by lirr42
Tommy Meehan wrote:I thought the HPA/LIC service would end once ESA opened. But the report states that to maintain the "triple train connections" at Jamaica -- once ESA is in operation -- one of the "4 different western destinations" would have to lose its direct connection and that Brooklyn was chosen.
Tommy Meehan wrote:I would expect the diesel trains would deadhead to LIC but the planning documents mention, "four western destinations." NYP, GCT and Brooklyn so what is the fourth one? HPA or LIC? Once ESA opens why would anyone ride to Hunterspoint Ave. To get to Long Island City but how many people is that.The LIRR is planning on spending some $29 million to rehabilitate Hunterspoint Avenue station, so I doubt that East Side Access will mark the total end of service to HPA and LIC. There are still people who use it to commute to that area of Queens (myself included).
HPA is, and will still be, a valuable and quick way to get to the East Side. Believe it or not, if you and I raced each other from the platform at Jamaica station to the corner of 42nd Street and Vanderbilt Avenue, where you took a train to Grand Central and I took a train that left at the same time and went to HPA where I got the 7 train, I would actually win. Between the longer running time that trains would take to get to Grand Central, since there are sharper curves, steeper slopes, and the like, and the trackage distance is already a little longer than it takes to get through to New York Penn and the fact that once you would arrive in Grand Central, you would have a pretty lengthy escalator ride up to street level, the actual net travel time you save is minimal compared to the options that exist already today. If you're going someplace beyond walking distance from Grand Central, you would likely save time by going to GCT since you could save a transfer, but if you work right there, HPA would still actually be the fastest option.
The railroad has floated the notion of not keeping any timed transfers at Jamaica, so only having three different routes that would pass through Jamaica station proper would not be much of an issue since you wouldn't be required to line up all four trains at once. Brooklyn was likely chosen as the one to be banished to the new platform because trains to New York Penn, Grand Central, and HPA/LIC will all leave west from Jamaica via the Main Line and the Brooklyn trains would not.