Potential LIRR strike looming: a look at the contingency plan

With "zero-hour" only hours away, and with the the possibility of a last minute aversion of the strike quickly dimming, one can only wonder how the LIRR will come about operations leading up, and during the strike.

When the clock strikes 12:01am tomorrow morning, if the strike hasn't otherwise been called off, crews will not immediately "walk off the job" but, would rather continue their finish their current run and upon finishing their shift, they would leave the property and not return. Therefore, the LIRR has published a list of final trains to run on each of it's branches:

Babylon Branch

• 11:45 pm from Babylon to Penn Station
• 11:51 pm from Penn Station to Babylon

Brooklyn

• 11:31 pm from Atlantic Terminal to Jamaica
• 11:39 pm from Jamaica to Atlantic Terminal

Far Rockaway Branch

• 11:30 pm from Grand Central to Far Rockaway
• 11:14 pm from Far Rockaway to Grand Central

Hempstead Branch

• 10:55 pm westbound from Hempstead to Grand Central
• 11:54 pm eastbound from Grand Central to Hempstead

Long Beach Branch

• 10:53 pm from Long Beach to Penn Station
• 11:57 pm from Penn Station to Long Beach

Montauk Branch

• 8:50 pm from Jamaica to Montauk
• 10:53 pm from Jamaica to Speonk
• 10:03 pm from Montauk to Jamaica
• 11:30 pm from Patchogue to Jamaica

Oyster Bay Branch

• 11:30 pm from Oyster Bay to Jamaica
• 11:43 pm from Jamaica to Oyster Bay

Port Jefferson Branch

• 10:20 pm from Penn Station to Huntington with a connection to Port Jefferson
• 11:48 pm from Penn Station to Huntington with no connection to Port Jefferson
• 11:52 pm from Huntington to Penn Station
• 9:26 pm from Port Jefferson to Huntington with a connection to Penn Station
• 11:28 pm from Port Jefferson to Huntington with no connection at Huntington

Port Washington Branch

• 11:36 pm from Port Washington to Penn Station
• 11:45 pm from Penn Station to Port Washington

Ronkonkoma Branch

• 11:37 pm from Penn Station to Ronkonkoma
• 11:54 pm from Ronkonkoma to Penn Station

West Hempstead Branch

• 11:18 pm from Jamaica to West Hempstead
• 11:58 pm from West Hempstead to Jamaica

So as you can see, the LIRR is seemingly chosen to run service at full scale leading up to the strike. In my opinion they would have been far better off dialing service down in advance of the strike in order to more easily place equipment in strategic locations, to make it easier to retrieve it once service is restored. However, I can understand the headache this would cause should the strike be averted last minute. 

In the event the LIRR does strike, the LIRR will provide shuttle busses in the peak and reverse-peak direction from a select couple of stations on Long Island feeding into subway stations:

• Bay Shore LIRR to Howard Beach-JFK Airport (A train)
• Huntington LIRR to Jamaica-179 St (F train)
• Ronkonkoma LIRR to Jamaica-179 St (F train)

Additionally, they will also run a couple of busses in the peak direction only: 

• Hempstead Lake State Park (near Lakeview LIRR) to Howard Beach JFK Airport (A train)
• Hicksville LIRR to Howard Beach JFK Airport (A train)
• Mineola LIRR to Howard Beach JFK Airport (A train)

These shuttle busses likely won't help that much. While they will likely help alleviate some of the worst of the peak loads coming from Long Island, they won't be of any help outside the peak periods (4:30am to 9am heading westbound and 3pm to 7pm heading eastbound). Additionally, 

If the strike ends up happening and isn't resolved by Monday it will be detrimental to New York's economy. Hundreds of thousands rely on the LIRR every day to get to work and a couple of lazily put together contingency plans is not going to substitute for it. While the hope is that the LIRR will come to a deal, if this is not the case, the best the LIRR can and has really done is strongly encourage people to either work from home or allow extra travel time and brace for some of the worst traffic the island has ever dealt with. Given that traffic on Long Island (which has already been strained enough with the recent pot-hole incident on the LIE) will be pure and absolute chaos. Literally all of the island's other alternative transportation options (which are limited) will likely be at full capacity.  

