So called "Express" Runs

[Donald]

Don't assume the announcements are long. Some conductors will cut them off and leave you on the platform even though your not allowed to cut the announcements off.

[CenSin]

Don't assume the announcements are long. Some conductors will cut them off and leave you on the platform even though your not allowed to cut the announcements off.

 

That's why I wait until the train has made 2 station stops!

[B3 Via Av U]

Next time I have the chance how about I time the distance from Sheepshead Bay to Kings Highway on the , then do same on the ! Much argument would be settled by that.

[Concourse Express]

Next time I have the chance how about I time the distance from Sheepshead Bay to Kings Highway on the , then do same on the ! Much argument would be settled by that.

 

 

If you do this, make sure you take multiple random samples; can't generalize from one case...

[Brighton Express]

Next time I have the chance how about I time the distance from Sheepshead Bay to Kings Highway on the , then do same on the ! Much argument would be settled by that.

 

 

I would say between Newkirk and Kings Highway. That would be quite a test.

[FlushingExpress]

New York City Transit is the Albert Einstein of wasting the purpose of express trains. This is my personal list of the most useless express services in the city, which I mentioned on Facebook yesterday:

 

1. Lexington Avenue and Eastern Parkway Express: For the past year, trains have been running extremely slow on these segments due to congestion (especially between Grand Central-42nd Street and Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall), so slow that the and local actually run faster at times.

 

2. Pelham Express: Due to the numerous tight curves on the Pelham Line, trains frequently slow down and get held at Parkchester to let a terminating local train relay up north first. Therefore, the amount of time it takes for the express to travel from 3rd Avenue-138th Street to Pelham Pay Park is roughly the same as the local (I noticed this on the timetable as well).

 

3. : They have the longest express sections of all trains, but use the overweight 75 foot cars that cannot go very fast. The express runs on Brighton, 4th Avenue, Concourse, 8th Avenue/Central Park West, and Fulton are totally ruined because of them. Acceleration wise, the always beats the , the and always beat the , and the and always beat the . Those local trains happen to use the systems' two fastest cars (R32s and R160s) ironically. The dash between 34th Street-Herald Square and West 4th Street-Washington Square is the only place where Sixth Avenue Express trains can go past 40+ MPH and that is also pretty pointless since it only bypasses two stations. The only section where the can go really fast is between Howard Beach and Broad Channel, though I noticed trains slow down while crossing Jamaica Bay because of the drawbridge.

 

4. express between Myrtle and Marcy Avenues: very short section that saves no more than 90 seconds and trains sometime get held at Myrtle Avenue or near Hewes Street to let the local proceed first, so there is practically no difference in travel time if they were running local.

 

5. Weekday Broadway Express: A short section like the one above and trains are often held at Prince Street and 34th Street-Herald Square to let an or local they just bypassed proceed first, so all three Broadway services might as well run local to avoid bunching, delays, or gaps (in fact, it might actually save more time to eliminate the express). The weekend express run is a bit better since it bypasses 49th Street and terminates at 57th Street, thus, reducing the split/merge at 34th Street-Herald Square and the 60th Street Tunnel when it runs to Astoria.

 

People have a crazy obsession to always ride express trains, thinking it would save them a significant amount of time, but in reality, they only save 4-7 minutes max. The ones mentioned here barely save you any time at all.

[LTA1992]

Next time I have the chance how about I time the distance from Sheepshead Bay to Kings Highway on the , then do same on the ! Much argument would be settled by that.

 

There is no argument. It depends on the time of day and in my experience, that's early-mid morning and late evening because the tends to leave Brighton Beach about a minute after the . But of course, the time saved only matters if you are going to Church Avenue and all points north. South-bound, unless the comes first and your only going to the express stations, THEN you save time. The almost never passes a on the way to BB and therefore taking the would make more sense if your jorny is past that point.

 

And to the person above me, 4-7 ,minutes can mean a lot in the subway system. That's why I try to time myself accordingly to get where I need to be.

