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How far off before you get worried?


JubaionBx12+SBS

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It is rare in the NYC Subway this day and age to have trains running exactly in accordance with their scheduled headways. The only time people even notice something off with the service is when the gaps in between trains are significantly smaller or larger than the headway at the time. The question I would like to ask is what spells that "significantly" word in your mind? How far must the gap be from the scheduled headway to get you worried about the line on which you are commuting?

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In December, I was on a (:P just getting off the Manny B to stop at DeKalb. We stopped for at least 7-10 minutes, before we even crossed over to A3 (Brighton Track, DeKalb to Prospect Park). I told my friend who I was with, that it usually doesn't take this long, for a (Q) to pass. I knew something was majorly wrong. Sure enough, we pull into Dekalb, sat there for about 7 minutes, and were re-routed via 4 Av Local and West End Express to Coney Island; Debris on the tracks at Beverly Road. So Automatically, I can tell, when something is going down..

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Average wait times should be half that of the headway. If I know a train just passed, I can expect to wait the full 10 minutes (or whatever headway for the service there is). However, if the station is full of passengers in the waiting area and I've waited more than the average, than I know something's not right.

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On a busy corridor: 12 or so minutes, or twice a confirmed headway (e.g. if I'm waiting for the (E) at Queens Plz and I see two ®'s in the same direction at reasonable intervals I know something's wrong)

 

On a less-busy corridor like the (G), then 18 or so minutes. Of course if GO's are running then everything is screwed around.

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If I have to wait for more than 5 minutes for the (4)(5)(6) in the morning I get really worried. Although I'd be able to tell if something was up if there were so many people already there that I could barely even get in the station.

I get those lines are very crowded, but 5 min and you get worried? 8-10 min sounds more reasonable.

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I get those lines are very crowded, but 5 min and you get worried? 8-10 min sounds more reasonable.

 

Once a train leaves you can literally see the next one arriving if you look down the tunnel, and the stations get so crowded that sometimes I have to let the first train go by so that I can get closer to the edge of the platform to make it in the next one.

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I got worry yesterday, I was planning to catch 13:45 NICE N24 from Metropolitan Museum so I took pic of M79, took it, soon (:) came, then soon (E) came.

When I got off at Kew-Garden, there was (F), so I quickly took pic of both (E)(F), but missed that (F). I thought I might have to wait for (F) train missing my friend's bus, but another (F) pulled up few minutes later, which I was lucky because waiting for (F) is longer headway for me.

This was on Wed the day of Marriot Hotel Meeting.

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Near the end of my high school years I would transfer at 14th Street - Union Square for the (Q), and the times will vary. I remember I would often miss the trains that comes at 7:08 am or so, and usually I won't see the next one until 7:18. Sometimes it's 7:24 or 7:28. But there was one time when the next train arrived after 7:40! I see much more uptown (Q)s than downtown (Q)s, but that's probably because of rush hour. So, if I don't see one after a half hour, then that might be a sure indication that something's wrong. Another indicator that something's wrong with the (Q) would be when I see some (N) trains running express to 57th Street, possibly to fill in the gap for downtown (Q) service.

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I would say 10-15 minutes, but I automatically know if something is going wrong and I need to think about an alternate route.

 

I don't know why but lately during the PM rush, around 3:30 there have been about 15 minute gaps on the (2) & (3)! That's ridiculous even for service during the day!

 

Luckily I also have the (5), but still 15 f*****g minutes during rush hours!?

 

Really? I live of the (2) & (3) lines and ride them daily. I have yet to experience this. The only time I avoid them is some days after 9pm. Especially during FastTrack. Then I just take the (4) or the (5).

 

The only major issue I have had was about 2 weeks ago when I got on a 2 that was making all local stops through Manhattan.

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A few years back, going to work, I used to take the G train to Broadway from Hoyt-Schemerhorn St. station (or occasionally at Bedford-Nostrand Avenues), and at the time I was working graveyard shift, left the house at my normal time to get the work *on-time*... However, waiting this night, the platform got a bit more crowded than usual; 20 mins. passed; 30 mins. passed; 47 minutes came, the train shows up.

 

It was one of those nights I didn't risk going to Station Agent to find out what was going on because it'll be the night the train strolls through while you're trying to get information about such and such. Nah, I'm good; I'll wait. :tdown:

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  • 3 weeks later...
It is rare in the NYC Subway this day and age to have trains running exactly in accordance with their scheduled headways. The only time people even notice something off with the service is when the gaps in between trains are significantly smaller or larger than the headway at the time. The question I would like to ask is what spells that "significantly" word in your mind? How far must the gap be from the scheduled headway to get you worried about the line on which you are commuting?

