Overnight ice resulted in a rough morning commute on LIRR

Well, after yesterday's storm, the LIRR had a slightly rougher time this morning providing the promised full weekday schedule. 

If you've been outside yet today, you'll know it's FREEZING outside (it's in the upper teens), and as you know, when you had a cold night, it's not uncommon, especially on the LIRR, for the switches to freeze, which happened overnight. A couple switches, all of those being at important locations, and as a result, caused delays and even a couple of cancellations throughout the entire morning rush hour:

• There was switch trouble near Mineola which caused delays on the Oyster Bay Branch that resulted in 35-40 minute delays, and to make matters worse, train 505 (the first dual mode out of Oyster Bay) broke down in Oyster Bay which resulted in congestion. They even had to have train 508 (the 6:43a from Jamaica to Oyster Bay) go all the way to Hicksville to make a reverse-move and get around that broken switch. This also later resulted in the entire Main Line getting put in a chokehold as everything got backed up causing an average of 10 minute delays during the height of the morning rush hour.
• There was switch trouble at both Stewart Manor and Elmont-UBS Arena which resulted in train 709, the 7:04am from Hempstead to Atlantic Terminal having to make a reverse-move.

In the end though, you cannot blame the LIRR for this as this is all weather-related. Afterall this was the first real snow of the season and I think it's impressive enough that they were able to run pretty much a full suite of trains for the Monday morning rush hour already, considering when you look at NJTransit, they annulled basically 25% of the rush hour fleet. And really the delays weren't terrible, when you look at it, as only a small handful of trains ran more than 20 minutes late with the worst of the delays being train 508 which arrived Oyster Bay 43 minutes late.

A look back at the Metro-North Spuyten Duyvil incident of 2013

Today is December 1st, 2025, marking the 12th anniversary of Metro-North’s December 1, 2013 Spuyten Duyvil derailment. I decided to commemorate the anniversary, I’d take a look back at this disaster and what went wrong.

It all started at 5:55am on Sunday, December 1st, 2013 when train #8808 powered up out of a dark Poughkeepsie station on a clear Sunday morning, headed towards Grand Central Terminal. The train then proceeded south along the scenic yet dark Hudson Line, making most intermediate stops along the Hudson Line before the start of electrified territory at Croton-Harmon, where it then proceeded south to Ossining before running express to make it’s station stop at Tarrytown, just after dawn, which was the final intermediate stop before running express to Manhattan.

After finishing it’s Tarrytown stop, the train proceeded south for another 14 miles, passing by a couple more stations in Westchester County, before entering the Bronx. The train had 126 passengers aboard, including many heading back into the city after seeing family upstate for Thanksgiving, and many others heading in early for events in the city, and 4 crew members.

Soon after entering the Bronx and passing by Riverdale station, the engineer, William Rockefeller of Germantown, NY should have applied brakes in anticipation of the upcoming curve before Spuyten Duvyil station, however, instead, he later said this:

“I don't know how to explain it… it was sort of like I was dazed, you know, looking straight ahead, almost like mesmerized. And I don’t know if anybody’s ever experienced like driving a long period of time in a car and staring at the taillights in front of them, and you almost get like that Hyponotic feeling staring straight ahead…. I was just staring straight ahead.. It was that hypnotized feeling, dazed, thats what I was feeling.”

Linda Smith of Newburgh, who had boarded at Beacon with her sister to see a performance at Lincoln Center, later recalled that she while not fully awake, felt that something was off. “It was bumpy and seemed really at that point I was aware of going to fast”. Rockfeller initiated the emergency breaks just seconds before the train took the curve.

At 7:19 a.m, the train derailed just 100 yards north of Spuyten Duyvil station, just after it had crossed the junction with the West Side Line’s crossing over Spuyten Duvyil Bridge where Amtrak trains went to go into Penn Station. It was a violent derailment, with Linda Smith saying that she felt the train “turned sideways as bumps gave way to bounces and seat cushions flew through the air. It was like a movie going on around me”. Another passenger, Joel Zartisky of LeGrangeville, NY who was headed to a convention claimed it was “like severe turbulence on an airplane”.

When the train finally stopped Hermann despite head injuries and severe bruising took full charge and reported the derailment to the dispatcher before working with the asst. conductor Kelly to coordinate the passenger evacuation. In the front, engineer Rockfeller, who was mostly unharmed, freed conductor Maria Herbert who was up at the front with him and was conscious but had suffered a head injury and was trapped underneath the seat cushions who gave her a head injury.

Once emergency services reached the scene and began helping injured passengers evacuate, they realized that all 7 cars and the locomotive all left the tracks. One of the cars got dangerously close to the river.

In the end, four people were killed, including Linda Smith’s sister who along with two others, got thrown from the train.

Response to the scene was huge as the New York City fire department sent over 125 firefighters to assist in the rescue. Unfortunately, rescue operations were slower than what was hoped because EMS workers were delayed on getting to some people trapped inside the train due to the third rail needing to be de-energized.

For the rest of the day, service on the Hudson Line was suspended entirely south of Croton-Harmon. This was detrimental, given that this occurred on what is known as the busy travel day of the year. They were able to get service back up and running as far as Yonkers for the Monday morning rush hour on the first weekday after Thanksgiving, where they provided shuttle busses to the Van Cortland Park-242 St station, the northern terminus of the No. 1 train headed into Manhattan. They also provided various other shuttle busses to other stations, such as White Plains.

MTA crews worked around the clock to remove the wreckage and repair tracks as quickly as possible. By the evening of December 2nd, just a day afterward, all cars were re-railed and were taken to Highbridge and Croton-Harmon yards to be impounded by the NTSB for further investigations.

By the morning of Wednesday, December 4th, Metro-North was able to get one of the three tracks of the Hudson Line through the accident site back up and running, allowing for limited service into Manhattan (through combined trains). It’s said that passengers waiting at Poughkeepsie (waiting for the same train as the accident train) actually were impressed with how quickly Metro-North was able to get service running and that they had actually shown sympathy for Rockfeller, who at the time, probably really needed it. While people weren’t afraid of the incident reoccuring, one women was surprised that there were no fail safe systems in place to prevent this: “after all this is the United States”.

