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LIRR Provides Extra Service For Passover & Good Friday

Posted by
on April 9th, 2009 at 9:17 am

I apologize for not getting to these entries sooner. To say things have been hectic around here would be a huge understatement. Anyhow, let me post the LIRR press release they e-mailed me a few days ago. The release was to announce that the Long Island Rail Road would be providing extra service for Passover & Good Friday. Here are the complete details:

The MTA Long Island Rail Road will operate eight additional eastbound trains from Penn Station, between 2:22 PM and 3:48 PM, for customers leaving work early in observance of Passover, April 8 & 9, and Good Friday, April 10. Each of these days, there will be three additional trains on the Babylon Branch, three on the Port Jefferson Branch, and one each on the Far Rockaway and Port Washington Branches.

The extra, afternoon service from Penn Station follows:

Babylon Branch:

• 2:22 PM express to Lynbrook, then all stops to Babylon.

• 3:00 PM stopping at Jamaica, Rockville Centre, then all stops to Babylon.

• 3:31 PM express to Rockville Centre, then all stops to Babylon.

Port Jefferson Branch:

• 2:09 PM stopping at Jamaica, Carle Place, then all stops to Huntington.

• 2:26 PM stopping at Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, Jamaica, New Hyde Park, then all stops to Huntington.

• 3:24 PM stopping at Jamaica, Mineola, Westbury and Hicksville.

Far Rockaway Branch:

• 3:48 PM stopping at Jamaica, Locust Manor, then all stops to Far Rockaway.

Port Washington Branch:

• 3:40 PM stopping at Woodside, Flushing Main St., then all stops to Great Neck

xoxo Transit Blogger

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The 1 Is Still Not #1

Posted by
on April 9th, 2009 at 8:29 am

1 Train242nd St.-Van Cortlandt Park bound 1 train approaching 125th St.; Resized photo courtesy of Eye On Transit

In January 2008, straphangers made it clear that the 1 Train was not #1 by giving it an overall grade of a D+ for its Rider Report Card. Fast forward a little over a year later & the tune has changed a bit for riders. The 1 Train earned a C for its 2008 Rider Report Card. Here is the breakdown:

1 Train Riders Top 10 Priorities; 2007 priority rank in ( ):

01. Reasonable wait times for trains ( 1 )

02. Adequate room on board at rush hour ( 2 )

03. Minimal delays during trips ( 3 )

04. Station announcements that are easy to hear ( 4 )

05. Cleanliness of stations ( 6 )

06. Train announcements that are easy to hear ( 5 )

07. Sense of security in stations ( 9 )

08. Sense of security on trains ( 8 )

09. Station announcements that are informative ( 7 )

10. Working elevators and escalators in stations ( 10 )

—-

Complete 1 train riders priorities 2007 priority rank in ( ):

01. Reasonable wait times for trains ( 1 )

02. Adequate room on board at rush hour ( 2 )

03. Minimal delays during trips ( 3 )

04. Station announcements that are easy to hear ( 4 )

05. Cleanliness of stations ( 6 )

06. Train announcements that are easy to hear ( 5 )

07. Sense of security in stations ( 9 )

08. Sense of security on trains ( 8 )

09. Station announcements that are informative ( 7 )

10. Working elevators and escalators in stations ( 10 )

11. Cleanliness of subway cars ( 11 )

12. Comfortable temperature in subway cars ( 12 )

13. Courtesy and helpfulness of station personnel ( 13 )

14. Train announcements that are informative ( 14 )

15. Availability of MetroCard Vending Machines ( 18 )

16. Signs in station that help riders find their way ( 15 )

17. Ease of use of subway turnstiles ( 17 )

18. Signs in subway cars that help riders find their way ( 19 )

19. Lack of scratchitti in subway cars ( 16 )

20. Lack of graffiti in stations ( 21 )

21. Lack of graffiti in subway cars ( 20 )

Click here for the breakdown of votes in this section.
—-

Now here is the graded breakdown for all 21 categories; 2007 grade in ( ):

01. Minimal delays during trips C (C)

02. Reasonable wait times for trains C (C-)

03. Adequate room on board at rush hour D+ (D)

04. Sense of security in stations C+ (C+)

05. Sense of security on trains C (C)

06. Working elevators and escalators in stations C- (C)

07. Signs in stations that help riders find their way C+ (C+)

08. Signs in subway cars that help riders find their way C+ (C)

09. Cleanliness of stations C- (C-)

10. Cleanliness of subway cars C (C)

11. Station announcements that are easy to hear D+ (D)

12. Station announcements that are informative D+ (D+)

13. Train announcements that are easy to hear D+ (D+)

14. Train announcements that are informative C- (C-)

15. Lack of graffiti in stations C+ (C+)

16. Lack of graffiti in subway cars C+ (C+)

17. Lack of scratchitti in subway cars C (C)

18. Courtesy and helpfulness of station personnel C (C)

19. Comfortable temperature in subway cars C+ (C+)

20. Ease of use of subway turnstiles B- (B-)

21. Availability of MetroCard Vending Machines B- (B-)

Click here for the breakdown of votes in this section.

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

The overall grade might have changed but the top priorities sure didn’t. The top 10 priorities from 2007’s report card remained the same albeit with a few changes in ranking. The top 4 priorities remained exactly the same which shows a lack of progress according to riders.

