New MNR/CTrail Schedule

Train322 wrote: ↑Wed Mar 29, 2023 7:38 pm Here is why Hudson line weekend service is reduced
They did this last year for two weekends. Of course - they did it when I was going to a Yankee game.

Weekday service on the Hudson Line will see only minor adjustments.

Metro-North is replacing track switches near Morris Heights and Marble Hill, in the most capacity-constrained segments of the Bronx. This significant infrastructure work requires that weekend Hudson Line service be temporarily reduced to one local train and one express train hourly in each direction. Weekend schedules also accommodate projects including the Park Avenue Viaduct Replacement Project work happening near the Harlem River Lift Bridge, the Hudson Express Cable Project between Cortlandt and Manitou, and additional signal work and other state of good repair work occurring along the line

Any future capacity increases this will lead to? Or journey time improvements? Slooooow south of Peekskill/Croton...

I'd hope that the work in the Bronx will, at the very least, shave a minute or two off through there. Are there any active speed restrictions on the line? It's been nearly two years since I last rode it.

Maybe they could even improve the frequencies, or add a Beacon express that leaves GCT around 3:40. Right now train #841 (3:48 out of GCT) is over 100% capacity and carrying 800 people. #839 (3:18 out of GCT) is at 61% capacity between Cortlandt and Peekskill.

Same thing on the New Haven. #1542, 4:01p out of Grand Central is jammed, #1540, 3:30p semi-express out of Grand Central is pretty crowded as well. Same story on the LIRR. Meanwhile express trains at ~6:30p go out less than half full.

EDIT: I'm an idiot and forgot that a Yankee game (that I watched) ended literally 20 minutes before I started harping on MNR for not having enough pre-peak capacity.

This could be improved with the outside-the-box thinking of running every GCT train as an express and run a local from Spuyten Duyvil to Croton-Harmon timed to connect at Spuyten Duyvil. Then everyone would get as frequent service as possible. Of course they would never do that though

The changes are working wonderfully. On a rainy Saturday, 4/6 and 5/10 of the busiest trains in the system (MNR and LIRR) are Hudson Line.