October 3, 2015 Schedule Changes & Last Stop: Marble Hill

MTA.INFO

Release; brief, fair-use quote format omitted intentionally:

Better Connection to Greenwich from Eastern Connecticut; Hudson Line Track Work Means Special Schedules for Seven Weekends

September 21st, 2015

New timetables are coming to Metro-North’s New Haven Line and Harlem Line on Sunday, October 4, and to the Hudson Line on Saturday, October 3. On the New Haven Line, Metro-North is creating a better morning rush hour connection to Greenwich for Shore Line East customers. On the Hudson Line, weekend track work will mean special timetables for seven weekends. Customers on all three lines should look for other, minor scheduling changes.

New Haven Line

Metro-North is making it easier for Shore Line East commuters to reach Greenwich. Commuters who ride Shore Line East’s 5:50 a.m. departure from New London, Conn., making all stops to West Haven, then Bridgeport, then arriving at Stamford at 8:03 a.m., will now be able to change at Stamford for an 8:14 a.m. train to Greenwich. The connecting train previously originated in New Canaan at 7:58 a.m. and ran express after Stamford. To allow for the added stop at Greenwich, the train will depart from Stamford and all New Canaan Branch stations two minutes earlier. It will now originate at New Canaan at 7:56 a.m.

Waterbury Branch Update

Metro-North will issue updated New Haven Line timetables effective November 16, reflecting the decommissioning of the temporary transfer station for Waterbury Branch customers at Devon and the conclusion of work on the Devon Movable Bridge. At that time, normal Waterbury Branch service will resume.

Hudson Line

The 9:15 a.m. weekday train from Poughkeepsie, which had been adjusted in April to accommodate a construction project, returns to its former schedule, departing Poughkeepsie at 9:00 a.m.

Temporary Schedule for Weekend Construction, October 3 to November 15

Beginning Saturday, October 3, and continuing through Sunday, November 15, Metro-North crews will replace an important complex of track switches near Yankees-E. 153rd Street. As a result, two of the Hudson Line’s three tracks between Marble Hill and Harlem-125th Street will be out of service for seven weekends, and train service will operate with schedule changes.

For electric train service south of Croton-Harmon, local trains will operate normally, but the semi-express trains will operate only between Croton-Harmon and Marble Hill. Customers riding these trains will transfer at Marble Hill to continue their trip, and will experience an increase in travel time of up to six minutes.

Customers using diesel trains that operate north of Croton-Harmon will need to make a cross-platform change of trains at Croton-Harmon. Three southbound trains from Poughkeepsie (the 9:40 a.m. train on Saturdays, and the 10:40 a.m. and 3:40 p.m. trains Saturdays and Sundays) and three northbound trains to Poughkeepsie (the 4:14 p.m. train on Saturdays, and the 5:14 p.m. and 6:14 p.m. trains Saturdays and Sundays) will not operate for the duration of the work.

Metro-North will issue new Hudson Line timetables effective November 16, at the conclusion of this project, and at that time normal weekend service will be restored.

Harlem Line

Trains that stop at Bedford Hills at 4:00 p.m., 5:00 p.m. and 6:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays will bypass the station starting Sunday, October 4. Metro-North added these stops for the first time this past spring, and found that it was difficult to allow for essential track maintenance activities with the heightened level of service. Customers from Bedford Hills will continue to have the hourly service that has long existed at the station, with trains departing at 3:35 p.m., 4:35 p.m., 5:35 p.m., and 6:35 p.m.

Saw this posted up at Mamaroneck yesterday. That'll be interesting to see, the Hudson Line's reduction to 1 track between the points mentioned.

This is the Hudson Line special timetable: http://web.mta.info/mnr/html/planning/s ... s-oct3.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I don't see the point in having the transfer at Croton. Since their connections are dedicated, it doesn't save track space through the work zone.

From the way this is setup,the locals stop at Marble Hill,and you transfer to the inbound
semi-express to get to GCT,or a bus to the skipped stations.
Heading back to Harmon,local starts at Marble Hill after the meet with the outbound semi-express
and the bus from the skipped stations
This is going to be a nightmare when the Yankees are in the playoffs.

