Posts Tagged ‘MNR’
Thursday, November 5th, 2009
MTA New York City Transit has provided some good advice on how to best travel to the ticker tape parade celebrating the New York Yankees victory over the Philadelphia Phillies in the 2009 baseball World Series:
Although the Lexington Avenue line serves the Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall, Fulton Street-Broadway/Nassau, Wall Street, and Bowling Green stations, Yankees’ fans should be aware that the 4 5 6 lines are usually crowded during normal weekday rush hour along the corridor.
Instead, fans are encouraged to use the 1 line or the R or W lines to Rector Street, or the E to World Trade Center. Fans should also consider taking the 2 or 3 lines to Chambers Street or Wall Street, and the J to the Broad Street station.
Crowding conditions at the City Hall R and W station, Park Place 2 and 3 station and nearby 4 5 6 Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall station may force trains to bypass those stations during the parade and ceremony at City Hall. All lines affected will be monitored by supervision to ensure smooth operation.
Read the entire press release for this November 6, 2009 event, here. I’ve also provided an image of the Special Event poster for the parade, as well as an image of the revised World Series poster from earlier in the week:
In addition, both Metro-North and the Long Island Rail Road will be running extra trains to bring fans to and from the parade. Click the preceding links for the train schedules.
Tags: Long Island Rail Road, Long Island Railroad, Metro-North Railroad, MNCR, MNR, mta, new york, new york city, New York City Transit, nyc, nyct, subway, train
Posted in commuter rail, subway | No Comments »
Tuesday, October 6th, 2009
MTA New York City Transit reminds you that taking the subway to Yankee Stadium is the best way to get there. No word yet on whether MTA Metro-North Railroad would dispute that claim.
MTA NYCT Special Event poster
Tags: Metro-North Railroad, MNCR, MNR, mta, new york city, New York City Transit, nyc, nyct
Posted in subway | 3 Comments »
Wednesday, September 9th, 2009
Metro-North has announced that they are FINALLY reviving their Penn Station Access Study. The first part of study, formally called the Metro-North Penn Station Access Major Investment Study/Draft Environmental Impact Statement (MIS/DEIS), was carried out from 1999 to 2002. Since then, it seems it has been dormant. Railfans and transit planners used to speak about it in hushed tones and with tears in their eyes. The “DEIS” part of the study never came to fruition, even though it was promised for “Fall 2003″.
Now the study is back in a big way, with an Environmental Assessment (EA) scheduled for completion in 2011. Thankfully “analyses performed to date on [the proposed "Build"] alternative reveal no significant impacts that cannot be mitigated. Therefore, Metro-North has decided to prepare an Environmental Assessment (EA), rather than an EIS.” That should save some time and money.
Click here for the press release: MTA Metro-North Railroad Renews Study of Access to Pennsylvania Station
The proposed “Build” alternative consists of Hudson Line service to Penn Station via Amtrak’s West Side line + Empire Connection, and New Haven Line service to Penn Station via the Hell Gate line. There would be five new stations built:
Hudson Line trains
- West 125th Street
- Upper West Side
New Haven Line trains
- Co-op City
- Parkchester
- Hunts Point
I say that this service can’t come soon enough. For people who work near Penn Station or along the 8th Avenue IND or 7th Avenue IRT subway lines, this service could possibly significantly reduce their commuting times.
For a lot more information about the work done so far on this project (1999-2002), check out the Penn Station Access Study website on MTA.info. The site appears to have been updated to reflect that the EA will be done in 2011, and with a proposed “Build” alternative graphic that shows the station formerly called “West 59th Street” to now be called “Upper West Side”.
Bonus: a graphic from a past version of the Penn Station Access Study website.
Tags: Metro-North Railroad, MNCR, MNR, mta, new york city, penn station, train
Posted in commuter rail | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009
MTA officials were too busy tailgating with NJ Transit officials at Penn Station New York today to notice the significant and glaring error in their all important press release.
