Some improvements on the South Fork underway

(Photo: Wikipedia)

Surprisingly, the LIRR has recently been making a couple of improvements out on the South Fork that will be ready just in time to roll-out for both Memorial Day and Shinnecock Hills at Southampton in June.

The first improvement is a temporary platform on the southern-side of Hampton Bays. Currently, Hampton Bays, like all the other stations on the South Fork, currently only has one platform, and the dual-platform design will allow two trains, going in both directions to do their station work simultaneously, which will provide more operational flexibility, boosting capacity and reducing delays.

While the LIRR has deemed the platform "temporary", officials in the town of Southampton are hopeful that the platform could one day become permanent, helping to further boost the South Fork Commuter Connection.

Additionally, the LIRR is also working to extend the siding in Southampton by 80 feet, with the further 

While small, I truly feel these upgrades will both go a long way and will open the door for more improvements along the South Fork. While a small first step, the improved operational flexibility will hopefully reduce some of the egregious delays that plague the South Fork every summer. Additionally, these upgrades will hopefully pave the way for larger improvements, such as new stations and more dual-platforms, both which would allow for truly meaningful service upgrades, such as the expansion of SFCC.

What The Ronkonkoma Branch Timetable Could Look Like

It’s been a while since we’ve looked at a branch in the series of sample timetables but today, ladies and gentlemen we are back at it with the crowded Ronkonkoma Branch. But before I begin, guys, be aware, we are not entering the most complicated and complex part of the project, covering the biggest, crowded and complicated branches. 

Anyways, ridership along the Main Line (particularly the electrified segment east of Hicksville) is huge. You may know that Ronkonkoma is actually the second busiest station on the entire railroad that’s not in New York City, after Hicksville. This in mainly in part due to poor service levels in eastern Suffolk, as discussed in a post I wrote a couple of days ago, but also, in the 1980s, the railroad electrified the line all the way to Ronkonkoma and this resulted in a ridership boom along the branch. 

With that being said, providing adequate service levels on the Ronkonkoma Branch was no easy task. While the opening of the third track and Mid Suffolk Electric Yard definitely cleared up some of the worst capacity constraints, track space on the Main Line is still limited and during the height of the rush hour, when trying to manage sustainable levels of service with only 3 tracks from both Ronkonkoma and Huntington, along with supporting diesel trains from Port Jefferson, Speonk, and Oyster Bay, and the occasional local west of Hicksville, things can get difficult fast. 

For the purpose of these timetables, not surprisingly, I have given priority track space to the Ronkonkoma Branch, over other branches on the Main Line. I did this because ridership clearly reflects this, and given that it’s the second busiest branch, after Babylon, trains get crowded fast. 

Included in the linked .pdf file is the full sample weekday and weekend Ronkonkoma Branch timetable. Peak, off-peak, extra, and special event trains have all been included. Note that this is a new and improved timetable design.

The timetables have yet to include deadhead/non-revenue moves, both of which have been planned out alongside crew and equipment rotations on paper, using AI, and will be included in the attached PDF with the completion of this project. I tried to mostly minimize deadheading as much as possible since it’s essentially just wasted time, crew, and equipment hours but in some cases it was unavoidable to make the most out of the resources available. 

Key Assumptions 

• My only real assumption is that the LIRR will commit to improving service east of Ronkonkoma. Right now, stations east of Ronkonkoma such as Yaphank, Riverhead, and Greenport see easily some of the worst service levels in the entire MTA system. Seeing only 3 trips a day, the LIRR has done little to improve service over the years out there, however, last year they announced the construction of a brand new station in Yaphank, and with this my hope is that this will give some sort of incentive for the LIRR to improve service out there, especially since better reverse-peak service should be a no-brainer to cater to those going to the lab. 

Service Guidelines

• During the morning rush hour, a hodgepodge of local and express trains depart Ronkonkoma throughout the peak period. There is no true consistency in stopping patterns, and that is entirely in part due to the varying difference in service needed throughout the peak. Service generally emulates current levels however additional trains have been added to provide better service to all stations with more and better express service provided to drastically shorten the commutes of those who commute from the easternmost stations in Ronkonkoma, CI, and Brentwood.
• During the evening rush hour, service is also quite scattered. 
• During the off-peak period and on weekends, service to/from Ronkonkoma runs approximately every half-hour. Trains generally run to/from Penn Station, which is the preferred terminal during those hours. 
• During the busiest travel times on weekends, additional service has been added to reflect ridership and take load off existing trains. 
• I’ve yet to include service east of Ronkonkoma, which will be covered in a future post specifically about the North Fork.

