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Since I'm posting I just wanted to make a quick prediction about the name Grand Central Madison...
It will have a short life. Nobody likes saying it. It makes little sense to anyone other than a tourist who doesn't know anything, and even then actually lends confusion. No one is going to think of the LIRR tracks at GCT as anything other than Grand Central. And it makes even less sense referring to the service itself as Grand Central Madison as a replacement for ESA. The logo headboard they made for the first run will be one of the few things people remember of the name. I think MTA actually already know this. The destination boards say Grand Central. The destination LED on the train itself says Grand Central. Even the City ticket has Grand Central printed on it. I predict MTA will quietly scuttle the name and when it does need to refer to the deep LIRR area of GCT as a physical location it will just be called the Madison Concourse or the LIRR platforms. They need to be told to stop trying to make Grand Central Madison happen. |
Looks good! Very bright... and very colourful.
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cuomo’s folly:
Train in vain: The MTA’s East Side Access boondoogle will make things worse for some By Post Editorial Board January 28, 2023 After 15 years of work and $11.6 billion spent, the much-vaunted East Side Access project linking the Long Island Railroad to east Midtown is finally fully operational, bringing a new era of convenience and speed to commuters in the greater metropolitan area. Just kidding! more: https://nypost.com/2023/01/28/train-...orse-for-some/ |
finally some action here —
Biden to visit NYC next week to discuss infrastructure investments in Hudson River rail tunnel By Ben Brachfeld Posted on January 23, 2023 President Joe Biden will visit New York City next week with plans to discuss investments by the administration in the Gateway rail tunnel project under the Hudson River. A White House spokesperson confirmed that the president plans to visit the Big Apple on Tuesday, Jan. 31, noting the commander-in-chief will “discuss how Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding for the Hudson River Tunnel project will improve reliability for the 200,000 passenger trips per weekday on Amtrak and New Jersey Transit.” more: https://www.amny.com/transit/biden-w...r-rail-tunnel/ |
AliExpress is having a sale on tunnel boring machines. With how long the Gateway project is taking, we could probably finish it ourselves
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FnoQql9a...pg&name=medium https://www.aliexpress.us/item/32568...andl_shipto=US |
New Metro-North Rail Service to Penn Station Postponed by Seven Months
By Michelle Kaske January 30, 2023 Bloomberg "A $2.9 billion project to extend Metro-North Railroad service into New York City’s Penn Station has been delayed by about seven months, Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials said Monday. The hold up is because the MTA relies on the owner of the existing tracks, Amtrak, to allow access to those lines during construction. While the MTA has a deal with Amtrak to open up the tracks and provide staffing, it has yet to fully deliver on that commitment, Jamie Torres-Springer, president of the MTA’s Construction & Development, said Monday during a monthly committee meeting..." https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...y-seven-months |
So it's a repeat of whats happened at Harold interlocking because MTA/LIRR and Amtrak cant work together. Pathetic.
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Who wants to take bets on the final cost/time overrun here? I'll go with 50% and three years.
The piles of cash that are getting poured down the drain just so each entity can rule of their own little kingdom with impunity are amazing. |
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Honestly I don't love GCT - it's a rabbit warren just like Penn, just with a Beaux Arts veneer. The core of the station is beautiful obviously and it extends the city into the building, but the concourses are confusing / no spatial hierarchy. Signage is awful, it complements the architecture I guess but terrible to actually use. I spent 20 minutes trying to find a Metro-North train last year because the track it was on was not even mentioned in any of the directional signage. Very clearly this was set up for commuters who use the station daily and can afford to memorize the layout, not much thought given to any other users. The "genius" of the station's designers is vastly overrated. |
As far as the track numbering scheme goes, yes all of GCT including the new deep platforms follow it. It was originally thought that the LIRR tracks would be 301-304 and 401-404 because there is actually a track 200 on the MNRR lower level which kind of throws off the logic, but was changed to 201-204 and 301-304.
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Well to be fair it is important to remember that both Penn, and yes to a less extent Grand Central but still so, were originally constructed and set up to serve a much higher percentage of longer distance train travel. They are legacy facilities. Obviously if you were building a 21st century facility that was primarily designed to be high frequency, high volume commuter based transit interchanges they would look quite a bit different. They're not the only global city stations that face this reality, its just that other alpha cities have built out ground-up rapid regional rail systems that do not terminate in but service legacy long distance stations with adjacent subterranean hubs as well as other centrally located primary hubs that shift commuter patterns i.e. Paris.
