MTA to add service to the A and L lines

So in June the MTA announced that they are looking to add a combined additional six extra round trips across the entire subway, with 1 additional round trip to both the Far Rockaway/and Lefferts Blvd portions of the A line during middays on weekends, and in addition to four extra L morning rush hour trips, bringing the headways up from 20 to 22 tph. The L can now handle 22 tph with recent electrical improvements. They said this will help bring down their load from 94% at 8am all the way down to 84%. They also want to shift some weekend trips on the L slightly earlier in the evening to help with crowding from events. 

MTA Fourth of July Service 2025

Independence Day, also known as Fourth of July falls on a Friday this year, which means that to startoff this post, it's important to note that the LIRR will run on a weekend schedule. 

Here's some of the service changes that'll occur during the Fourth of July weekend:

Wednesday, July 2, 2025:

Long Island Railroad:

• Normal weekday schedule, regular fares.
• Train 14, "Mini-Cannonball" as they call it (the 4:07pm from Penn Station to Montauk) will run. 

Metro-North Railroad:

• Metro-North will operate on a Thursday schedule.

Thursday, July 3, 2025:

Long Island Railroad:

• Normal weekday schedule, regular fares.
• Train 14, "Mini-Cannonball" as they call it (the 4:07pm from Penn Station to Montauk) will run. 
• Train 952 (the 3:58pm out of Ronkonkoma) will be extended to Greenport as 954, and train 953 won't run.

Metro-North Railroad:

• Metro-North will operate on Friday schedule, with some early getaway trains and some combined trains later in the rush hour.

Thursday, July 3, 2025:

Long Island Railroad:

• Normal weekday schedule, regular fares.
• Train 16, "The Cannonball" will run, along with the suit of other Summer Friday Hamptons trains (#10 and #12 to Montauk, along with #66, #89, and #99; SFCC trains #94 and #95 won't run.
• The LIRR will operate an additional extra train to Montauk, titled #24, departing Jamaica at 7:15pm, running non-stop to Patchogue, Mastic-Shirley, and all stops to Montauk.
• Train 952 (the 3:58pm out of Ronkonkoma) will be extended to Greenport as 954, and train 953 won't run.

Metro-North Railroad:

• Metro-North will operate on Friday schedule, with some early getaway trains and some combined trains later in the rush hour.

Friday, July 4, 2025:

Long Island Railroad:

• Normal Saturday schedule, regular fares.
• The LIRR will not operate the regular Sunday fleet of additional westbound trains from Montauk, only the Saturday ones.

Metro-North Railroad:

• Metro-North will operate on Sunday schedule, with some early getaway trains and some combined trains later in the rush hour.
• Metro-North will operate two additional trains targeted towards people coming from the Rye Playland and Macy's Firework Shows. The first extra, #3569, is a 10:54pm local out of Rye, making all stops to Grand Central, with the second extra, #3572, departing Grand Central at 11:13pm, making Harlem-125 St, then running nonstop to Westport, Fairfield, and all local stops to New Haven.

Saturday, July 5, 2025:

Long Island Railroad:

• Normal Saturday schedule, regular off-peak fares.
• The LIRR will not operate the regular Sunday fleet of additional westbound trains from Montauk, only the Saturday ones.

Metro-North Railroad:

• Normal Saturday schedule, regular off-peak fares.

Sunday, July 6, 2025:

Long Island Railroad:

• Normal Sunday schedule, with regular off-peak fares.
• The regular Sunday fleet of additional westbound trains from Montauk will operate.
• The LIRR will operate an additional extra train from Montauk to Jamaica, titled #6021, departing Montauk at 8:45pm, making all stops to Westhampton before then running nonstop to Jamaica.

Metro-North Railroad:

• Normal Saturday schedule, regular off-peak fares.

Also, on the subway, the MTA will run increased service on the A, C, F, N, 2, and 4 lines to accommodate for increased travel to the Macy's Fourth of July Fireworks show from the afternoon thru the late evening. 

The thing is, they really need to increase service on the 7 as things can get pretty bad for people watching from near Vernon Blvd-Jackson Avenue. Last year, the 7 got jammed as they didn't run enough trains and this lead to out of control crowding, thus spilling onto the other lines, specifically the G, E, and the N, yet this year they're continuing the same problem by not providing more service on the line that's specifically supposed to target these travelers. 

The (7) is CBTC, so due to the planned work, they could easily store a couple of trains on the express tracks, then deadhead them over to Hudson Yards and mix them with the locals. If I were the you, I'd avoid the 7 at all costs on Fourth of July night since things we'll probably get pretty ugly following the show.

Anyways, I wish everyone a happy Fourth of July weekend!

Sec. Sean Duffy goes on a "field-trip" to Manhattan

I thought I'd make a quick post on a news thing that occurred with the MTA and New York City Transit that I saw yesterday evening. Been a while since I've covered New York City Transit, but I think this important. Yesterday, Sean Duffy, head of DOT, took a two-stop ride on the B train (possibly not the greatest choice), with the goal of addressing the New York City Subway's state of security and safety at this time. His findings were rather, aggressive, and he claimed "We're not where this needs to be" after being brought on a brief tour by Mayor Adams. 

He said he passed people who seamed to be unwell during his tour, and he called it "not humane" to have people with mental illness living in the subway. At the press event later, he said he may try to send DOGE folks down to the MTA to see how there spending their money and try to make any improvements to how taxpayer money is being spent. 

