Ridership is down since 2008, but Metro-North is finally more popular than the LIRR. (Source: Wall Street Journal)
In the unofficial war for commuter rail dominance, Metro-North in September won a decisive battle for the first time in its history under the MTA. As the Wall Street Journal’s Andrew Grossman reports, ridership on the Grand Central-bound Metro-North lines was higher than that of the Long Island Rail Road, and Metro-North, long the leader in on-time performance, can now lay claim to being the most popular commuter rail line in the country. According to the September figures — available in the latest MTA board books — the LIRR saw 6.83 million passengers pass through its doors in September while Metro-North serviced 6.9 million.
Overall, though, ridership on the commuter rail lines is still significantly off the record-setting pace set in early 2008. Before the economy plunged, the LIRR served over nine million riders per month while approximately 8.6 million took Metro-North. Still, the MTA expects the LIRR’s popularity to grow again. “Economic recovery is occurring at different rates in different parts of our region and both railroads will continue to pursue ways to show that public transportation is still the best way to travel. As the economy picks up, we expect the LIRR ridership will rebound,” an agency spokesman said to the Journal.
Interestingly, Grossman pegs two drivers behind Metro-North’s four percent increase in ridership. He attributes it to “growth in the city’s northern suburbs and an increase in people commuting out of the city to jobs in big employment centers like White Plains and Stamford.” But what of the declining LIRR figures? Ridership sunk one percent over the same time period from a year ago, and while officials look at the economy, two other factors leap out at me. First, due to the threat of bad weather, the LIRR suspended service to the East End over Labor Day, and second, service cuts have eroded the frequency of trains and their popularity.
It’s worth commenting too on a statement by Maureen Michaels, chair of the LIRR Commuter Council. In fact, she fingers the service cuts as a main driver behind the LIRR’s second-place finish, but she claims that less frequent service means that the commuter railroad is no longer “cost effective” for commuters. It’s certainly true that fewer trains and higher fares lead to inconvenienced and disgruntled passengers, but the LIRR remains far more “cost effective” than the alternative — which is driving into Manhattan from Long Island. The fares would have to jump by a magnitude of around four or five for the trains to become less cost effective, and statements such as Michaels’ should not go unquestioned.
Buried in the MTA’s board materials this month is some news bound to make commuters who like to unwind with a beer sigh in exasperation. To cover higher labor and supplier costs within the alcohol industry, the MTA is raising beer and wine prices for Metro-North and LIRR commuters, and since the price bump is higher than the consumer price index, the move requires Board approval. Overall, the increase is just a quarter across the board. On the LIRR, for instance, 25-ounce Fosters cans will increase from $4.50 to $4.75 while imported beer will rise to $3.50 and domestic beer to $2.50. You can check out the full list of increases right here.
Of course, as Pete Donohue reports, some people are unhappy with the price hikes, but most commuters seem resigned to the move. “I’m not happy about it but will still pay it because I love being able to get a glass before getting on the train,” Maggie McCabe, a regular Metro-North wine-drinker, said. Metro-North and the LIRR should realize an additional $250,000 in revenue after the higher prices go into effect.
Late this morning, a New Jersey Transit train suffered a minor derailment as the train left Penn Statin this morning, and, as City Room notes, “the accident and its aftermath have put Tracks 1 through 9 out of commission at the 21-track station.” In the aftermath of this incident, NJ Transit is now sharing tracks with Amtrak and the Long Island Rail Road, and everyone is suffering delays into and out of Penn Station this evening.
For Long Island-bound commuters, the MTA warns that trains out of Penn Station are running up to 30 minutes behind schedule, and many rush hour trains have been or will be canceled. The full list of cancellations is available here. For better service east, consider taking the subway to the Atlantic Ave. Terminal. NJ Transit too is reporting delays of up to an hour with some service terminating in Hoboken.
Right now, PATH has added service and is cross-honoring NJ Transit rail tickets and passes at 33rd St., Hoboken and Newark Penn Station while NJ Transit buses are cross-honoring rail tickets and passes systemwide and private carriers departing from Port Authority are also cross-honoring all NJ Transit passes. Officials say the derailment will be cleared up by the Tuesday a.m. rush, and commutes tomorrow morning will proceed as scheduled.
