The last few weeks on the MTA have been complete shit. What else is new eh?
I started taking the select bus after work to get to Penn Station in hopes of bypassing Brooklyn for an easier ride. The fuckers can’t even get that right.
On top of that there was the major snow storm this past Thursday which caught everyone by surprise. Thankfully I was working home that day. But that affected MILLIONS of people.
Service still sucks. The MTA still can’t get out of its own say and they’re still talking about a fare increase. UNFUCKING REAL.
While I am happy that these projects were finally started or approved, I do not believe in the long run that they will make any difference in current LIRR service.
Ronkonkoma Double Track
There is a lot of attention surrounding this one. And while it’s good news it was finished earlier than scheduled, it’s just a disaster waiting to happen. More track means more trains means more chances for the LIRR to fuck up.
It may make a difference but there’s always delays involving people, debris and “other things” that the LIRR has yet to master in clearing away in a timely manner.
It goes without saying that this part of the LIRR should have been elevated as the Babylon line was many years ago but that time is long gone.
Oh well so much for da gubment knowing best, eh?
Third Track
When this is done it will be a big deal. It’s been talked about for a very very very long time but held up because of bureaucratic red tape NIMBYism.
Will this make LIRR service better and able to recover from delays faster? Not sure. We’ll find out when it’s done and service starts but as I said before, more track, more trains means more chances for delays. Another point is will there be crossovers so trains can move to a track with no problems if there is a stuck train, for example?
I doubt it. And I feel the third track will be a complete waste of money and be under-utilized by the LIRR.
East Side Access
Since I work on the east side only 4 blocks from Grand Central I should be happy about this. I am, this should have been done a long time ago. Yet, I still have reservations about it. Will there be any issues because of bad construction? How deep will it be? Will all of the escalators and elevators be operational?
How FAR will it be from the subway concourse? Are all of the pedestrian traffic issues worked out? Will there be bottlenecks of pedestrians because of bad planning? I assume yes there will be.
Overall, I am not very enthusiastic about the ongoing projects. The main problems of the LIRR are bad communication, poor system resiliency and schedules that are stuck in the 1930’s. The new projects mentioned here are welcome but the Fail Road should fix its foundation issues first rather than trying to dress up the system and hide the true ailments.
An article in Newsday today cited a survey taken by State Senator Todd Kaminsky that said most LIRR riders are not pleased with their service.
Well NO SHIT. As my dad would say, “Congratulations, Mr. Columbus. You just discovered America.
Are there any Fail Road riders who are happy? Why would they be? If there’s a day where no delays occur, all Fail Road riders know that they will pay for it down the road.
Why are Fail Road riders not happy? Poor communication. Bad service. Delays for no reason. Slow moving trains. Crowded trains. Dirty trains. Asshole customers. Surly and rude crew members….and on and on and on.
Typical clueless politician bullshit. No more surveys. WE WANT ACTION!
It never ends. The same old shit over and over again. Signal problems, track problems, weather related problems, people being hit by trains, bla bla bla bla.
And then there was this in Newsday last week. Yes. That’s right. An audit found that the LIRR has NO PLANS for common delay situations. And when they DID have plans, THEY DID NOT FOLLOW THEM.
This is the shit we must contend with every fucking day. This is the shit that happens when you have a bunch of unionized dipshits who hide behind their fucking contracts to justify their salaries and benefits. Just do your job and stop worrying about the deposit every two weeks.
Already dreading Monday. No, I don’t hate Mondays like all of you other fucking whiners. It’s just another fucking day that happens to be at the beginning of the week after a weekend.
I dread Mondays because of the commute and for what bullshit the fucking MTA has up its sleeve. After Friday’s fucking bullshit morning and afternoon commute, what else can they do wrong?
The commute home on Friday July 27 was a mess. Three unfortunate events all came together at the right moment to fuck things up for a while.
First there was a massive rain storm moving in to the area. And it was forecast to spark up just at the right time, between 4pm and 5pm. Perfect for rush hour. The rain started. And the thunder and lightning came with it.
At around the same time, a warning email arrived from the MTA. There were problems with the movable platforms at 14th Street Union Square and the 6 trains were bypassing the station. Just fucking great.
I was held up at work to finish something and left the office at around 5:10PM. I decided NOT to go to the subway since the warning had not been cleared yet. Instead, I tried to hail a cab…on Park Avenue…at 5:15PM…in the rain…on a Friday. Good fucking luck. No luck for that shit.