 

Depends on the time of day. However, keep in mind that just because the headways appear normal doesn't mean the trains are running on time. They could ALL be late, as has happened (frequently) during the rush, especially when the road blows up.

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Yes really, I catch the (2)/(5) at Atlantic Ave, at around 3:30, & (2) trains are 15 minutes a part. Just today a (2) left Atlantic & the next train was to arrive in 17 minutes! If you don't believe me, that's your problem.

 

East New York, Triboro is correct. I do not know what the deal is with the (2)(3) sometimes; they can be very erratic. Saturday I took a (2) from 96 St to Grand Army Plaza and the board said the next (3) to Zoo Lots was due up in 5 minutes, and the next (2) to Flatbush was due up in 18 minutes. Not good. Weird how they would allow 13 minutes to pass before any 7th Ave EXP/Eastern Pky LCL shows up, when each line is supposed to operate every 12 minutes weekends for a combined headway of 6 minutes. Now I do not know whether the board was accurate, as I did not stay at the station to see the listed trains come.

 

Well about an hour later or so I went to Eastern Pky-Brooklyn Museum to take a (2) to Flatbush. So I hear a train leaving, I feel the air rushing, and I see people exiting the eastbound platform, so I know an eastbound train just left. I ask some people what train it was, and someone told me it was a (2). I looked at the board and saw that the next (2) was due up in 12 minutes. So the (2)s were running at their scheduled headways. But the next (3) was not due up for at least another 16 minutes (possibly more, and definitely not less)! What the strangeness!?

 

The board also said that another (2) to Flatbush was due up 6 minutes after the next (2). This was accurate, as I got off at Flatbush and waited around a bit, and sure enough I saw headlights in the tunnel a few minutes later. Train bunching.

 

A while back, on a Sunday when the (2) was running local in Manhattan south of Penn Station and the (3) was terminating at Penn, I waited about 19 minutes at 96 St for a (2) to Flatbush. Got off at Flatbush, waited around a bit, and just like this past Saturday, I saw headlights in the tunnel a few minutes later. Again, train bunching.

 

My hunch is that this is happening for one of the following reasons:

 

1. A train is on time, it runs late one trip, and it is so late that trip that it ends up running late for its next trip (due to insufficient recovery time at a terminal).

 

2. MTA is running fewer trains than are supposed to be on the road according to schedules, because of financial problems, and they figure they will do it on lines that are more duplicitous like the (2)(3) and (4)(5) since it is far less obvious on those than on lines like the (1)(6)(7). The (4) is erratic at times on the weekends like the (2)(3). Not sure about (5).

 

3. The (2) runs erratically so often because it is a long route (and well deserves its nickname of "the beast"). The length of the route should not cause it to run so erratically, but perhaps there is a lot of track work going on on the White Plains Road line that I do not know about because I am never over there, and this track work results in slow speed orders that result in all these delays on the (2). Of course it does not help that the line only operates every 12 minutes weekends and is the only service connecting damn near the *entire Bronx* to Harlem and the West Side. It really needs to operate every 8 minutes on weekends.

 

Weird stuff. The (2)(3) need help! Especially the (2).

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A few things...

 

"The Beast" was when the (2) ran to New Lots with 6 cars overnight. It still is a beast but is no longer the beast.

 

TA is running enough trains on weekends, often one more train than is needed to run if trains were on time, and often a gap train on a nearby track if track geometry can hold one (train dispatching 101).

 

On weekends, there often is flagging somewhere between 241 and 149-3Av, usually in the area of E180 (with the ongoing signal and track upgrades). This delays trains significantly, and is usually unaccounted for in the schedule posted for the public.

 

Not all services run with even spacing. For instance, the (E)(F) at night do not run 10 mins apart. The (E) comes first, followed a few mins later by an (F). They often connect at Roosevelt. There is so much flagging on the Lex overnight, throw those schedules out the window.

 

As far as the (2) is concerned, if it loses enough time in the Bronx, the (3) that supposed to be behind it gets in front of it, often further delays the (2), the (3) ends up running ahead of schedule, and the (2) often falls further behind. However, the (2) will not get a skip unless its follower is on time, which will create the bunching, and the first (2) gets to go express either on the EP or Nostrand trunks. That's why one would see the (3) being pretty much on time, followed by a large gap in the (2). Often if one would see when the following (3), it would be less time than that two, which indicates that exactly happened.

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