When the Long Island Rail Road’s Hall signal tower suffered a crippling fire in August, the great irony of the story was one we know well. The MTA was supposed to bring a modernized switching system online three years ago, and the replacement project was 167 percent over budget. Had the project been on time, the fire wouldn’t have knocked out most LIRR service for a week.
This weekend, the authority is beginning the switchover to the modernized system, and LIRR service is severely limited because of it. In essence, this project is replacing 1910’s-era electro-mechanical Model 14 Interlocking Machines at the three towers with a modern microprocessor based system. As the MTA says in a press release, “The new more reliable system will increase operational flexibility for the large volume of trains that pass through this area, helping to reduce customer delays. The new system also will provide redundant signal control systems and will allow for quicker recovery time in the event of a power surge, or lightning storm or fire-related service disruption like the one experienced in August 2010 when high voltage power entered the signal system and damaged the wiring to the signal control board in Jamaica’s Hall Tower.”
For Saturday and Sunday, though, and again in November, bringing the new system online means severely reduced service. Only three trains per hour are operating between Jamaica and Penn Station, and the MTA is urging customers to allow for up 70 minutes of added travel time. For the line-by-line breakdown of the service changes, check out the Jamaica Cutover Modernization site. The video above explains the new system.
Meanwhile, New York City Transit has a full slate of changes in store for us as well. All lines except the 5 and L are suffering through weekend changes. As always, these come to me via Transit and are subject to change without notice. Check out the signs in your local station and listen to on-board announcements. Subway Weekender has the map.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 23 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 25, uptown 1 trains run express from 72nd Street to 96th Street due to track work at 72nd Street.
From 11:30 p.m. Saturday, October 23 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 25, 1 service is suspended between 242nd Street and 168th Street due to rehab work between 242nd Street and Dyckman Street stations. The A trains, free shuttle buses and the M3 bus provide alternate service. Free shuttle buses run in two sections:
On Broadway between 242nd Street and 215th Street stations, then connecting to the 207th Street A station.
On St. Nicholas Avenue between 191st and 168th Street stations.
1 trains run local between 168th Street and 34th Street then express between 34th Street and 14th Street where it terminates. (2 and 3 trains run local between 96th Street and Chambers Street.)
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, October 22 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 25, there is no 1 service between 14th Street and South Ferry due to Port Authority work at the WTC site. The 2, 3, and free shuttle buses provide alternate service. During the daytime hours, 1 train service runs express between 34th Street and 14th Street where it terminates. The 2 and 3 trains replace the 1 between 34th Street and Chambers Street. Free shuttle buses replace the 1 between Chambers Street and South Ferry. Note: During the overnight hours, downtown 1 trains will run local between 34th Street and 14th Street. The 3 trains run express between 148th Street and 42nd Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 23 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 25, Manhattan-bound 2 and 4 trains skip Eastern Parkway, Grand Army Plaza and Bergen Street due to tunnel ceiling inspection.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 23 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 25, downtown 2 trains run local from 96th Street to Chambers Street and uptown 2 trains run local from Chambers Street to 72nd Street, then express to 96th Street. These changes are due to Port Authority work at the WTC site and track work at 72nd Street.
From 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, October 23, Bronx-bound 2 trains skip 219th, 225th, 233rd, and Nereid Avenue due to the painting of the elevated steel structure.
From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, October 23 and Sunday, October 24, downtown 3 trains run local from 96th Street to Chambers Street and uptown 3 trains run local from Chambers Street to 72nd Street, then express to 96th Street. These changes are due to Port Authority work at the WTC site and track work at 72nd Street.
From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, October 23 and Sunday, October 24, Manhattan-bound 3 trains skip Eastern Parkway, Grand Army Plaza and Bergen Street due to tunnel ceiling inspections.
From 11 p.m. Friday, October 22 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 25, downtown 4 and 6 trains skip 33rd, 28th, and 23rd Streets, Astor Place, Bleecker, Spring and Canal Streets due to track work south of 33rd Street and work on the Broadway-Lafayette to Bleecker Street transfer.