[RollOver]

3. : They have the longest express sections of all trains, but use the overweight 75 foot cars that cannot go very fast. The express runs on Brighton, 4th Avenue, Concourse, 8th Avenue/Central Park West, and Fulton are totally ruined because of them. Acceleration wise, the always beats the , the and always beat the , and the and always beat the . Those local trains happen to use the systems' two fastest cars (R32s and R160s) ironically. The dash between 34th Street-Herald Square and West 4th Street-Washington Square is the only place where Sixth Avenue Express trains can go past 40+ MPH and that is also pretty pointless since it only bypasses two stations. The only section where the can go really fast is between Howard Beach and Broad Channel, though I noticed trains slow down while crossing Jamaica Bay because of the drawbridge.

 

 

Total BS as usual. Why don't you give the 75 footer bashing a rest, would ya?

[Threxx]

New York City Transit is the Albert Einstein of wasting the purpose of express trains. This is my personal list of the most useless express services in the city, which I mentioned on Facebook yesterday:

 

1. Lexington Avenue and Eastern Parkway Express: For the past year, trains have been running extremely slow on these segments due to congestion (especially between Grand Central-42nd Street and Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall), so slow that the and local actually run faster at times.

 

2. Pelham Express: Due to the numerous tight curves on the Pelham Line, trains frequently slow down and get held at Parkchester to let a terminating local train relay up north first. Therefore, the amount of time it takes for the express to travel from 3rd Avenue-138th Street to Pelham Pay Park is roughly the same as the local (I noticed this on the timetable as well).

 

3. : They have the longest express sections of all trains, but use the overweight 75 foot cars that cannot go very fast. The express runs on Brighton, 4th Avenue, Concourse, 8th Avenue/Central Park West, and Fulton are totally ruined because of them. Acceleration wise, the always beats the , the and always beat the , and the and always beat the . Those local trains happen to use the systems' two fastest cars (R32s and R160s) ironically. The dash between 34th Street-Herald Square and West 4th Street-Washington Square is the only place where Sixth Avenue Express trains can go past 40+ MPH and that is also pretty pointless since it only bypasses two stations. The only section where the can go really fast is between Howard Beach and Broad Channel, though I noticed trains slow down while crossing Jamaica Bay because of the drawbridge.

 

4. express between Myrtle and Marcy Avenues: very short section that saves no more than 90 seconds and trains sometime get held at Myrtle Avenue or near Hewes Street to let the local proceed first, so there is practically no difference in travel time if they were running local.

 

5. Weekday Broadway Express: A short section like the one above and trains are often held at Prince Street and 34th Street-Herald Square to let an or local they just bypassed proceed first, so all three Broadway services might as well run local to avoid bunching, delays, or gaps (in fact, it might actually save more time to eliminate the express). The weekend express run is a bit better since it bypasses 49th Street and terminates at 57th Street, thus, reducing the split/merge at 34th Street-Herald Square and the 60th Street Tunnel when it runs to Astoria.

 

People have a crazy obsession to always ride express trains, thinking it would save them a significant amount of time, but in reality, they only save 4-7 minutes max. The ones mentioned here barely save you any time at all.

 

 

This is all total BS... you do realize that CPW and Broadway have some of the FASTEST express runs??????

 

I'm not even going to waste my time anymore with you moron...

[LTA1992]

Plus, you can't compare the 60 footers to the 75 footers. The 75 footers are not only heavier, but have less motors and less horsepower.

[RookiePhenom]

New York City Transit is the Albert Einstein of wasting the purpose of express trains. This is my personal list of the most useless express services in the city, which I mentioned on Facebook yesterday:

 

1. Lexington Avenue and Eastern Parkway Express: For the past year, trains have been running extremely slow on these segments due to congestion (especially between Grand Central-42nd Street and Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall), so slow that the and local actually run faster at times.