Construction of temporary platform at Shinnecock Hills to take place

(Photo: Newsday)

With the US open coming out to Southampton once again, the MTA will soon begin construction of a construction of a temporary platform out in Shinnecock Hills near the Southampton Campus, as they did for the 2004 and 2018 tournaments. The tournament, which will be held from June 15th through June 21st, will likely see the platform once again located at Tuckahoe Road, which is just south of the golf course.

While the LIRR has yet to speak on what exactly the additional service to be provided will be, they have said that both extra morning and afternoon trains will be provided. My best guess is that the most they will be able to provide on the busiest days is 3 additional eastbound in the morning and 2 or so coming back. This is due to the limited diesel equipment which makes scheduling additional trains extremely cumbersome, and that's coupled with single-track territory. 

What we can say is that this additional service will put immense stress on the system, especially on the June 19 when diesel equipment goes for a premium, needing to accommodate both golf fans and the usual Hamptons partiers, while still providing peak service. It's important to note that they may have to make a couple of peak train cancellations in order to fit the golf trains.

Long Island's grade crossing problem

An increasingly growing problem with the LIRR has been the recent abundance of vehicle grade crossing strikes. In the last 2 years, there have been 4-5 significant ones. Most recently, on Feburary 3rd, an extra train running from Jamaica to Ronkonkoma (a result of earlier cancellations) struck a car around 7:15pm. Luckily, there were only a couple injuries and no fatalties but this comes to show the consequences of a bad decision. This shows that Long Island is in the midst of a grade crossing crisis.

Incident in Farmingdale on Feb 3rd

A common trend you will notice with the grade crossing strikes is that most of the more notable ones occur on the Ronkonkoma Branch. And this makes sense, given that not only are the grade crossings on the Ronkonkoma Branch are on straight, 80 mph high speed branch, but it also passes through some of the densest areas as well. At big railroad crossings with very frequent traffic, passenger vehicles and 80 mph multiple-units do not mix well. I think the main solution to this issue would be for the LIRR to look to either close or grade-separate the crossings on the Ronkonkoma Branch, at least the most prevalent ones. Many of the grade crossings on the Ronkonkoma Branch are just an accident waiting to happen. 

While the two most dangerous ones, Pond Rd and Ocean Avenue in Ronkonkoma are scheduled for elimination (which is a great thing), there are a couple other dangerous ones as well like Carleton Avenue in Central Islip, Suffolk Avenue in Brentwood, and Straight Path in Wyandanch are most cause for concern. Additionally, Broadway in Bethpage and Robbins Lane in Syosset have also been cited to be dangerous. I personally think eliminating these particular grade crossings as well would also help the issue and while this would be expensive, it would help significantly to prevent these accidents from happening. 

The LIRR should also do a better job educating drivers on the importance of practicing safety when on or near grade crossings. 

In the end, as Long Island grows and gets even more congested, grade crossing strikes will likely become even more common and the LIRR should do something about this issue now, and begin projects to eliminate the most dangerous ones before we lose more people to crossing strikes. 

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.

What The Oyster Bay Branch Timetable Could Look Like

Of the three branches we've taken a look at, there hasn't been too much struggle. Other than the single-tracked portion of the Port Washington Branch, there really hasn’t been that much to worry about that we’ve covered so far. Today’s post will focus on the last off the LIRR’s “simple” branches, the Oyster Bay Branch. After this post, we’ll begin the transition into the thick of the LIRR’s operations, with the crazy Mainline and busy Montauk Branch! This is where things get interesting.

The Oyster Bay Branch serves as a decent bridge between the two. It’s service patterns are very simple, and it receives comparatively little ridership and attention for it’s comparatively low service. However, integrating Oyster Bay Branch trains into the busy Mainline and all of it’s traffic can be relatively challenging.

The Oyster Bay Branch, which begins in Mineola and slithers through some of the more sparsely-populated towns North Shore towns, ending in the beautiful enclave of Oyste Bay. The area it’s traverses isn’t nearly as dense as central & southern Long Island, but it does provide one of the only transportation links.

However, the one achilles heal of the Oyster Bay Branch is that it’s always suffered from being very slow. The MAS (Max Allowed Speed) on most of the branch is 60 mph, and the line is pretty straight as far as Roslyn, but once you travel east of that, it constantly curves this way and that, and with many curves come lots of curve-related speed restrictions. For most of the line past Roslyn, your chasing 30mph speed restrictions littered on the ridiculous curves for the remainder of the branch.