Soon after, the NTSB began a massive investigation of the incident. Like with most disasters, they started with the event data recorder which determined that the train was travelling a whopping 82 mph when it crashed; 52 mph above the 30 mph speed limit put in place. Rockefeller also later surrendered his cell phone and submitted to drug tests and they concluded that he had been well-rested and his tests came back negative for alcohol and drugs. But, when asked what might have caused it, he claimed he felt he had drifted into a “daze” until just before the incident where he snapped out of it and applied the breaks.

Anthony Bottalico, head of the Metro-North union stated that Rockefeller had “nodded off” before the incident, similarizing it to “white line fever” a phenomenon experienced by truckers, and added that Rockfeller had only just recently began working the morning shift after reluctantly transitioning from an afternoon one, which likely could have contributed to his tiredness had he not gotten a full night’s sleep. And while said to be alert that morning, he said to the conductor

The NTSB concluded that the lack of PTC in the Cab Car, where Rockfeller was operating the train could have prevented the incident which started because of Rockfeller’s .

In the end, the derailment caused over $9 million in damage. It was the deadliest train accident in NYC since a 1991 subway derailment in Manhattan and was the first incident to involve passenger facilities in Metro-North’s 30 year history and it showed the repercussions of not having PTC installed onboard trains which most likely could have prevented this disaster. However, it was lesson learned and this disaster lead to the full implementation of PTC on both Metro-North and the Long Island Rail Road.

The Issue With Mineola Station

One of the LIRR’s biggest accomplishments, rolled out alongside with the opening of East Side Access was the opening of the Third Track project. This project brought huge capacity improvements to the Main Line allowing for additional trains to be ran down out in the peak direction, and even more specifically during the reverse-peak periods.

And while this project was HUGE for the railroad and while limited in peak service improvements, provided groundbreaking improvements to reverse-peak service on the Main Line between Floral Park and Hicksville and to other points connecting to it. 

There was one huge problem with the final draft that was a huge dealbreaker for reverse-peak and intra-island commuting on the Main Line, specifically at Long Island’s third biggest job hub, Mineola. Mineola is not only a busy station, but  a beautiful station that serves as an important job hub. In the original draft for the Third Track Project, it called for all stations from New Hyde Park thru Westbury to have their platforms demolished in favor of new 12-car platforms, and it also called for Mineola station to like Hicksville, receive an island platform allowing for express trains to simultaneously stop at Mineola without having to bother switching tracks. 

In the final plan, however, this was dropped as a cost-saving measure and Mineola was slated to receive 2 normal 12-car platforms like the other stations. This was a major flaw with the final design and really dragged down the value of the project, since, trains, that run express down the Main Line from/to places as far away as Port Jefferson, Ronkonkoma, Patchogue and Speonk could no longer stop at Mineola without switching to the third track serving as a deterrent for these trains to switch tracks and cause backup on the Main Line just to stop there and provide intra-island service opportunities.  

(Photo: Fan Railer)

And when asked, the project team said that the decision was made to “avoid residential property impacts both east and west of the station” and “ because the LIRR believes that the revised NASSAU Interlocking configuration (moving NASSAU 1 and 3 closer to Mineola) would permit sufficient stopping flexibility for "intra-Island" service." This proves to be untrue as having a train running down the express track slow down to switch to the local track, stop at Mineola, then switch back to the express track proved to be very disruptive to local track operations as if your trying to do this during the height of the rush hour (when most intra-island travel is occurring) then your likely to cause delays to a local train that’s waiting behind to also make its Mineola stop. And while this is going on, things have already been made worse as you also got the Oyster Bay Branch junction which requires Oyster Bay Branch trains to go through Mineola and onto the junction at 10 mph which gums up the local track already.

I’m conclusion, this was a huge loss for Mineola and for this project as a whole. By neglecting to build a middle platform, the LIRR essentially turned down an opportunity to provide tons of additional intra-island service opportunities to the places that need it most, but decided to instead just drag their foot and cut their losses.

LIRR & MNR Thanksgiving Service 2025

During the busiest travel period of the year, Thanksgiving weekend, both the LIRR and Metro-North both are stuffed up with extra trains operating for various proposes, from serving as early getaway trains on Thanksgiving Eve to transporting people to the Macy’s Thanksgiving day Parade.

This year, which is expected to be a busy one, both the LIRR and MNR will be providing a host of extra trains throughout the weekend. 

Thanksgiving Eve - November 26 

On Thanksgiving Eve, the LIRR will operate on a normal weekday schedule. Train 14 (the 4:07pm from Penn Station to Montauk) will operate.

Metro-North will combine or outright annull a couple of trains (particularly express trains) during the both the morning and evening rush hours. 

They will also provide a couple of additional mid-morning departures into Grand Central on the Hudson, Harlem, and New Haven lines to accommodate those traveling into the city for leisure purposes.

Thanksgiving Day - November 27 

On the Babylon Branch, the LIRR will provide 3 additional westbound trains to the parade: 

• A 6:33am local from Babylon to Penn Station, making all stops through Rockville Centre, Jamaica, and Penn Station. 
• A 6:54am local from Babylon to Grand Central, making all stops through Lynbrook, Jamaica, and Grand Central.
• A 7:25am local from Babylon to Penn Station, making all stops through Rockville Centre, Jamaica, and Penn Station.

On the Ronkonkoma Branch, the LIRR will also provide 3 westbound trains getting people into Manhattan:

• A 6:14am train from Ronkonkoma to Penn Station, making all local stops to Hicksville, Mineola, Jamaica, and Penn Station.
• A 6:56am train from Ronkonkoma to Grand Central, making all local stops to Hicksville, Mineola, Jamaica, and Grand Central.
• A 7:01am local from Farmingdale to Penn Station, making all local stops through New Hyde Park, Jamaica, and Penn Station.

Heading back out to Long Island after the parade, 

Heading eastbound on the Ronkonkoma Branch, the LIRR will provide 4 additional eastbounds.