Then the warning for the 6 trains was lifted by the MTA. Hooooray! 6 trains were now stopping at 14th Street! I dutifully trudge down the steps of the station to the track level and slide my MetroCard like a good drone. Within three minutes, there was a train! Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all…..no such luck. I board the train and then the train starts to move…slower than a fat man in a sprint.
The train finally arrives in Union Square. The affected area of the moving platform was barricaded and there was a crew there working on it. Such a coincidence that this delay happened around 5pm on a FRIDAY. It’s not like these delays from the MTA are FAKE! But I digress.
At Union Square, I get off the 6 and make the walk up the stairs and then down again to the Q. The Q arrives after an 8 minute wait. UNACCEPTABLE. And the Q is running as slow as a snail. It completely stops on the Manhattan Bridge. The disembodied voice of the conductor is heard spewing some bullshit excuse about there being “traffic and congestion ahead” and that we’ll be moving momentarily. Momentarily in MTA speak could be 10 fucking years.
I arrive at Atlantic Terminal exactly two minutes after the train I was supposed to be on left the station. I had to wait 40 minutes until the next train home.
Finally, I arrived home at 8PM. I left the office at 5:10PM.
If I’m pissed off once in a while, now you fucking know why. Shut the fuck up.
First, how fucking long were they planning on keeping this a secret?
Second. I hope there are not many major issues for Monday morning. The commute is enough of a shit show as it is. We don’t need shit like this to fuck it up more.
For all the talk of new leadership at the LIRR, nothing will ever change. It will still be the same clueless organization made up of people who don’t care about what they do. If the people there spent more time caring about their jobs and less time caring about their benefits and how much time they have until retirement, the LIRR would be a better place.
The commute is the WORST part of the day for many people. As you all know, it’s the part of the day I dread the most.
After a long break and a lot of crap in between, I’m back. And there was also a change in web hosts too.
I promise to be more timely with posts. I also will try to post more frequently.
There’s a lot of shit going on with the LIRR and subway and I have to get it off my chest. I can’t think of any better way than to do it here. It’s great therapy. And If I piss off a few people along the way then even better!
I don’t understand. Why are all of you people in such a rush? Some of you rush around EVEN IF YOU’RE ON TIME. I find that to be incredibly pathetic. It also perfectly illustrates how fucking clueless most people are as they drift through life with no structure, discipline and determination to improve themselves.
It starts in the mornings, as I walk to the train station from the parking lot. Some days I admit I cut it close. Most days, there are at least 5-8 minutes until the train leaves. That’s more than enough time to calmly walk across the busy road (the cars fly by at 645AM) and get to your seat. What do I see instead? There are always 5 or 6 frazzled people, running across the street, bags dangling from their shoulders, furtively looking at their watches, and running across the street. Once in a while someone stumbles and falls. Most of the time they just keep running like maniacs until they reach their seats.
Sometimes they pass me and give me a weird look like “Why isn’t he doing the same thing?”. I don’t have to rush because I plan ahead, you morons. As the others are rushing by, huffing and puffing up the steps and down the platform, most of the time I calmly look at my watch and see that I always have at least 5 minutes to go. Let the idiots be idiots.
Then there’s the people on the Fail Road who stand up for the Jamaica stop TWO STOPS before it and stand two inches away from the door literally staring at it until it opens. Then they make the mad dash across the platform to the connection. I admit this is pretty bad. Especially with the inconsistency of the Fail Road to keep track assignments and even track placement of the trains. Yet these idiots push others out of the way just so they can get a seat on a train that’s 4 minutes earlier than the next one. Trust me, you’re not missing out on anything.
Finally we have the subway rushers. You know who they are. They hear A TRAIN coming into the station, assume it’s their train, and run down the steps and push through the turnstyle only to see that the train they HEARD is really the express that DOESN’T STOP AT THE STATION. Or there are the people who always stand in the doorways and never move during the trip. I can’t stand these people.
I just notice this shit, I can’t help it. And it makes me crazy.
Stop rushing. Get a digital atomic watch. It’s ALWAYS on time and never wrong. And just wake up earlier,. cut out the crap in the mornings and prepare on being ready. And, do things the night before so they are ready. Enough of this shit. You’re making yourselves crazy for nothing.
LIFE ON THE FAIL ROAD 