It may not seam that bad, but by adding slowly-accelerating dual-modes into the mix, and things can get pretty ugly as far as travel times go, and pair that with the infrequent service, many people will just drive to electrified stations (i.e Mineola if you live in Williston Park or Manhasset if you live farer up the branch.

There have been numerous talks about changing how this branch is ran. There have been some talks of electrification of the Oyster Bay Branch, other plans call for the railroad to get a bunch of DMUs and run them back and forth to/from Mineola, or introducing a “Transfer at Mineola”, however, I don’t think any of them are at all feasible. First off, I highly doubt the LIRR will electrify the Oyster Bay Branch anytime soon, which is for good reason. Second, while DMUs might allow for some faster acceleration and deceleration between station stops, purchasing DMUs won’t help with the curves, and therefore, there will still be speed restrictions, and when you do the math, chances are running trains with DMUs will only improve travel time by a couple of minutes, and all that saved time will vanish quickly once you make the passengers from the branch stand out on the platform at Mineola, this would be the same for the third.

With that in mind, let’s jump onto the sample timetable for the Oyster Bay Branch. It doesn’t involve DMUs (because, look, if they were interested in using them, they’d need to thick of procuring them now, which is something they obviously don’t have money for, and quite honestly, if that’s what their really interested in doing, it would probably be best to just skip the trouble and just abandon the branch altogether.)

Included in the linked PDF file below is the full sample weekday & weekend Port Washington Branch timetables. Peak, off-peak, reverse-peak, and special-event trains are all included. Note that this is a new and improved timetable design.

The timetables only show revenue trains, not equipment or deadhead moves. I have planned out to include the deadhead moves, equipment rotations, etc., as I was doing this project, and I have most of those moves handwritten down on paper, but I have yet to finalize them and insert them into the actual excel timetables. Nonetheless, I have tried whenever possible to minimize the amount of deadheading, since it’s essentially wasted crew and equipment hours, but in some cases, it was unavoidable to make the most out of the resources available.

Key Assumptions:

• The key infrastructure on the branch will remain similar to what it is today.

Service Guidelines:

• In the morning rush hour, I tried to keep trains spaced 40-50 minutes apart throughout most of the rush hour (very similar to how it is today). The branch has six trains over the course of the rush hour, the same amount as currently. The first train outta Oyster Bay in the morning will run similar today, except it will depart 4 minutes earlier at 4:52am. Service to the western terminals is decently spread-out, with 2 trains to Hunterspoint Av/Long Island City, and 2 trains to Penn Station. The first and third trains terminate in Jamaica in order to be able to quickly turn and represent eastbound runs. Train #509 will continue to run express, but instead of going to Hunterspoint Avenue will now swap terminals with #511, therefore going to Penn Station and providing a truly express run for these commuters.
• In the evening, 7 trains are provided up the branch (5 on Fridays). This provides a valid upgrade from the mere 5 that currently terminate there. The main addition is the brand new train 560, a new 5:09pm dual-mode departure from New York which would hope to relieve crowding on train 562, which is extremely crushloaded coming out of Jamaica, and also matches the two dual-modes that currently arrive into New York. I also managed to squeeze a 6:16pm departure out of Jamaica, reducing the gap between train 562 and the second dual-mode. 
• It’s important to note that East Williston will be utilized as more of an electric-terminal for several trains during rush hours, however, these trains will be included in the Mainline timetable.
• During off-peak and weekend times, service will be provided about every 90 minutes to and from Hunterspoint Av.
• Very little late night service is provided on The Oyster Bay Branch.

Link to Oyster Bay Branch Timetable

Threading Oyster Bay Branch trains onto the crazy Mainline during rush hours has provided to be quite a difficult task. It’s quite difficult to make time for Oyster Bay Branch trains to join the Mainline at Mineola. It was also difficult for me to come up with a reasonable plan for evening service to Oyster Bay, however I think I did a decent job in the end.

In the morning, all but one train operate through to a western terminal. The first train of the morning leaves 4 minutes earlier then it did under the current schedules at 4:52am. Recently, last September, train #511, had been switched from Hunterspoint Avenue to Penn Station, providing a second morning dual-mode on the branch for the first time ever. As you know, the train before is a 7:01am express-train that only makes a handful of stops along the closely packed branch, and I decided it made sense to send that to Penn Station instead, giving a true express run for those commuters as you don’t have to transfer anymore.