• A 11:17am train from Penn Station to Farmingdale, stopping at Jamaica, New Hyde Park, and local stops to Farmingdale. 
• A 12:13pm train from Grand Central to Ronkonkoma, stopping at Jamaica, MIneola, Hicksville, and all stops to Ronkonkoma.
• A 12:30pm train from Grand Central to Ronkonkoma, stopping at Jamaica, Mineola, Hicksville, and then all local stops to Ronkonkoma.
• A 12:47pm train from Penn Station to Ronkonkoma, stopping at Jamaica, Mineola, Hicksville, and then all local stops from Ronkonkoma

On the Babylon Branch,

• A 12:24pm local from Grand Central to Babylon, stopping at Jamaica, Lynbrook, Rockville Centre, and all local stops to Babylon
• A 12:51pm local from Grand Central to Babylon, stopping at Jamaica, Rockville Centre, and all local stops to Ronkonkoma
  

Finally, the LIRR will provide one additional train heading eastbound to Huntington 

• An 11:53am local from Grand Central to Huntington, stopping at Jamaica, and all stops from New Hyde Park through Huntington

Metro-North 

On the Hudson Line, Metro-North will provide a couple of additional trains into Manhattan for the parade: 

• A 4:54am train from Poughkeepsie to Grand Central, making all local stops to Croton-Harmon, Ossining, Tarrytown, Harlem-125 St, and Grand Central

• A 5:24am train from Poughkeepsie to Grand Central, making all local stops to Croton-Harmon, Ossining, Tarrytown, Harlem-125 St, and Grand Central

• A 6:24am train from Poughkeepsie to Grand Central, making all local stops to Croton-Harmon, Ossining, Tarrytown, Harlem-125 St, and Grand Central

On the Danbury Branch, Metro-North will provide two direct one-seat rides into Manhattan and back out after the parade: 

• A 6:08am train from Danbury to Grand Central, making all local stops to Stamford, Harlem-125 St, and Grand Central

• A 12:19pm train from Grand Central to Danbury, making Harlem-125 St, Stamford, and all local stops to Danbury

Black Friday - November 28 

On Black Friday (aka the day after Thanksgiving), the LIRR will operate on a normal weekday schedule. Train 14 (the 4:07pm from Penn Station to Montauk) will operate.

Metro-North will operate on a WEEKEND schedule with a couple of trains added in for those souls who must commute into the city during the regular peak hours.

They will also provide a couple of additional mid-morning departures into Grand Central on the Hudson, Harlem, and New Haven lines to accommodate those traveling into the city for leisure purposes.

Saturday & Sunday - November 29 and 30

Both the LIRR & Metro-North will operate on a normal weekend schedule. Metro-North will operate the hourly New Haven Line "shoppers specials" that run into New York in the morning and back out to New Haven in the evening and run express from Harlem-125 St to Westport before making limited stops.

If your travelling this Thanksgiving, try taking the train. Thanksgiving is already the busiest travel period of the year and this is expected to be one of the busiest years for travel ever. Traffic will be at it's worst so it's a great time to try the train.

LIRR finishes St.Albans accessibility upgrades

The LIRR just announced the completion of some accessibility improvements and small station refreshments  at the little and underused Saint Albans station in Queens. 

These upgrades included a new street-to-platform elevator, new communication systems, and parking lot improvements. In addition, they also reconstructed the station’s tunnel, build new concrete sidewalks, two new Help Point kiosks, more station signage, LED lighting, CCTV security cameras, and a new elevator machine room.

While little St. Albans has long been in need of refreshments, there’s a specific reason why they chose to do them now as it actually coincides with a much larger effort to improve transit in Southeast Queens through the 2022 expansion of the City Ticket, which allows for discounted fares within New York City.

Overall, I believe this project is only a good thing. Southeast Queens, and specifically St.Albans station has long been neglected by the LIRR, and seeing accessibility improvements will hopefully at least partially, combined with improved service, act as an incentive for more travel to/from this under-used station. The truth is that ridership at stations in Queens has only been growing and this should purposely and hopefully continue this trend.

LIRR’s new timetables will go into effect on Nov 10 with one shoulder addition

The LIRR is doing what I call a “soft launch” of the new timetables by releasing them without actually making announcement about it, which I can understand as it only consists of a couple tweaks here and there, nothing really significant.

The only major change to the schedule was the addition of a new shoulder period train to help provide additional capacity during this busy period on the Ronkonkoma Branch:

• A new 3:20pm train from Penn Station to Ronkonkoma, stopping at Jamaica, Hicksville, and all stops to Ronkonkoma besides Pinelawn.

Other than that though, there really isn’t much else going on besides routine fall track work. I was definitely hoping for them to make more adjustments, but at least the addition of a train is something decent. As far as Thanksgiving service goes, from what I’ve gathered, it appears that they aren’t planning on providing any extra service this year to my utter disappointment.

LIRR’s Z trains to make a comeback

Photo: MTA

This weekend, the LIRR’s “Z trains” will make a comeback. Due to signal work at DIVIDE interlocking in Hicksville, for the weekend of November 8th and 9th, the LIRR will be operating the dual-mode “z trains” between Ronkonkoma and New York, which detour via the South Shore by reversing-ends in both Bethpage and Babylon, making local stops to Farmingdale before Jamaica, Woodside, and New York. 

While the Z train isn’t the technical term used by the railroad, it’s the unofficial name given to this type of service disruption by railfans as it refers to the route taking a Z.

These types of moves are pretty uncommon since generally, diesel equipment isn’t seen too often on the electrified portion of the Main Line east of Bethpage, and even more so stopping there. They’ve done the Z trains before and generally while it’s a hour-plus added travel-time detour, it gets the job done pretty well.

For those of you who travel on the Port Jefferson Branch, service will run between New York and Mineola, and between Huntington and Port Jefferson. Westbury and Carle Place stations will not be served at all, and Hicksville, Syosset, and Cold Spring Harbor stations will get shuttle busses to both Huntington and Mineola. 

In the end, while this is extremely frustrating and inconvenient for most people who needs to travel between Ronkonkoma and New York, this is hands down the best option to get people to New York as quickly as possible without using equally inadequate shuttle busses. It’s also a rare opportunity for railfans like myself to see moves like this that don’t happen very often.

MTA will suspend 7 express service for a whole month

Just when you thought things couldn't get any worse with the (7) train disruptions, the MTA just announced a couple days ago that they will be suspending diamond <7> express service completely from October 27 which was yesterday until until November 21st. This comes as a huge letdown to Queens riders who rely on the (7) as a lifeline and specifically it's rush hour express service to get to work.

While true <7> service is already suspended already, as the line is only express between Mets-Willets Point and Junction Blvd and Junction Blvd and 61 St-Woodside, it's still a letdown to see the entire thing go completely for these outages in favor of more local service.