Like Patrick O’Hara of the LIRR Today worded it, Ronkonkoma can be viewed as a monster. If you don’t constantly feed it trains it will turn around and gobble you up real fast. The Mainline is already one of the worst routes for overcrowding during rush hours, and if service isn’t provided at a satisfactory level you can expect to see people standing the entire 1h20m ride to Ronkonkoma. 

During the morning rush hour, one of the biggest issues with the LIRR’s ESA timetables is the elimination of true express service from Ronkonkoma. This was one of the best parts of the old schedule, with the fastest trains shaving upwards of 10 to even 15 minutes off the commute time from Ronkonkoma. I have long held that running a couple of  “super-expresses” from Ronkonkoma in the morning and back in the evening will go a long way in relieving crowding. 

Despite all the capacity constraints along the branch, I definitely feel I provided adequate service over the course of the morning rush hour, balancing speed with flexibility. In addition to the super-expresses mentioned above, intra-island and riders to alternate terminals were not forgotten and were instead treated to two the addition of two one-seats to Atlantic Terminal along with another to Hunterspoint Av, making more local stops to accommodate inter-island travelers. 

To speak on the train to Hunterspoint Av, I specifically timed this train, departing Ronkonkoma at the bright and early 5:13am, with the intention of appealing to construction workers (note all that development in that area of Queens), to allow for a direct ride for an early start. In addition, I feel the two Brooklyn trains will be well-travelled, especially by the Wall Street crowd, and train 2021 (the 6:56a from Ronkonkoma), is perfectly timed to allow for easy travel to downtown Brooklyn or the Financial District for a 9am start. To some (specifically those with a Manhattan-oriented logic), this may seam like wasted capacity, however, Intra-island travel along the Main Line is solid, and so is demand for the direct service to Brooklyn. By providing trains to alternate terminals, not only can you provide additional service without eating up precious Manhattan trackslots, but the trains can take on local stops for seamless inter-island travel. 

During the evening, I have completely revamped the structure of service to provide faster and more frequent service. It is much more difficult in the evening to balance service to two different terminals, oppose to just one in the morning. One of the most frustrating parts of the current timetable is the lack of options. There are a limited number of trains provided Ronkonkoma, and of these, a majority are very slow. I worked to include more express service, while still providing satisfactory local service. 

During the off-peak period, with a couple exceptions, service is generally provided every half-hour to/from Ronkonkoma, like today. You will notice that on the westbound weekday panel, two additional trains start Farmingdale towards Grand Central in the two hours directly following the end of the peak period. This is with the specific intent of providing Main Line stations west of Hicksville with a direct service line opportunity following the peak for anyone who needs it.

And finally, reverse-peak service remains quite similar to how it is today with a majority of the trains untouched. However, I have added a couple trains to New York during the evening, using existing equipment deadheads to do so. This will greatly reduce crossing on some current trains that are currently very crowded, even on a lot of non-event days. These new trains also provide faster options (i.e running express on the Main Line between Bethpage and Jamaica). One of these added trains, which runs on Fridays only, is actually a flyer that runs non-stop from Hicksville to Penn Station. 

In conclusion, despite the difficulties I faced, particularly during the busiest part of the peak period, I feel that I provided adequate service to and from Ronkonkoma and all other stations along the branch. By using the third track and the expanded Mid-Suffolk Electric Yard to my advantage, I was able to create a balance between satisfactory local service and high-speed express service, while balancing service out to all terminals in order to adequately serve each of their needs, meanwhile not leaving out intra-island riders. In the end, the Ronkonkoma Branch is a difficult branch, as unlike the other branches, which generally have a busy period, the Ronkonkoma Branch has a much wider window especially in the evening, as trains departing NYC as early as 2pm regularly rack up standees carrying all the construction workers home, and unlike most of the other branches, the crowds generally don’t let up until well after 11pm on some nights with people heading home after events at both Elmont and MSG.

The MTA planning pilot program to test "audio ads" in subway starting this spring

A brief aside from our recent posts on the Ronkonkoma Branch, the MTA announced recently that this spring the MTA will begin playing 30 second audible ads at select subway and commuter rail stations. I personally do not like this idea one bit. On top of the fact that we already listen to enough advertisements in any given day and that we pay high transportation fares, having to listen to a very loud 30 second ad which the MTA says would be played at 75 decibels, equivalent to that of a vacuum cleaner can actually be distracting or even borderline dangerous.

