Notes On Branch Timetables

When there is a Reference Note on the branch timetables (like Fridays only or Mondays only) it is printed in the space where it would usually indicate if a train is Peak AM or Peak PM. So is there a way to determine Peak or Offpeak other than looking at arrival departure times?

More specifically, I used the Monday only Train #2705 from Sayville several times in 2014, either to HPA or Penn and paid Offpeak fare. The train is scheduled to arrive Penn 10:05am (change at Jamaica) or HPA 9:57am. So although it doesn't say on the printed branch and station schedules, if I use the current online schedule app for Summer 2015 it indicates it is a Peak train, still arriving Penn 10:05am. Did the LIRR change this for 2015 from what is was last year? The arrival times appear to be the same as last summer. Why would it be a peak train if it arrives at 10:05? Or are they saying since it arrives HPA 9:57 that makes it Peak, even though Penn Station is 10:05?

That train's final destination is HPA not Penn.
That is what determines if it is peak or not.

But if a train that would normally be peak has an off peak connection both trains are off peak.
For example the 4:00 pm to Huntington and the 4:03 pm train to Babylon are both off peak since they connect with an off peak train from Brooklyn.

It is an off peak train. There is a bit of confusion with this particular train because it has no scheduled connections in the employee timetable, so I've heard of people getting charged the peak fare on that particular train. However from the point of view of the customer, the next logical Penn Station train arrives after 10am, making it an off peak train.

Just looked. The branch timetable does not indicate this train to be peak. However, it is printed in the next column after the peak trains, and is also highlighted in black. But instead of saying "Peak AM", it says "Note 3" in the masthead. If crew members are trying to charge the peak fare, I'd recommend bringing a copy of the public branch timetable with you to point it out to the crew member. Otherwise, pay the fare they charge, then send in the onboard ticket to the address listed for a refund of the difference.

Lamens terms: If the train originates during off-peak hours, all your connections are off-peak. If it originates during peak hours, all your connections are peak, it has been simplified with all connections of (X) amount of trains as one.

Everyone:

Good to know what criteria determines if a train is peak or off peak on "borderline" trains operating at the time peak hours begin and end
on weekdays which can determine which type of fares are in effect leaving or arriving at a City Zone One terminal station.

The LIRR has been using the column title "Peak AM" or "Peak PM" since the middle 1990s to denote peak trains - but to me the better way
would be to bring back the color shaded area that was used from September 1975 (when off peak one way fares first began) until the time of
timetable redesigns about 20 or so years ago which would stand out more vividly against the black printing that the LIRR uses on Branch line
timetables - instead of using the same terms repetitiously...

MNCR has used shaded color areas in their three line timetables to note peak weekday hours continuously since the middle 1970s and it has
worked well there - the LIRR should bring this feature back to the Branch Timetables to show exactly what trains honor which tickets especially
on these "borderline" weekday trains...

If I was riding one of these trains I would purchase a off peak ticket and if necessary pay the step up fee to peak because if you buy a peak ticket
and use it off peak that to me is in essence a "penalty charge" because of there being no recourse - at one time train crews gave a rider the option
of purchasing for example a off peak one way ticket on board without penalty instead of using a higher priced peak one way - all that changed in I
believe 2003 when the on board penalty charges were increased from a flat $2 to $3 and higher with subsequent fare increases.

MACTRAXX

MattAmity90 wrote:Lamens terms: If the train originates during off-peak hours, all your connections are off-peak. If it originates during peak hours, all your connections are peak, it has been simplified with all connections of (X) amount of trains as one.

Not exactly, a train leaving penn station after 4pm is a peak train unless it has an off peak connection from Brooklyn. If it does both trains are off peak.
And this situation does exist.

ADL6009 wrote:

MattAmity90 wrote:Lamens terms: If the train originates during off-peak hours, all your connections are off-peak. If it originates during peak hours, all your connections are peak, it has been simplified with all connections of (X) amount of trains as one.

Not exactly, a train leaving penn station after 4pm is a peak train unless it has an off peak connection from Brooklyn. If it does both trains are off peak.
And this situation does exist.

ADL6009 and Everyone: I'll vouch for that:

Train #1718 4:00 local to Huntington; Train #2350 4:09 local to Farmingdale; Train #140 4:03 express to Babylon (first stop Amityville with connection from
Babylon to Speonk) are all off peak trains under this connection scenario currently...

Another important seasonal train that once was affected by its connections was the Cannonball back when the run began at Hunterspoint Avenue...
This train - interestingly enough - was considered a off peak "borderline" train - and when the schedule was changed to operate through from
Penn Station the departure time became 4:06 PM making the Cannonball (Train #2798) a peak hour train finally...

MACTRAXX

MACTRAXX wrote:

ADL6009 wrote:...Another important seasonal train that once was affected by its connections was the Cannonball back when the run began at Hunterspoint Avenue...
This train - interestingly enough - was considered a off peak "borderline" train - and when the schedule was changed to operate through from
Penn Station the departure time became 4:06 PM making the Cannonball (Train #2798) a peak hour train finally...MACTRAXX

With the Cannonball now being 4:06 PM departure, it's clearly printed on the Montauk branch timetable that it is peak fare, and rightfully so because of the time change and thru service to Westhampton.
The other "borderline" train I mentioned, Monday AM Montauk to Penn Station (arrive 10:05) with connection at Jamaica is running exactly the same schedule, at least on the public timetable, as Summer 2014, yet it now is a peak train. My friends took it this morning from Speonk and paid peak fare. We both agreed that we had used it more than a half dozen times last year and always used off-peak ticket. Everything on the public timetable looks exactly the same including the Jamaica connection, but maybe something changed on the employee timetable since as inthebag stated above it doesn't show any connections.

I've always been told by my Mom that the first PM Peak train is 4:15 PM.

I'm sticking to my words, even if you change from an off Peak to Peak, honor the ticket.

Well, it looks like the MTA has fixed this confusion about the Monday #2705 train. There is now a Special Message and Alert on both the LIRR web page and the TrainTime smartphone app that wasn't there a week ago, stating specifically the fare is offpeak. I guess customers were confused and complaining onboard or the railroad follows threads such as this. If they could implement the color shading on future schedules like MACTRAXX noted used by Metro North, that would help to make things a lot clearer.

I myself wasn't using this train for commuting. I just like to ride trains occasionally to an interesting destination and do some sightseeing. My wife and I are retired and we would take the train to LIC and walk along the waterfront, look at all the changes and construction going on, hit a bar or restaurant, ride the East River Ferry, etc. One day last summer we walked all the way to Williamsburgh and then took the ferry back to LIC for the Hunterspoint train. No way we would be doing this if they eliminated the only am offpeak train to LIC/HPA.

MattAmity90 wrote:I've always been told by my Mom that the first PM Peak train is 4:15 PM.

I'm sticking to my words, even if you change from an off Peak to Peak, honor the ticket.

The first peak train is the 4:12pm to Massapequa Park (1052).

Amtrak7 wrote:

MattAmity90 wrote:I've always been told by my Mom that the first PM Peak train is 4:15 PM.

I'm sticking to my words, even if you change from an off Peak to Peak, honor the ticket.

The first peak train is the 4:12pm to Massapequa Park (1052).

...And on Thursday and Friday when the Cannonball runs that first PM Peak train leaves NYP at 4:06...

MACTRAXX