Railroad Forums 

Discussion relating to the operations of MTA MetroNorth Railroad including west of Hudson operations and discussion of CtDOT sponsored rail operations such as Shore Line East and the Springfield to New Haven Hartford Line

Moderators: GirlOnTheTrain, nomis, FL9AC, Jeff Smith

 #1537620  by NH2060
 
From the MTA’s “Essential Service” page:
Metro-North will provide hourly service on the Harlem, Hudson and New Haven lines, with extra trains added during peak times. Normal weekday capacity will be reduced by about 50% compared to a normal weekday.

Starting April 4, Metro-North will provide hourly service while also suspending shuttle service between Wassaic and Southeast on the Upper Harlem line.
Not really sure what that last statement means. Does it mean there will be only “through trains” running hourly GCT-Wassaic or does it mean no Southeast-Wassaic service at all? It doesn’t say anything about suspending the Danbury and Waterbury branches which has a comparable or lower frequency of service.
Last edited by nomis on Wed Mar 25, 2020 12:44 pm, edited 1 time in total. Reason: Edited title to be more searchable.
 #1537629  by Tadman
 
I'm not quite sure what sense hourly schedules make.

Before the internet was able to provide us with schedule info easily, hourly was a good way to help riders know the schedule. At one station.

About ten years ago our local carrier dropped the hourly because they realized with a few tweaks, they could reduce the sets and crews in service on Sat/Sun. Essentially what was happening was the eastbound got to the easterly terminal too late to reliably make the turn, so another set and crew had to be ready.

Now we have basically the same frequency, hard-to-memorize schedules, but two less sets and crews moving about on weekends.

If the MTA cuts are to save money, which I suppose they are, couldn't they do something other than hourly to optimize crews and sets?
 #1537667  by Jeff Smith
 
https://new.mta.info/precautions-against-coronavirus

Updated March 25, 2020

We’re continuing to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, getting health-care workers, first responders, and other essential personnel where they need to go.

Starting Wednesday, March 25, subway lines will operate our MTA Essential Service Plan. This preserves our a.m. and p.m. peak service for essential workers while helping reduce density for our staff and riders.

If you can stay home, please do.

Metro-North
Metro-North will provide hourly service on the Harlem, Hudson and New Haven lines, with extra trains added during peak times. Normal weekday capacity will be reduced by about 50% compared to a normal weekday.

Starting April 4, Metro-North will provide hourly service while also suspending shuttle service between Wassaic and Southeast on the Upper Harlem line.

LIRR and Metro-North
All Metro-North and LIRR ticket counters are closed. Use ticket vending machines or the MTA eTix app. The ticket office/waiting room at Jamaica will close from 10 p.m. to 6 a.m. nightly.

Closed
Our Customer Service Center in Lower Manhattan
Our Metro-North Customer Service Center in Grand Central Terminal.
Our lost and found offices
Our MetroCard Mobile Sales Bus and Vans
The North end entrances of Grand Central Terminal are closing on Thursday, March 26
Open
The Station Master's Office at Grand Central Terminal
The OMNY customer service center will be operating at reduced hours. Starting at 5 p.m. Friday, March 20, the service center will be open Monday through Friday, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
 #1538420  by Jeff Smith
 
https://new.mta.info/coronavirus/metro-north-service

Updated April 1, 2020

We're here to provide all-day service for health-care workers, first responders, and other essential employees. Everyone else should stay home.

While we are operating our MTA Essential Service Plan, off-peak fares will be in effect on Metro-North.

All Metro-North ticket counters are closed. We are also no longer taking cash onboard trains. You can still use cash at ticket vending machines. You can also use MTA eTix to buy tickets on your smartphone. These steps help us minimize direct contact for everyone in the system

Service details for Thursday, April 2
We’re running a modified schedule on the Hudson, Harlem, and New Haven lines until further notice. This means:

Additional trains in the morning and afternoon peak periods.
Hourly service during off-peak mid-day and evening periods.
West of Hudson service is operating on a weekend schedule until further notice. See West of Hudson schedules for more.

Remember to check the latest service status before your trip.

Weekend service changes
There is no train or bus service on the Wassaic Branch on weekends.
Beginning April 4, weekend service on the main lines of the Hudson, Harlem and New Haven lines will be on an hourly basis.
 #1538436  by NaugyRR
 
I'm gonna take a guess that it's because Wassaic extends significantly further north from the others and does not serve any major population centers, the station is basically at the edge of an old gravel bank. While it's convenient, it's probably not a major necessity with everything going on. The same goes for the other stations on the branch.
 #1538437  by Jeff Smith
 
Poughkeepsie is also part of the "main line", and thus has more pre-COVID scheduled trains.

Wassaic, while not really a "branch", is basically operated as such (it being part of the former NYC/PC Harlem Division). I'm a little surprised, but it was probably at the top of the list, and those using it can easily drive to Brewster North. A quick way to conserve crews.

Danbury? Not really sure. Probably a CtDOT decision anyway.

Curious as to Waterbury status. and WoH. Again, it's a matter of crews.
 #1538487  by NH2060
 
Yup. From the Republican-American earlier this afternoon:
Buses will afford extra space to riders, making it easier to maintain social distancing, the DOT said in a news release. The change will also allow improvements on the rail line to move forward more quickly, the agency said.
https://www.rep-am.com/local/localnews/ ... le-future/

Considering just low ridership must be on the branch -which on a regular basis is the lowest on the system as it is- busses probably are adequate enough even though a 3 car train would indeed provide a better “social distancing” option.

As long as the busses are taking over and the DOT is doing the smart thing to use this time to get improvements to the line done this should push the completion date up significantly.
 #1538491  by DutchRailnut
 
Branch was suppose to be shut dawn in May anyway to do fiver optic plowing and other improvements, so with current ridership at absolute low its best to advance project , only a idiot would disagree...
 #1538504  by njtmnrrbuff
 
Even though the train service on the Waterbury Branch is going to be suspended for an indefinate amount of time during this COVID-19 situation, it's a very good time to start the construction projects that are much needed to enable a service expansion on the branch. Hopefully there will be enough capacity on the Peter Pan buses so that way passengers follow social distancing rules.