Both subway and commuter rail stations are very high stimulation places, and with the digital age, people are already hooked to their phones opposed to paying attention to what's going on around them, and the last thing we need is another distraction from the train and safety announcements. Additionally, an ad playing at 75 decibels could make it difficult for people to hear others especially in a subway station underground which is already loud enough, which could pose safety risks in an event of an emergency. 

Also not to be forgotten is the old "boy who cried wolf" scenario. If they keep on pumping out useless ads out on the loudspeaker, eventually people will start to ignore them and in the event of a real emergency where they need to make announcements on the loudspeaker, or in the case of a service disruption, people will not be listening.

In conclusion, subway stations are a overstimulating enough. Between the never-ending service announcements, loud trains, and constant threat of crime, the last possible thing the MTA needs is more distractions from what people should be doing when in a subway system- paying attention.

The Ronkonkoma Conundrum

(Photo: Tri-State Rail NOW)

The Hamlet of Ronkonkoma, a place I live quite close to, probably seems like a very dense urban neighborhood, however, the truth is quite far from that. In fact, there’s barely more people in Ronkonkoma then there are that use that station. The truth is, the vast majority of people boarding at Ronkonkoma are actually not from Ronkonkoma itself, or even if it’s immediate surrounding communities but rather from places east, north, south, and even west of it.

In order for commuter rail to work as it’s supposed to, service should be proportional to population density, all the way out to the end of the line. At no point should there be a steep service drop-off (unless the population similarly drops off, which hasn’t and won’t happen on Long Island). For example, out on the North Fork, service may be relatively proportional out in Greenport, however, Riverhead for example has 30% of people living there while service sees an 85% reduction. Many of those who live in Riverhead, or other communities on the North Fork, “just drive to Ronkonkoma.”

The truth is these riders just fly past their local stations because the levels of service compared to what you can get at Ronkonkoma is just laughable. The lack of service on the East End is much worse considering there are very few alternatives besides taking Hampton Jitney which is double the price. Another example of this is the West Hempstead Branch. While it gets much, much better service than that of on the East End, it still sees slightly less service then that of the Far Rockaway, Long Beach, and Hempstead branches, all of which have communities of very similar population density. Therefore, ridership suffers and people look elsewhere for better service.

Not only do the desperate riders who live east of Ronkonkoma flock to Ronkonkoma for actual service, many riders that live closer to the Montauk and Port Jefferson branches, also find themselves driving to, and then parking at Ronkonkoma. While rush hour options on the Montauk and Port Jefferson branches are definitely much, much better than on the East End, they are still limited compared to what you can get on the Ronkonkoma Branch, therefore people drive there for the more frequent and direct service.

The truth is only an estimated 34% of Ronkonkoma ridership comes from the Ronkonkoma area itself. Roughly two thirds of riders who use this station are driving from a community elsewhere on Long Island that is probably served by a very different station. It’s possible to determine from the LIRR’s 2012-2014 Origin and Destination Survey where the MTA asked riders to provide their zip code:

• About only 34% of riders come from the local area, while another estimated 18% of riders drive south from communities along the Port Jefferson Branch.
• 17% backtrack of it’s riders backtrack east from Brentwood, Central Islip, and Islandia (with the latter being more understandable due to the location being closer to Ronkonkoma.)
• 15% of riders drive north from communities along the Montauk Branch in the towns of Brookhaven and Islip.
• 12% of riders drive from areas along the Main Line in eastern portions of the Town of Brookhaven (instead of using Medford or Yaphank stations which is understandable given the one rush-hour train provided)
• 3% of riders drive west from the North Fork (areas in town of Riverhead and Southold)
• 2% of riders drive up the island from the South Fork (areas in the towns of Southampton and East Hampton)

If this doesn’t get the point across about just how many people from all over the island use this station, then I don’t know what does. A majority of these people are from the diesel branches, which makes sense, and the rest are riders backtracking from Central Islip and Brentwood, which actually surprised me quite a bit.

Diesel branch refugees

Nearly half those who surveyed using Ronkonkoma actually lived closer to a station on Long Island that’s served in diesel territory. And while the one-seat ride to New York is appealing to many, and is probably the main incentive, it’s also probably somewhat in part due to the poor rush-hour service levels. Both the Montauk and Port Jefferson branches see some pretty poor gaps in service, especially during the height of the morning rush hour, both having 30 minute gaps during the busiest part of the rush. In addition, with the exception of the dual-modes, which are well trafficked, there is little direct service into Manhattan (where a majority of the diesel riders are headed), therefore a lot of people would rather just drive to Ronkonkoma for the more frequent, and in many cases faster service.

