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On 12/27/2018 at 3:30 PM, Truckie said:

There is not a joint procurement. LIRR was the lead agency for the M9's with an option for MNR.  MNR choce not to exercise the option.  The train cars these would have replaced are going on 35 years of age.

I was talking about diesels, but it appears I was mistaken and the only RFP issued so far is to replace the Metro-North diesels.

They really should replace the LIRR diesels, though. Wonder if it's possible to have a third-rail-powered Charger.

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1 hour ago, EphraimB said:

Why is the 7:49AM train from Far Rockaway going slowly when bypassing Valley Stream and Rosedale while the train on the Express track is going fast and already overtook my train?

Babylon and Far Rock trains trains take different routes between Rosedale and Jamaica. 

 

Also a late Long Beach or West Hempstead local train could be right in front of your Far Rock express train.

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43 minutes ago, trainfan22 said:

Babylon and Far Rock trains trains take different routes between Rosedale and Jamaica. 

 

Also a late Long Beach or West Hempstead local train could be right in front of your Far Rock express train.

Is the speed limit the same on the local and Express tracks?

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Looks like my job will have me taking New Haven line from Grand Central to New Rochelle over the summer in the early morning, most likely the 7:08 am or 7:35 am trains. Anyone know how reliable those trains are? I'm assuming it isn't too crowded at that time since it is heading into Westchester at that time?

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1 hour ago, QM1to6Ave said:

Looks like my job will have me taking New Haven line from Grand Central to New Rochelle over the summer in the early morning, most likely the 7:08 am or 7:35 am trains. Anyone know how reliable those trains are? I'm assuming it isn't too crowded at that time since it is heading into Westchester at that time?

You'd be surprised. Lots of people do reverse commuting. When I would stay at my girlfriend's place in Manhattan, I'd get an early train back to Riverdale so I could shower, change and come down to the office.  The Hudson Line trains weren't extremely crowded, but the New Haven Lines get good usage because it's basically Metro-North or nothing, where as in other parts of the City, you have other options, but yeah plenty of people working in healthcare work up there or in Westchester.  A few large healthcare organizations stick out since I work with some of them.  When I have meetings, I have to go up to Westchester, and some of the people working there do the reverse commute for sure.

As for the trains, I've had to use the New Haven Line trains for extended periods of time to get up into Westchester and they're pretty good.  I think the Hudson Line is the best IMO. The Harlem Line can be super crowded for my tastes, followed by the New Haven branches. The Hudson Line sees its crowds too but overall is the least crowded of the three branches.  The Rivertowns and Croton-on-Hudson (Croton Harmon stop) are big draws, along with the Riverdale and Spuyten Duyvil stations.

When service can be a problem is really during the winter with the overhead lines. The trees especially create problems and can cause delays during snowstorms, etc. You have to remember that those New Haven branches run into some areas with $$$ both in Connecticut (Greenwich and New Canaan come to mind with $$$) and Westchester (Larchmont, Rye, parts of Mamaroneck and Pelham come to mind)

Edited by Via Garibaldi 8
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1 hour ago, Via Garibaldi 8 said:

You'd be surprised. Lots of people do reverse commuting. When I would stay at my girlfriend's place in Manhattan, I'd get an early train back to Riverdale so I could shower, change and come down to the office.  The Hudson Line trains weren't extremely crowded, but the New Haven Lines get good usage because it's basically Metro-North or nothing, where as in other parts of the City, you have other options, but yeah plenty of people working in healthcare work up there or in Westchester.  A few large healthcare organizations stick out since I work with some of them.  When I have meetings, I have to go up to Westchester, and some of the people working there do the reverse commute for sure.

As for the trains, I've had to use the New Haven Line trains for extended periods of time to get up into Westchester and they're pretty good.  I think the Hudson Line is the best IMO. The Harlem Line can be super crowded for my tastes, followed by the New Haven branches. The Hudson Line sees its crowds too but overall is the least crowded of the three branches.  The Rivertowns and Croton-on-Hudson (Croton Harmon stop) are big draws, along with the Riverdale and Spuyten Duyvil stations.

When service can be a problem is really during the winter with the overhead lines. The trees especially create problems and can cause delays during snowstorms, etc. You have to remember that those New Haven branches run into some areas with $$$ both in Connecticut (Greenwich and New Canaan come to mind with $$$) and Westchester (Larchmont, Rye, parts of Mamaroneck and Pelham come to mind)

Thanks for the inside info! Thankfully this will be a temporary assignment for the summer so the winter issues shouldn't affect me

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Just now, Truckie said:

Ridership to Playland makes up for that.