 

3. : They have the longest express sections of all trains, but use the overweight 75 foot cars that cannot go very fast. The express runs on Brighton, 4th Avenue, Concourse, 8th Avenue/Central Park West, and Fulton are totally ruined because of them. Acceleration wise, the always beats the , the and always beat the , and the and always beat the . Those local trains happen to use the systems' two fastest cars (R32s and R160s) ironically. The dash between 34th Street-Herald Square and West 4th Street-Washington Square is the only place where Sixth Avenue Express trains can go past 40+ MPH and that is also pretty pointless since it only bypasses two stations. The only section where the can go really fast is between Howard Beach and Broad Channel, though I noticed trains slow down while crossing Jamaica Bay because of the drawbridge.

 

 

People have a crazy obsession to always ride express trains, thinking it would save them a significant amount of time, but in reality, they only save 4-7 minutes max. The ones mentioned here barely save you any time at all.

 

 

I might have to call to question on CPW. While you may be right on Lex Express, the CPW expresses move A LOT faster than the locals. You'd have to be delayed in order for a local to catch up. The 75 footers (while I'm not a fan of them) still move at a decent pace, can make good time. Once you've hit on 6th avenue, that all rides on how congested the line moves (Whether the Locals line up, the Expresses going to/from the Bridge, etc.).

 

While the schedule may dictate one thing, proof would have to tell you otherwise.

 

And Express trains will help you down the line, time-wise. 4-7 minutes may mean enough time to transfer, or if you're running late and need to arrive in time.

[Threxx]

Don't even bother with this guy. It's obvious he's a foamy moron, it's not worth the trouble.

[RollOver]

FlushingExpress is a troll as always. He's such a devoted wannabee who wants to grow up to become a superstar, he expects every damn shit to be perfect...All train cars in this city's subway are fast regardless. There are timers installed on express runs that have congestion, tighter curves, drawbridges, and/or crossovers/switches that are located before a station. So far he's not even explain a cent of why the R46s and R68/68As break down more often and have more issues according to their lastest MDBFs and/or poor performances on breakdowns along the and bashes them like a know-it-all for no legit reasons. He even did the same crap with the R44s, "Oh, they are fat, slow, ulgy, and full of malfunctional problems!".

 

I now know that type of attitude you have but even then you are confusing the living hell out of yourself right now. I will also bet one million cash that he will say the 75 footers that also run on lines that DON'T have express runs but only two tracks (except for the though its fully local and underground), he will say that they are better looking than the rest of the 75 foot car fleets that run on lines with longer routes and express runs. Funny that? And yes, I did read A WHOLE LOT of your negative comments in the past threads and past videos on YouTube while viewing.

 

What if the R62/62As, R142/142As, R143s, and R160s become problematic? What will you say afterwards? The R32s I 100% understand because they are too old and on their last legs before they will start to finally be replaced by the R179s regardless of their durable car bodies, interiors, old-fasion signages, IRT-box shape type of design, and most wonderful RFW. Though you also love the R32s just like the R160s.

 

You know nothing of how New York City Transit Authority is maintaining the current subway cars which results in their issues and/or excellent/bad MDBFs. Come up with those reasons and facts, but if you don't know and its just the usual "Oh but the R46s are just fatter, slower, longer, duller, darker, and dirtier!" crap, then don't talk. Period. And before someone says otherwise, no I am not telling people off about their negative comments just because I love the cars and backing them up. I also correct your points and bias. Yes, I didn't do that the first time back when I and ttsubwayfan were agruing with VG8 and another user who were moaning about the R32s but did gave out their legit reasons. Believe me, I'm not nagging and begging people to like or hate this and that.

 

Just my rant on this guy. Moving right along...

[TheSubwayStation]

New York City Transit is the Albert Einstein of wasting the purpose of express trains. This is my personal list of the most useless express services in the city, which I mentioned on Facebook yesterday:

 

1. Lexington Avenue and Eastern Parkway Express: For the past year, trains have been running extremely slow on these segments due to congestion (especially between Grand Central-42nd Street and Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall), so slow that the and local actually run faster at times.