Backtrackers from Central Islip and Brentwood

One of the more surprising elements of the survey was the abundance of backtrackers from Brentwood and Central Islip. At first I found this quite surprising considering the fact that both Brentwood and Central Islip see a very wide majority of the service Ronkonkoma does, therefore, unlike in diesel territory where service is limited, there’s no service incentive to backtrack.

However, when you look more closely at the data, the answer starts to become more clear. A majority of these riders took trains following the immediate swarm during the rush hour, taking trains that left at 8:31a, 9:41a, 10:41a, and 11:41a. By then on a normal weekday the parking lots would have been full, and this might explain why these people would drive to Ronkonkoma to park in the parking garage, which likely would still have storage space. The other reason people would backtrack is in order to ensure a seat, during the height of the morning rush hour, prior to the ESA schedules, there were a number of express trains out of Ronkonkoma:

• Train 2013, (the 6:24a from Ronkonkoma) which ran nonstop to Hicksville, and then New York.
• Train 2015 (the 6:39a from Ronkonkoma) which ran right before the old train 2017 from CI and carried a lot of local passengers
• Train 2017 (the 7:04a from Ronkonkoma) which ran nonstop to Deer Park.
• Train 2019 (the 7:19a from Ronkonkoma) which stopped at Central Islip and Brentwood before running non-stop to New York. This was one of the most trafficked trains for these 3 stations, therefore, a ton of people would likely drive to Ronkonkoma to guarantee a seat.

Nowadays, now that all of those trains are gone with East Side Access (for the worse in my opinion), I expect less people backtrack given that all trains from Ronkonkoma stop at Brentwood and Central Islip. However, there are probably some that due, either for parking (later in the rush) or to guarantee a seat.

Should the LIRR ever put in the work to improve service on the diesel branches, specifically working to alleviate the service gaps during the height of the rush hour, something I’m doing in my timetable project, they can probably fix the parking issues at Ronkonkoma, along with Central Islip, Brentwood, and Deer Park, opening up more spots for those people and leading to less backtracking. Currently, the free lot at Ronkonkoma fills up by 7:30am, and the same can probably be said for CI, Brentwood, and Deer Park which likely fill up around the same time or earlier.

I also believe that a huge part of the problem lies during the off-peak period, specifically during the reverse-peak. On days with events in NYC or at UBS Arena, trains to and from New York consistently have all 8, 10, or even 12 cars packed to the absolute gills with standees. The severe overcrowding is largely in part due to poor or even nonexistent reverse-peak service levels on the diesel branches. In addition, the diesel lines don’t have UBS Arena stops on any trains therefore people once again “drive to Ronkonkoma” further overcrowding those trains. Even with 2, 3, or even 4 extras (in addition to the regularly scheduled trains) after the Islanders games at Elmont, I still have seen trains that are crushloaded.

All of this puts extraordinary stress on poor Ronkonkoma. While capacity has improved greatly since the Third Track and Mid-Suffolk Electric Yard, service has actually in a way decreased. If you look at schedules pre-pandemic, there were 17 trains on the branch, now there are still 17, which is a increase of a grand total of 0 trains. And if you look at when the service is provided, you’ll notice that there’s a increase in service during the 4-6am hour. And while this is great considering the amount of construction workers with early shifts that live on this branch, it means there’s actually a decrease for people who are commuting during the height of the morning rush hour. To put it into perspective, prior to ESA, there were 7 trains arriving into New York during the 8-9am period, nowadays, there are only 4.

A big part of my timetable project has been to both improve peak service on the Ronkonkoma Branch while also improvising diesel service. This combination will hopefully draw less people off this overcrowded line and on to diesel trains that can help handle the loads better. If your interested in taking a look at it, it will release tomorrow morning at 6:00am!

LIRR schedule changes start tomorrow morning

The LIRR is making it's normal spring schedule change, and they are adding a couple of stops to trains.

This isn't a big schedule change; and there are only a couple of small changes to be aware of on the timetable, mainly during the late evening:

• The 10:20pm train from Penn Station to Huntington will make an added stop at Floral Park
• The 6:48pm train from Long Beach to Penn Station will make an added stop at Rosedale.
• The 3:17pm train from Penn Station to Babylon will make an added stop at Baldwin.

And while these changes are at best underwhelming, considering all of the changes that could be made, I do appreciate the LIRR looking at the schedule to see what small changes they can make to improve service based off ridership patterns and I definitely feel that these small changes will benefit some. 

The largest subway car replacement order in MTA history: The 262s

R262 proposal (Photo: MTA)

The MTA just announced their ambitious plan to replace pretty much the entire A-division rail fleet (consisting of the numbered lines and 42 St shuttle) with the futuristic-looking R262 cars. The annoucement came at a press conference Thursday as they announced a RFP for proposals from manufacturers, with submissions due in September.

