The parade is an "alcoholic celebration" meaning that many people that go will go to restaurants and bars and become drunk afterward, and as more and more people decide to drink and take public transportation home afterward, trains have become more crowded. The sheer volume of extra travelers not only causes loading delays, but clashed with the last of the peak travelers heading in for a day of work, can cause serious delays throughout the system.
Last year, the parade fell on a Saturday, so, the additional trains the LIRR ran allowed them to get through the day pretty well, but this year it falls on a Monday, meaning that not only do you have the rush hour travelers, but now you've got these passengers to worry about as well.
All of this has caused train crews to absolutely despise St. Patrick's Day, as there's nothing worse then having a train full of drunks coming home on a Monday night, multiplied with all the rush hour commuters and you've got jampacked trains full of intoxicated passengers. Often times belingerent drunks would cause problems over not paying fares, arguing with other passengers, dropping food on the floor of already dirty railcars, and drinking even more on the trains! One year, there were over 22 seperate incidents on the LIRR that required police assistance.
As you can tell, this is an overwhelming and not fun day for crews. It's important to be advised that conductors typically have much less patience for unruly passengers, so be aware if your looking to have a good time.
NYC St. Patrick's Day Added Service:
In order to minimize loading delays, the Long Island Rail Road will be providing four additional westbound trains between 8:41 and 9:53. Two of those trains will come from Ronkonkoma while two others will come from Babylon.
- 8:41am from Ronkonkoma, making local stops through Wyandanch, then Farmingdale, Bethpage, Hicksville, Mineola, Jamaica, and Grand Central.
- 9:06am from Babylon, making local stops through Rockville Centre, Jamaica, and Grand Central.
- 9:40am from Ronkonkoma, making local stops through Wyandanch, then Farmingdale, Bethpage, Hicksville, Mineola, Jamaica, and Grand Central.
- 9:53am from Babylon, making local stops through Rockville Centre, Jamaica, and Grand Central.
Last year, the LIRR ran 15 additional westbound trains and 16 additional eastbound trains. I will admit that last year, it was a weekend, so you've got the peak trains and generally good post-peak service to help get people there, but I expect there will be some issues. However, I really would've liked to see them provide at least a bit more additional service. This year we'll be missing out on the dual-modes, which are the only extra service my branch gets, along with the other extra trains. I would've at least liked to see them add at least one additional westbound/eastbound train to Grand Central on the Long Beach, Port Jefferson, and Port Washington Branches, but I guess not. They also aren't running any additional eastbounds, which while I can kinda understand considering travel back from the parade is usually scattered throughout the evening, I'm a bit suprised that they went all out last year and did nothing this year.
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.
Apparantly Metro-North will be providing five additional trains to and from the parade, however, I cannot seam to find any information on them so if anyone knows or can find out please comment below!
Montauk St. Patrick's Day Parade Added Service:
The Annual Montauk St. Patrick's Day Parade will take place on Sunday, March 30th 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 additional trains to provide for added capacity.
The exact details for these trains have not been announced as of now, however, you can expect an additional eastbound train about an hour earlier then train 6008, that departs Jamaica at 8:13 and arrives Montauk at 10:55am. You can also expect an additional eastbound that will originate in Babylon, trailing after train 6008.
Coming back westbound, they typically run a train that emulates summer-only 6007, that departs Montauk in the 1:00pm hour. This train is normally a local to Babylon before terminating in Jamaica. I remember there were delays last year on the Montauk Branch on this date, so hopefully things will do better this year.
It's supposed to rain on Monday during the entire length of the parade, so while many will still go and participate, the loads shouldn't be as bad for this reason.
So, if your going to ride the train on the "worst day to ride the LIRR", make sure to follow the rules so you have a good time! I'm looking forward to seeing how St. Patrick's Day turns out this year.
Fun Fact: Did you know that NJTransit's fleet of Single-level coaches, known as Comets are known for their reoccurring odor of vomit as "vomits" or "vomit comets". Thank goodness my beloved C3s aren't stinky!