That comment was a general one for Metro-North, not necessarily the New Haven line based on when I've taken trips.  Is the situation bad then on the New Haven Line? I mean the Harlem Line is a mess on weekends with the Botanical Garden crowd.

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16 hours ago, QM1to6Ave said:

Looks like my job will have me taking New Haven line from Grand Central to New Rochelle over the summer in the early morning, most likely the 7:08 am or 7:35 am trains. Anyone know how reliable those trains are? I'm assuming it isn't too crowded at that time since it is heading into Westchester at that time?

Reliable? Yes, especially out of GCT.

The 7:08 isn't as crowded because it leaves GCT 6 minutes after a Stamford semi-express. The semi expresses (7:02 and 7:35) are very popular since they pick up a lot of people at Fordham, then dropoff at New Rochelle, Greenwich and Stamford, all of which are major job centers. Outside the summer months, you also get a lot of college and high school students getting off at New Rochelle.

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I'm one of those college students who does the Grand Central to New Rochelle commute, and I even did it during the summer for an internship. I think both the 7:08 and 7:35 are reliable, not-too-crowded trains. They aren't perfect - when issues arise the reverse-peak trains always seem to be the first to be delayed - but that doesn't happen that often in my experience. The 7:08 is easy to get a seat on, even if you show up when the doors are closing, and it's decently quiet. It almost makes an 8 AM class bearable. The 7:35 tends to have more people, but even then you'll usually have no problem grabbing a seat if you walk up a car or two. Both trains have some people board at Harlem and then a bunch board at Fordham, but Fordham is 10 minutes from New Roc anyway so it's no big deal to sit next to someone for a few minutes.

If you're using the exit at the back of the train, keep in mind that a LOT of people get off at New Rochelle and that exit leads towards both the transportation center and Main St. A lot of people use it and if you're in a rush you'll end up stuck behind people sometimes.

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7 hours ago, Trickysticks said:

when issues arise the reverse-peak trains always seem to be the first to be delayed - but that doesn't happen that often in my experience.

At least in Manhattan you can still use your train. When issues arise in the Bronx it's a complete circus.

Their go-to for any issue in the Bronx usually involves having the reverse peak trains skip Fordham (and for the Harlem Line skip the Bronx entirely), even if said issue involves an inbound train.

One time an inbound train broke down on track 4 (local) so they made the inbound locals stop on the outbound platform and made everyone go to 125th to go outbound.

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14 hours ago, paulrivera said:

Reliable? Yes, especially out of GCT.

The 7:08 isn't as crowded because it leaves GCT 6 minutes after a Stamford semi-express. The semi expresses (7:02 and 7:35) are very popular since they pick up a lot of people at Fordham, then dropoff at New Rochelle, Greenwich and Stamford, all of which are major job centers. Outside the summer months, you also get a lot of college and high school students getting off at New Rochelle.

 

12 hours ago, Trickysticks said:

I'm one of those college students who does the Grand Central to New Rochelle commute, and I even did it during the summer for an internship. I think both the 7:08 and 7:35 are reliable, not-too-crowded trains. They aren't perfect - when issues arise the reverse-peak trains always seem to be the first to be delayed - but that doesn't happen that often in my experience. The 7:08 is easy to get a seat on, even if you show up when the doors are closing, and it's decently quiet. It almost makes an 8 AM class bearable. The 7:35 tends to have more people, but even then you'll usually have no problem grabbing a seat if you walk up a car or two. Both trains have some people board at Harlem and then a bunch board at Fordham, but Fordham is 10 minutes from New Roc anyway so it's no big deal to sit next to someone for a few minutes.

If you're using the exit at the back of the train, keep in mind that a LOT of people get off at New Rochelle and that exit leads towards both the transportation center and Main St. A lot of people use it and if you're in a rush you'll end up stuck behind people sometimes.

Thank you both for that very helpful info! 

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Was waiting at Mineola a few nights ago for a train going eastbound at the west end of the platform, so I was basically alone on my side of the track. A westbound train arrives (M7), alights passengers, and then leaves. As it's heading out of the station, I notice the rear of the train is completely blacked out. Rear lights were not on. This caused some concern for me, as although the status lights on the side of the train display that it is there, it really looked like there was no train. My train was only a minute away, so I figured I'd alert the conductor of the train and its destination. Unfortunately, the conductor seemed more interested in avoiding the drunk guys throwing around Goldfish crackers a few seats away from me than coming for my ticket, so that option was out.