While all of this is unideal and will likely cause congestion and delays, in the end, when all is said and done, it will allow for track replacements that will provide huge reliability improvements along this busy line and will prepare the line for service over the next century.

MTA to sell Metrocard-themed cakes and other items!

I decided today I'd take a brief aside from thee semi-frequent posts to tell you about a little something I saw last night that I thought was quite interesting. So basically, as you probably know by now, the New York City subway's main payment card, known as the MetroCard has been announced for retirement on December 31st. And since then, the MTA has launched a "farewell campaign" to partner with a couple of food vendors and provide a couple of edition items to celebrate the end of it.

• Alidoro – La Tessera sandwich (“the card” in Italian): crispy chicken cutlet, sweet soppressata, fresh mozzarella, Calabrian chili vodka sauce and garlic pesto cream on a toasted semolina baguette. The sandwich will go on sale November 3, National Sandwich Day.

• Carvel – MetroCard Flying Saucer, free MetroCard Sprinkles with mention of the MetroCard and purchase of Scooped or Soft Serve ice cream, and custom cakes with edible MetroCard® and Cardvaark images.

• Golden Krust – With purchase of Golden Krust’s signature Jamaican-style patty, a multi-layered, flaky, golden pastry filled with perfectly seasoned beef, chicken, vegetable, or seafood fillings, customers will receive a free Jamaican coco bread, made from a Hawthorne family recipe dating back to 1949, is soft, buttery, and slightly sweet with real coconut milk.

• 
  Gong cha – “The M Tea A Drink:” Inspired by Gong cha’s signature Milk Foam Green Tea, this limited edition drink combines green tea, pearls, blue milk foam made with butterfly pea flower, and chocolate powder MTA logo, echoes the colors of the iconic MetroCard.

• Stretch Pizza (by Wylie Dufresne) – The Metro pizza: vodka sauce, fior di latte cheese, chicken cutlet, spicy Calabrian chili, garlic pesto cream and grated parm.

• Zabar’s – MetroCard and Cardvaark cookies.

I can tell you personally that when I'm next in the city I will definitely be trying the Carvel, Pizza, and the Zabar's cookies because those three look especially delicious!

This is a delicious way to say goodbye to the MetroCard! Thank you Metrocard, you've served us well! And enjoy your retirement!

Metro-North daytime round-trip being extended to Albany

Unexpectedly, Governor Hochul just announced yesterday that Metro-North will now begin running one round-trip between Grand Central and Albany with room to go in the future. This is something that I was actually thinking about the other day, not because of the service changes, but because I was genuinely wondering if this could happen. Amtrak also announced that they'd be reliving the 

They announced that the northbound train would depart Grand Central mid-morning and get you to Albany early-afternoon, and would depart Albany mid-afternoon and arrive into Grand Central just in time for evening events. 

I personally feel that this is one of those things that people are going to like so much that it will stay even through the end of the service changes- I mean it's not a bad idea. Cheaper fares, direct service from the East Side, what else could you ask for. These roundtrips will begin running sometime in I perceive to be early 2026.

I like to see that the MTA is thinking outside of the box to provide supplemental service with this one. Even though trackspace is limited on that corridor, Kathy Hochul thought back and has been trying her best to make it happen and that is very respectable. I feel like this is going to be pretty successful since the Empire Corridor, specifically that New York - Albany portion is one of the most successful Amtrak routes. I even have family that lives in Albany and regularly uses this service and this will reduce crowding for them which is a great thing.

While it will be interesting to see how ridership ultimately plays out, I feel like there is a future for this service. If the Metro-North properly tends to it and expands it when necessary, this service could easily catch-on and could provide as a cheaper alternative option to points north of Poughkeepsie. 

Slip 'n' Slide

Fall is one of the best times for rail travel in New York State. All across the state, you get beautiful views with spectacular fall foilage. As we now slowly begin to enter the height of Autumn, the many leaves on the trees will start to change colors. And while the fall foilage is beautiful, it's also causes a lot of problems for the railroads.

The phenomenon we must talk about is called "Slip-side" and its where leaves fall onto the tracks, get crushed by the trains wheels, creating a oily residue, formally known as pectin. Pectin is an enemy as it gums up the rails and therefore causes trains to slide forwards when trying to brake.

Flat spot on an M7 wheel (Photo: MTA)

As you can probably tell, these flatspots on the wheels are a MAJOR headache for everyone involved. They cause maintenance headaches as the wheels often need to be trued (which means reshaped) and they also cause a very loud banging noise for customers that is extremely annoying. 

During leaf season, the LIRR keep a very sharp lookout for these slip-side conditions, and whenever they are reported, engineers are instructed to enter stations at a restricted speed to minimize the risk of overshooting stations. While this helps to minimize the risk, it also lowers trains punctuality therefore causing additional headaches once those trains leave the leafy suburbs and enter the busy Main Line.

To provide defense against Slip-slide, many railroads have adopted their own trains known as "laser trains" to patrol and destroy leaves on the tracks. NJTransit, for example, has their own laser train known as "AquaTrack" which patrols the system for leaves. 

Metro-North's "laser train"

Both the LIRR and MNR employ the use of "laser trains" which use very powerful lasers to vaporize the leafy residue on the tracks. While I haven't been lucky enough to catch it myself, I've seen it on the radar mainly during school hours, or during the late night when they can sneak it out to the various branches so it can do it's job. 

The LIRR actually made a very quick 45 second video recently which they posted all over their socials showing the technology, and I'll actually include it if your interested, click here.

In conclusion, while the changing of colors produce excellent fall foilage across New York state, they also have their implications, and in the case of commuter rail, can be a huge headache to deal with. This is a problem that as long as we have trees in New York State (which I have my doubts will ever change), we'll have to deal with but as technology evolves and we have better technology like lasers, it'll only get easier to deal with.

LIRR & MNR Columbus Day Service 2025

Today is Columbus Day in the United States and to celebrate both the LIRR and MNR will be running a full, normal weekday schedule with the usual suite of rush hour trains. And unlike on Presidents Day where the LIRR screws anyone who doesn’t give a hoot about presidents, Columbus Day is just an ordinary day to the MTA.

However, you should expect possible (but not probable) cancellations tomorrow morning during the morning rush hour due to the storm and due be careful if your unlucky enough to have to travel in!

