Grand Central Madison TIMETABLES AND RIDERSHIP THREAD

[Jeff Smith]

https://nypost.com/2023/03/09/mta-promi ... -schedule/

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The changes to the schedule include:

Train #2013, the 5:42 a.m. from Ronkonkoma will run to Penn Station instead of Grand Central;
Train #827, the 7:54 a.m. train from Long Beach will also switch to Penn Station from Grand Central;
Train #268, the 5:28 p.m. train from Grand Central to Babylon will also make the move back to the West Side;
Train #714, the 7:31 a.m. train running in the reverse commute direction to Hempstead will leave from Penn Station instead of the East Side.

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[MACTRAXX]

JS - Something I noticed about the NY Post and News 12 Long Island news reports is that they are both
inconsistent - News 12 did post a full list of LIRR changes...either did not use "Eastbound" and "Westbound".
I decided to type them out - AM Peak Beginning Monday March 13 -
5:42 AM Ronkonkoma - W To Penn Station 6:55 AM
7:54 Long Beach - W To Penn Station 8:44 AM
7:30 Penn Station - E to Hempstead (HEM time not noted)
All four Brentwood AM Peak starts will now originate at Ronkonkoma and add a stop in Central Islip:
5:06 AM Ronk/BWD 5:16 AM; 5:38 AM Ronk/BWD 5:48 AM; 5:53 AM Ronk/BWD 6:03 AM; 7:47 AM Ronk/BWD 7:57 AM
PM Peak Eastbound: 5:28 PM Penn Station to Babylon (BAB time not noted)

Expect more changes and adjustments to LIRR schedules in the weeks ahead...One question I have:
Will any of the six PM Peak trains that now terminate at Brentwood be extended to Ronkonkoma?
(on any subsequent schedule adjustments or changes...)
As I previously mentioned I am NO fan of ANY forced Brentwood transfer eastbound...MACTRAXX

[Allan]

https://longisland.news12.com/frustrati ... ng-changes

A lot of the changes boil down to the fact that not as many passengers are using GCM as the LIRR projected.

I imagine that Jamaica must be a real mess during rush hours (even more than before GCM)

[Head-end View]

Looks like LIRR is slowly figuring out exactly what the riders and people here have been saying since this started.

People were saying all these things that are being adjusted now during the public hearings after the draft schedules came out. They ignored the riders.

Well shame on MTA-LIRR management. A little common sense would have told them that screwing the Brooklyn passengers out of their 100 year history of cross-platform transfers and eliminating timed connection/cross platform transfers were bad ideas that would make for less efficient movement of passengers and more rider dissatisfaction.

[Jeff Smith]

https://new.mta.info/press-release/long ... e-march-13

Four trains with added stops:
Four trains that currently originate at Brentwood will be extended to originate at Ronkonkoma, and will also stop at Central Islip.

• The 5:16 a.m. train from Brentwood to Penn station will now have added Ronkonkoma and Central Islip stops leaving Ronkonkoma at 5:06 a.m.
• The 5:48 a.m. train from Brentwood to Penn station will now have added Ronkonkoma and Central Islip stops leaving Ronkonkoma at 5:38 a.m.
• The 6:03 a.m. train from Brentwood to Penn station will now have added Ronkonkoma and Central Islip stops leaving Ronkonkoma at 5:53 a.m.
• The 7:57 a.m. train from Brentwood to Penn station will now have added Ronkonkoma and Central Islip stops leaving Ronkonkoma at 7:47 a.m.

Beginning on Monday, March 6, the following service changes were implemented:

LIRR Lengthened Trains
The LIRR lengthened seven trains to Penn Station for the morning rush hour and ten trains for the afternoon rush hour. This change addressed any train that reached or exceeded capacity based on data collected last week. For the list of trains with added cars, see below.

Subsequently, when these trains turn from either their Long Island destination or Penn Station to operate in the opposite direction, an additional eleven trains no have added cars, benefitting customers as well as a result of the previously described targeted increases.