 

There's nothing that can be done about this. We have a busy and crowded subway system, so delays are inevitable. Besides, imagine how much worse the delays and crowding would be without the express trains. You have a hard time thinking of things from a non-railfan perspective...

 

2. Pelham Express: Due to the numerous tight curves on the Pelham Line, trains frequently slow down and get held at Parkchester to let a terminating local train relay up north first. Therefore, the amount of time it takes for the express to travel from 3rd Avenue-138th Street to Pelham Pay Park is roughly the same as the local (I noticed this on the timetable as well).

 

Once again, I don't know how the hell the MTA is supposed to fix this problem...

 

3. : They have the longest express sections of all trains, but use the overweight 75 foot cars that cannot go very fast. The express runs on Brighton, 4th Avenue, Concourse, 8th Avenue/Central Park West, and Fulton are totally ruined because of them. Acceleration wise, the always beats the , the and always beat the , and the and always beat the . Those local trains happen to use the systems' two fastest cars (R32s and R160s) ironically.

 

From my experience, the R32s and R40s (which you claim on are so fast on Youtube) are only slightly faster than the 75 footers...They just feel really fast because they have noisy, bumpy rides. I bet that if you got a stopwatch and timed an R32 and an R68/R46 on the same run, they would take very similar amounts of time. Of course some SMEEs accelerate a little bit faster than others, but your idea that a 75-footer express run is "pointless" because of the couple of seconds that you would've saved if it was an R32 or R40S is ridiculous and foamerish. Here's an example of what I'm saying:

 

R40 Slant train at Avenue H:

 

R68A train at Avenue H:

 

They're both going at 30 MPH! In this case, the R40S looks faster because it has more doors, windows, and car ends moving by at a faster rate because the cars are shorter (I hope this makes sense).

 

The R160s, on the other hand, are significantly faster, but that doesn't mean that the other cars are bad. The R160s just have more advanced motors.

 

The dash between 34th Street-Herald Square and West 4th Street-Washington Square is the only place where Sixth Avenue Express trains can go past 40+ MPH and that is also pretty pointless since it only bypasses two stations. The only section where the A can go really fast is between Howard Beach and Broad Channel, though I noticed trains slow down while crossing Jamaica Bay because of the drawbridge.

 

Remember that the would possibly reach 50 MPH on CPW if it wasn't for the timers...It can also exceed 40 or even 45 MPH on its way to the Bronx. The can reach 45 coming into 42 St southbound, and the CPW and Fulton lines would exceed 40 without the timers.

 

4. J/Z express between Myrtle and Marcy Avenues: very short section that saves no more than 90 seconds and trains sometime get held at Myrtle Avenue or near Hewes Street to let the M local proceed first, so there is practically no difference in travel time if they were running local.

 

Once again, not the MTA's fault...It's still a bit faster than the local.

 

5. Weekday Broadway Express: A short section like the one above and trains are often held at Prince Street and 34th Street-Herald Square to let an or local they just bypassed proceed first, so all three Broadway services might as well run local to avoid bunching, delays, or gaps (in fact, it might actually save more time to eliminate the express). The weekend express run is a bit better since it bypasses 49th Street and terminates at 57th Street, thus, reducing the split/merge at 34th Street-Herald Square and the 60th Street Tunnel when it runs to Astoria.

 

People have a crazy obsession to always ride express trains, thinking it would save them a significant amount of time, but in reality, they only save 4-7 minutes max. The ones mentioned here barely save you any time at all.

 

While express trains don't save as much time as some people think, it's not as if different car types would make much of a difference.

 

[TwoTimer]

The fastest I ever entered 42-TS on the was with a 68A (baseball special with a line consist), at 48. Yes that includes all the R32 runs I've had. I also broke inside of the station itself. Just a note that a 68A is faster than a 68 and a 46.

