i would imagine light rail is also quicker to build out, so there is that. :shrug:

Per the study, the light rail line will leave the corridor near All Faiths Cemetery and run on the street for several blocks. Heavy rail can't do that. They'd be forced to rebuild or expand the current freight railroad tunnel.

The report's illustrations depict a 300-foot light rail train (four 75-foot vehicles). A 300-foot platform where passengers can walk across the tracks is a completely different animal than a 600+ foot heavy rail station with several elevators for ADA compliance.

The report mentions that the light rail option will require some complicated work around elevated subway lines. Building the IBX with 600-foot heavy rail station would probably cause more expensive conflicts with existing elevated lines.

Missing the point here I think…. The heavy rail option (mainline rail, not subway) should be cheaper because it offers the ability to share tracks with freight through the cemetery and East New York, the same way LIRR trains share track with freight in other places on the system. No new tunneling needed.

As for street running - the only other street running segment is in Jackson Heights. If you think you can add a surface light rail line into that traffic mess, you’re kidding yourself. Digging a (short, 2-block) subway there is worth every penny - otherwise any traffic delays in Jackson Hts will ripple across the entire IBX line.

^ Exactly. LIRR rolling stock is 10 feet wide, while the tunnels are 14 feet. That should be plenty of room for trains to operate. Even if the heavy rail option was forced to purchase new rolling stock, the light rail option needs to purchase new rolling stock anyway.

The price tag of $400 million per mile for the light rail option is laughable. There's no reason running a line on an already existing ROW should cost that much, unless they're spending ~$300 million for each station. This study raises more questions than answers.

now that i finally read the report - it’s interesting that light rail has more expensive annual operating costs than conventional rail.

this surprized me — they allege the four new mnrr stations in the bx won’t take as long as i thought — all done in 2027:


amNewYork Metro, in conjunction with the MTA, present “Ask the MTA,” a column where MTA officials answer your questions about transit service in New York City. If you have a question for the MTA about subways, buses, commuter rails and more, email askthemta[@]amny.com.

Q: With LIRR service coming to Grand Central Terminal, are there plans to bring Metro-North to Penn Station? – Sandy V.

A: Bringing Metro-North to Penn Station is finally happening after being talked about for a long time. The MTA broke ground last month on Penn Station Access, a multi-billion-dollar megaproject that will use Amtrak’s existing Hell Gate line to connect Metro-North’s New Haven Line to Penn Station, saving some passengers as much as 75 minutes on their commutes into Manhattan, as well as reverse commute destinations outside the City. The project will add four new railroad stations in the East Bronx – a major boost for transit equity – and build or rehabilitate 19 miles of track to ensure a quicker and more reliable ride. We expect to finish construction in 2027. – Catherine Rinaldi, President, Metro-North Railroad and Interim President, LIRR

mta goes for heavy usa trains vs lighter euro trains:


MTA set to pay nearly $3 billion for old, overweight LIRR, Metro-North cars

By Nolan Hicks
January 17, 2023


***
The MTA still wants to move ahead with another purchase of the steel dinosaurs even though federal authorities approved a massive regulatory overhaul in 2018 that now allows the agency to buy high-tech trains — common in Europe — that are dramatically faster, lighter and cheaper.


more:
https://nypost.com/2023/01/17/mta-op...more-analysis/

^^^ I usually don't link Post articles but like that, this LIRR one from yesterday is a must read:


"That means nearly half of the $1 billion the MTA hopes to generate through fares at both railroads in 2023 will be consumed employing individuals whose primary duty is collecting those tickets."...

...

"Probers from the State Comptroller obtained records from Richmond Hill that showed the LIRR paid 40 car repairmen for 9,449 hours of labor over the course of a month — even though the shop logs revealed just 1,244 hours of work were actually done."

^ yeah i know the post lol, but really its just a straight up comparison to the lighter, more modern euro trainsets.

as for your post article, well, i guess its nice to see exactly where the corruption is.

hopefully they or somebody follows up on these issues later.

Hopefully articles like these will force a culture change at the MTA.

When I toured the u/c Grand Central Madison last fall, we were shown all of the space that had originally been dedicated to ticket booths and pay phones, and how they had to come up with some other use for the space. They are still going to have ticket booths, but maybe half as many.

^ that’s easy — bring the drinks carts back. :cheers:

That is pretty incredible that a 208m M9 weighs 660t, compare that to a 243m Class 700/1 (used on Thameslink and shown in the NY Post article) which weighs 410t. That works out treble the weight by passenger capacity. Some of those excuses are just peculiar.

I’m off to New York in April so might see how the M9’s and other modern US rolling stock compares to its peers in Europe.

good stuff — all about the bqe here:



COMMUNITY & COMMERCE|Jan 17, 2023

VIDEO SHOWS HOW THE BQE CHANGED AN ENORMOUS SWATH OF BROOKLYN

A video posted by Segregation by Design demonstrates how construction of the expressway tore through a number of communities

By Gabe Friedman


Fresh off the news that a Brooklyn-to-Queens light rail system is now officially maybe in the works possibly, a video about another historic connection between the boroughs is making the rounds on Twitter.

An account called Segregation by Design — which uses “data and remastered/colorized historic photography to document the destruction of communities of color by redlining, urban renewal, and freeways” — posted an animation showing how the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway “cut a nearly 15-mile gash” throughout a huge chunk of Kings and Queens Counties.


more:
https://www.bkmag.com/2023/01/17/bqe-video/

Grand Central Madison / East Side Access service starts tomorrow.
https://new.mta.info/grandcentralmadison
As expected, just a Jamaica to Grand Central shuttle. First shuttle leaves Jamaica at 10:45 a.m. arriving at 11:07 p.m.

I realize they have to work with an already crowded Jamaica schedule and equipment shortages but hourly during peak times is actually kind of unbelievable, even just for this introductory service.

How many more months until LIRR non-shuttle service to the ESA? I say minimum 3.

Curious to see the actual trip times into and out of the caverns...

It'll be interesting to see if it gets overloaded with people curious to see it. Probably not inbound, but I can imagine that a lot of people will go over to Grand Central instead of Penn some night this week or next just to check it out, then transfer to their usual train at Jamaica.

I might cut over to Midtown to see this. I've been itching to ride this when it finally opens.

The media says 3 weeks but my money's on 6.

The LIRR will find a way to make the easy a challenge.

Don't get me wrong, this is great news. But it will take a bit for all the scheduling to work the kinks out.

finally its open as of today !!!!!


FINALLY! Grand Central Madison station opens after decades of planning and construction

By Ben BrachfeldPosted on January 24, 2023


The new Grand Central Madison train terminal is finally set to open to passengers Wednesday, bringing Long Island Rail Road service to the east side of Manhattan and putting the cherry on top of one of the largest, longest, and most expensive megaprojects in the city’s history.

The 750,000-square-foot terminal, situated 17 stories underneath Grand Central, is poised to boost train capacity on the LIRR by 40%. 


more:
https://www.amny.com/transit/grand-c...y-open-jan-25/