What's the Future of Commuter/Passenger Rail Now?

I wonder if having the separated compartments for passengers - ones seen in Russia and England - would make people more comfortable with taking public transit.

Separated compartments have virtually disappeared from Britain; everything that's been built for some decades has airline-style seating (or bus-style, more like). The same seems to be the case on the Continent.

JohnFromJersey wrote: ↑Fri Apr 22, 2022 3:30 pm I wonder if having the separated compartments for passengers - ones seen in Russia and England - would make people more comfortable with taking public transit.

Unless each compartment had a completely independent HVAC air supply, there’d be no value whatsoever in doing this.

#1596266 by JohnFromJersey
Fri Apr 22, 2022 3:30 pm
I wonder if having the separated compartments for passengers - ones seen in Russia and England - would make people more comfortable with taking public transit.

In the case of NYC, Penn Station needs to be made "safe", right now it does not. Especially on the 8th Ave side, too many pan handlers, etc. to make anyone feel comfortable and unless you are going to MSG you need to either use the subway or taxis or Ubers. I think commuters can deal it but the occasional passenger and families cannot.

I go into the city at least once a week and have stopped using NJT, not due to Covid concerns but due to late trains, poor scheduling and the general unpleasantness of Penn Station, at least there is now a waiting area which requires you to show your ticket that makes waiting for the next train somewhat bearable.
If you time your drive right, I can get to my destination (usually Lincoln Center area) in HALF the time (55 Min vs over 2 hours) it would take using mass transit.

Last time I was in Penn Station, the New Jersey Transit section was still in good condition and reasonably civilized. So why would you not use NJT?

Head-end View wrote: ↑Sat Apr 23, 2022 7:02 pm Last time I was in Penn Station, the New Jersey Transit section was still in good condition and reasonably civilized. So why would you not use NJT?

Then you have to leave the NJT section and go to the "uncivilized" part NY&LB is talking about

Head-end View wrote: ↑Sat Apr 23, 2022 7:02 pm Last time I was in Penn Station, the New Jersey Transit section was still in good condition and reasonably civilized. So why would you not use NJT?

Because the year is 2022 and being overly dramatic and hyperbolic is the thing to do.

I was in Penn Station today. While the LIRR concourse is still a construction mess, the Amtrak and NJT concourses are in good shape with no problems that I could see. Good police presence too.

Back on the topic, here are two links with up-to-date ridership data for transit systems across the U.S., some of the commuter rail operators.

Nationwide
https://transitapp.com/APTA

New York MTA
https://new.mta.info/coronavirus/ridership

MN and LIRR yesterday were at about 60% pre-covid ridership.
Interestingly, MN was as 84% last Saturday and 93% last Sunday.

Yes, MN/LIRR are showing high percentages for the weekend, but look at the raw numbers.... Sat/Sun are still half of the current weekday volume.

Those are going to be entertainment seekers and leisure riders. Maybe a few 24/7 workers sprinkled in.

eolesen wrote: ↑Wed Apr 27, 2022 9:21 pm Yes, MN/LIRR are showing high percentages for the weekend, but look at the raw numbers.... Sat/Sun are still half of the current weekday volume.

Those are going to be entertainment seekers and leisure riders. Maybe a few 24/7 workers sprinkled in.

That's not restricted to MN/LIRR, it's a general trend on public transit systems since the pandemic. Makes sense — the people who rely on transit will keep using it no matter what, whereas the white collar professionals who can easily work from home or switch to driving on weekdays weren't taking transit much on the weekends in the first place.