The railroad has been adapting to address concerns from the public as quickly as possible, which included lengthening of trains. As such, the LIRR went from 16 trains that reached capacity in one day during peak periods to one train exceeding capacity by the end of the week on Friday, March 3, out of a total of 289 peak trains.

Brooklyn Service
Brooklyn service increased beginning Monday, with one additional trainset operating between Jamaica and Atlantic Terminal and a second trainset placed into service on Tuesday.

The addition of trains March 6 and 7 reduced time between trains to an average of 7-8 minutes for Brooklyn customers during both peak periods. Whenever customers arrive at the platform at Jamaica, there will likely be a train ready to board.

Additionally, to streamline transfers to Brooklyn, the LIRR placed platform controllers to assist customers on the platform serving Tracks 11 and 12, where Brooklyn trains depart. The platform controllers determine the timing of trains departures. When conditions allow, a Brooklyn train will not depart the platform without the arrival of a second train on the opposite track for the morning rush hour and trains are expected to hold up to two minutes for connecting customers transferring from other platforms.

[4behind2]

Its called addition by subtraction.

Amazing how all the millions in public funding spent on Atlantic Terminal and VD yard resulted in the terminal now becoming a backwater destination. Cathy Rinaldi's slight of hand by adding "more trains" to Brooklyn doesn't address the issue of lack of thru trains to the terminal or the ridiculous schlep at Jamaica to get to them. Still surprised all the Brooklyn politicos and advocates still keep silent on the matter.........

And for all the "studies" the Carrier conducted over the years on ridership and where they're going, to not know the bulk of the riders go to the financial district , Government offices, or Midtown Manhattan either borders on malfeasance or adhering to the Albany narrative that riders will just love GCTM whether they like it or not.

As someone I used to work with liked to say; "do the math, kid, do the math"

[west point]

Any change of train schedules starting next Monday?

[alchemist]

Yesterday, the Alchemist and Mrs. A. took our first trip into Manhattan since GCM opened. Probably someday we'll want to go to the east side and we'll be glad for GCM, but for now it's basically cut our service to Penn in half. To make matters worse, the waiting room (sucky as it used to be!) is now closed for rehab so, having just missed one train, we had to stand around for nearly an hour waiting for the next train. Not a real fun trip.

[ExCon90]

Couldn't you have taken a train to Jamaica and changed there to a train from GCM? Just wondering.

[alchemist]

We're on the Port Wash -- no Jamaica for us.

[alchemist]

Also, eastbound from Penn, it's still just (roughly) hourly service.

[Head-end View]

You might be able to transfer at Woodside. You'd have to check the schedules.

[ExCon90]

I haven't seen the printed timetables. Do you have to juggle two schedules to work out connections at Woodside? (And then refold them afterwards?)

[Commuter X]

Yesterday, the Alchemist and Mrs. A. took our first trip into Manhattan since GCM opened. Probably someday we'll want to go to the east side and we'll be glad for GCM, but for now it's basically cut our service to Penn in half. To make matters worse, the waiting room (sucky as it used to be!) is now closed for rehab so, having just missed one train, we had to stand around for nearly an hour waiting for the next train. Not a real fun trip.

The irony is that this schedule change has caused people to drive into Manhattan.
Manhattan is not safe and Penn Station is a dump with no restrooms and no seating -- No one wants to be there for the better part of an hour waiting for a train that used to run every 30 minutes.

Off-Peak service (especially nights and weekends) should be reduced to GC since it is primary a business area
Penn has The Garden, Broadway and restaurants.

Here's hoping for a miracle on May 22 that the pre-February 27th schedules are re-instated
Some call it the "nuclear option". I call it fixing a mistake

[Head-end View]

Re: the waiting room and rest-rooms in the Long Island section of Penn Station; although they are closed for renovation, there is another set of relatively new restrooms in the New Jersey Transit section of Penn. Right up the escalator and across the corridor from LIRR's closed waiting room.

And I agree that some semblance of the old-style LIRR schedules should be reinstated, including scheduled connections at Jamaica like they had for a hundred years in what was originally a very smart station design.