In the PM peak, I was able to squeeze a total of 7 trains up the branch, a great improvement over the current 5. I was able to fit an additional DM in from New York, departing at 5:09pm right before the aligning with the start of the bu rush hour. The second evening dual-mode leaves New York at 6:20pm and follows the same schedule as the current DM. I was able to 

During off-peak times, service is improved from bi-hourly to every 90 minutes. On weekends, the current schedule requires two sets to provide the two-hourly headways, so it wouldn’t require any additional equipment or crews to improve. In addition, most off-peak trains now run to/from

The first train up the branch in the early morning now departs at 12:14am, therefore giving one final train before the long overnight gap. Reverse-peak service is now maintained at much more consistent headways. By a quirk of scheduling and in order to squeeze the new dual mode in, train 569 will originate in Locust Valley (running from Oyster Bay following 558’s arrival).

I think I’ve covered pretty much everything to say about the Oyster Bay Branch. Going on from here, things will get much less simple as we say goodbye to solid blocks of time with local service and consistent stopping patterns, but we’ll see if we can shove a minimum of 50 trains down the Mainline and Babylon Branch in a period of just a couple hours soon! In the meantime, feel free to leave any comments, thoughts, corrections, suggestions, etc.

Extending the Flushing Line to Bayside

Vanshnookenraggen

The 7 train, a core subway line that connects Flushing-Main St, the true Chinatown of New York to 34 St-Hudson Yards in Midtown Manhattan has always been considered a superior line. It cuts through Queens like a steel blade and checks all the boxes as it runs frequently, has solid express service (for the most part, except for when the structure ages to be over 110 years old and needs to be replaced hindering full express service for 5 years!), and has relatively good transit connections in Manhattan. However, the line has always felt short. Clocking in at only 16 miles long, many feel as though the 7 train has more to offer. 

There have been various proposals over the years to extend the 7 to various different places, with some suggesting they should extend it to New Jersey, more specifically to Secaucus, to provide a direct subway link to New Jersey for the first time, others feel the line should be extended deeper into Manhattan to better serve the Chelsea neighborhood, however, one of the most captivating proposals for this line in the last decade has been rather to to extend the 7 past it’s eastern terminal of Flushing east to somewhere in Northeast Queens.

Northeast Queens has always been considered a transit desert; having very limited options for transportation. People who live there rely on infrequent and inefficient bus service, and for those that live close enough to the Port Washington Branch, expensive and infrequent train service.

Therefore, with that said, the proposal to extend the 7 eastward in it’s home borough should feel fitting. While currently crowded and constrainted in that respect, parituclary during the rush hour, with the proper set of investments, the  

And Although the MTA has more important priorities right now, this is definitely a project they could pursue more maybe 10-15 years down the line as its a project that, while likely very expensive, would benefit a TON of riders.

The Proposal

There have been a couple of proposals related to the extension of the (7) further into Northeast Queens with the less frequented proposal being to have a branch off the (7) train, most likely elevated, branching of somewhere near 111 St, turning south for a little bit before turning east, running along the Long Island Expressway and Kissena Blvd before terminating in Springfield Gardens. The other one is for a new line to be constructed, heading northeast out of Flushing-Main St, heading north towards College Point stopping at Northern Blvd before turning East towards Whitestone. Possible extensions could be made to one day extend the (7) to Bayside, which is what many people would like to see, and was originally planned to happen almost 100 years ago.

Planned 7 extension in 1935

I personally believe that this is the more likely of the two, as it would serve an area that is in desperate need of further transit development, and while both are in areas that can be considered “transit deserts” In theory, we could possibly get both extensions, possibly having an 11 train make the run northeast towards College Point and have the 7 train run along the LIE to Springfield Blvd. This is one of those projects that we will just have to see. 

Capacity Gains

Before I wrap up this post, I'd like to mention that another benefit of having the 7 terminate somewhere besides Main St would be the likely capacity gains. If you’ve ridden the 7 train during the rush hour then you’d know that Flushing is not a great terminal. Unlike many other good subway terminals, such as 34 St-Hudson Yards, it does not feature tail tracks, rather bumper blocks on the end of all 3 station tracks (further adding insult to the injury by slowing trains down). Therefore, Flushing struggles to keep up with the demand, which is quite a bit (running trains out of there roughly every 2 minutes for a good part of the rush hour). To prevent a complete meltdown of the line, the MTA has some 7 trains end in Mets-Willets Pt, allowing for some trains to avoid the congestion, however, that doesn’t prevent Flushing from being severely capacity limited. Extending the 7 eastward would hopefully allow for a proper terminal to be built, one that can handle the level of service needed on this very crowded line. This will also account for the growth that Queens will continue to see.