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I hope that when the Hudson Tunnel Project reaches the "repair the old tunnels" phase they can take that opportunity to double track the Empire Service Tunnel too: https://i.imgur.com/21TaeHC.jpg
It would also help a lot with the Penn Access Project Phase 2 on the Hudson Line. |
^ If that's to be done, which it should, it needs to be done before any additional Hudson Yards development makes it more difficult and more expensive. Of course it would have been so much more advantageous to have built it as double track from the beginning, but at the time Penn Access for Metro-North over the West Side Line wasn't even on the radar (incredibly). Plus, you know... Amtrak.
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one step forward with gateway, two steps back with bx penn access —
Dispute between MTA, Amtrak could delay Penn Access megaproject bringing Metro-North to west side By Ben Brachfeld A withering dispute between the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and Amtrak could lead to delays in the completion of the Penn Access megaproject bringing Metro-North trains to Penn Station, MTA bigwigs charged Monday. The $2.8 billion project broke ground last month with the start of construction on four new Metro-North stations in the Bronx, enabling residents of the borough’s eastern shore to commute into Manhattan’s west side and, along with the Long Island Rail Road’s new terminal at Grand Central Terminal, creating a more integrated regional rail network in the New York metropolitan area. Work on the project is scheduled for completion by 2027. more: https://www.amny.com/transit/dispute...s-megaproject/ |
What Should a New Penn Station Look Like?
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My favorite proposal is to rebuild the original Penn station with new modern amenities like wider platforms and escalators. Link to article: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...tion-s-revival Link to ReThink proposal: https://www.rethinkpennstationnyc.org/ |
MTA/NYCT brass ride the opwn gangway R211T
I can only hope their enthusiasm lights the fire to dramatically restructure the R211 procurement to have the vast majority of the contract be open gangway... Like the rest of the world. |
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but seriously, i haven’t had many problems at all lately day or night on the rails. the uptick in cop presence at stations and on trains is very noticable, even in staten island — and as an added bonus its forcing people to pay for their rides now instead of the rampant jumping turnstyles at will. |
gov addresses funding mta:
Hochul proposes payroll tax increase, casino revenue to save teetering MTA, but fare hikes still coming By Ben Brachfeld Posted on February 1, 2023 Governor Kathy Hochul proposed an increase in the state’s payroll tax to funnel much-needed money to the financially-teetering Metropolitan Transportation Authority and prevent painful service cuts, she announced in her executive budget presentation Wednesday, but straphangers can still expect to pay 5.5% more to ride the subway or bus this year. more: https://www.amny.com/transit/hochul-...-hikes-coming/ |
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^ At the top of the list is that they increase capacity without an increase in train cars, service or infrastructure, which is actually a pretty big deal.
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The only packed trains I've encountered are only if there is a delay. It was a mess before that in 2018-2019 when trains were fully packed. The open gangway trains will probably end up with less space for riders, mostly due to smell. |
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mta chair janno lieber can answer ridership & news for you: https://www.amny.com/oped/op-ed-mta-recovery-pandemic/ |
i read the new r211’s will replace the A/C line trains by the end of 2023. tests are happening now, so expect to see them and ride them in the coming months.
edit — news video: |
heed the old song — don’t sleep on the subway:
https://nypost.com/2023/02/08/sleepi...way-rat-video/ |
full lirr service at grand central madison starts feb 27:
https://www.amny.com/transit/full-li...mmence-feb-27/ |
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You don't make long term billion dollar decisions about capacity based on short term ridership - which is slowly recovering and will eventually reach pre-pandemic, even if that takes 5+ years. |
i was worried about these — glad to see they finally got restored —
A place we can all call home’: City unveils restored medallions on Avenue of the Americas Meaghan McGoldrick - Jan 31 more: https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/a-...as/ar-AA16WNHl |
^ This makes me so happy. It went way to long looking like crap. Shameful really as the city should have prioritized such a highly visible thing.
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^ i know, right? :cheers: via untapped --- and check out the link for more on medallion restoration: INSIDE THE SIGN SHOP RESTORING NYC’S AVENUE OF THE AMERICAS MEDALLIONS NICOLE SARANIERO Something has been missing from the lampposts along the Avenue of the Americas for decades. Hanging from the street lights, passersby would have once seen 300 different medallions, or shields, representing the countries and territories of the Western Hemisphere. Only 22 remained as of 2016. This week, the New York City Department of Transportation completed the first phase of a restoration project that will bring back 45 of the lost Avenue of the Americas medallions from West 42nd to West 59th Streets. more: https://untappedcities.com/2023/02/0...as-medallions/ https://untappedcities.com/wp-conten...ew-york1-1.jpg |
Thought this was pretty cool. Various rail lines superimposed to show where they are at.
https://pbs.twimg.com/media/FJdQ5WMX...pg&name=medium Credit: Simon Kuestenmacher |
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I love how there's a bunch of canned soup on that desk back there. |
^ well, you can't refabricate classic avenue of the americas signage without your soup!
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Ahhh...Progresso.