In addition, since it’s a normal morning the two railroads will be running regular fares with peak fares in affect during the morning and afternoon periods.

For those of you, like me that have off, enjoy your day off! 

The Future of the MTA - And my thoughts on it

The next couple of decades for the MTA are probably going to be some of the most promising for the system, with a bunch of very fulfilling projects on the horizon. There's also another round of fleet replacements, specifically for the railroads but also on NYC transit

I thought it would be interesting to round-up all these ideas from the 20-year needs assessment and review them while also giving my opinions where necessary.

I've divided this article into multiple parts based off where these projects fall. We'll start with rolling stock, then switch to extensions/capacity improvements, while finishing off with stations.

Rolling Stock:

Currently, the future is very bright for rolling stock, has multiple rolling stock programs have been announced and are coming soon. 

The New Locomotives

While it will be sad to say our final goodbyes to the P32/P42 and DE/DM30AC fleets, both Metro-North and the LIRR (specifically) are in need of new locomotive fleets. It took me a bit to get warmed up to the idea of the Chargers, given that the LIRR livery is so strong.

While the order for the chargers will hopefully fix the reliability issues that the LIRR's current struggling diesel fleet suffers from, unless the LIRR options the full 66, then it won't help much with the confined feet. They only ordered 44. One of the biggest problems with the current LIRR diesel fleet is it's size. The small fleet has hindered growth in diesel territory for years.

Unless the LIRR plans to actually commence electrification to Port Jefferson in the next 4 or so years, than the LIRR should at minimal order 56 of these new locomotives. Look, I'm telling you that Long Island won't wash into the Atlantic Ocean if they end up having a couple extra locomotives lying around, as they can have various uses. Firstoff, with the influx of severe weather storms associated with climate change, storms that have the potential to wipe out entire branches' power can become all that more common When Hurricane Sandy hit in 2012, they barley had enough resources to provide bi-hourly diesel service to/from Long Beach. If something more severe was to happen, such as a storm wiping out the Main Line (god forbid), then the LIRR would be screwed. Not to mention, if they are having a slower summer, they can always lease a couple!

The M9As

The Alstom M9As, recently annouced in June, will finally replace the 40 year old and aging Budd M3s. While it will be sad to have to say the final goodbyes to the M3s, which have long-served the railroad, this date is long overdue and the M9A's will provide even more lavish amenities than those found on the M9s. They'll also provide additional capacity during all times, especially during peak periods. My hope is that they'll use them to their advantage to give better Brooklyn service and provide more service on all electrified-branches. The M9As will follow a design more similar to that of the M7s, at least interior-wise. Surprisingly, Bombardier is fulfilling the contract.

The New Coaches

The LIRR is also looking at ordering brand new Alstom multilevels to supplement the beloved C3s. While the order hasn't formally been announced, I know for a fact that the LIRR is definitely looking into it.

Since I found about it back in April, to a lot of your surprise, given my fondness for the C3s and C3s only, I've been very ecstatic about the idea. The LIRR is not only short on locomotives, but they are also short on coaches. All more locomotives will do will allow them to split consists, it won't actually give any extra capacity. So, on Summer Fridays, the fleet will still be as constrained. With more coaches to supplement the C3s, they can do so much to improve service in diesel territory, something many desperately want to see. 

While the idea of the Alstom multilevels racing by towns on my home line is rather far-fetched, I look forward to seeing what comes of it. Little is currently known, but the LIRR should look to order them in the next come of years so they'll have them when the M9A's enter service. 

While it's sad to see that the clock is ticking and time is limited on my favorite coaches, they still have another 10-15 years of life left in them, and the multilevels would provide much-needed capacity upgrades. Guys, this could be huge for diesel territory!

New Subway Cars

With all this railroad stuff, you may think that's all the MTA's rolling stock department has in store, but no, you'd actually be wrong as New York City Transit is also looking to get rolling stock of their own, the R262s. 

The R262s are proposed to replace the aging R62 and R62A cars, and the option order would provide additional capacity. They'll be used on the 1, 3, and 6 lines, and will support CBTC on the Lexington Avenue Line, something that will be huge.

Funding was included in the 2025-2029 capital program, and it's likely that they'll be ordering them in the next year or so.

The Work Locomotives

Along with the coaches, the LIRR is also looking at ordering work locomotives to replace the aging MP15ACs that currently roam the railroad. I personally along with the coaches absolutely LOVE the paint job that they gave these concepts and I'm looking forward to seeing the order for these new locomotives.

Extensions/Capacity Improvements:

Danbury-Southeast Rail Line (MNR)

While not confirmed, by any means, there's a possibility for restoring the rail connection between Danbury and Southeast on Metro-North. It would require a new Danbury station, along with new stations in Farrington Park and Brewster. While it's a cool idea to see east-west transportation, I personally don't know if this would have the highest ridership and I definitely feel that there are better things for them to put this money toward that are more worth it, like additional funding for Penn Station Access incase the project runs late and overbudget. The nice thing would be that it would connect all the lines without the need to go all the way to Manhattan.

Harlem Line Capacity Improvements (MNR)

The MTA is also looking at allocating funding for capacity improvements on the Harlem Line. The project would consist of the construction of a new third track between Crestwood and North White Plains, in addition to signal investments and investments at the yard in Brewster. The goal would be to provide more service during peak periods and to allow for future growth along this growing segment of track allowing for crowding, and more operational flexibility. While it's always great to see more train service, I'd say that the Harlem Line (especially North White Plains, White Plains, Hartsdale, and Scarsdale) already gets exceptional train service in both directions, and while this could be a future project, I feel like there's better places to put the funding, to improve service in another places where it's needed most.

Hudson Line to Penn Station

The Hudson Line to Penn Station project, formally known as "Penn Station Access" is definitely one of the biggest upcoming rail projects in NYC, if not in the country, and this will involve constructing 4 new stations in the Bronx, along with access to Penn Station on Metro-North's New Haven and Harlem Lines. This, coupled with Harlem Line Capacity Improvements, will bring better headways and more robust service opportunties to the entire railroad. My hope is that the Hudson Line will come in the future to

(3) train to Flatlands

This proposal proposes extending the 3 train two stations south at Linden Blvd and Flatlands Avenue. While it is an interesting idea, and it would provide more service opportunties to a transit desert, I feel like there are better things the MTA can do with this money, and the price for it is ridiculous for something of that scale. 