In conclusion, this is one of those subway extensions that I feel strongly about. Being a big proponent of the Flushing Line myself, I’ve seen how much an extension of the (7) further east could help NYC. It could bring much needed service to some of the largest transit deserts while also helping to improve capacity along one of the most conjested lines. I personally even know someone who lives in Bayside and would love to be able to take the subway in from there. but instead gets the bus to Flushing. 

Blizzard to bring LIRR service to complete standstill

The LIRR just announced a couple hours ago that due to the ongoing blizzard, one that will probably end up being pretty historic for Long Island, that they will completely suspend LIRR service by 1am tomorrow morning, when things are projected to reach a point where it is unsafe to continue running service into the overnight, which is forecasted to be the heaviest part of the storm.

I personally think that 1am is a bit late, and that they are taking a chance by running some trains that late, I'd rather see the LIRR fully finish curtailing operations slightly earlier, as the later we go, the risk that a train could get stuck increases, however, we will have to see how things play out. 

They will gradually suspend service with each branch having one last train to run, allowing for the LIRR to stash away equipment in strategic places allowing for quicker cleanup pending the end of the storm

Here are the final trains to run on each branch:

Babylon

• The 11:44pm from Babylon to Penn Station
• the 11:43pm from Penn Station to Babylon

Long Beach

• The 12:12am from Long Beach to Penn Station
• The 11:58pm from Penn Station to Long Beach

Far Rockaway

• The 11:07pm from Far Rockaway to Grand Central
• The 11:20pm from Grand Central to Far Rockaway

Hempstead

• Hempstead Branch trains weren't running due to signal upgrades.

Port Jefferson

• The 9:39pm from Port Jefferson to Huntington, with connection available to New York.
• The 11:27pm from Port Jefferson to Huntington, without any New York connection.
• The 11:52pm from Huntington to Penn Station
• The 11:46pm from Penn Station to Huntington, with connection available to Port Jefferson

Port Washington

• The 11:26pm from Port Washington to Penn Station
• The 11:28pm from Penn Station to Port Washington

Ronkonkoma

• The 11:07pm from Ronkonkoma to Penn Station
• The 11:17pm from Penn Station to Ronkonkoma

West Hempstead

• The 11:02pm from West Hempstead to Grand Central
• The 10:57pm from Grand Central to West Hempstead

Montauk

• The 11:25pm from Speonk to Jamaica
• The 11:30pm from Jamaica to Speonk
• The 9:42pm from Jamaica to Montauk will terminate in Speonk

Greenport

• The 2:21pm from Ronkonkoma to Greenport
• The 4:37pm from Greenport to Ronkonkoma

Metro-North has said they will run a weekend schedule for the entirety of Monday. While Long Island is actually supposed to receive the worst of the snow, I have my doubts on whether or not Metro-North will be able to hold their promise. The NYC subway is currently running both underground and above ground, running all local, however, with the worst of the storm coming overnight, I doubt they will continue providing above ground service throughout the night.

As far as service restoration goes, depending on how much Long Island actually ends up getting, and when it actually stops (this determines how much time they have to clean up), my best guess is that they'll be able to get limited service up and going Tuesday morning, primarily on the busier branches (Babylon, Ronkonkoma, Port Washington, and Port Jefferson) for the Tuesday morning commute, however, this would likely come with delays and cancellations, and I doubt we will see service back up and running on the East End until Tuesday evening at the earliest.

I will be closely following the news and I will update you guys later or tomorrow morning if they give any updates on what's going on. As for now we will just have to wait for more information.

The Rejected LaGuardia AirTrain Proposal

AirTrain LGA Rendering

One of the more interesting transit concepts proposed in the last decade was the LaGuardia AirTrain. In January 2015, as part of a $400 million mega project to provide better transportation options to the historically underserved LaGuardia Airport former Governor Cuomo announced the plan unexpectedly as part of one of his many state addresses. It was to be opened alongside the major renovations that were being constructed at LGA.