[Quill Depot]

New York City Transit is the Albert Einstein of wasting the purpose of express trains. This is my personal list of the most useless express services in the city, which I mentioned on Facebook yesterday:

 

1. Lexington Avenue and Eastern Parkway Express: For the past year, trains have been running extremely slow on these segments due to congestion (especially between Grand Central-42nd Street and Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall), so slow that the and local actually run faster at times.

 

2. Pelham Express: Due to the numerous tight curves on the Pelham Line, trains frequently slow down and get held at Parkchester to let a terminating local train relay up north first. Therefore, the amount of time it takes for the express to travel from 3rd Avenue-138th Street to Pelham Pay Park is roughly the same as the local (I noticed this on the timetable as well).

 

3. A B D: They have the longest express sections of all trains, but use the overweight 75 foot cars that cannot go very fast. The express runs on Brighton, 4th Avenue, Concourse, 8th Avenue/Central Park West, and Fulton are totally ruined because of them. Acceleration wise, the always beats the , the and always beat the , and the and always beat the . Those local trains happen to use the systems' two fastest cars (R32s and R160s) ironically. The dash between 34th Street-Herald Square and West 4th Street-Washington Square is the only place where Sixth Avenue Express trains can go past 40+ MPH and that is also pretty pointless since it only bypasses two stations. The only section where the can go really fast is between Howard Beach and Broad Channel, though I noticed trains slow down while crossing Jamaica Bay because of the drawbridge.

 

4. J/Z express between Myrtle and Marcy Avenues: very short section that saves no more than 90 seconds and trains sometime get held at Myrtle Avenue or near Hewes Street to let the M local proceed first, so there is practically no difference in travel time if they were running local.

 

5. Weekday Broadway Express: A short section like the one above and trains are often held at Prince Street and 34th Street-Herald Square to let an or local they just bypassed proceed first, so all three Broadway services might as well run local to avoid bunching, delays, or gaps (in fact, it might actually save more time to eliminate the express). The weekend express run is a bit better since it bypasses 49th Street and terminates at 57th Street, thus, reducing the split/merge at 34th Street-Herald Square and the 60th Street Tunnel when it runs to Astoria.

 

People have a crazy obsession to always ride express trains, thinking it would save them a significant amount of time, but in reality, they only save 4-7 minutes max. The ones mentioned here barely save you any time at all.

 

 

The definition of local to the is a train that makes less stops. Nothing about being faster. In this city 4-7 minutes max is a lot.

[pr1nyc1]

- One more case on the 3 av-E180 stretch, which is just plain customer stupidity. I get customers who are going to a local station who will PURPOSELY get on my 5 express in order to ride to E180 and then backtrack. Some of them even have the nerve to demand that I open both sides so I can save them a crossover (which gets a NO every single time). Backtracking NEVER saves you time, simply because it means traveling an extra distance. And that 174-Tremont-E180 stretch is SLOW no matter what track you're on - having to ride through it TWICE just makes things worse. I can guarentee you that every single rider who does that would have gotten to their destination faster if they waited for the next local, even if it's 6 minutes away. Making a perfect connection to a downtown 2/5 is going to give them the illusion that they took a shortcut, meanwhile if they actually looked at the uptown local track, EVERY SINGLE TIME they are going to pass an uptown local before they get to their station. Customers sometimes try to pull this trick at 86/Lex, which is an express station where you can't change direction. And now they have to waste even more time arguing with the station agent about why they shouldn't have to pay 2 fares now.

 

 

Lesson - NEVER BACKTRACK!

 

 

Is a conductor able to open both sides if he wanted to?

