by pineywoodsman
So the next phase of Amtrak's renewal work starts with much more minimal impacts then the "Summer of Hell" (which it clearly wasn't).
Though I'm not sure why the LIRR decided to cancel the 5:06pm Huntington train & combine it with the 5:17pm. Both of these trains are fairly crowded, and the next train before the 5:06pm leaves Penn at 4:31pm. So this will result in a 45 min gap in Huntington line service at the beginning of the PM Rush hour.
Looking at the 2015 ridership book, this will result in 720 passengers being dumped on the 5:17pm which carries 1,090. Surely this will become a crush loaded train. The Huntington Branch will lose 720 seats, but the Babylon Branch gains 2 new trains and 4 cars to "compensate" for the 3 trains rerouted to Atlantic Term in the AM.
Meanwhile 2 of the most lightly used Babylon Trains in the PM Rush, the 4:57pm to Wantagh and the 5:03pm to Freeport (at 570 & 520 pax respectively) are left alone. Once again it seems politics seems to get in the way of logic on the LIRR.
The logical decision would've been to cancel the 5:03pm and have the 4:57pm add stops at RVC - Freeport (which would put it at 1090 in 12 cars just like the 5:17pm Hunt), and then leave the 5:06pm alone, or have it leave a few min earlier at 5:03pm if track space is the issue.
Honestly at least in my eyes the favoritism toward the Babylon Branch (and the outright neglect of the Huntington) doesn't get any clearer than this.
I know if I were having to wait 45 min to get on a jam packed train while people on some other branch get on a half empty train after only waiting 10 min I'd be pretty pissed. Esp when paying hundreds of $$ a month.
Though I'm not sure why the LIRR decided to cancel the 5:06pm Huntington train & combine it with the 5:17pm. Both of these trains are fairly crowded, and the next train before the 5:06pm leaves Penn at 4:31pm. So this will result in a 45 min gap in Huntington line service at the beginning of the PM Rush hour.
Looking at the 2015 ridership book, this will result in 720 passengers being dumped on the 5:17pm which carries 1,090. Surely this will become a crush loaded train. The Huntington Branch will lose 720 seats, but the Babylon Branch gains 2 new trains and 4 cars to "compensate" for the 3 trains rerouted to Atlantic Term in the AM.
Meanwhile 2 of the most lightly used Babylon Trains in the PM Rush, the 4:57pm to Wantagh and the 5:03pm to Freeport (at 570 & 520 pax respectively) are left alone. Once again it seems politics seems to get in the way of logic on the LIRR.
The logical decision would've been to cancel the 5:03pm and have the 4:57pm add stops at RVC - Freeport (which would put it at 1090 in 12 cars just like the 5:17pm Hunt), and then leave the 5:06pm alone, or have it leave a few min earlier at 5:03pm if track space is the issue.
Honestly at least in my eyes the favoritism toward the Babylon Branch (and the outright neglect of the Huntington) doesn't get any clearer than this.
I know if I were having to wait 45 min to get on a jam packed train while people on some other branch get on a half empty train after only waiting 10 min I'd be pretty pissed. Esp when paying hundreds of $$ a month.
They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.
— Benjamin Franklin
— Benjamin Franklin