This idea was definitely not the first to improve transportation options to the airport, as they have actually floated various ideas over the years with the first of nearly a dozen big ones being to extend the N and W subway lines up there, which was actually back in 1943, and since then they’ve floated numerous proposals including subway, rail, an automated people mover, and even ferries. Then came AirTrain LGA.

At first this idea felt like a solution to an age old issue of getting to LaGuardia, however, people soon realized it wasn’t as efficient as it had initially seemed to be. This is because of one major design flaw that eventually killed the project. Unlike other proposals, which aimed to bring people to Manhattan, the main crowd for the airports, this one actually did the opposite going east instead to Mets-Willets Point, where connection would be available to the IRT Flushing Line and LIRR for service to points west through doubling back. 

Proposed route of the AirTrain

While people were in support of some sort of rail link, “the backwards airtrain” as it was commonly called did not gain much support from experts given that it would be doing the opposite of what it should be doing which is getting you to alternative transportation closer to Manhattan. This backwards rail route would essentially offer little to no time savings given the fact that you have to double back which is time consuming. And, to add, Mets-Willets Point isn't the most well-equipped to handle all the additional ridership that would be heading to the airport. The only options are the LIRR, which really doesn't run all that frequently, and, the 7 train, which runs frequently but is often at capacity, especially during the peak times when the most people need to get to the airport. It's also important to factor in the fact that this doesn't help people who live to the east on Long Island or in Brooklyn as there's no easy way to get the AirTrain without having a minimum of 3-way transfers. This doesn't really help people like me, who live on Long Island unless you live west of Port Washington. 

So as you can probably figure, the project was eventually scrapped by Kathy Hochul in 2023. For the better or for the worse, NYC will once again lay silent without dedicated rail transportation to the airport.

For me, as someone who generally flies out of LaGuardia, I agree that there should be better transportation there. While with my experience a cab normally isn't terrible, traffic to NYC airports (specifically LGA) is known to be some of the worst, and during peak times and around holidays traffic can be even worse. 

I personally though would still really like to see another dedicated transportation option, as coming from Long Island the only other option besides the cab is the bus, which many for one (including myself) will avoid and also doesn’t really do anything about the traffic. And while I personally would still like to see another AirTrain built, considering the fact that LGA will only grow and traffic will only get worse. It should be built from a location that is both conveniently accessible by both Long Island and NYC, something that really can’t be said for the old concept. 

My personal choice would be Woodside- for one it’s a convenient 10 min trip to Manhattan, two it’s already configured to handle quite a bit traffic going to LGA thru the bus connections, and three, it’s well equipped to handle the boost in ridership that would go along with it with combiner access to both the LIRR and IRT Flushing Line with both provide fast and frequent service. However, the issue lies in where to put it- Woodside is already a very busy complex and is double stacked with the 7 train running above the LIRR, and it’s also important to note that it would be running above dense urban neighborhoods as well for the final stretch.  

So, in conclusion, while an AirTrain to LGA is a solid idea, one that would be a big piece of the puzzle to provide adequate transportation to New York’s airports. It’s a concept that while a strong idea, has been noted to be too costly and difficult to build for the moment. Hopefully someday we will see some sort of rail link there, whether it be another automated peoplemover, a rail/subway extension/or some other new idea. We will just have to see what happens. Perhaps an idea might be right under our noses as we speak.

What The Port Washington Branch Timetable Could Look Like

Our first post will begin with a look at the Port Washington Branch. The Port Washington Branch is a unique branch because unlike virtually ever other branch it doesn’t pass through Jamaica, instead, merging into the Mainline at Woodside. The Port Washington Branch definitely isn’t the easiest as far as scheduling and service patterns go given it being a busy branch and the severe capacity constraints east of Great Neck, but it is easier in the sense that you don’t need to worry about coordinating transfers through Jamaica. However, it is imperative that you make an extra effort to evenly distribute trains between the two terminals and to try to allow for easy transfers whenever possible at Woodside. 

Included in the linked PDF file below is the fill sample weekday and weekend Port Washington Branch timetables. Peak, off-peak, reverse-peak and special-event trains have all been included. Note that this is a new and improved timetable design. 

The timetables only show revenue trains, not equipment or deadhead moves. I have planned out the deadhead moves, equipment rotations, etc as I was doing this project and I have most of these moves written down on paper and I have yet to insert them into the actual excel timetables. Nonetheless, I have tried whenever possible to minimize the amount of deadheading, since it’s essentially just wasted crew and equipment hours but in some cases it was unavoidable to make the most out of the resources available.

