

I took the and pretty recently and I perceive them to be faster than the B Division express runs in Manhattan.

 

4. New York City Transit's refusal to implement express service on lines where they definitely could be used, particularly the Jamaica and West End Lines. From my experience, whenever the gets rerouted via West End Express, it is more crowded than the . Hopefully, once the station renovations are completed, NYCT will consider adding revenue express service there (it is not that hard. They just run more D trains that alternate between express and local. There are plenty of spare cars to do that). The express run between Myrtle and Marcy Avenues, while unique, is lame (I have a video of this run on YouTube titled "Railfanning on the Jamaica Express." It was one of my first mass transit videos shot over four years ago). It saves no more than 90 seconds from the local and train sometimes get held at Hewes Street to let the go through first. This only doubles the waiting time for riders at the three stations the express trains bypass. Skip-stop service definitely needs to be expanded to operate during the full rush hour frames and in both directions. People fear riding the J because it is an all local route. They would transfer to the at Sutphin Boulevard or at Broadway Junction due to their express runs in Queens and Brooklyn, respectively, even if this tactic does not save time.

The runs express because people on it aren't looking for West End stops. They want to get those passengers to the express stations where they can transfer back to the that will take them to the stations they want to go to. They're also more crowded because they contain passengers that had to go to Coney Island, 62 Street, or 36 Street to reach the correct stations. Thus, you have about 5 local stations worth of people for the express segments along the West End.

 

The and could be better if they reinforced the structure along the Jamaica line and installed a third track. It's got the potential to get people to lower Manhattan faster than the since it has a more direct path there. The way the tracks are laid out right now makes the current service pattern the only one that makes sense.

 

5. If you think a train that normally runs local is rerouted to express due to construction saves time, think again. Due to workers and work trains on the adjacent tracks, trains often have to run less than 10 MPH in most or all of the express sections, in turn making it slower than its normal local service and requiring everyone to allow additional travel time even if their stop is not being bypassed.

I learn that the hard way all the time, but sometimes it's appreciably faster than normal service.

 

There are two unique express/local points in the system. The is the only service to stop at a station on weekdays, but skip it on nights and weekends (49th Street). It is usually the other way around since trains traditionally ran express on weekdays, but local on nights and weekends. On the Queens Boulevard Line east of 71st Avenue, the runs express and the runs local on weekdays, but during overnight hours west of 71st Avenue, it is the other way around.

See the thread on Broadway. You might also be able to find some old discussions on why the is a full-time express west of 71 Avenue and full-time local east of that. It has to do with the locals living in the area.

 

There are some great local routes in the system, however (I do not feel like posting in the "best local" thread since it is about the same basic thing as this one). They include:

The Brighton local and Culver locals are fast because they run through very few sharp turns and switches. It's quite possible to get to Midtown on a faster than a from Coney Island. Most of the Culver line is also straight with the IND portion built for smooth sailing, so it's no surprise that the takes about the same amount of time to get to Manhattan as the from Coney Island.

[TwoTimer]

A few points:

 

1. The runs express on the West End because its a longer run than the Sea Beach (and the little express piece to 59), so it goes down the middle track to make back up the time it lost going on the West End in the first place.

 

2. The 46s are the slowest B div cars at the moment (not counting the 42s), but 68s can be faster but are also hit and miss, and the 68a general faster still, but all three accelerate slowly. 32s are mixed, the best pairs (if they were all in the same consist) can almost stand toe to toe with the 160, the worst are just terrible. I'd like to see how they would operate after they get their SMS.

 

3. And to defend 68A's on the , its people don't know how to stop them or operate aggressive with them. I actually keep up with 160s, not because of pure top speed, but because of how late I brake with them (the 160 in front of me is actually braking earlier in the station). Ive hit 35-37 near the c/r board in a 68A and successfully stopped the train without jerking people . Now in a 68, that 160 in front of me pretty much dusts me. All said and done, while the 160's are still faster, a properly operated 68A can keep the gap decently close (in other words, if I'm 1/2 stops behind a 160 at Prospect Park, when I pull into Brighton beach, I can see it climbing the hill to W8th, its not sittin in Coney Is already. Also, back in the day before I was even born, the Brighton express DID go to CI, stopping at Ocean on the middle tracks.

 

4. The fastest portions of the Lex express: Going north between 110-116, 49mph possible before timers (you can press for 50, but you'll hit the homeball). Going north between 42-59, 48mph possible before hard brake to make the station (a TSS was operating, haven't seen a T/O challenge the station yet). 86-59 going south nets as much as 47 (not as pronounced a downhill so its hard to get it past 45 sometimes). Rest are much slower, not even approaching 45, but can get to 40. Of course 52 is possible in the Joralemon tube. In the IND, 50 is possible between 34-W4 going south, and 48 between 59-42 going south, but the rest of the expresses are slower in Manhattan.

[Jamaica Line]

Interesting post. Thou what's a homeball?

[TwoTimer]

Interesting post. Thou what's a homeball?

 

Home signal, two signal masts usually found near switches (or where switches used to be in some cases).

[Jamaica Line]

Home signal, two signal masts usually found near switches (or where switches used to be in some cases).

 

Ah ok thanks. I always wondered why some interlocking signals were near tracks with no switches, now I know.

[West End]

The on weekends! (I can't stand the 34th Street "which train is going to leave first" game on weekdays.)

Also, props to the and the .

[CenSin]

The on weekends! (I can't stand the 34th Street "which train is going to leave first" game on weekdays.)

Also, props to the and the .

It's not the ; it's the entire Broadway line that's screwed up. The most infuriating part is when the has quite a long head start at 34 Street, but then it's held so the can catch up. What's the purpose? I will never know. They both go to Astoria!

[Urbanfortitude]

IMHO, the only good express runs in the entire system are on the Seventh Avenue, Flushing, and Queens Boulevard Lines. New York City Transit really knows how to destroy the purpose of express trains and here are some ways they are doing that:

 

1. R46s and R68/68As, which are the fattest and slowest cars in the system, being assigned to the (, which by sheer coincidence have among the longest express sections of all trains in the system. They really kill the runs on Brighton, 4th Avenue, 8th Avenue/Central Park West, and Fulton Street. The "dash" between 34th Street-Herald Square and West 4th Street-Washington Square is the only place where the B and D can go past 45 MPH and the Jamaica Bay crossing on the A is faster than its Brooklyn and Manhattan sections. The local trains, which happen to use the two fastest cars in the system (R32s and R160s), can outrun their express counterparts in service until they reach a local station.

 

This idea of you calling trains fat needs to come to an end. It's not like they overeat or some shit and can be slimmed down. That "fat" as you call it accounts for the amount of people they can have inside a single car before its filled to capacity. And they aren't any slower than any other train by a long shot.

[MattTrain]

This idea of you calling trains fat needs to come to an end. It's not like they overeat or some shit and can be slimmed down. That "fat" as you call it accounts for the amount of people they can have inside a single car before its filled to capacity. And they aren't any slower than any other train by a long shot.

 

I could not have said it better myself! Two Big thumbs up to this post! :tup::tup:!