tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post7053991153945679484..comments2024-02-01T04:37:41.878-05:00Comments on Cap'n Transit Rides Again: The most important post of 2003Cap'n Transithttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17057887736728828646noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post-85337334585131371722015-04-12T20:40:28.427-04:002015-04-12T20:40:28.427-04:00"as well as crews would simply couldn't b..."as well as crews would simply couldn't be bothered to get on their scheduled trains on time"<br /><br />When I was a little kid, crews at Utica Avenue waited for their trains. Now, trains wait for their crews there. This should never happen and it drives me crazy. <br /><br />Why can't five train operators start their workday at Times Square so that a crew is ready to grab a train as soon as it pulls in? I can't imagine it would take a T/O more than 90 seconds to get set up and pull a train out.jazumahhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00890764412679388559noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post-39416280944058727552015-04-12T20:35:15.369-04:002015-04-12T20:35:15.369-04:00That's so frustrating that they keep slowing t...That's so frustrating that they keep slowing things down and keep running fewer and fewer trains. Of course the safest and cheapest thing is not to run any trains at all.<br /><br />Anyway, I think the limiting factor for the Flushing line may well be the Times Square terminal: the problem is that the trains are relatively long and relatively slow due to the curves in the area around the crossovers, and due to needing to be careful approaching the end of the track. The new 34th St station will hopefully have a higher approach speed through the crossover and less need to enter the platform slowly and carefully since there will be plenty of overlap distance past the station through the southern crossover. Once that's done, terminating the locals at 111th is likely to be the best way to get the best use of terminal capacity on the Queens end. And of course, CBTC probably won't do much for terminal capacity one way or the other.crzwdjkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06394805356595604336noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post-1015378588660306592015-04-11T14:20:26.900-04:002015-04-11T14:20:26.900-04:00BTW - viz-a-viz Arcady's observation: NYCTA su...BTW - viz-a-viz Arcady's observation: NYCTA subway timetables do use half minutes. And the clocks all had second hands by the time of this experiment. In fact, to the best of my knowledge, all terminals, signal towers, the command center, etc, etc, now all work off the same central digital clock, showing hours, minutes, seconds.<br /><br />Unfortunately terminal operations are still pretty sloppy - with supervision regularly loosing track of crews - as well as crews would simply couldn't be bothered to get on their scheduled trains on time.capt subwayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11238954255206457928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post-27971877577998168312015-04-11T14:14:59.792-04:002015-04-11T14:14:59.792-04:00Actually I remember that "experiment" we...Actually I remember that "experiment" well. It was done at the behest of the Car Maintenance Dept, which didn't like maintaining 11 car trains. As they were gradually converting all the R62 & R62A cars to 5 car train sets with full width cabs at each end of the set they couldn't seen to figure out where the 11th car would fit in. (Evidently, for some obscure reason, a 6 car train set was not possible.) The theory was, if you could up the TPH from 27 to 30 you could, at least in part, make up for the missing 11th car. I was in charge of IRT Schedules at the time and supervised the production of the timetables and work program for the test. And, yes, it didn't not work out very well. TSq could only process about 27-28 TPH, under optimal operating conditions - or, as we used to say (and they probably still use the phrase) - with everything "on time and in place".<br /><br />It is to be hoped that the new terminal at 11th Ave will do a better job at processing the trains than does T Sq. With some lay-up capacity south of the new terminal at least a small number of trains will be able to drop out after the AM peak and be stored there, rather than be run back to Queens, which would help just a bit.<br /><br />Unfortunately the mindset amongst TA middle and upper management is to (1) come up with new ways to run fewer, not more trains, and (2) to come up with new ways to slow the trains down rather than speed them up - all done, allegedly, in pursuit of chimerical standard of greater safety.<br /><br />What they could do to improve service right now is to abandon that ridiculous service pattern in the AM leaving MS, wherein the southbound expresses run on the local track to WPt and then are crossed back over to the express track, such move being made to make room for the post AM peak drop outs to terminate on the express track at W Pt, instead of terminating on the local at 111 and then running straight into the yard, as had been done up until about 2008, when it was changed on H H Roberts' watch (a totally clueless bonehead if there ever was one). The southbound expresses should leave MS on the Tk M and stay on Tk M, as it is a much smoother, speedier and reliable operation.capt subwayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11238954255206457928noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5862444008740250372.post-56430993301051468522015-04-11T14:03:51.756-04:002015-04-11T14:03:51.756-04:00Internal NYCT timetables have (or used to have) ti...Internal NYCT timetables have (or used to have) timings with half-minute resolution, but that's useless if the dispatcher's clock doesn't have that resolution. On the London Underground, the busiest lines' timetables (30 tph and up) go down to 15-second resolution. In terms of terminal capacity, Flushing has 3 platforms, so one would hope they'd be able to turn trains pretty quickly, and maybe the new terminal at 34th St will help things. Maybe tail tracks past Flushing would also improve terminal capacity. In London, the Victoria Line does well over 30 tph with a two-track terminal at one end (Brixton). crzwdjkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06394805356595604336noreply@blogger.com