Key Assumptions:

• One of the first things you'll notice about these fresh new timetables is the reintroduction of the Corona and Elmhurst stations onto the timetable. There's been talks for years about reopening the Elmhurst station which was closed many moons ago due to low ridership, which has came back to this area. It was even featured on the MTA's 2025-2044 20-year needs assessment to relieve crowding and congestion on the IRT Flushing Line. I feel that if they were to reopen Elmhurst, there's a decent chance they may also open the nearby Corona station to go along with it. I feel strongly that this would go along way in providing better access to transit for these Queens communities and help to relieve crowding on one of the subway's busiest lines.
• While this could probably be worked-around should the need present itself, I feel very strongly that the LIRR should invest in going through the trouble of constructing a second track between Great Neck and Port Washington. While this would be extremely difficult given not only is there a viaduct, but that it's also a very fierce NIMBY area, with currently only one track, capacity is severely-limited east of Great Neck,  which is actually the busiest segment o the branch, and this would allow for service levels to be increased to match current demands and would improve reliability too. I designed these timetables in a way to reflect the second track, which sooner or later will have to be built

Service Guidelines:

• At a minimum, service will be provided half-hourly to all stations along the branch during the off-peak periods (except overnight). During off-peak hours, trains will generally alternate between New York Penn and New York Grand Central, allowing for hourly direct rides to both termini.
• During the weekday peak period, service, on average, consists of roughly 20 minute headways branchwide (there are a couple of exceptions). As a standard, the branch is split into two main halves: trains that operate East of Great Neck, and trains that begin their runs at Great Neck, turning via the Great Neck pocket track. To increase capacity, during the peak of the peak, additional trains have been ran from Little Neck, Bayside, and even one from Auburndale to increase capacity.
• During the reverse-peak period, many equipment trains that operate against-the-flow to/from Great Neck to/from western terminals will accept passengers for all or part of their runs whenever possible to allow for robust reverse-peak service opportunties all the while reducing deadheading.
• On weekends, service is increased during the busiest travel times (specifically 9am to 12pm WB, 4pm to 8pm EB) with half-hourly express service provided east of Great Neck, and half-hourly local service west of Great Neck.
• Additional scheduled service to support events at Mets-Willets Point and Flushing Meadows has been included, however, this does not include unscheduled extra trains that run following the event as these cannot be planned, in normal cases, however, these trains will come fresh off the Great Neck Pocket track.

Link to Port Washington Branch Timetable

I specifically designed service on the Port Washington Branch to cater specifically to to those who live past the IRT Flushing Line's namesake terminal of Flushing-Main St, while still providing acceptable service levels in Queens to promote growth. Providing acceptable East of Great Neck wasn't by any means an easy task, considering the enormous capacity constraints, but I was able to work through it to the best of my ability. 

As of now, the best I could really guarantee for the most part is 20-minute headways in the peak direction, and whatever "scraps" were left went to reverse-peak, however, frequencies regularly exceed that especially in the portion west of Great Neck.

During off-peak periods, half-hourly service is provided with trains alternating terminal. While I believe that providing service along the branch every 20 minutes would be a good improvement that would promote growth, especially in the Queens communities, I don't feel like the Port Washington Branch is ridership-ready for that yet, and I think it won't be ready for a long while.

At stations like Great Neck,  I tried to create situations whenever possible . Take in the AM peak for example, in which train 413 (the 6:47am from Port Washington to Grand Central) stops at Great Neck at 6:57am, and a couple short minutes later, train #1315 (the 7:02am local from Great Neck to Penn) rolls in fresh from the Great Neck pocket track. So, technically, you could transfer between the two for service to the opposite terminal or for service to the latter zone. So, while connections aren't 100% guaranteed, it allows a traveller from Plandome, for example, to transfer trains at Great Neck to a local to Penn Station that follows behind the express, promoting quick and seamless intra-island travel without having to go all the way to Woodside. 

Like I emphasized above, the fact that the Port Washington branch doesn't pass through Jamaica makes traveling on the branch more difficult and cumbersome in that you don't have all the transfer options everyone else has at Jamaica, and by, coordinating these mini-transfers at Great Neck, it makes it difficult to provide I tried to keep most trains stopping at Woodside, besides a handful of key express trains along with a couple busy locals, as this is the closest thing this branch would have to Jamaica, and it allows for someone who may want to do the trek from the Port Washington Branch to somewhere else on the island to go via Jamaica and avoid the headache of going all the way to Manhattan.