From 4 a.m. Saturday, October 23 to 10 p.m. Sunday, October 24, the last stop for some Bronx-bound 6 trains is 3rd Avenue due to track panel installation between Middletown Road and Westchester Square.
From 4 a.m. Saturday, October 23 to 11 p.m. Sunday, October 24, Flushing-bound 7 trains skip 82nd, 90th, 103rd, and 111th Streets due to switch renewal work at 111th Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 23 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 25, Manhattan-bound A trains run on the F line from Jay Street to West 4th Street, then local to 59th Street/Columbus Circle due to work on the Fulton Street Transit Center.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 23 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 25, there is no A train service at Broadway-Nassau/Fulton Street in either direction due to work on the Fulton Street Transit Center.
From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, October 23 and Sunday, October 24, Manhattan-bound C trains run on the F line from Jay Street to West 4th Street due to work on the Fulton Street Transit Center.
From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, October 23 and Sunday, October 24, there is no C train service at Broadway-Nassau/Fulton Street in either direction due to work on the Fulton Street Transit Center.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, October 22 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 25, free shuttle buses replace D service in Brooklyn between 36th Street and Coney Island/Stillwell Avenue due to structural repair and station rehabilitation from 71st Street to Bay 50th Street and ADA work at Bay Parkway. (Note: D trains run on the N line between 36th Street and Coney Island/Stillwell Avenue.)
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, October 23 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 25, Queens-bound E trains skip Spring Street and 23rd Street due to work on the Fulton Street Transit Center.
From 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday, October 23, Coney Island-bound F trains skip Avenue U due to signal maintenance.
From 6 a.m. to 12 noon, Sunday, October 24, free shuttle buses replace F trains between Church Avenue and Kings Highway due to switch replacement south of Ditmas Avenue.
From 10:30 p.m. Friday, October 22 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 25, free shuttle buses replace G trains between Court Square and Bedford-Nostrand Avs. due to track work north of Metropolitan Avenue.
From 6 a.m. Saturday, October 23 to 6 p.m. Sunday, October 24, Manhattan-bound J trains skip Flushing Avenue, Lorimer Street and Hewes Street due to switch work north of Myrtle Avenue.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, October 22 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 25, free shuttle buses between Metropolitan Avenue and Myrtle Avenue-Broadway replace M service due to platform edge rehabilitation.
From 11 p.m. Friday, October 22 to 5 a.m. Monday, October 25, uptown N trains skip Prince, 8th, 23rd, and 28th Streets due to track work north of Prince Street.
On Monday, October 25, the Manhattan-bound platforms at Neck Road and Avenue U will reopen following closure due to station rehabilitation.
From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, October 23 and Sunday, October 24, uptown R trains skip Prince, 8th, 23rd, and 28th Streets due to track work north of Prince Street.
By and large, the MTA’s commuter rail trains are the model of on-time performance for North American trains. At 98 percent, Metro-North, in fact, has the highest percentage of on-time trains in the country, and the Long Island Rail Road is on time over 92 percent of the time. Yet, the two rail agencies also suffer from some very regularly delayed trains, and in today’s Wall Street Journal, Andrew Grossman explores those frequently late routes.
Using data on delayed and late trains the MTA made available on its website, the Journal explored which peak-hour routes are often behind the schedule. For its part, the MTA defines an on-time train as the national industry does. “A commuter train,” the authority says, “is considered On Time if it arrives at its final destination within 5 minutes and 59 seconds of its scheduled arrival time. Only trains that are canceled, partially canceled or arrive at their final destination 6 or more minutes behind schedule are listed on the website.”
Grossman found that the least reliable train is the LIRR’s 4:39 p.m. into Penn Station from Babylon. The train has a scheduled arrival time of 5:53 p.m. but frequently misses that deadline. Between July and the end of September, the train was late 32 times by an average of 13 minutes and 12 seconds. Grossman offers more:
Overall, LIRR trains suffer more-frequent delays than those on Metro-North, and almost one-third of LIRR trains delayed were running at the busiest times, compared to 27% of Metro-North delays. All except for one of Metro-North’s 12 most-frequently delayed trains were off-peak trains, which tend to carry fewer passengers than rush hour trains. That wasn’t the case on the LIRR, where trains carrying commuters home from the city in the evening—such as the 6:25 p.m. to Port Washington—were among the most-often delayed.