At the end of it all, I just ignored the whole issue, which still irks me, as I wasn't comfortable with the situation. I considered calling the LIRR and notifying them, although I had no idea what number would make sense to call, as this was well outside of business hours. Even if more phone lines were staffed, I still wouldn't know who to call. I had also considered MTAPD, but I didn't know if this would qualify as an "emergency" in their eyes. For future reference, is there a good contact to inform of this safety hazard? Or is MTAPD the correct channel?

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If you're trying to contact them while the issue is happening the MTAPD is probably your best bet. Even if they aren't the correct channel they'll definitely be able to pass on that information to the right one. You can email them about a safety issue like that after the fact, though I think they'll ask for the train number/time so they can know who to yell at.

Today my trip to Grand Central from New Rochelle was sort of interesting? I missed the 4:01 and the next train was the 4:09, so I sat down and went on my phone for a few minutes. Lo and behold, the 4:09 comes at like 4:06 and by the time I noticed that the train was actually there the doors were closing. Luckily the conductors must've also noticed that the train was early and reopened the doors for a few more minutes. The train skips Pelham as usual and then almost blows past Mount Vernon East. About half the train was past the platform so the train backed up after a bit of frantic talking on the intercom. The rest of the trip wasn't noteworthy (though the engineer seemed much more careful when stopping at Fordham!)

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19 hours ago, Trickysticks said:

If you're trying to contact them while the issue is happening the MTAPD is probably your best bet. Even if they aren't the correct channel they'll definitely be able to pass on that information to the right one. You can email them about a safety issue like that after the fact, though I think they'll ask for the train number/time so they can know who to yell at.

Today my trip to Grand Central from New Rochelle was sort of interesting? I missed the 4:01 and the next train was the 4:09, so I sat down and went on my phone for a few minutes. Lo and behold, the 4:09 comes at like 4:06 and by the time I noticed that the train was actually there the doors were closing. Luckily the conductors must've also noticed that the train was early and reopened the doors for a few more minutes. The train skips Pelham as usual and then almost blows past Mount Vernon East. About half the train was past the platform so the train backed up after a bit of frantic talking on the intercom. The rest of the trip wasn't noteworthy (though the engineer seemed much more careful when stopping at Fordham!)

It was probably early at New Rochelle because it had  blown past several other stations earlier!

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On 1/15/2019 at 11:47 PM, Trickysticks said:

If you're trying to contact them while the issue is happening the MTAPD is probably your best bet. Even if they aren't the correct channel they'll definitely be able to pass on that information to the right one. You can email them about a safety issue like that after the fact, though I think they'll ask for the train number/time so they can know who to yell at.

Today my trip to Grand Central from New Rochelle was sort of interesting? I missed the 4:01 and the next train was the 4:09, so I sat down and went on my phone for a few minutes. Lo and behold, the 4:09 comes at like 4:06 and by the time I noticed that the train was actually there the doors were closing. Luckily the conductors must've also noticed that the train was early and reopened the doors for a few more minutes. The train skips Pelham as usual and then almost blows past Mount Vernon East. About half the train was past the platform so the train backed up after a bit of frantic talking on the intercom. The rest of the trip wasn't noteworthy (though the engineer seemed much more careful when stopping at Fordham!)

Why is there such hysteria when trains slightly pass platforms (even in the subway)? Just open the doors which platformed and call it a day.  Just like (you must be in the first 4 cars to exit) make a similar announcemt (The first car will not platform, please move back one car to exit).  Also, does one set of door controls control 4 cars at a time and this is the reason why it's a problem?

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2 hours ago, N6 Limited said:

Why is there such hysteria when trains slightly pass platforms (even in the subway)? Just open the doors which platformed and call it a day.  Just like (you must be in the first 4 cars to exit) make a similar announcemt (The first car will not platform, please move back one car to exit).  Also, does one set of door controls control 4 cars at a time and this is the reason why it's a problem?

I believe they have to key out the doors that aren't supposed to open for certain stops. Mount Vernon can fit every car under normal circumstances so if a train overruns the platform, if the doors aren't cut out (depending where the conductor zoned up their door control) the whole train can open up, which can be a huge problem.

On 1/15/2019 at 11:47 PM, Trickysticks said:

The train skips Pelham as usual and then almost blows past Mount Vernon East. About half the train was past the platform so the train backed up after a bit of frantic talking on the intercom. The rest of the trip wasn't noteworthy (though the engineer seemed much more careful when stopping at Fordham!)

If an engineer fails to make a scheduled stop, the whole crew on the train will have to pee in a cup downtown, after which they get suspended without pay and they all have to go in for re-training. And that's if the drug test comes out clean.