I wonder how much of this will change with a new South Ferry terminal in place. One should not forget a rehabilitated 96th Street station which should be done soon. I would be curious to see the grades for 2009’s report card to see if these two things alone led to significant grade changes.

Overall, what I talked about last year still rings true for the most part a year later. Lets hope the future is brighter for the 1 Train as that would benefit so many.

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0

The W Leaves Failure Behind

Posted by
on April 6th, 2009 at 1:24 pm

W TrainAstoria/Ditmars Blvd-bound W departing the 36th Ave station. Resized photo courtesy of Eye On Transit.

In January 2008, I tied the Rider Report Cards of the W Train to our former President, George W. Bush. They both were failures according to the public. Fast forward a little over a year later & the overall grade showed an improvement just like our country has with a new leader in Barack Obama. However this is about the subway line so lets get straight to the details that led to an overall grade of a C.

W Train Riders Top 10 Priorities; 2007 priority rank in ( ):

01. Reasonable wait times for trains ( 1 )

02. Minimal delays during trips ( 2 )

03. Adequate room on board at rush hour ( 3 )

04. Station announcements that are easy to hear ( 5 )

05. Cleanliness of stations ( 8 )

06. Train announcements that are easy to hear ( 4 )

07. Cleaniness of subway cars ( 6 )

08. Sense if security on stations ( 9 )

09. Sense of security on trains ( 10 )

10. Courtesy and helpfulness of station personnel ( 14 )

—-

Complete W train riders priorities 2007 priority rank in ( ):

01. Reasonable wait times for trains ( 1 )

02. Minimal delays during trips ( 2 )

03. Adequate room on board at rush hour ( 3 )

04. Station announcements that are easy to hear ( 5 )

05. Cleanliness of stations ( 8 )

06. Train announcements that are easy to hear ( 4 )

07. Cleaniness of subway cars ( 6 )

08. Sense if security on stations ( 9 )

09. Sense of security on trains ( 10 )

10. Courtesy and helpfulness of station personnel ( 14 )

11. Working elevators and escalators in stations ( 13 )

12. Station announcements that are informative ( 7 )

13. Comfortable temperature in subway cars ( 15 )

14. Train announcements that are informative ( 11 )

15. Ease of use of subway turnstiles ( 17 )

16. Lack of scratchitti in subway cars ( 11 )

17. Signs in subway cars that help riders find their way ( 19 )

18. Lack of graffiti in stations ( 21 )

19. Availability of MetroCard Vending Machines ( 16 )

20. Lack of graffiti in subway cars ( 18 )

21. Signs in stations that help riders find their way ( 20 )

Click here for the breakdown of votes in this section.

—-

Now here is the graded breakdown for all 21 categories; 2007 grade in ( ):

01. Minimal delays during trips C (D+)

02. Reasonable wait times for trains C (D+)

03. Adequate room on board at rush hour C (D+)

04. Sense of security in stations C+ (C+)

05. Sense of security on trains C+ (C)

06. Working elevators and escalators in stations C (C-)

07. Signs in stations that help riders find their way C+ (C)

08. Signs in subway cars that help riders find their way C+ (C)

09. Cleanliness of stations C- (C-)

10. Cleanliness of subway cars C (C-)

11. Station announcements that are easy to hear C- (D)

12. Station announcements that are informative C- (D+)

13. Train announcements that are easy to hear C- (D+)

14. Train announcements that are informative C- (D+)

15. Lack of graffiti in stations C+ (C)

16. Lack of graffiti in subway cars B- (C)

17. Lack of scratchitti in subway cars C (C-)

18. Courtesy and helpfulness of station personnel C (C-)

19. Comfortable temperature in subway cars C+ (C)

20. Ease of use of subway turnstiles B- (C+)

21. Availability of MetroCard Vending Machines B- (B-)

Click here for the breakdown of votes in this section.

___________________________________________________________________________________________

The overall grade for the W Train showed improvement, however the same issues remain. In my breakdown last year, I noted how I understood this was nothing more than a supplemental line. However this is not an excuse for the many occurrences of a lopsided arrival ratio of N Train‘s to W Train‘s. Honestly, the analysis from last year still rings true. For how long remains to be seen. This might be the last time I ever do a Rider Report Card result for the W if the doomsday scenario officially kicks in.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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0

Service Diversions 04-03

Posted by
on April 3rd, 2009 at 6:11 pm

I have just updated the service diversions page with the latest scheduled diversions for the weekend & upcoming week (and beyond in some cases). Don’t forget to check in for any changes to the page. I also suggest printing out a copy of the page to use while riding the system.

I will have some new entries over the weekend. Unfortunately with the server outage, subsequent issues from it, & work on a major music project, I was unable to write any entries.

Have a safe & wonderful weekend!

xoxo Transit Blogger

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1

Site Outage 03-30

Posted by
on April 1st, 2009 at 1:32 am

I would like to take this time & apologize for yesterday’s downtime. I noticed something was wrong during the late morning hours as I went to see if I had any e-mails from the MTA. I could not access my e-mail & immediately noticed the site was down. A short time later, I found out the company where I have my NYC server at was under a major attack. Outages were across their entire network from coast to coast.

So by the end of tomorrow (if not sooner), I should be fully caught up with recent news. Some of the entries will include the Rider Report Card results for the 1 Train & W Train.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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