The LIRR is older, larger and more complex. Long Island riders have also had to deal with a string of incidents this summer that led to hundreds of canceled and delayed trains, including a signal fire. “The Long Island Rail Road has had a challenging couple of months,” the Long Island Rail Road’s president, Helena Williams, said last week.
Some of the oft-delayed trains have recurring problems, such as track work, crowding that makes stops take longer or train traffic. Others seem to be just unlucky. There was no pattern to the problems on the 12:07 p.m. from Grand Central to New Haven, MTA spokeswoman Marjorie Anders said. One of the train’s 10 delays was because the devices that connect the train to overhead power lines needed inspecting. Another was because of track work and a passenger needing help boarding the train.
Despite these findings, it’s worth repeating that only two percent of two percent of Metro-North trains are late. Underground, meanwhile, the MTA’s on-time performance has declined lately. Transit says its weekday on-time performance was down to just 86.3 percent in July 2010, a twelve-month low. Right-of-way delays, overcrowding and the presence of track workers accounted for 67.2 percent of the 21,076 delays reported that month.
Just five days after restoring full service past Jamaica, the Long Island Rail Road is again canceling trains. This time, though, the cause for the service changes is a hurricane bearing down on Long Island. Nature is a fickle beast, and service to the East End of the Island will pay because of it.
According to the MTA’s service advisory, “the LIRR will suspend train service east of Speonk on the Montauk Branch and east of Ronkonkoma on the Main Line, which normally takes customers to Greenport and Long Island’s North Fork.” The agency summarizes the changes:
LIRR service west of Ronkonkoma and west of Speonk will operate on a normal schedule. In addition, eight early getaway trains between 2:02 PM and 3:48 PM scheduled from Penn Station heading east on Friday will continue to operate to Babylon, Great Neck, Far Rockaway, Hicksville and Huntington.
The last eastbound train to Montauk will leave Penn Station at 12:39 AM Friday morning and arrive in Montauk at 3:57 AM. The last train traveling westbound to Penn Station is scheduled to leave Montauk at 5:39 AM and arrive at Penn Station at 8:42 AM. The last westbound train will leave Greenport at 5:30 AM Friday morning.
Those commuting from stations east of Speonk and Ronkonkoma will not have LIRR service on Friday morning. These cancellations could become potential problems for people who need to evacuate the Island by heading west. Roads will grow clogged, and the pace slow.
Earl, currently a hurricane, is expected to reach Long Island on Friday and should be a Tropical Storm by the time it does so. Still, the LIRR will not have a service update until late Friday night and will work to restore trains by Saturday morning. Depending up on the damage sustained though, it could take up to eight hours to reactivate the line after the storm passes. If Earl knocks out trees or power lines, service could of course be suspended for longer.
Although the Hall signal tower has since been repaired and LIRR service is operating normally after last Monday’s fire, I spotted this video late this weekend and wanted to pass it along. In it, the MTA goes inside the signal tower and explains what happened to the burned out equipment and how crews had to test each of 200 wires to ensure that the switch is working properly. Getting service up and running with seven days was apparently quite an undertaking.
Just a week after a fire crippled LIRR service east of Jamaica, the railroad announced last night that service on Monday morning will run as scheduled. The LIRR completed repairs and testing at the 90-year-old Hall signal tower by 4 p.m. on Sunday and is now prepared to see their 700 trains pass through the switch on Monday.
“I appreciate the challenges our customers faced during the past week and I thank them for their patience during what has been a difficult time,” LIRR President Helena E. Williams said in a statement. “I would also like to thank the hundreds of railroad employees who worked around the clock to put the damaged signal and switch system back together while keeping service going and assisting our customers throughout the week. Once again, they demonstrated their dedication and commitment to our customers.”