Port Jefferson Branch Capacity Improvements

This project includes electrifying and double tracking the entire Port Jefferson Branch. I think this definitely be a big project, but one that would be worthwhile and this is one that has been requested for decades. Of the LIRR lines in diesel territory, this one easily makes the most sense since not only is there already a large yard there, but, there's also the most demand for it. I also believe it has the most potential with Stony Brook university and I feel like ridership would sink well on it. 

Port Jervis Line Capacity Improvements

Ahh, the Port Jervis Line. The Metro-North line that receives some of the worst headways in the Metro-North system, with some of the worst gaps coming close to 8 hours. This would install multiple sidings on the line, allowing for more trains to be ran, specifically in the reverse-peak direction, which would completely eradicate those atrociously-long gaps we currently see today. On a line like the Port Jervis line where service is limited, adding sidings could improve service significantly. 

Speonk-Montauk Capacity Improvements

Let's now talk about the project that affects my own line, the Montauk Branch. This project involves some signalling work and infrastructure upgrades out on the South Fork. It would involve creating new station platforms, and hopefully, reopening interlockings as well. I personally think a project like this would be worthwhile, but even more so if they would also build new stations too. Unfortunatnely, this project didn't score well, and while I believe it would be HUGE in minimizing the MASSIVE delays we face on summer weekends due to late and packed trains, this project doesn't seam like one thats going anywhere anytime soon. 

Extension of (W) line to Red Hook

This proposal proposes extended the W train to Red Hook. The W train is currently a somewhat unimportant line, as it basically supplements the N train with a couple additional local stops. Extending the W to Red Hook would help reduce crowding on other nearby lines such as the (4) (5) (6) Lexington Avenue Lines. While it didn't score too well, it would mean a lot for communities in Brooklyn like Red Hook and would increase frequencies.

Stations:

In addition to these possible extensions, the MTA also listed a couple of possible new stations.

10th Avenue on the (7)

This proposal consists of building a new station between Times Square and 34 St-Hudson Yards on the Flushing Line. In the original plan for the extension, they had planned to build this station but due to budget constraints, it was dropped from the project. The goal would be to provide another station in the growing area of Hells Kitchen/Hudson Yards. 

Now, in my opinion, I'm pretty skeptical about this as I doubt it'll help too many people and will instead add a additional minute or two to people commuting to 34 St-Hudson Yards and considering the high construction cost, I just don't think it's worth it. There's better ways for MTA to spend their limited money.

I feel like if they had actually gone through and constructed this when the 34 St-Hudson Yards extension was being built in the first place, then it would've been good, but now it would just be disruptive for a relatively low amount of ridership.

Sunnyside Station

Probably one of the most valuable proposals on this list, the MTA is hoping to build a new station in Sunnyside on the LIRR. The new station would also one-day essentially serve as a transit hub connecting the LIRR to Metro-North. I am a big proponent in this project since it would provide an option for people living out on Long Island to get to Sunnyside, a growing area in Queens, while seamlessly providing LIRR employees an easier way to get to the yard, all the while providing more options for people in Sunnyside. 

Elmhurst Station

And now lets finish off with the long-debated Elmhurst Station. Once a station on the LIRR's very own Port Washington Branch, this station closed many moons ago due to low ridership. However, now that the area has grown and nearby lines such as the Flushing and Queens Blvd lines face overcrowding, a new Elmhurst station could be huge for these areas. While it didn't score too well specifically due to it causing time losses for customers elsewhere and due to low ridership concerns. 

I personally believe that if they provided good service to the station that it could takeoff. The problem with many LIRR stations that are in New York City subway network (apart from the city terminals and Woodside) is that they have limited service. Many stations in eastern Queens face headways as bad as hourly and when there's a subway nearby that has headways 10 times that, many will choose the cheaper and easier option. It's particularly important that they provide good service to Elmhurst station considering it would parallel the 7 train, which during rush hours (which would probably be the target time to reduce crowding), the 7 train gets some of the best headways in the system with headways of as soon as every two minutes. I also believe if they are going to build an Elmhurst station, that they should also look into a Corona station since it also faces a similar situation as Elmhurst does.

I will be discussing more about the idea for both of these stations and the potential advantages and drawbacks in a future post.

In conclusion, the future for the MTA is very bright. The fact that many of these projects will probably happen in the near future is a really beautiful thing and while New York transit has it's challenges, the star of the future of transit in the NYC Metropolitan Area is shining very bright.

Metro-North making schedule improvements to “supper express” trains from upper Hudson Valley into NYC

So in a press conference held a couple days ago, Metro-North announced that they’d be tinkering around with the times for the super express trains from the Upper Hudson Line into Grand Central. They’d be shaving time off of many of the super express trains from Poughkeepsie to Grand Fentral (specifically the ones during rush hours that run nonstop between New Hamburg, Beacon, and Harlem-125 St and Grand Central). These new schedule improvements, listed as it follows, will go into effect on Monday, October 6th.

• The 6:08am express from Poughkeepsie to Grand Central will arrive into Grand Central 5 minutes earlier.
• The 6:42am express from Poughkeepsie to Grand Central will now depart Poughkeepsie two minutes later, and will arrive into Grand Central 7 minutes earlier! 
• The 7:03am express from Poughkeepsie to Grand Central will now depart Poughkeepsie two minutes later, and will arrive into Grand Central five minutes earlier. 
• The 5:08pm express from Grand Central to Poughkeepsie will now depart Grand Central at 5:09pm, and will now shave off 7 minutes off the runtime. 
• The 5:30pm express from Grand Central to Poughkeepsie will arrive into Poughkeepsie 6 minutes earlier. 
• The 6:11pm express from Grand Central to Poughkeepsie will now depart Grand Central one minute later and will arrive into Poughkeepsie 7 minutes earlier.

I think this is a great thing. People that commute from the upper Hudson valley into Manhattan already have some of the longest commutes on the railroad, and by shaving even a couple minutes off their commute, that’s time they’ll be able to spend with their families, and overtime, that adds up. Metro-North already has a lot of fat in their schedules, specifically on the express portions, and it’s a really good thing to see them trim away some of that extra padding. 

