GCT Arrival Track Assignments

I've always wondered how RTC determines which track an arriving train will end up at? I know that generally speaking diesels are assigned upper level tracks with minimal exposure to large interlockings and third rail gaps, but for a given M series arrival what factors determine where the train ends up?

The number of cars vs. platform length and what train it turns for to go back out.

It is not the RTC's choice, as to where to send the trains, a big master list of turns/platforms etc has that information.
The locations are based on lenght/ turn/minimal effect on other trains at that time. As new employee I always thought that you could prabably pick any random platform and speed up things. after 28 years I can see how well Choreographed each move is, and how trains weave around each other to try a minimum impact.
Of course it only takes a crew from holding up a train or a mechanical issue to upset the balance of all moves.

Other things to consider, certain tracks in GCT may be OOS, so assignments will have to be adjusted. Also some weekend trains are assigned to the lower level during the hours the food court is open to push more foot traffic through that area. Some trains are yarded in the morning or return from the yard in the afternoon, so those trains will come in on a loop track or track near where they'll be yarded.

Drkchai - I have told you in your previous thread to contact customer service. If you persist in attempting to go around me, I will have you suspended from posting.

It is pretty interesting the way they make everything fit together. Someone told me once, another consideration is, to spread the moves out so that arriving trains crossing over to their platform don't block departing trains. Or vice versa. When you come in at rush hour and you see how many trains are all moving at the same time you can see the planning at work.

Btw, if anyone's interested Metro-North maintains an on-line, real-time list of the assigned departure tracks (click) for several hours in advance.

Whoa they made that list longer! Last time I used it (which was only a few weeks ago) it was about 2/3 that length.

Several factors go into platform assignments at GCT. In order to minimize switching at Mott Haven and Woodlawn Hudson Line trains usually use the tracks on the west side of the terminal, while New Haven Line trains operate from the east side with the Harlem Line trains in between . Trains length is another factor as not all platforms are the same. If possible you do not want one train loading passengers at the same time while another one is unloading. Its does happen at times but you want to minimize the occurrences of this. Of course there are always adjustments to be made as one train might arrive with a different consist them it normally has and there are the extra trains that run usually before a big holiday weekend.

Larry, RedbirdR33

Amtrak7 wrote:Whoa they made that list longer! Last time I used it (which was only a few weeks ago) it was about 2/3 that length.

Yes, I agree.

Amtrak7 wrote:Whoa they made that list longer! Last time I used it (which was only a few weeks ago) it was about 2/3 that length.

The problem with that is there's more chances for track changes leading to passenger confusion. Yes the disclaimer is there that track changes may occur. I don't know how many times people have asked me what track a departure would be on hours a head of time. I'd tell them it's on track XX but to check again 20-30 minutes prior to departure. In the end they'd miss the train because there was a track change.

It depends on who is asking about the track assignment. Regular riders know all about track changes. Some of these people have been riding the same trains for twenty years. Some of them can recite every track a particular train has ever left from since 1992!

I used to check the departure site just before I left work for GCT. On weekends it was no big deal. There were only two trains-an-hour. During the week it was a major help.

You know how it is. I would be planning to take the Hudson Line 5:44 PM but then I'd think maybe I can just finish this and maybe just leave that for tomorrow. And maybe just get the heck out of here NOW. Maybe I can catch the 5:20 PM after all, I might have just enough time, let me see what track it's on... I usually entered the Terminal from E. 43rd Street between Madison and Vanderbilt. If the train was on one of the loop tracks, that saved me two or three minutes. If it was downstairs on a Lower Level track a lot of times I would realize, I'm not going to make it after all. Then I'd think, 'Okay where's the 5:22?'

Worked very well for me.

Tommy Meehan wrote:Regular riders know all about track changes.

One would think. The one time a regular misses his or her train because of a track change then it's everyone's fault but their own. I've been on the receiving end of it more than once.

Tommy Meehan wrote:Regular riders know all about track changes.

I think you mean intelligent riders, not just regulars. A lot of times the regulars won't even look to see that a track has been changed because they think the train is always on a certain track.

RearOfSignal wrote: A lot of times the regulars won't even look to see that a track has been changed because they think the train is always on a certain track.

ROS someone who has been commuting for many years knows that track assignments change.

What you don't seem to realize is, some people are working under a lot of stress. They have a lot of things going on. Sometimes what track the train leaves from is not the most important issue they're thinking about. When we arrive at GCT we're decompressing. So sometimes you forget to look and you go to the wrong track.

That's not a sign of stupidity, it's just a sign you're a human being.

Tommy Meehan wrote:

RearOfSignal wrote: A lot of times the regulars won't even look to see that a track has been changed because they think the train is always on a certain track.

ROS someone who has been commuting for many years knows that track assignments change.

Generally speaking maybe. Definitely not a blanket statement.

Over the course of the last four or five years that I've either worked in GCT or on trains out of GCT, I can not count the number of times there are regular commuters that do not know that. People on the trains ignoring announcements and train displays that get on the wrong train because this one day out of 365, it wasn't where it was "supposed" to be.

I agree, people have things going on. Stuff happens, peoples senses are numbed with their eyes buried on their phone and earphones in their ears. I don't care what the excuse is, it's always us that get it in the end because they either got on the wrong train or missed their train because it wasn't on the track it was supposed to be on.

I've had someone a few weeks ago get on the wrong train demand we go back to GCT so they can get off because it wasn't their fault. Fortunately we had not passed 125th and they got off as their intended train was just a few minutes later.