[Snowblock]

It depends on the situation. At Main St, we open both sides at Tk M except during the AM Rush, and at Willets Pt tk 2 only during events. At E180, we only open both sides for the 5 shuttles, NOT for a through train EXCEPT in the case of some GOs, and only if the GO specifically mentions to open both sides. In the case of a scheduled uptown express run at E180, NO NO NO. If I were to open the downtown platform, it would cause too many problems - the first being that customers on the downtown platform are going to think this train is going downtown and start boarding, the second being that I will not receive indication until BOTH sides are closed, which means it's far more likely that there will be an undetected drag (this is a consequence at Main St which always makes me nervous, especially since the customers there are insane), and the last being that it will cause additional delays with having to open and close both sides. And in the case of the 142's, I would also have to call my T/O on the ICS and tell him to enable both sides, since they would normally only enable the uptown platform side.

 

Other than the stations mentioned above, and for the reasons mentioned above it's very rare for a train to open on both sides in A-Div. The only other time was once when I got rerouted from the local to the express leaving Queensboro due to a train being held at 52 St, and customers going to 33-52 had no way to get to their stations without backtracking, so I opened both side at Woodside to let northbound customers on and let the customers who needed to backtrack off on the southbound platform. And yes, it created chaos with southbound customers on the platform who thought that a Manhattan-bound express train at 11pm in February appeared out of nowhere.

[Quill Depot]

Where an express is better than a local: Yesterday my mom and I were at 96th Street and Broadway. A local was in the station as we reached the bottom of the steps. Instead we waited 3 minutes for an express (station countdown clocks). We took it to 14th Street, passing 3 local trains, two before TSQ.

[RollOver]

What really annoys the living bloody hell out of me is that the is constantly delayed to people holding the doors, especially at stations where there are also two exits at both ends (Utica Avenue and Broadway Junction for example). Whenever an and a arrive at an express station, primary its always the local that leaves first right before the . It's annoying especially considering how timers are intalled near the bypass stations. Have a southbound and arrive at Utica Avenue, the leaves first and second the due to people holding doors or indication on the 46s themselves. The will slow down at Broadway Junction and the still catches up. Reverse in the Manhattan-bound direction is the same because timers are installed around after bypassing Rockaway Avenue. That's why I hate the express sometimes...

 

Just remember how not all express lines are about saving time (examples are Eighth Avenue northbound express trains)...

[Donald]

The other day I worked the and picked up a grup of people at 103rd St. and they then got off at 96 St. They then got back onto my train at 14 St. and got off at Christopher St. So they thought they woudl save time by taking an express, but eneded up just going to Christopher ont the same local train they got on at 103 St.

 

Unless its rush hour, transferring from a local train to an express to catch the local in front of the local you got off of rarely works. In fact, it could backfire if there is congestion on the express track.

[Donald]

The fastest express runs on the seem to be in Brooklyn between Utica and Franklin and between 167 St. and Burnside Ave. on the trains that terminate at Burnside. In Manhattan, going expres literally only saves a minute or two than going local.

 

Once we get to Franklin, however, we slow down considerably if we get stuck behind a , especialy if it's Snowblock's out of Flatbush (joking)

[PATCOman]

One day, I was on the and we were held at Hoyt because an crossed in front of us. One woman asked me where to catch the train to try to catch up to a local train in front of mine. I convinced her to simply stay on the , but she said it was "too slow". So I told her to change for the at Hoyt, and no passed my !

[Gorgor]

The fastest express runs on the seem to be in Brooklyn between Utica and Franklin and between 167 St. and Burnside Ave. on the trains that terminate at Burnside. In Manhattan, going expres literally only saves a minute or two than going local.

 

Once we get to Franklin, however, we slow down considerably if we get stuck behind a , especialy if it's Snowblock's out of Flatbush (joking)

 

 

Taking the over the can easily save you around 10 minutes between 86th and Brooklyn Bridge. 15 minutes on the express compared to 25+ on the local is a big difference.

[Grand Concourse]

Not rush hours. 86th to 14th, the express are crawling because of all the trains in front. That's why I stuck with the as at least I can get a seat by 59th. Middays, yes, the express are better.