I've never seen a Stamford local blow any stops, but the ones that *do* blow stops tend to be either new or half-asleep engineers on semi-express runs with unique stop patterns (like your train was.) I've been burned a handful of times over the last 10 or so years by New Haven expresses that were supposed to stop at Fordham but didn't.

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41 minutes ago, paulrivera said:

I believe they have to key out the doors that aren't supposed to open for certain stops. Mount Vernon can fit every car under normal circumstances so if a train overruns the platform, if the doors aren't cut out (depending where the conductor zoned up their door control) the whole train can open up, which can be a huge problem.

If an engineer fails to make a scheduled stop, the whole crew on the train will have to pee in a cup downtown, after which they get suspended without pay and they all have to go in for re-training. And that's if the drug test comes out clean.

I've never seen a Stamford local blow any stops, but the ones that *do* blow stops tend to be either new or half-asleep engineers on semi-express runs with unique stop patterns (like your train was.) I've been burned a handful of times over the last 10 or so years by New Haven expresses that were supposed to stop at Fordham but didn't.

I don't want to convey that it's common, and it's something I've never been affected by (as in, the train passing my stop or *almost* blowing past my stop), but that's the one blemish MNRR has (compared to the god awful LIRR)... I sporadically utilize the MNRR & yet, I have been on more than my fair share of trains where t/o's blew past stops they were supposed to stop at, having to end up hitting the brakes & reversing the train.....

I've even been on a train where the t/o blew past (and eventually had to reverse to serve) 3 consecutive stops (the 3 'W's" - Williamsbridge, Wooodlawn, Wakefield)... I was heading up to White Plains that day (look at that, another 'W')... It was to the point where I said, aloud, verbatim - "if this train pulls this shit 1 more time, I'm getting the f*** off this mother***er"..... I was banking on making a virgin tight connection for the BL-15 (favorite bee-line route to fan) that saturday..... The c/r was collecting tickets about 3 or 4 seats away from where I was sitting at; she turned & looked at me, but didn't say anything.... Started gathering my stuff for potential disembarking after serving Wakefield....

I ended up missing the bus, but it was due to the bus getting to the transcenter & leaving too early..... It wouldn't have made a difference, but I was still miffed at those consecutive overshoots.....

On ‎1‎/‎15‎/‎2019 at 7:50 PM, RES2773 said:

Was waiting at Mineola a few nights ago for a train going eastbound at the west end of the platform, so I was basically alone on my side of the track. A westbound train arrives (M7), alights passengers, and then leaves. As it's heading out of the station, I notice the rear of the train is completely blacked out. Rear lights were not on. This caused some concern for me, as although the status lights on the side of the train display that it is there, it really looked like there was no train. My train was only a minute away, so I figured I'd alert the conductor of the train and its destination. Unfortunately, the conductor seemed more interested in avoiding the drunk guys throwing around Goldfish crackers a few seats away from me than coming for my ticket, so that option was out.

At the end of it all, I just ignored the whole issue, which still irks me, as I wasn't comfortable with the situation. I considered calling the LIRR and notifying them, although I had no idea what number would make sense to call, as this was well outside of business hours. Even if more phone lines were staffed, I still wouldn't know who to call. I had also considered MTAPD, but I didn't know if this would qualify as an "emergency" in their eyes. For future reference, is there a good contact to inform of this safety hazard? Or is MTAPD the correct channel?

Let me guess, that 6:15 to Hicksville? Or have they changed the schedule now (not like it matters; trains on the Main line during the PM rush arrived 4-5 mins late every single damn day anyway)..... That EB train on the WB platform when I used to catch that 6:34 to JAM during days I had to stay late, would always trip me out.... Lol....

Nothing like seeing/experiencing the ass-end of an Atlantic Terminal train stalled at the middle of the station (Jamaica), thanks to an initial late arriving train (from Mineola)..... First couple times (when I didn't know any better), I used to think that was the LIRR trolling everyone that needed to xfer to the Brooklyn train....

Edited by B35 via Church
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41 minutes ago, B35 via Church said:

I don't want to convey that it's common, and it's something I've never been affected by (as in, the train passing my stop or *almost* blowing past my stop), but that's the one blemish MNRR has (compared to the god awful LIRR)... I sporadically utilize the MNRR & yet, I have been on more than my fair share of trains where t/o's blew past stops they were supposed to stop at, having to end up hitting the brakes & reversing the train.....

And that's why I stick with the Stamford locals leaving Fordham even when I can get a New Haven train with a one-seat ride... It adds an extra half hour to my trips but it takes a special kind of idiot to blow past a major transfer point at Stamford. Besides, I'd rather get up half an hour earlier than lose three hours waiting on a Danbury/Waterbury/beyond New Haven connection

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