NHL Schedule Padding

[Traingeek3629]

Yesterday, I went down to NYC to meet up with some family friends for an afternoon/evening. Although the city was a mobscene and getting around took twice as much time as normal (darn tourists) getting down there was bizarrely pain free.

NH Line 1565, departing at 1:21 PM and scheduled to arrive at 3:22 PM. left right on time and despite significant slowdowns in the vicinity of Fairfield and Greenwich, we arrived at 3:13, 9 minutes ahead of schedule even after sitting outside of GCT for 3-4 minutes while we waited for our track to open up.

Going back, NH Line 1572, departing at 6:48 PM and scheduled to arrive at 8:42 PM, left the obligatory 1 minute late and after a prolonged stop at Harlem (Pinstripe Bowl fans coming in right as we were about to leave) we were full speed ahead all the way to S. Norwalk. Between every stop except Bridgeport and Stratford, we got up to a good clip and progressively got more and more early. Finally, we arrived in New Haven at...8:26?! 16 minutes early!

I'm not a regular rider as I work from home, but I find it odd how early we were. Is this a regular thing? Today might be slightly faster on the way home because of lower dwell times, but the way there was busier then normal. The question is, how much schedule padding is too much?

[NHRRJOHN]

Passengers get angry when the train arrives at their destination later than scheduled. Most of the "padding" is on the end of the run, because ordinarily train cannot leave station until the scheduled time.

American Airlines is credited with the padding trick to improve their on-time arrival percentage.

[Traingeek3629]

Passengers get angry when the train arrives at their destination later than scheduled. Most of the "padding" is on the end of the run, because ordinarily train cannot leave station until the scheduled time.

American Airlines is credited with the padding trick to improve their on-time arrival percentage.

We left SoNo 6 minutes early and Milford 9. I don't want to be late but 16 minutes early is way too early, especially for people getting a ride and'll now have to sit in NH for 15 minutes.

[ExCon90]

I can't pull up the reference marks in the schedules on the MN website, but I don't see anything in the columns that might mean "train may leave ahead of schedule." When trains actually leave that early, doesn't it leave some irate passengers standing on the platform, who arrived in plenty of time for their train and got left because it was already gone? I have a hard time imagining New York commuters standing for that. (There was a time when dispatchers wouldn't stand for that.)

[DutchRailnut]

bottom line is you purchase a ticket for certain service ??
despite padding is service less that what is in service ??
you got what you paid for , nuff said...

[shadyjay]

Reference marks for the NHL schedules online are found on the "WEEKEND" page, since that is the back side of the New Haven Line printed timetable, and there are fewer trains than the front side, which is WEEKDAY. On the particular train, as well as several other peak trains, the "H" reference mark is used... "Stops primarily to discharge passengers, train may depart up to 5 minutes earlier than time shown". Given the first stop on this train was South Norwalk, this is primarily a commuter express, geared towards those going from the city to the 'burbs at rush hour.

I got lucky and was on an express a couple years ago, with the first stop out of GCT (not including 125th St) being Fairfield. Its a welcome change from stopping at every station, Stam-NHV.

[truck6018]

I can't pull up the reference marks in the schedules on the MN website, but I don't see anything in the columns that might mean "train may leave ahead of schedule." When trains actually leave that early, doesn't it leave some irate passengers standing on the platform, who arrived in plenty of time for their train and got left because it was already gone? I have a hard time imagining New York commuters standing for that. (There was a time when dispatchers wouldn't stand for that.)

There are trains that have "H" stops designated in the schedule. The "H" indicates the train may leave upwards of 5 minutes earlier than the time shown. In most cases, trains traveling to Grand Central will have Harlem 125 St designated as an "H" stop.

[ExCon90]

Thanks--I didn't think to click on Weekend.

[Traingeek3629]

"Up to 5 minutes" - First stop was 6.

Dutch, I got more than what I paid for with getting to NH 15 minutes early. The problem is commuters being left on the platform despite getting to the station 7 minutes early. Plus, it's not a good look to say trains take 114 minutes when they take 98. People may be discouraged because the trains seem so slow.

[andrewjw]

3629, read again: "upwards of 5" does not mean "up to 5". It means "more than 5". It is saying "it may be even more than 5 minutes early".

[ExCon90]

I like "upwards of 5"; it leaves them some scope. Reminds me of a large sign on a dollar store in Philadelphia:

NOTHING OVER $1
and up

[Amtrak67 of America]

Metro north added alot of time in all of the schedules to boost on time performance and also because of PTC coming online, the railroad and rightfully is nervous as to what it will do to the schedules. Harlem line has alot of time in the schedules which is annoying but the New Haven line is even worse. I believe they are giving trains something like 12 minutes to go Fordham to mount Vernon east. I've passed trains where they are going 25-30 mph because of how much time is in the run. Hopefully alot of that goes away, but I'm not hopeful

[RearOfSignal]

3629, read again: "upwards of 5" does not mean "up to 5". It means "more than 5". It is saying "it may be even more than 5 minutes early".

No. H stops means that the train may leave a maximum of 5 minutes before the time shown.

[ExCon90]

True--I just looked at the schedule again. Upwards of 5 minutes and up to 5 minutes are not the same thing. That being the case I would be irate if I showed up 7 or 8 minutes before train time and found that the train had already left. Don't MN commuters complain about things like that?

[DutchRailnut]

a train can not leave early, unless its a discharge stop only.
time at station before last one has to be met.