The press release, meant to announce the beginning of both LIRR/MNCR+NJT joint-ticketing to the Meadowlands and direct Metro-North New Haven line service to Secaucus, is only successful with the former. That’s because the press release GOT THE DATE WRONG of the first direct New Haven line train!!!!
In addition, Metro-North will be introducing a new direct service from major New Haven Line stations to the Meadowlands (via Secaucus Junction) for football games starting at 1 p.m. From there, shuttle trains will bring fans directly to the new Meadowlands Station and the game. Metro-North New Haven line direct service begins as the regular season kicks off on Sunday, September 13 with the NY Giants/Washington Redskins game that starts at 1 p.m. [Emphasis added]
Good job, MTA. Way to go.
You see, the 9/13/2009 game actually starts at 4:15 PM, thus making it ineligible for direct New Haven line service. The correct start date of direct New Haven line service is Sunday, September 20, 2009, when the New York Jets host the New England Patriots with a 1:00 PM kickoff.
In case the MTA goes and corrects the press release, below is a screen shot with the offending material highlighted.
UN believable
Tags: football, Giants, Jets, lirr, Long Island Rail Road, Long Island Railroad, meadowlands, Metro-North Railroad, MNCR, MNR, mta, new jersey transit, NJ Transit, njt, penn station, train
Posted in commuter rail, delays | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 12th, 2009
You can now buy and use a single train ticket to ride from stations on the Long Island Rail Road all the way to the Meadowlands Sports Complex in New Jersey, home of Giants Stadium, a new football stadium to be named later, and the Izod Center (as well as the Meadowlands Racetrack and the unfinished Xanadu).
But be careful – even though New Jersey Transit will be running trains to the Meadowlands for events other than Giants and Jets football games, the LIRR thru-tickets are only “officially” valid for football game days. This may have something to do with the fact that, as the LIRR notes, you must show your rail ticket at the fare gates at Secaucus Junction, instead of feeding it through the turnstile, since the LIRR ticket stock does not have the magnetic stripe like the NJT ticket stock.
Read all about this LIRR/NJT joint ticketing initiative here: http://mta.info/lirr/pubs/TrainToTheGame/. That LIRR web page even features a nifty diagram of part of Penn Station, to help people make the LIRR -> NJT transfer. The other part of the graphic is an extremely simple route diagram of the rail service. You can see them below:
Click to see a bigger version
Oh, and Metro-North is doing the same thing. Even though they are running direct trains from the New Haven line to Secaucus Junction on the days of Sunday 1 PM games, you can also buy a joint ticket from any Metro-North station that you can use to get all the way to the Meadowlands. You will of course need to get from Grand Central Terminal to Penn Station New York in order to board a New Jersey Transit train to Secaucus. The brochure linked to in my recent post on this topic explains things in much much greater detail.
P.S. And no, you can’t buy an LIRR ticket from Penn Station New York to the Meadowlands. I know, because I tried it this evening. Would have been (pointlessly) cool though, in a railfanning kind of way.
Update: Here’s a good Newsday article on the topic of the joint-ticketing.
Tags: football, Giants, Jets, lirr, Long Island Rail Road, Long Island Railroad, meadowlands, Metro-North Railroad, MNCR, MNR, mta, new jersey transit, new york city, NJ Transit, njt, penn station, train
Posted in commuter rail, railfanning | 5 Comments »
Tuesday, August 11th, 2009
Metro-North Railroad has created a new brochure to explain their part of the direct service that they are planning to run with New Jersey Transit this fall. It is admittedly a complicated task to convey all of the options and nuances that they are trying to get across, but I think they did an okay job. The brochure is linked from a new web page Metro-North put up for this service. You can also download the PDF directly from this link: http://www.mta.info/mnr/html/SchedPDF_vWEB_Brochure.pdf
Edit: This brochure, in all its glossy printed glory, is available in the information boxes next to each of the upper level tracks at Grand Central Terminal, as of yesterday, August 19, 2009.