They claimed that they used “specialized train simulation software and in-depth analyzes of GPS and signal data to find-tune the schedules to shave off up to 7 minutes off the schedule. They also said that improvements to signal infrastructure also helped to allow for speeds to be increased. Kathy Hochul also said that the new SC42DM’s that entered service last week also had something to do it it. 

While all of this is likely somewhat true, and the signal infrastructure probably helped a lot, I think the main culprit for slower speeds is really excessive schedule padding. I personally feel that schedule padding is especially unnecessary on express portions, since you can easily make up time by going slightly faster. 

I personally think that the LIRR should also look to adopt a similar mindset. They specifically pad a lot in the Hamptons, and while it’s necessary on some of the summer getaway trains, on many of the overnight trains it just isn’t necessary. Trains on the Ronkonkoma Branch also used to be advertised to be able to go from Ronkonkoma to New York in one hour, but now it takes up to 80 minutes! The one train that could almost do it in an hour (a super express from Ronkonkoma to Hicksville and New York) was eliminated. That train should be restored because it would help to reduce crowding on other trains! 

In the end, it’s good to see Metro-North cracking down on schedule padding, something they’ve been doing a good amount recently as they did it with some of those New Haven-GCT super express trains too. It’s definitely an improvement that can be made relatively easy, but now what it comes down to maintaining the schedule. Since leaving Grand Central, they now have 5, 6, or even 7 minutes less before they become marked late, they must make sure that the line is clear so they can get these trains out of the traffic and congestion in Grand Central and around Harlem-125 St and get them onto the racetrack which is the Hudson Line.

Metro-North Siemens Charger locomotives enter service on Hudson Line

Train 805 on the second day of service

Metro-North’s newest addition to the fleet- the Siemens “Charger” SC42DM locomotives, soon to come to the LIRR, have now entered service on Metro-North. These more modern, greener, tier three locomotives entered service on train 825 (the 11:35am service from from Grand Central to Poughkeepsie), returning back home on train 870 (the 2:48pm service from Poughkeepsie to Grand Central).

(Photo: Metropolitan Transit Authority)

The rollout, which came unexpected, came just in time for Climate week and was announced in a press conference Tuesday afternoon, along with the rollout came an announcement of a time reduction on Metro-North’s “super express” services during rush hours between Poughkeepsie to Grand Central. 

The new locomotives have been advertised to be more "cleaner and greener" while also reducing greenhouse gas emissions by a whopping 85 percent, while boasting about the 1,000 horsepower boost in the same boat. 

Siemens Charger Test Train 

The new locomotives are still being manufactured at the Siemens Mobility Plant in Sacramento, and the last of the 27 are expected to enter service in 2027. This is a sad reality for railfans such as myself, as this shows that the end for the favorited P32s is near. While its extremely sad to see these iconic locomotives fade into the sunset, these new locomotives will bring lots of coveted improvements to the table for Metro-North.

This marks the start of a new era for Metro-North, one in which consists of Siemens diesel trains and newer M9A's roaming the rails, replacing their former P32 and M3A counterparts. The new locomotives will be missed dearly by railfans, employees, and even some passengers alike, but the new locomotives will provide much more reliable service. 

In the end, the end is near for both the P32 and DE/DM30AC locomotives, and it's time to soak up every last bit of time you can get with them because the dawn of the new era for Metro-North and the LIRR diesel territory is here. 

LIRR unions delay strike as they request Trump's board

The looming potential strike by the LIRR that would have catastrophically haulted train service systemwide as soon as "Zero hour" on September 18th at 12:01am 

LIRR providing extra service to PGA tournament in Bethpage

The LIRR is actually providing quite a suite of extra trains for the PGA tournament in Bethpage next week. They are providing trains to/from Farmingdale to both Ronkonkoma and New York  before and after the event, and they are also staging a couple unscheduled extras to help bare the rest of the crowds.

The nice thing is with the way the Ronkonkoma Branch runs, they actually currently run a couple of equipment trains in the morning, in both directions, to deadhead equipment out to the yard in Ronkonkoma eastbound and to also deadhead a couple sets west to Hicksville and Westbury to represent local runs on the Main Line. 

The LIRR innovatively converted all of the eastbound equipment runs in the morning into revenue service, providing some very impressive headways into Farmingdale in the morning. The two westbound equipment runs also provide express service from Ronkonkoma (the busiest station on the line by far) to Farmingdale. This is very innovative. And, the best part is, since those two westbound runs originate on the Main Line, they won't affect peak hour passengers as those passengers wont get on until it gets to the Main Line.

Reverse-peak direction

• Train 1996, a 4:34am departure from Penn Station, stopping at Woodside, Jamaica, Mineola, Hicksville, and Farmingdale, arriving at 5:30am.
• Train 2006, a 5:13am departure from Grand Central, stopping at Woodside, Jamaica, Mineola, Hicksville, and Farmingdale, arriving at 6:06am.
• Train 1998, a 5:48am departure from Penn Station, stopping at Woodside, Jamaica, Mineola, Hicksville, and Farmingdale, arriving at 6:46am.
• Train 2008, a 5:54am deaprture from Grand Central, stopping at Woodside, Jamaica, Mineola, Hicksville, and Farmingdale, arriving at 6:50am
• Train 4906, a 6:36am departure from Penn Station, stopping at Woodside, Jamaica, Mineola, Hicksville, and Farmingdale, arriving at 7:35am
• And here's an interesting one, train 2128 (currently a shuttle that deadheads to Farmingdale for whatever reason), a 6:37am departure from Atlantic Terminal stopping at at Nostrand Avenue, East New York, Jamaica, and Farmingdale. 
• Train 4908, a 7:15am departure from Penn Station, stopping at Wooside, Jamaica, Mineola, Hicksville, and Farmingdale.

Now, see a common theme here? All of these trains are actually scheduled deadhead equipment runs already, so essentially, the LIRR is running these for zero cost. 

Peak direction

During the peak direction, the LIRR doesn't directly add any service, and I don't blame them for this as the line is already pretty much at capacity at that time of the morning, and, by adding more service they'd be screwing the LIRR's most important market, westbound commuters.

• Train 2501, orginates at Ronkonkoma at 5:40am, runs express to Farmingdale stopping there at 6:09am, then runs to Westbury before resuming it's normal route making all local stops.
• Train 2103, originates in Ronkonkoma at 6:54am, stopping at Farmingdale at 7:19am (it orginates there), before resuming it's route making all local stops.