Local trains will operate normally, but the semi-express trains will operate only between Croton-Harmon and Marble Hill. Customers riding these trains will transfer at Marble Hill to continue their trip, and will experience an increase in travel time of up to six minutes.

This summary, as quoted above, seems to be not completely accurate. All of the trains which require transfer at Marble Hill are those which originate from Croton at or near the bottom of the hour (:30 / :33). The ones which leave at :33 past the hour are indeed semi-express... so far, so good. But those which leave at :30 are not only local, but they continue past Marble Hill to University Heights and Morris Heights.

Amtrak7 wrote:I don't see the point in having the transfer at Croton. Since their connections are dedicated, it doesn't save track space through the work zone.

I can't figure that out, either.

Backshophoss wrote:From the way this is setup,the locals stop at Marble Hill,and you transfer to the inbound semi-express to get to GCT,or a bus to the skipped stations.

There are no buses. Nothing was said about buses in orginal post. According to the schedule (linked above in Amtrak7's response), every single station on the line continues to get local train service once per hour. The only changes involve the expresses and semi-expresses... while it may be inconvenient that some stations will be served less frequently than usual, they are still getting service, so there will be no buses.

pnaw10 wrote:

Amtrak7 wrote:I don't see the point in having the transfer at Croton. Since their connections are dedicated, it doesn't save track space through the work zone.

I can't figure that out, either.

My best guess is that they're saving money on fuel. You're already paying a crew to take everyone to/from Croton on the Upper Hudson; my cynical presumption is that a bean counter was able to show some savings.

Nester wrote:... You're already paying a crew to take everyone to/from Croton on the Upper Hudson....

And that same crew will be transferring with the passengers.

truck6018 wrote:

Nester wrote:... You're already paying a crew to take everyone to/from Croton on the Upper Hudson....

And that same crew will be transferring with the passengers.

A conductor mentioned that to me -- the same one who told me that there are no penalty payments for engineers who work electric and diesel on the same shift on Metro-North... so the head-scratching continues and saving on fuel seems to be the only thing that makes sense (to me), since you could otherwise let that train run all the way to Grand Central.

Someone else suggested that there was less chance of blocking the entire line if you ran electrics through the work area, since they're considered to be more reliable than the dual-modes. As we're all throwing out opinions I figured I'd share that one with the group.

Maybe it's because they can run longer trains with electrics, and they're picking up both the passengers from north of croton and all the semi-local passengers, so they anticipate higher ridership

jackintosh11 wrote:Maybe it's because they can run longer trains with electrics, and they're picking up both the passengers from north of croton and all the semi-local passengers, so they anticipate higher ridership

I think that may be it. Since there is going to be two trains worth of people leaving GCT until Marble Hill and vice versa.

anyway , no use second guessing, people way higher on pay scale are decision makers...

I see that there is a "construction schedule" on the Hudson Line. Some GCT-bound trains terminate at Marble Hill, and then they continue south, without passengers. Then a few minutes later, another GCT-bound train will stop at Marble Hill and pick up the passengers from the terminated GCT-bound train.

I'm just curious: what specifically is causing this? It's "construction", but why would trackwork require that some southbound trains terminate at Marble Hill, while others continue to GCT?

Thanks.

they will only have one track available, by canceling 2 moves (1 north- 1 south) they can keep time.

First and foremost, for an official answer you should contact Metro North as there is zero affiliation between them and this site. With that said....

In my observations it's the local or semi express trains that leave Croton Harmon at the bottom of the hour and the local and semi expresses that leave GCT approximately 10 minutes to the hour that are effected.

The southbound trains discharge at Marble Hill for the express to pick up as that train is scheduled to go through there regardless. The train that terminates continues south to High Bridge Yard for the crew to ready the train for a north bound.

Going north, the express train leaves 5 to 10 minutes than the semi express normally does. They will discharge the lower Hudson passengers at Marble Hill for the train coming out of High Bridge to be picked up.

By combining these trains reduces one train in a short period of time to allow the track workers to do their thing. Between there being one one track for north and south bound trains and train having to be flagged through the work area, this is what the powers to be decided to do.

Since the Yankees are in the postseason I sure hope there's room in the schedule to suspend the work for a game (or more) if needed.