Tags: football, Giants, Jets, meadowlands, Metro-North Railroad, MNCR, MNR, new york, NJ Transit, njt, penn station, train
Posted in commuter rail, railfanning | 1 Comment »
Monday, June 15th, 2009
Weekdays: about 50 vs. projection of 400
Game days: high of 4,200 vs. capacity of 10,000
Source: Slow start at new station
Tags: Metro-North Railroad, MNCR, MNR, mta, new york city, nyc, station, train
Posted in commuter rail | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 13th, 2009
Disney is sending a charter train around the country over the next few months to promote its upcoming movie “A Christmas Carol”. From the photos included in the USA Today and Reuters Blog articles, it looks like the train is made up of baggage cars with exterior advertising wraps and complete interior sets. The press release further reveals that Amtrak locomotives will haul the train, and a “private car” will also be included in the consist. Looks like Amtrak P42 157 will be doing the honors.
Anyhow, the train is scheduled to end its tour with a visit to Metro-North’s Grand Central Terminal in New York City between October 30 and November 1, 2009.
Tags: amtrak, Metro-North Railroad, MNCR, MNR, mnrr, new york city
Posted in commuter rail | No Comments »
Monday, April 27th, 2009
Image source: Metro-North
Along with the updated train schedules released today, Metro-North has announced the times of the first revenue trains to stop at the brand new station near Yankee Stadium in the Bronx called “Yankees – E. 153rd Street”. It opens on Saturday, May 23.
- First southbound train: 5:49 AM (a local from Croton-Harmon)
- First northbound train: 6:33 AM (a local to Croton-Harmon)
The updated Hudson Line schedule have mentions of the new station written all over it, due to the station not opening until a few weeks after the schedule goes into effect, and also because some trains only stop at the station on certain game days.
In addition, the press releases notes that “there will be a separate brochure and timetable for special Yankees game-day train service, including direct service from the Harlem and New Haven lines and shuttles to and from Manhattan.” I look forward to picking that up soon.
Good luck to anyone planning on riding the first trains to stop at the new station, as well as the first direct New Haven line and Harlem line trains to arrive at and depart from the new station.
Tags: E 153, E 153rd, E153, E153rd, M-N, MN, MNCR, MNR, mta, NY, nyc, yankee stadium, yankees, Yankees-E.153rd
Posted in commuter rail, railfanning | No Comments »
Monday, April 27th, 2009
As of the new May 3 2009 timetable update, Metro-North Railroad will be allowing bikes on more of its trains.
Here is a summary of the new rules, as per today’s press release:
Of note to bicyclists, with the May 3 timetable, Metro-North is relaxing restrictions on bicycle transport by allowing bikes to be carried on most Reverse Peak trains and in the periods immediately around the evening peak period. So now, bikes will be allowed on most trains departing Grand Central between 3 p.m. and 3:59 p.m. and from 8:01 p.m. to 8:15 p.m.
Blanket prohibitions against bicycles during these periods will be replaced with train-specific restrictions. The object is to keep bicycles off those trains that have proven to be consistently crowded. The new timetables will provide customers with guidance on when bicycles may be carried aboard trains. Note: these symbols will only appear in the large, full-line (Hudson, Harlem and New Haven) timetables.
The intent of this change is to make Metro-North more “bike-friendly” and to attract new customers who wish to use bicycles as part of their workday travel plans. Folding bicycles are allowed on board Metro-North trains at all times.
And here’s a link to the existing rules.
I took my bike on Metro-North once to go mountain biking at Blue Mountain in Peekskill and had no problems. I highly recommend the MNCR+BIKE combo.
Tags: bicycle, bike, biking, Metro-North Railroad, MN, MNCR, MNR, mta, new york city, nyc
Posted in commuter rail | 1 Comment »
