0

LIRR Rider 1 – Criminals 0

Posted by
on January 19th, 2008 at 6:38 pm

10 nights ago, 4 criminals hanging around the Island Park station thought they found the perfect mark to rob. However by time the incident was over, 4 criminals disappeared into the middle of the night failing to take one item. The incident started when a man got off a Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) train a few minutes before 10:30 pm.

The man started was walking on the south side of the Island Park station by Austin Boulevard and Long Beach Road when 4 men approached him & proceeded to punch & kick him as they were trying to take the victim’s bag. The victim continued to resist as he got blow after blow. Eventually the 4 criminals ran off into the night, 3 by foot & 1 by scooter while failing to get anything from the victim.

The unidentified victim was taken to Long Beach Hospital where he was treated for ear & eye injuries. Unfortunately Newsday provided no information on the 4 suspects for whatever reason. Hopefully the cops will catch up with these lowlifes soon & put them behind bars.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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0

LIRR Officially Announces Port Washington Branch Shuttle

Posted by
on January 19th, 2008 at 5:18 pm

Continuing with the topic of the train weekend disruptions, the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) issued a press release detailing the Port Washington Branch Shuttle schedule. The shuttle will serve subway customers affected by the suspension of service on the . Here is the press release courtesy of the MTA:

 REGULAR PORT WASHINGTON WEEKEND SERVICE UNAFFECTED

The MTA Long Island Rail Road will be providing shuttle service between Penn Station and Flushing-Main Street Station on the Port Washington Branch for up to five consecutive weekends starting January 12-13 for MTA New York City Transit subway customers affected by the suspension of service on the 7 line between Main Street-Flushing Station and Woodside-61st Street Station. Regular Port Washington Branch weekend service will be in effect.

LIRR shuttles will operate approximately every fifteen minutes in both directions beginning at 5 AM on Saturday through 1 AM on Sunday, and again at 5 AM on Sunday through 1 AM on Monday on the affected weekends. Shuttle stops will include Penn Station, Woodside and Flushing-Main Street Stations. LIRR and NYC Transit personnel will be on hand at all affected stations to assist transferring customers. There is no additional charge for the shuttle service.

“The Long Island Rail Road is poised and ready to provide alternative shuttle train service to accommodate 7 Line riders during the upcoming weekends as NYC Transit performs work to modernize its signal system,” said LIRR President Helena Williams. “While this alternate service is being provided, we ask our customers to be patient as our trains will be more crowded than normal.”

Affected customers can consult the LIRR or NYC Transit websites at www.mta.info. Customers can also contact the 24-hour Travel Information Center in New York City at 718-217-LIRR, in Nassau County at 516-822-LIRR or in Suffolk County at 631-231-LIRR. The Travel Information Center’s TDD number for the hearing impaired is 718-558-3022.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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2

7 Train Disruptions To Last Up To 5 Weekends

Posted by
on January 19th, 2008 at 5:11 pm

As you have most likely heard by now, weekend service on the 7 line will be in complete shambles due to a major capital project involving the installation of new signaling and track switches. I am posting the press release to continue with the flow of updating the blog with the most recent news. Here is the press release courtesy of the MTA:

Long Island Rail Road to Provide Alternate Service at No Cost

Due to a major capital project involving the installation of new signaling and track switches along the Flushing Line, 7 train service will be suspended between Flushing-Main Street and Woodside-61st Street Station for up to five weekends beginning January 12-14 (12:01 a.m. Saturday to 5 a.m. Monday) and, beginning on Friday morning, January 11th until February 29th, weekday express service will be suspended (all 7 trains will run local).

A free-fare alternate service will be provided by MTA Long Island Rail Road trains (Flushing-Main St., Port Washington branch) and NYC Transit shuttle buses during this disruption. Passengers traveling between Flushing-Main Street and Manhattan are urged to use the Long Island Rail Road, which will run approximately every 15 minutes between approximately 6:00 a.m. and 1:00 a.m. For passengers traveling to Manhattan from stations between Flushing-Main Street and 61st Street – Woodside, Shuttle Bus service making all stops to 74th Street – Broadway will be available. Once there, customers can transfer to E F R trains into Manhattan. At 74th Street -Broadway, there will be additional E and F trains available between 11:00 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. on both Saturday and Sunday during these weekends.

The work being done is the second phase of a $76 million capital program to improve and upgrade the subway infrastructure along the Flushing Line. The line’s signal system is being modernized between Queensboro Plaza and 82nd Street-Jackson Heights as part of this project that also includes the reconfiguration of track switches in the vicinity of 74th Street-Broadway. The modernization of signals will allow faster and more efficient service while maintaining safe standards of operation.

When completed, the new signal system and switches will allow trains to cross between tracks and serve 74th Street-Broadway in the event that track work is being performed in the vicinity. Currently, trains cannot make this track change.

“We understand that 7 Line riders will face major disruptions of service while this vital work is being performed,” said NYC Transit President Howard H. Roberts, Jr. “However, this work is necessary in order to bring state-of-the-art improvements to the operation of the 7 Line and will increase the availability of a major transfer point.”