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re the essex-hudson greenway fka the nj transit boonton line:
On celebrated Essex-Hudson Greenway, some feeling buyers’ remorse N.J. spent $65M to buy rail line and turn it into a state park BY: DANA DIFILIPPO Almost since the start, when train service stopped on the old Boonton rail line in 2002 and the weeds and wildlife began taking over, plans formed for what the narrow 9-mile tract snaking through Essex and Hudson counties could be. Everyone from environmentalists to politicians envisioned a park that would serve as a sanctuary for residents of New Jersey’s most crowded region. more: https://newjerseymonitor.com/2023/02...uyers-remorse/ |
Senseless tragedy.
Maybe this will be the wake up call for these dumb-as-shit teenage thrill seekers to stop risking their lives for an instagram selfie. https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/-wIAA...aY/s-l1600.jpg _ Story: https://nypost.com/2023/02/21/nyc-te...msburg-bridge/ Related: https://nypost.com/2023/02/22/mta-te...urfing-videos/ |
MTA drops full length mezzanines
Second Ave Subway Phase 2
In some refreshing news that recently flew under the radar last week, the MTA is scaling back previously planned full length mezzanines for the next two stations in phase 2 of SAS. The affected stations are along the section of tunnel built cut and cover in the 1970s before the city went broke. Full length mezzanines have proven to be overboard to handle expected ridership in all but the busiest stations. They finally seem to be taking cost bloating due to over-engineering in relation to international subway design standards seriously. Post article (sorry): https://nypost.com/2023/02/16/mta-sh...nue-extension/ |
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On the article's included drawing, the distance between the two stations appeared to be roughly the same as the length of the stations themselves. I'd like to read a description of what it means to "halve" the size of the mezzanine. A mezzanine the length of the whole train enables many entry points to the station, which shortens walks and increases ridership. It also helps spread passengers between different cars on the trains. |
The link in the article to the MTA revised PDF showed the excavation changes. The same PDF also shows the tweaks regarding entrances and crew spaces for the 125 St Station. They are sticking with the extra long tail tracks to west of Lenox which suggests they're at least in theory interested in a future 125 St extension. Seems logical at least. What kills me is they aren't just going to roll it into scope for phase 2 and just bore the tunnels to at least St. Nicholas.
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As usual, the NY Post has the news wrong and is trying to paint a certain picture. The MTA has enough challenges without the Post fabricating issues to push their relentless "evil govt, lazy bureaucrats, transit is bad, blue states can't govern, fed outlays are wasteful" narrative.
There is one SAS station where the shorter mezzanine option is being used, but it isn't being "halved"; there were two options and they're using the shorter version, which is still longer than the platform level. The longer mezzanines usually make sense, but not in this location. The shorter version was always the intended version. As is typical, projects have menus of alternatives, but that doesn't mean there isn't a defined path where the alternatives are largely predetermined. Also, the Post previously complained that SAS stations were overengineered and too big. Can't win. |
Which is why I hesitate linking Post pieces - but I didnt see it anywhere else.
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I still think extending northward into the Bronx, along the Third Avenue corridor (the former Third Avenue El route) should be a higher priority, however. It's crazy to have this super dense Bronx corridor with no subway service since the 1970's. |
Preaching to the choir Crawford, preaching to the choir.
Phase 2 will get its Bronx tunnel provisions at least but there really should also be a tunnel provision east of the 125 St station to create a possibility to run a service across 125th to Randalls Is and into Astoria and LGA. These "dreams" shouldn't have to be "dreams." |
Prioritize the crosstown 125th, and focus on modifying the Harlem line to better serve the Bronx (bring down fares closer to the subway, increase frequency). A much better use of limited funds that will accomplish much of the same goals.
Also the crosstown probably will just get to 8th avenue, the subway needs tail tracks. |
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^ speaking of, ugh —
CityLabTransportation How NYC’s Second Avenue Subway Became the World’s Most Expensive Line The Manhattan transit expansion’s multibilllion-dollar price tag reflects the spiraling complexity of US construction practices, a team of NYU researchers says. BySkylar Woodhouse+Follow February 23, 2023 at 10:31 AM EST New York City’s Second Avenue Subway, which opened in 2017 after a long and troubled genesis, was a transit milestone for the city — the first major subway expansion in 50 years, and a boon for those who lived on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. But behind its wide platforms and mosaic-lined stations is the world’s most expensive subway line — and it’s not even finished. At $2.5 billion per mile, construction costs for the 1.8-mile Phase 1 of the Second Avenue Subway were 8 to 12 times more expensive than similar subway projects in Italy, Istanbul, Sweden, Paris, Berlin and Spain, according to a report from New York University’s Marron Institute of Urban Management. more: https://www.bloomberg.com/news/artic...truction-costs |
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