The Great Port Washington Branch Terminal Mess of 2023

In today’s post, I will be telling a tale of LIRR scheduling— a story that is crazy on many levels (well, not really)

It all started when the LIRR noticed ridership feedback suggesting people wanted more express trains to Penn Station, so with the fourth round of major changes to the timetables came GO 203- which had quite a lot in store for the Port Washington Branch! The LIRR announced that based on “community feedback”, they’d be making several changes to morning rush hour service to provide more express trains from Nassau County to Penn Station.

They announced these changes on the Port Washington Branch:

• Train 415, the 6:47am from Port Washington to Grand Central would be renumbered to train 315, would depart 5 minutes earlier at 6:42am, and be rerouted to Penn Station. This train would also now run express from Great Neck to Mets-Willets Point, dropping stops at Little Neck, Douglaston, and Bayside. Riders at these local stations would either have to depart 29 minutes earlier or 5 minutes later. Riders for Grand Central would either have to depart 32 minutes earlier or arrive 42 minutes later. 
• Train 1413 (the 6:28a from Great Neck to Grand Central) would add stops in Little Neck and Douglaston to fill the gap in service. 
• Train 1315 (the 7:03a from Great Neck to Penn Station) would depart 1 minute earlier at 7:02am and add stops in Little Neck and Douglaston to the fill the gap in service. 
• Train 419, the 7:19am from Port Washington to Penn Station would be renumbered to train 319 and would run non-stop from Great Neck to Penn Station arriving there at 7:54am. This train would no longer stop at Little Neck, Douglaston, or Bayside. Riders looking to travel to Grand Central would have either have to depart 37 minutes earlier and transfer at Great Neck and Woodside or drop back at Great Neck to a local train and arrive 12 minutes later. 
• Train 1319, the 7:38am train from Little Neck to Penn Station would be renumbered to train 1419, would add a stop at Great Neck at 7:35am, and also be rerouted to Grand Central. Riders looking for Penn Station would either need to depart 33 minutes earlier or arrive 43 minutes later.

Now, chances are, after reading this, your wondering whether or not this was really a good idea. And, I can assure you, it wasn’t.

The LIRR claimed they gutted all morning rush hour service to Grand Central based on calls from riders for more fast express trains to Penn Station. But, the truth is, the LIRR still cannot understand that commuters want more trains, not the reshuffling of existing trains. And as you can see, this made riders furious.

For riders traveling via the North Shore to Penn Station during the morning rush, this new GO offered 9 PEAK trains (8 direct, 1 transfer at Woodside, and 2 useless trains with no connections). For those unlucky travelers looking to get from the North Shore to New York via Grand Central, the November service plan offered riders from the busiest part of the Port Washington Branch just 6 trains— one of which only 3 of those were direct, and 3 of those require transfers. The other 55 were useless with no viable connections.

One of the main issues of that service change was the fact that of these trains, 7 don’t even have viable connections! If your going to run more trains to one terminal, at the least almost all those trains should have viable connections to the other terminal. The fact that the Port Washington Branch doesn’t pass through Jamaica had actually been celebrated until East Side Access, when it became a big problem. Without Jamaica, Port Washington Branch riders have many less transfer opportunities. In many cases, their only options are to either drop back to an earlier train on the Port Washington Branch (i.e drop back to a local train at Great Neck or Bayside) or make a very irritating up-and-over at Woodside. The first case is normally the better option but it adds lots of travel time since not only do you have to sit through all those annoying local stops, but you also have to wait out in the cold, snow, rain, sleet, heat, etc.

Soon afterwards, the LIRR riders noticed how badly things were getting and demanded changes. A Change.org petition was started on October 26, 2023 to run more trains to Grand Central and got over 1,000 signatures. However, the LIRR ignored this and my guess for this is that they wanted to see the damage being done before they decided to correct it.

One frustrated rider recorded the nonsense and frustration onboard the 7:19am train right after the November 2023 service changes began. Feat. a trainload full of cold and pissed passengers disembarking onto the cold platform at Great Neck to wait for the local while their 12-car train that was nearly empty pulled away. If you’d like to view the video, here’s the link.

Now, for the part of the tale that will keep you on the edge of your seats (not really). The LIRR decided to schedule two express trains from Port Washington to Penn Station 5 minutes apart!!!!!! These trains, 315 and 319 would depart at 7:14 and 7:19am respectively, and only the second one had a 6-minute wait for a Great-Neck local connection. When’s the next train you ask? 36 minutes later. And yet the LIRR boasted about how it’s new schedules would make wait times more consistent across the rush hour.

To make matters worse, this second 7:19am train still ran with 12 cars and barley averaged 15-20% loads after people got off at Great Neck to transfer to other trains. And spoiler, even to this day, I still quite often see this train with barely anyone on it thanks to how close they are.

@LIRR congrats, you’re running a virtually empty 12 car westbound 7:19am express train from PW to Penn just 5 minutes after another Penn bound express departed! This as the GCM bound is packed after the GN xfer. This is absurd. Please explain your rationale. pic.twitter.com/vF5wTY4zM7

— Biz (@ebisman) November 13, 2023

After mounting pressure from local officials including one of the NYS senators, the LIRR finally reverted two of those trains to go back to Grand Central. 

