Article in The New York Times, October 16, 2009:
The Secret New York Minute: Trains Late by Design
by Michael M. Grynbaum
For a commuter rushing to catch a train, a minute can mean the difference between dinner with the family and leftovers in the microwave.
What most passengers do not realize is that their minute is already there.
Every commuter train that departs from New York City — about 900 a day — leaves a minute later than scheduled. If the timetable says 8:14, the train will actually leave at 8:15. The 12:48 is really the 12:49.
In other words, if you think you have only a minute to get that train — well, relax. You have two.
The phantom minute, in place for decades and published only in private timetables for employees, is meant as a grace period for stragglers who need the extra time to scramble off the platform and onto the train.
“If everyone knows they get an extra minute, they’re going to lollygag,” explained Marjorie Anders, a spokeswoman for the Metro-North Railroad. Told of this article, Ms. Anders laughed. “Don’t blow our cover!” she said.
Entirely hidden from the riding public, the secret minute is an odd departure from the railroad culture of down-to-the-second accuracy.
The railroad industry literally helped invent the concept of standard time, and time zones were established in the United States in the 1880s, 35 years before they were written into law.
And most commuters know their train by the precise minute it departs; John Cheever, chronicler of the Grand Central commuter set, titled one memorable short story “The Five-Forty-Eight.” (Turns out it was the 5:49.)
The trains quickly make up the minute: at all other stops, the public timetable prevails.
The courtesy minute does not exist at commuter railroads in Chicago, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, or San Francisco.
But in New York, railroad enthusiasts said, the secret minute dates back decades.
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