Oyster Bay Branch Ridership

How good is ridership on the Oyster Bay branch, considering it is the only diesel branch in Nassau county?

Why didn't the LIRR electrify it back in the days when electrification was being expanded rapidly?

Except for the greenport runs, it has the lowest ridership of any diesel branch.

The peak trains do get pretty good ridership though, and the mid-morning eastbound (which stops at New Hyde Park) gets a good amount of traffic. I don't know the exact figures, but sometimes it can be hard to find a seat on those trains.

I travel mainly off peak so I cant really tell. Usually the 2 cars that are open fill up but not to the extent where there is standing room only.

kuzzel540 wrote:Except for the greenport runs, it has the lowest ridership of any diesel branch.

Isn't it always second on the list of lines that the LIRR wants to abandon every time there's a financial crisis (West Hempstead being #1)?

Its a catch 22. The trains are slow because the stations are two close together so the diesels can't get up enough speed. Low speed trains means low ridership. Low ridership means low investments.. etc.

Eliminating station stops was tried in the 1990's. They eliminated Mill Neck and tried to eliminate Glen Street- one of three Glen Cove Stations with in a mile of eachother. No political will to make it happen. Many riders have abandoned the line in favor of parking in places like Mineola or Manhasset. While Glen Cove has 26,000 residents, only 20,000 residents live east of the City in Bayville, Lattingtown, Mattinecock, Locust Valley and Oyster Bay. Only a small portion of that population commutes to the city.

If the LIRR wanted to do something about the line,they should consider doing at least two things: express service and additional parking. Via Express service, I would suggest a limited stop train that would skip stations like Glen Head, Greenvale, Glen Street, Albertson etc.

Any express train on the Oyster Bay branch SHOULD stop at Glen Street. That station actually gets very busy. If there were to be an express train on the Oyster Bay Branch, it should include Locust Valley, Glen Street, and Roslyn as stops.

Years and years ago, I'm talking the late '50s or early '60s, there was a proposal to eliminate both Albertson and East Williston stations in favor of a new station located mid way between them. The remnant of the old Vanderbilt Motor Parkway crossed the railroad at that point, and would have been used as the access road to the station from Willis Avenue and Roslyn Road.

But the locals didn't want it.

They have the PM DM to Oyster Bay Making that train First stop east of Jamaica Roslyn,Glen Street,Oyster Bay
Mineola is an optional stop to add. Before we get into the costs being prohibitive. Would the expansion of electric service to Oyster Bay actually provide faster service and better performance Making this branch more viable? This is probably worth a fancy and highly over priced $200,000.00 study. Half of the passengers as Syosset are Oyster Bay branch passengers.

atkelly wrote:Its a catch 22. The trains are slow because the stations are two close together so the diesels can't get up enough speed. Low speed trains means low ridership. Low ridership means low investments.. etc.

Eliminating station stops was tried in the 1990's. They eliminated Mill Neck and tried to eliminate Glen Street- one of three Glen Cove Stations with in a mile of eachother. No political will to make it happen. Many riders have abandoned the line in favor of parking in places like Mineola or Manhasset. While Glen Cove has 26,000 residents, only 20,000 residents live east of the City in Bayville, Lattingtown, Mattinecock, Locust Valley and Oyster Bay. Only a small portion of that population commutes to the city.

If the LIRR wanted to do something about the line,they should consider doing at least two things: express service and additional parking. Via Express service, I would suggest a limited stop train that would skip stations like Glen Head, Greenvale, Glen Street, Albertson etc.

You would rather skip the Sea Cliff stop in favor of keeping Glen Head.

Glen Head is in a much better location with commercial areas built around it, not to mention much better parking. Sea Cliff is a mile away from the border of sea cliff, with horrible parking and in a small industrial area.

Ridership is between 1826 and 3112 daily.

According to the MTA's figures, taxpayers pay about $267,550 per year for each passenger on the branch.

LongIslandTool wrote:Ridership is between 1826 and 3112 daily.

According to the MTA's figures, taxpayers pay about $267,550 per year for each passenger on the branch.

Holy shit

LongIslandTool wrote:Ridership is between 1826 and 3112 daily.

According to the MTA's figures, taxpayers pay about $267,550 per year for each passenger on the branch.



Holy *

This is a perfect example to give when those who rally for increased service just come up with the solution of "just add more trains" or just buy more locomotives" or "just buy more coaches to add to the trains." This stuff ain't cheap, and any increase drive those costs up dramatically.

Jay

jayrmli wrote:

LongIslandTool wrote:Ridership is between 1826 and 3112 daily.

According to the MTA's figures, taxpayers pay about $267,550 per year for each passenger on the branch.



Holy *

This is a perfect example to give when those who rally for increased service just come up with the solution of "just add more trains" or just buy more locomotives" or "just buy more coaches to add to the trains." This stuff ain't cheap, and any increase drive those costs up dramatically.

Jay

Well I would assume on the oyster bay branch they are not operating at enough capacity to fully utilize fixed costs.

What are the numbers for other LIRR branches?

LongIslandTool wrote:Ridership is between 1826 and 3112 daily.

According to the MTA's figures, taxpayers pay about $267,550 per year for each passenger on the branch.