In the afternoon, the LIRR doesn't provide close to as a impressive lineup, but, in their defense, they also provide more service during the afternoon reverse-peak, and they do have some unscheduled extras that'll run. 

Reverse-peak direction

• Train 4955, a 4:57pm departure out of Farmingdale, making Jamaica, and Penn Station.

Peak direction

• The LIRR will add stops on the express trains, providing a very frequent service to points east on the Main Line. 

Weekend

On the weekend, the LIRR is only providing eastbound service in the morning to the event, (I find it supriisng that they aren't convering the very early westbound equipment moves to service but whatever) but my guess is that they'll run unscheduled extras on those days, too.

• Train 7934, a 4:15am departure out of Penn Station, stopping at Woodside, Jamaica, Mineola, Hicksville, Bethpage, and Farmingdale, arriving at 5:13am.
• Train 7936, a 4:39am departure out of Penn Station, stopping at Woodside, Jamaica, Mineola, Hicksville, and Farmingdale, arriving at 5:35am.
• Train 8008, a 5:30am departure out of Grand Central, stopping at Woodside, Jamaica, Mineola, Hicksville, and Farmingdale, arriving at 6:28am.
• Train 8012, a 6:33am departure from Grand Central, stopping at Jamaica, Mineola, Hicksville, and Farmingdale, arriving at 7:32am.
• Train 8014, 8016, 8018, and 8020, 7:31, 8:33, 9:33, and 10:33 departures out of Grand Central, all stopping at Woodside, Jamaica, Mineola, Hicksville, and Farmingdale, arriving at 8:29, 9:30, 10:30, and 11:30am respectively.

Now, we get the bad part, the LIRR strike is happening at what is probably the worst possible time, since, apparently they could go on strike as early as September 18, giving them only 5 days to restore service in time for the Tuesday morning rush hour/PGA tournament. 

In all, I think, for the most part, the LIRR mastered this plan, and as long as the strike doesn't put a giant fork in the plans, then this should work relatively well. I feel like the LIRR converting deadheads to service could be hopeful, since it shows their willing to do that. Possibly in the future they could actually convert these deadhead moves to revenue service, full time, which would be huge to provide even more reverse-peak service opportunities, something that would be a huge step forward.

I look forward to seeing how this service pattern plays out, and it's just great to see the LIRR using their deadhead equipment to their advantage to provide a very robust line of service. This is going to be a huge event, and getting people to and from it as quickly as possible is key, and this should be a huge motivation to not drive. 

If you'd like to view the full timetable including all service to the event, you can do so by visiting MTA.info.

Let's talk about the M3s

For the majority of LIRR riders, at least those in electrified territory, the train that comes rolling into the station each morning. You peer off the platform, and most of the time, a train made of M7 equipment rolls in. That is fair, as the M7 easily represents the largest portion of the fleet, with 836 of them rolling around electric territory. For the most part, the majority of trains are run by M7 equipment, however, every now and then, commuters will get a pleasant surprise and get an M9, or get an unpleasant surprise with a Budd M3s. 

M3s coming into Syosset (Photo: The LIRR Today)

The M3s a dying breed, currently represent a very small portion of the RR’s fleet. That’s bad considering the equipment coordinator will avoid these cars due to their age and reliability. The thing is, you either love their old nostaglic 80s retro design that gives you a blast to the past, or you hate the reality which is beaten-up, held together only by duct-tape.

Recently, the LIRR has finished rolling in the "M3 replacements", the M9s. You may ask why these cars are still in service, well that’s because the LIRR still needs extra capacity after East Side Access opened. These cars are expected to remain in service for another 3 or so years, as the MTA is funding additional replacements to get the last of these cars out of service.

In the rare cases where an M3 would quietly slither into a station, you would normally hear a couple of mumbled annoyances and sighs from commuters. Many people (especially commuters) do not like M3s, and it’s hard to blame them. These cars are from the 1980s, are aging, and did not go through a fancy mid-life overhaul like their Metro-North counterparts did. I mean, for many regular passengers, it’s not a nice surprise to see cars that are dirty and don’t gleam in the sun like the M9s or M7s. 

While I (and most commuters) wouldn’t call the M3s our favorites, there are also some unseen advantages to this equipment. To start, they feature more seats then the M7s, when they were first introduced, a two-car pair could fit 234 passengers seated, and a twelve-car set could seat 1,404 passengers, compared to the M7s which can only seat 1,266 passengers, a mere 138 less!

Now, this may not seem like a lot of extra capacity, but, when it’s rush hour, every seat counts and an extra 137 seats can mean the difference between people sitting or standing. The MTA knows that and they try to assign the M3s to the busiest rush hour trains; however, as these trains age even more, it’s become more difficult to rely on these cars.

If you’re a railfan or even just a normal passenger yet you're dying to some M3 action before they are gone for good, they are very commonly placed on the Jamaica - Atlantic Terminal shuttles during weekdays. They also make some appearances on rush hour trains, like #1515, the 6:44 AM from Huntington to Penn, where I’ve seen it multiple times and they normally are assigned to at least 1 PM rush hour run to Ronkonkoma, however, recently, it's been getting more sparse where. I've noticed in the last month or so they've been running more 12 car sets of them around, and while they still make up a shadow of their former fleet numbers, they are starting to return them to service slowly now that they have the excuse that the new M9As are on the way. During off-peak hours, apart from the Atlantic shuttle, it’s pretty rare to see them, only for equipment moves or passenger extras, they’re normally in yards during those times. They aren't normally found on weekends though. 

The M3s also aren’t really capable of going on the West Hempstead branch due to the substation near Malverne having issues with dealing with excess amperage, meaning that if they exceed P1 on the throttle, in either direction, the fuses will overload and blow up, causing the M3s and/or third rail to shut off. This makes it especially rare to catch them here.

Now I also recommend checking out Metro-North, which while doesn’t use them that much, it’s much easier to find them their then it is on the LIRR. To be honest with you, I haven’t been on the M3s too many times in my life, so they definitely don’t compare with the M7 or M9s for me, but I do like them and it will be sad to see them go.

Whether you're a railfan that enjoys them or a commuter that loathes them, the last of their replacements are on the way, so I recommend that you enjoy them before the Budd Metropolitans are gone for good.