The fire on Monday knocked out a signal tower that will be replaced by a $56-million computerized control center in the fall. During the outage, the railroad had to use a manual switching system that led to rampant delays, canceled trains and missed connections throughout the week. Still, the LIRR managed to run between 60-75 percent of trains last week. Yet, by the end of the week, it was clear that the problem could have been avoided had the switch system been replaced on time and on budget. “While the new systems are a big improvement, more needs to be done to replace and update some of our old technology throughout the LIRR,” Williams said. “That’s why we need a fully funded, five-year capital program.”
The fire at the Hall signal tower that has severely curtailed LIRR service started, according to the MTA, when rain water served as a conductor for an electricity surge, and the irony of it, as I explored yesterday, is that a computerized signal system is set to go online in November. It comes as no surprise then that The Post notes that this signal system should have been activated years ago.
In a piece that explores the nature of the fire and its ramifications, three Post reporters comment on the signal upgrade efforts: “It’s unlikely a similar fire would have caused such mayhem if the parent MTA had implemented on time and on budget a new microprocessor-based system designed to replace the near-century-old system that failed…It’s three years late and 167 percent over budget.” This development is an unsurprisingly one in the annals of MTA projects. Few major transit works have been completed on time or on budget, and at some point, someone — the comptroller, an external auditor, the MTA itself — should tell us why rampant delays and cost overruns have become the accepted norm. For now, we’ll just wait for the LIRR to close the barn door after the horse already escaped.
Signal men performing functional tests following fire at Hall Tower. Photo via Long Island Rail Road.
For the third consecutive day, Long Island Rail Road is warning its commuters to expect “significant schedule changes and delays” during the AM and PM rush hours on Thursday. Work crews are busy repairing the damaged Hall Tower switches east of Jamaica, but progress is slow as each of 200 wires must be checked manually and more damage may be found during the inspection. So far, the LIRR has maintained that the signal fire was “weather-related” as water from weekend rain shorted an electrical circuit and thus sparked a fire.
Although the signaling system is still being operated manually, train service is slowly reaching something resembling normal. The LIRR will be running 75 percent of the 144 trains that normally operate in the mornings, but the agency expects residual delays due to added station stops. Trains stopping at Jamaica will not be held for scheduled connections, and the full list of the 33 canceled westbound trains is right here.
For the PM rush, 68 percent of the LIRR’s 127 trains will be in service, but as with the morning, the LIRR warns of slower schedules. For connections to Oyster Bay stops, travel to Mineola. For service to West Hempstead, travel to Valley Stream for shuttle buses. For Patchogue, Speonk and Montauk, connect at Babylon.
Signal men checking control wires within a switch machine. Photo via Long Island Rail Road.
Meanwhile, John Mancini, the new transit beat writer for NY1, takes a look at the old technology in use at the Hall Signal tower. The irony of this week’s fire is that the MTA was planning to replace the 90-year-old Hall tower with a fully computerized switching system this November. He reports:
It will computerize switching for the 10 lines that run through the Jamaica hub, replacing a burned-out console designed in 1913. And while the new system is a high-tech upgrade, there’s no guarantee it can’t be knocked out in the same way. “If for instance, you were to have a fire, you would still obviously have damage. The difference with this system is that you’d be able to diagnose the problem faster, and bring it up faster,” said Long Island Rail Road Spokesman Joe Calderone.
LIRR officials say one of the advantages of moving to a computerized switching system is that many of the old system’s outdated components will be going away…
Friday may be the soonest business as usual could return. For now, the railroad finds itself relying on the oldest of methods to keep trains on the right track across each of 77 switches. “We simply block it with that yellow block you can see down between the running rail and the stock rail, and then there’s a spike,” said Long Island Rail Road Senior Vice President of Operations Ray Kenny.
The spike Kenny refers to keeps the switch from moving out of line. It’s an old, yet reliable technique that will also be necessary during the transition to the new system. And even as the LIRR powers ahead into the modern age, it appears that everything old is new again.
While the visible parts of transportation infrastructure such as subway stations show the wear and tear of old age, the decades-old signal systems are a greater cause for concern. The money to upgrade this technology can’t come soon enough.
Just five days after restoring full service past Jamaica, the Long Island Rail Road is again canceling trains. This time, though, the cause for the service changes is a hurricane bearing down on Long Island. Nature is a fickle beast, and service to the East End of the Island will pay because of it.