Of those changes, these are the ones that have been modified or reverted:

• Train 415, the 6:47am from Port Washington to Grand Central would be renumbered to train 315, would depart 5 minutes earlier at 6:42am, and be rerouted to Penn Station. This train would also now run express from Great Neck to Mets-Willets Point, dropping stops at Little Neck, Douglaston, and Bayside. Riders at these local stations would either have to depart 29 minutes earlier or 5 minutes later. Riders for Grand Central would either have to depart 32 minutes earlier or arrive 42 minutes later. 
• Train 1413 (the 6:28a from Great Neck to Grand Central) would add stops in Little Neck and Douglaston to fill the gap in service.
• Train 1315 (the 7:03a from Great Neck to Penn Station) would depart 1 minute earlier at 7:02am and add stops in Little Neck and Douglaston to the fill the gap in service.
• Train 419, the 7:19am from Port Washington to Grand Central would be renumbered to train 319 and would run non-stop from Great Neck to Penn Station arriving there at 7:54am. This train would no longer stop at Little Neck, Douglaston, or Bayside. Riders looking to travel to Grand Central would have either have to depart 37 minutes earlier and transfer at Great Neck and Woodside or drop back at Great Neck to a local train and arrive 12 minutes later.
• Train 1319, the 7:38am train from Little Neck to Penn Station would be renumbered to train 1419, would add a stop at Great Neck at 7:35am, and also be rerouted to Grand Central. Riders looking for Penn Station would either need to depart 33 minutes earlier or arrive 43 minutes later.

In conclusion, if this was happening in 2025 it would be a huge problem, and even then, I believe it was poor service planning, but considering the LIRR was still a bit disoriented after the opening of ESA with all these changes, complaints, comments still going around, I think it should be a lesson learned. 

The rest of the posts this week will focus on the Port Washington Branch as we lead up to unveil of our first timetable!

LIRR ridership increasing since start of Congestion Pricing

Somehow, it’s officially been one month since the MTA introduced its new congestion pricing program- which, if you don’t know, essentially tolls anyone entering Manhattan below 60th St a small fee, similar to EZpass. Data shows that 30,000 fewer vehicles on an average weekday enter the toll zone.

Long Island Rail Road commuters have noticed more people on trains, particularly at certain stations. While Metropolitan Transit Authority officials hoped and expected for these new tolls to push more commuters out of their car and onto the trains, however the overall 13% systemwide ridership increase didn’t beat December’s 15% increase, suggesting Congestion Pricing isn’t the only thing to credit.

LIRR president Rob Free said this: “I think it’s too early to make any direct correlation as to ridership gains being specific to congestion relief”. While he believes the tolling plan could be one of several factors, it seams he thinks it’s a mix of factors.

MTA officials have pointed to the fact that there’s plenty of room in the transit system for that increased ridership, noting that many LIRR trains operate well-below there capacity.

An interesting point of this is where these ridership jumps are located, with the largest jumps being located at the New Hyde Park and Garden City stations in Nassau County, and the Ronkonkoma station in Suffolk. MTA figures show that ridership at New Hyde Park has climbed 22% since January, and that Garden City has climbed 19 percent, compared to December’s increase of only 3%. Other stations across the network have also seen ridership gains including more western stations such as Douglaston and Woodmere.

Credit: Metropolitan Transit Authority

According to Newsday, who interviewed passengers at New Hyde Park station recently, passengers noted that they saw more passengers out on the platform, and on the train in recent weeks. 

Another factor that could be putting more people onto LIRR trains is the ongoing A train shutdown that offers Far Rockaway riders a $2.75 discounted faire into Manhattan during the four-month shutdown for repairs.

Personally, I’ve noticed additional crowding, especially on the Hempstead Branch.

Now, I know the 5:00pm rush hour isn’t known for undercrowding, however, the fact that the branches hit hardest this month seam to be the Hempstead, Long Beach, and Oyster Bay branches, branches not known to be too crowded.

‘Room for everybody’

Not only have the railroads experienced ridership surges though, as many subway lines and express bus routes have also experienced congestion-pricing related ridership increases. Addressing concerns about toll-related potential for overcrowding, MTA Chairman Janno Lieber has said “there’s room for everybody”. He also told reporters that “if every one of the 130,000 commuters who drive into Manhattan everyday took the Subway, bus, or Long Island Rail Road or whatever, instead, it would be a drop in the bucket”.

But, still, it’s not like LIRR riders have experienced this level of ridership recently, though. After plummeting substantially during the COVID-19 pandemic, LIRR ridership was able to rebound to about 86% of what it was in 2019– a year in which the LIRR carried 91 million riders, the most in 70 years. A lot of the credit for ridership not rebounding to its full potential can be given to the fact that many people started working from home.

LIRR President Robert Free, with the goal of extinguishing concerns about potential overcrowding, said that since the opening of Grand Central Madison, the LIRR dramatically increased the amount of trains. Free also noted that during peak periods, the LIRR operates at about 60% capacity. However, in January, a small handful of peak trains operated at 90% or above. While many believe these ridership increases are mainly thanks to congestion pricing, Rob Free believes it’s also important to factor in the testament to the LIRR’s increased performance, which includes growing customer satisfaction scores and a 95.6% on-time performance (OTP) in 2024. 

Apparently, despite so much criticism, the MTA’s congestion pricing plan has been so successful that they have begun hearing from officials off other cities that they are interested in implementing their own plan. Still, that doesn’t necessarily mean New York’s plan is here to stay, as it faces huge backlash and opposition, including more lawsuits. Even our US president, Donald Trump, has even vocally opposed the plan.

Now that we are less then a month away from the new timetables, my hope is that the LIRR will analyze this data, and try to make the best improvements to the new timetables. At this point, only time will tell.