Amazingly, when asked if he considered the subway a "shithole" he said "Some would say". Quite a defeat to all those who work in and for it. An annoyed Gov. Kathy Hochul said this "Sec. Duffy  has literally no idea what he's talking about. As Mayor Adams and most New Yorkers know, Gov Kathy Hochul has stepped up to add NYPD officers and security guards resources on public transit. Now, subway crime has declined by double digits and ridership continues to grow". "We hope secretary enjoyed his field trip to Manhattan." 

Apparently, he's now threatening to defund the MTA over their crime issues alone. Personally, I believe the MTA has been trying to improve crime rates, and that it's a very difficult task considering the size of the system and the amount of crime and homelessness that was allowed to build up over time. I'd like to see him provide more constructive feed back, instead of just slamming them. This must be a huge slap in the face for the the entire MTA leadership including Janno Lieber himself.

Switch Heaters

In my opinion, one of the best ways to experience the LIRR is through snow. Not only is it beautiful, picturesque, but there's almost nothing better then looking over the edge of the platform at Jamaica on a cold, snowy morning and seeing the interlocking glowing. Wait, what? Why is the interlocking glowing?

When snow and ice tighten their grip, the LIRR will "fire up" dozens of heaters under the switches formally known as "switch heaters" to prevent the ice and slush from getting the best of the switches. These heaters play a silent, yet essential role in maintaining the rush hours. One disabled switch at let's say, Hicksville, for example, can cause one branch or even the entire rush hour to go down FAST! 

For a casual commuter, the site of a switch heater may look very alarming, however, it turns out that it's very normal for the switches to look like their on fire while the heater is on. 

Here are a couple of switch heaters at Jamaica in action (credit to NYC Subway Life):

Credit to NYC Subway Life

Credit to NYC Subway Life

Credit to NYC Subway Life

Credit to the MTA/Facebook

These days, many of the switch heaters on the LIRR are actually electric. They are made up of very high resistance metal bars that are bolted to both sides of the actual rail. One end is tied to the third rail through a knife switch, and the other is grounded to the rail.

Most of the switch heaters are activated onsite, while some are remote controlled. The gas-powered ones were much less reliable, and the gas was cheap. Today, they run using natural gas that is provided by the ulity companies and the gas is supplied to the heaters by a one-and-a-half inch pipe. Still, the gas heaters are unreliable. They can be blown out by wind, and then they have to be re-lit. Which, isn't exactly easy during a bad snowstorm or during the middle of rush hour.

Trackmen use "switch oil" to thaw out frozen switches. "Switch oil" is Hexane, which is a hydrocarbon oil that is dumped along the rail from a can that looks like a flower watering can. Another trackmen will follow with a brazing broom and soak up the stuff which then is used to light the switches, effectively de-icing the switch. 

The electric heaters are normally maintained by the signal department, while gas heaters by the Building and Bridges department.

While we're on the subject of ice and snow on the rails, let's talk about another common phenomenon that is seen.

I'll send the link to the video, but as you can see this NYC Subway train was making crackling noises as it was at 52 Street. Then as it began to depart, the contact shoe kinda lit on fire a bit and sparks came up. This is also a normal thing, as the snow, ice, and salt can cause it. 

In conclusion, switch heaters are a very imperative piece of railroad infrastucure that you should thank for getting to your job ontime during one of those snowy mornings that we all love. The concept of switch heaters has been around for hundreds of years, and it's evidence that many of the oldest pieces of railroad technology are some of the most reliable. Next time you see a switch on fire, please make sure to not call the fire department!

Late Friday Links 12/20

Happy Friday everyone! Now that I’m on break, my schedule has greatly improved and quite a few articles are scheduled the next couple of days so make sure to check every morning.Here  are a good couple of articles for your commute home:

• Drunk Driver On Tracks At Elmont

I didn’t have time to make a post on this; but I have failed to mention this. A brooklyn man somehow managed to drive an SUV onto the railroad tracks at Elmont- UBS Arena.

• NJ Transit Rail Strike in January Possible Dates

I haven’t talked about New Jersey Transit recently, so I thought I’d mention it. There are rumors of a possible rail strike in January.

• MTA Board Approves Chargers

The MTA board has approved a deal to replace the aging DE and DM30ACs. I’m personally saddened by this, as these are my home locomotives, but it’s a very worthwhile investment as these cars are aging and becoming extremely unreliable.

• 2025 SMEE Replacement - MTA

The New York City Subway also announced they’ll begin “replacing” the R62, R62A, and R68 cars in 2025, however, I doubt that.

I hope everything will run smoothly this weekend, as it’s an important one, and I’m hoping the loads won’t be too bad. If you got on vacation today, like me, I hope you enjoy your week (s) off.

MTA: No train service to Rockaways for 4 months next year

I'm sleepily writing this post after basketball tryouts, so I'm exhausted and please forgive any typos that may come up. Earlier this evening, I heard that the MTA is shutting down train service to the Rockaways for 4 months from January 17 to May 19, 2025. 

During this shutdown, (A) trains will terminate at Howard Beach-JFK Airport in both directions, and the Rockaway Park Shuttle trains will not run at all. The MTA stated that they are doing this to repair bridges that were extensively damaged during Hurricane Sandy, which I could definitely see.

Now, the Rockaways is the undoubtedly the least used portion of the New York City Subway, but it did come as a surprise, and it will still affect over 9,000 riders, and for many of them, the subway is one of the only modes of transportation into Manhattan. They will be running free Q97 busses from Howard Beach to Far Rockaway, and free Q109 busses from Howard Beach to Beach 67 St and Beach 90 St. They also said that "enhanced train service for LIRR is being considered."