Reverse-peak weekday service includes a number of newly added "revenue deadheads" that exist mainly to transport equipment for trains that turn at Great Neck, but now stop on the line with the sole purpose of providing supplemental service. During the evening peak, there's actually a nice assortment of reverse-peak trains up the branch out of Great Neck to the point where I subconsciously said evening peak!

I think I've now given you a good understanding of what service along the Port Washington Branch could look like in my new timetables. Feel free to comment if you have any questions about the scheduling or if you notice anything. I don't have the time to write a full in-depth analysis of every train and my reasoning behind it and time probably doesn't permit you to read it either, so, if anything is unclear and you'd like to know my reasoning behind it, just ask, I'd be more then happy to clarify. Additionally, I've made like millions of tiny little edits to the spreadsheet over the 18 months or so that I've been working on this project so it's very likely it’s very likely that some tiny or even major typos may arise, and if you catch any, please let me know of that, too. And finally, if you have any suggestions, and want to see something change, please let me know by leaving a comment at the bottom of these posts or leave me an email.

New LIRR work locomotives in RFEI process

As you probably know by now, the LIRR is currently in the process of waiting for the first batch of Siemens Charger locomotives to be delivered to replace it's aging DE/DM fleet, along with in the process of ordering new M9A's to not only finally replace the Budd M3s which are long after their useful service life, but also provide additional capacity in electric territory, and perhaps you knew about the possible upcoming procurement of new bilevel coaches to provide supplemental capacity in diesel territory?

But did you know that there is also another order in the works, that is much lesser-known? Can you guess it? I have my doubts but if you guessed work locomotives then 

The LIRR is currently in the process of requesting an RFEI to gauge manufacturers interest in possibly completely overhauling the railroad's current work engine fleet from the ground up. This would include a thorough inspection of the locomotive's chassis, engine, and electrical systems, a complete disassembly of the locomotive, removing components like the prime-mover, traction motors, and cab, and rebuilding or replacing parts to meet current standards, such as EPA emission regulations.

There is also a rumor going around (circulating from a video that probably wasn't supposed to be released in the first place but was) that included information for the possibility that the LIRR might order a couple GP38's to replace the E10s. So essentially the E10s would be replaced with the GP38's and the MP15AC's would receive a complete overhaul which would extend their lifetime for a good while. 

CTRail ordering new European-style rail cars for the Hartford Line

I meant to write and get this post out in November but I’ve been extremely busy and finally got around to writing it.

Back in November, the Connecticut Department of Transportation showed off prototypes for 60 new cars which rollout in 2027. These trains are the first of their kind in the Tri-State Area given that they’re seen as “European-style”. 

Bought for $315 million, the goal is to modernize the Hartford Line with these.

Built by Alstom, these European style cars are currently being brought to the US.

The key amenties listed with these cars include Wi-Fi, USB/power outlets at seats, foldable work tables, dedicated bicycle storage, and oversized, ADA-compliant restrooms. These cars are listed with a max design speed of 125 mph and 40 year design life. 

They will be used primarily on the Hartford Line but could also possibly be used on Waterbury and Danbury branches as well in the future.

While I'm personally not the hugest fan of their design, or many modern European coach designs for that matter I have to admit they are  very futuristic-looking. 

LIRR & MNR running on weekend schedule on Monday, 1/26

Unlike what I expected, the MTA announced yesterday afternoon that they would be operating on a weekend schedule today. Metro-North will operate on a holiday schedule with baseline weekend service but a couple of extra trains for those unfortunate enough to make the trek into work. They are doing this because they still have quite a bit of cleanup to do after last night’s snowstorm. 

As a quick heads up, there will be no service east of Ronkonkoma today as that branch is buried deep in foot of snow.

**Edit: As of 10:15am EST, it seams they have either resumed service east of Ronkonkoma or never stopped it in the first place**

The LIRR and MNR will both likely transition back to regular weekday service for the Tuesday morning rush hour tomorrow, after snowfighting operations pretty much conclude.

If you do must travel today, take caution out there. Not only is it very cold but it's also very slippery so go extra slow and don't run for your train. 

Stay safe and warm everybody!