“The Long Island Rail Road is poised and ready to provide alternative LIRR shuttle train service to accommodate 7 Line riders during the upcoming weekends as NYC Transit performs work to modernize its signal system,” said LIRR President Helena Williams. “While this alternate service is being provided, we ask our customers to be patient as our trains will be more crowded than normal.”

Long Island Rail Road staff will also be on hand to assist riders transferring between the subway and LIRR. NYC Transit personnel will be on hand at the Flushing-Main Street, 74th Street-Broadway and Woodside-61st Street 7 stations to help guide customers and to explain travel options:

– Customers who board at Main Street-Flushing and normally transfer at 74th Street to reach Manhattan should use the LIRR and transfer to the E at Penn Station.

– Customers who board at 61st Street-Woodside and are heading to Flushing-Main Street should use the LIRR, not the Shuttle bus, except during night hours.

– Customers boarding the LIRR at Penn Station should:
Go to the lower level, find an LIRR monitor (displaying Port Washington or Flushing-Main Street) and go to the track for the next Pt. Wash. or F.M.S. train

– Local Shuttle Bus service runs at all times between Main Street – Flushing and Woodside-61st Street

– Flushing-bound Express Shuttle Bus service runs non-stop from 74th Street-Broadway to Main Street-Flushing between 6 a.m. and 1 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday

– Overnight Express Shuttle Bus service runs non-stop between Main Street – Flushing and 61st Street – Woodside from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. Saturday and Sunday

SubTalk posters detailing the service changes will be posted at affected stations and onboard 7 trains. Brochures are available in English, Chinese, Korean and Spanish.

For more information on this and other weekend construction work, riders can log on to www.mta.info and click on Service Advisories for information on the 7 line and for the entire Weekend Summary. While on line, customers may also listen to a TransitTrax podcast on the project at http://www.mta.info/nyct/transittrax.htm.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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2

LIRR Commuters Campaign President Calls Out The LIRR

Posted by
on January 19th, 2008 at 3:40 pm

I applaud LIRR Commuters Campaign President Peter Haynes who I feel accurately called out The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) in a letter he recently sent to Newsday:

LIRR’s inflated sense of service

When a self-grading organization like the LIRR continually gives itself an “A” at the same time most commuters give it less than a “C,” something is wrong – very wrong.

All commuters know that the LIRR keeps its own, unaudited, unverified on-time performance numbers, and these numbers do not in any way reflect the actual service provided to customers.

Virtually all commuters have vastly different “on time” experiences most days of the week – like Jan. 7, for example, with multihour delays on nearly every branch.

Diesel service is an admitted disaster, the M7s have many problems, there are major delays every week – yet the LIRR chooses to brag about a fake number? What the LIRR is really saying is, “Abandon hope all ye who purchase LIRR monthly tickets.”

Peter Haynes

I feel Mr. Haynes is accurate in calling out the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) for statistics that do not mesh with the reality riders face daily. As I noted here, the record comes as a surprise to me considering all the complaints I hear or read about almost daily involving the LIRR. I would love to see the actual numbers if the results were accurately kept in the manner I mentioned in the aforementioned entry.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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0

MTA & Commuter Advocates Have A Transit Wish List

Posted by
on January 19th, 2008 at 3:23 pm

9 days ago Marlene Naanes of AMNY wrote an article about the MTA & other transit advocates having a wish list as the deadline approaches for the submission of the 5 year capital plan to the state. Here is the article courtesy of AMNY:

As New York barrels into 2008, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and transit advocates are pressing for rail improvements they hope will make commuters’ lives easier for years to come.

Their post-holiday wish lists include:

Adding a 10-mile-long third track to the Long Island Rail Road’s Main Line between Queens Village and Hicksville to hasten the ride.

Replacing the old subway signal system with computer-based communication technology, which has been installed on the L line. This will improve speed, say advocates.

Running trains into the future Moynihan Station, Penn Station’s replacement, to allow Metro-North riders to commute to the West Side without changing trains.

Extending the No. 7 train line west to a station at 10th Avenue and 41st Street.

Speeding up train station face-lifts.

Replacing aging buses.

Continuing funding of mega projects such as the Second Avenue subway line and the Fulton Street Transit Center.

“We’d love to have enough to do another phase of the Second Avenue subway,” said MTA board member Andrew Albert. “We’d love for Fulton Street Transit Center to be more than a shrunken head.”

With their eyes on a March 31 deadline to submit a five-year capital plan to the state, the MTA and the advocates are pressing local, state and federal officials for the money to fund these projects.

“We wanted to begin speaking early in the process about the order of magnitude of the investment in transportation that will be needed in the five years if New York’s economy is to remain competitive with those of other world cities like London, Shanghai and a host of others” said MTA spokesman Aaron Donovan.

MTA officials are looking to surpass the current plan, which totals about $21 billion, by about $5 to $10 billion to keep the system in the best possible shape to accommodate the area’s booming population. State officials said it is too soon to say how much funding it might approve sometime this year.

While you are at it, I suggest checking out the comments left for the article which can be found by clicking here. After reading the first comment from Castile, NY resident James, I felt the need to respond. I can’t stand the typical idiotic ranting from upstate residents who continue to look down on New York City (NYC) considering we are the hand that feeds it.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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