Actually this is a new “who needs trains?” from several weeks ago.
Just looked at the LIRR web site and they cite two extra trains put on the Montauk branch to accomodate the heavy customer volume! Bet you can’t do that with your railroad. All right, maybe you can, but is any other passenger carrier in the US today capable, and willing, to drag out equipment and call extra crews because of customer demand at the moment? Even if they planned it Friday, they are operating sharp understanding that they are expected to provide a service and then are willing to provide that service!
I noted on the thread I started that Amtrak does that in response to airline emergencies in the NEC, by adding whatever equipment they have, and running late evening Washington-NY trips through to Boston and Boston-NY trips through to Washington. Also note Amtrak’s yearly performance around Thanksgiving Day, with of course the help of borrowed MARC, SEPTAm NJT, and sometimes MBTA equipment.
Yes, Amtrak does run extra’s Thanksgiving and at other times…but that is with advance planning. And they are tight on the Corridor, too, because they really don’t have that much extra equipment or extra crews…and when they do, often they borrow from commuter roads if they have anything available. But, nowhere else do I hear of the extras LIRR have called on the Montauk Branch…it is a very heavily used line and with the new signaling system they can run more trains than they used to but are still hampered by single track and limited equipment and crews.
It is indeed refreshing to see a passenger railroad that has the equipment and personnel along with the will to respond to customer demand on relatively short notice!
I suspect that these extra trains have been planned well in advance. Much easier to cancel same for what ever reason . ex; rain storm cuts passengers going to destination.
My guess is similar, Dakota201. I would assume they see how many they took out there Thursday through Saturday, guess how many go out Sunday early, see how many go back by Sat eve then start planning for Sunday. It as close as I think that they can do it successfully. But I have to salute them for doing it. I don’t know how many DH moves are made either before or after, but it is a company that understands the are operating a passenger service and not just running trains.
I would guess it is one of the more unique of the commuter services in the country…and one that has a great history. Some said the PRR bought the LIRR as much for the ability to take Philly Mainliner’s private cars to the Hamptons and Mauntauk as to get the Sunnyside property. The Cannonball was train of parlor cars pulled out of Penn Sta. with DD1’s to Jamaica where a K4 or G5 would grab on for the remaining 90 miles to the South Fork tip of the Island. One of the last parlor car commuter services in the country. Even today, the LIRR has reinstituted at seat beverage services on the Friday afternoon train from LIC and Hunterspoint terminals with coffee going back Monday mornings.
The Ridewithmehenry group has had several trips out there. The Sat. AM train is always crowded…but then so are almost all the other trains going out there all week long. Summer allows for a 9:30A out of NYP and a 6P return. However, no eating facilities at Montauk and not enough time to get into town and back, so bring your own lunch. But it is fun riding the train and seeing surf within a quarter mile of the train…on both sides!
Several reortedly good ones…they may be open but they’re not close! Less than an hour turn around time doesn’t give you time to find a cab, get to the restaurat(s), order, eat, pay, find a cab, and be back trackside before you have a 2 to 4 hour wait for the next train! There is a soda vending machine at the auto repair shop to the right when you walk to end of station track.
From LIRR website this Sun afternoon (7/15): They better watch their step. If anybody finds out they actually provide service in stead of timetbles, well, you just don’t know what will happen to the industry!
MTA Service InfoPosted: 07/15/2012 1:57PM
Montauk/Speonk Branch Customers:
An extra train will run from Speonk ahead of the 1:23PM train from Montauk due Jamaica at 4:10PM due to heavy passenger travel.
And even with the extra train ahead…the Montauk train is overwhelemd. It is what happens when you provide service and are known to be there for the customer and not the Congressman or stockholder.
MTA Service InfoPosted: 07/15/2012 3:38PM
Montauk Branch Customers:
The 1:23PM train from Montauk due Jamaica at 4:10PM, is operating 13 minutes late through Patchogue due to high volume of customers traveling.
After stating how much I think the LIRR has things together, especially in emergencies, there comes an apparent deadhead train derailment at the Atlantic Ave. terminal that first closed the line to Jamaica but has now resulted in half hourly service to and from Jamaica. But in the directions to passengers it implores most passengers to take the 3 or 5 train to Penn Sta. but does allow for some to go to Atlantic ave. However why not suggest the A train to Broadway Jct. and the J to Jamaica for some? I know the LIRR takes less than a half hour to Jamaica and the A&J combination make take the better part of an hour,but wouldn’t that kinda make more sense then going all the way up to Penn Sta and then to Jamaica?
Of course there is a free transfer from the A to the J at B’way Junction East New York, Eastern Parkway, but:
The A is not directly adjacent to the LIRR station, and directions would be required to get people to the right platform.
The connection from the A to the J is not particularly easy, going from a subway to an elevated station by a hopefully working pair of escalators or stairs.
It involves two changes of trains instead of one.
By the way, it is the 2 and 3, and the 5 does not go to Penn Station. It does go to Grand Central Terminal though, and soon enough the LIRR will have a presence there.
Yes, I caught my error late lat night, trains 2&3 to Penn, 5 to GCT. But I also see what the LIRR directions were. West Hempstead and Long Beach commuters were directed to PennSta for their trains while others were departing from Atlantic ave. In effect, the railroad lightened the crowd at Atlantic.
Regarding a day trip to Montauk and back. In April of 1989, my wife and I made such a trip on Saturday. We found a restaurant that was open, ate lunch,and asked a taxi driver to take us out to the Point and then to our train. We were back in NYC in time to enjoy a performance of Madame Butterfly at the Met.
I do not know what changes have taken place in the last twenty-three years, so our trip may now be impossible.
Leaving Penn Sta at 9:30 today, you arrive in Montauk around 2:30 and return in less than an hour to be back in Penn around 6:30P on Saturdays. Not much time at Montauk to go sightseeing. But. First, we have a two or more hour train ride and a 3 hour auto trip on each side of the LIRR schedule, so it is not fair to compare our day to a normal person’s trip who lives in the Metro area. The schedule is differenty at least 3 times a year as there is the sparse fall and winter schedule followed by a few more spring trains, and the heavy summer schedule. There are earlier trains from Penn which would afford longer time in Montauk and still be back in the city in time to dine and take in a show or the opera. And weekends, especially in summer, from Friday though Monday morning have the heaviest and most frequent traffic of the year, an even Fri eve to Sun eve, is busy in the off season. ,
LIRR is, I believe, a commuter operation - so it is resourced for the weekday peaks. I assume therefore that there is quite a lot of stock sitting around over the weekend, and even off peak in the week that can be used for an extra service or two. Indeed having a full train running that would not otherwise be running is likely to make money, even after the cost of providing the crew. This sweating of assets is what, at least in the UK, leads to cheaper tickets on commuter services after 09:30.
On the other side commuter services lose money because the infrastructure is designed to cater for a high peak of a few hours a day and many trains are used for the same few hours a day. Having a $1m+ train carrying passengers twice a day for an hour each time is not the way to put a business in profit.
Not all commuter rail loses money. For example, New Jersey Transit’s Northeast Corridor Service between Trenton, NJ and New York Penn Station makes money. Also, express trains make the trip in just about an hour although local trains take somewhat more time.
Of course there are other considerations. There is no point in building bridges or tunnels into Manhattan for automobiles because once they get into Manhattan the roads are so full there is no place for them to go.