The base order is 1,140 subway cars, just enough to replace the R62 and R62A fleets (which run on the (1, 3, and 6 lines). Bidding will start on April 30th, 2026 and is expected to continue until 2028, when the contract is expected to be awarded.  The order will contain a mixture of regular "closed-end" R262s and open-gangway R262s (known as "R262OG"). There's also an option for an additional 1,250 cars to replace the R142 and R142A cars (which run on the 2, 4, and, 5 lines) as well, which, would in total, add up to 2,390 cars, effectively replacing the entire A-division mainline fleet, except for the (7) and 42 St shuttle, and it's currently unclear what will replace the shuttle's cars. The cars will come in 5 car sets.

The annoucement for the option order probably comes as a shock to many (including myself) what time we thought we had with the R142 and R142a cars (which are some of the most beloved cars in the system) has now become limited. Many have questioned why the R142/A's are being replaced so early, and the reason why is simply due to the cost. It would be ridiculously expensive to convert all the R142s and R142As to CBTC when brand new cars are coming, and when you think about it, at the speed it takes the MTA to do things, by the time the order for the R262s is ready, it'll already be time to begin replacing the R142/As anyway, so it makes much more sense to tag them on as well, as sad as it is for the R142/A fans.

I'd also like to point out that the R142 and R142A cars really aren't going anywhere anytime soon as the first option cars likely won't come until WELL into the late 2030s at the earliest, and full delivery won't finish until the early to mid 2040s, therefore we have very good time left with them. 

R262 proposal (Photo: MTA)

Once the delivery process begins, The MTA is expected to receive an impressive 30 new train cars every month, as part of the giant Capital Program secured by $68 billion in funds.

This order is monumental for New York. To sum up just how large the order is, if the MTA exercises all the options, then there will be enough cars to completely replace a 3rd of the subway's entire fleet, and to put it into perspective like Janno Lieber put it, "it's more cars than all the cars in Chicago Transit Authority and Boston MBTA combined." It's a huge order, one that will define how the subway looks for decades to come. But it's also not a bad thing; standardization makes everything easier, and having one car type is much easier for maintenance related purposes, however, should an issue arise with the cars, it becomes much more cumbersome to deal with that.

Officials said that the new subway cars will feature high quality electric couplers to support improved improved audio, listening devices, hearing aids, and digital signage. The cars are expected to begin rolling out in the early 2030s, with full delivery and deployment not finishing until mid-to-late 2030s. They will also feature modern signage and will be equipped with CBTC, allowing for full CBTC installation on the Seventh Avenue and Lexington Avenue Lines.

In conclusion, this order is the future of NYC transit. This giant proposal will completely change the the NYC subway system forever and will open the door to various improvements most notably being CBTC, something that will greatly improve service and reliability. What we are seeing now are the cars that will head the subway for the next 40 or so years. Once this order is laid to rest, the system won't look at anything like it does today. All remaining SMEEs will be retired, with only a small handful remaining in garbage and work duty, and the R142 and R142A cars will join them on a farm somewhere upstate with the all the other retired trains to frolic and play together for eternity.

LIRR adding service for St.Patrick's Day

In support of the St.Patrick's day parade, the LIRR will be running 4 additional trains into NYC.

These 4 additional trains will operate as it follows:

• 9:08am from Babylon, making all stops through Rockville Centre, Jamaica, and Grand Central (train 239)
• 9:54am from Babylon, making all stops through Rockville Centre, Jamaica, and Grand Central (train 243)
• 9:08am from Ronkonkoma making all stops through Hicksville, Mineola, Jamaica, and Grand Central (train 2039)
• 9:41am from Ronkonkoma making all stops through Hicksville, Mineola, Jamaica, and Grand Central

In an effort to signficantly reduce the number of incidents and keep trains as orderly as possible, the LIRR will be banning all alcoholic beverages on trains, platforms, and waiting areas from 5:00am Monday 3/17 to 5:00am Tuesday 3/18. MTA Police will enforce this! If you try, they will confiscate it.

Montauk St. Patrick's Day Parade Added Service:

The Annual Montauk St. Patrick's Day Parade will take place on Sunday, March 29th this year and will begin at 12:00 p.m. Quite a few people take the train out east for the parade, and since it's not yet summer, the LIRR will provide a additional train to provide for added capacity following the parade.

This train, titled #6003, will depart Montauk at 1:46pm and make all local stops to Babylon, and Jamaica.