[FILF]

Originally Posted by Nexis4Jersey

Its ontime 95% , not as high as the NY MNRR or Hoboken division of NJT which 98% but its still good.

That 95% number is complete BS for anyone that travels within CT. They measure those times from New Haven to Grand Central and have a window of six minutes. So if you travel from points Milford to Stamford like myself you will be consistently 10 minutes late. It's only after Stamford to 125th and Milford to New Haven where they speed up the trains to make up the difference and put them within their 6 minute grace period.

[jax12479]

Originally Posted by FILF

That 95% number is complete BS for anyone that travels within CT. They measure those times from New Haven to Grand Central and have a window of six minutes. So if you travel from points Milford to Stamford like myself you will be consistently 10 minutes late. It's only after Stamford to 125th and Milford to New Haven where they speed up the trains to make up the difference and put them within their 6 minute grace period.

Exactly. Metro North counts almost all trains that don't break down or have a major delay to be "on time" but they are not. Ever. The train is between 5-15 minutes late every single day, both to and from Grand Central. If the train is supposed to arrive at GCT at 8:56 and it gets in at 9:02, that is not "on time."

[yankees28]

Agreed, Im taking at 8:14 daily from the metro to SoNo. Maybe 1x per week it comes before 8:20.

[Wilton2ParkAve]

There is a lot of misinformation here. Let me address these with sources linked.

The delays over the past week or so stem from a broken track in the Bronx (Broken Rail Snags Metro-North Harlem Line Trains « CBS New York). This did not get fixed as quickly as the article suggests. There are also power/caternary updates further up the line and there are several sections of track in CT that are seeing wood sleepers replaced by concrete (the rails are all steel). Heat also slowed the trains during our heat wave by 5-15 minutes on average. That said, I commute 4x a week by train and am very rarely rate on my morning commute during early rush hour (98%-99% on time). I saw many more delays on the evening return.

With respect to speed, the M2 is rated to 75mph, a bit more for the newer M4 and M6's, while the M8's are built to 100+.

Here are the formal specs for the M2.

M2 Railcar (EMU)
Speed: 65-75mph
Weight: 145,000lbs
Design Year: 1972
Capacity: 115
Type of Cargo: Passengers
Length: 85 feet

The M8 is slightly (laughable) lighter at 144,850 lbs. The main reason for the heft of both the old and new MTA cars has nothing to do with Federal guidelines from the 1950s. New Haven line cars have a transformer for both DC and AC power which adds considerable weight (30,000lbs to be exact).

Lastly, the clanking noise I referred doesn't stem from weight--- it's an admitted issue with the suspension. It hasn't been picked up by the media, but here is a copy of my email response from the CT DOT.

"Thank you for your recent email regarding your concerns regarding the ride quality of the new M8 cars. Also, this response is the follow-up to my previous email to you on this subject. Kawasaki Rail Car has finalized plans to address the banging/noise you have described and Kawasaki has received approval from the Metro-North Railroad Mechanical Department to begin a modification program to correct this problem. Materials have been ordered and Kawasaki is scheduled to begin this modification to the M8 cars in April. Of course, this modification is also being incorporated into the M8 cars manufactured in Lincoln, Nebraska.

Thank you again for taking the time to write and sharing your concerns and let me apologize for any inconvenience you have encountered riding in M8 cars.

Respectfully,

Eugene J. Colonese

Rail Administrator
State of Connecticut
Department of Transportation
50 Union Avenue, 4th Floor West
New Haven, CT 06519"

Originally Posted by Nexis4Jersey

The older trains are actually lighter and faster then then the newer trains. Stamford can be slow if there waiting for Employees which is do more so on weekends then on weekdays. The Newer trains have been failing aswell , if its near Fairfield or Milford/New Haven then it was most likely a power failure. Crews have been upgrading those sections and every few days they seem to bring the entire system. So its not really the older trains , its the power system. The older trains on the NY and NJ system do better then their Newer cousins , but they will all be phased out by 2019. The Doors do get stuck from time to time....but thats an easily fixed solution...and would not delay a train longer then 10 mins. As for NY , due to Track upgrades in the Bronx trains are reduced to 20-40mph in certain areas down from 80mph. The Park Avenue tunnel is 50mph max, that will never change. Grand Central is a complex terminal , it has over 100 tracks that squeeze down into 4 on the upper level and 2 on the lower level so even if you did replace all the tracks and switches you would still crawl into the Terminal. The Max speed is 15mph.... As for the New Haven Line , the many curves and stations will prevent top speed from every being reached for long periods of time. The Bridgeport curves are the worst and theres not much you can do there , same with Norwalk or Stamford...South of Port Chester to New Rochelle / New York the line once upgraded can support up to 135mph.. The Max in CT with the track and Catenary replacements i'm told is 110mph. The Branches will be getting the Full build upgrade by 2022 , which means their speed will be up to 90mph and they will be electrified. The New Canaan Branch will be upgraded to 60mph Max.

[Stylo]

Wilton, my door jammings and my co-worker's breakdown had nothing to do with the Bronx tracks. Pure mechanical problems.

Although, it could explain my morning delay and also my girlfriend's delayed train the week before.

[Wilton2ParkAve]

I've never seen a door jamming that requires more than one or two minutes to remedy in several thousand trips. However if it occurs at every stop, that could add 10-15 minutes to the trip.

[Wilton2ParkAve]

Originally Posted by Stylo

Wilton, my door jammings and my co-worker's breakdown had nothing to do with the Bronx tracks. Pure mechanical problems.

Although, it could explain my morning delay and also my girlfriend's delayed train the week before.

FWIW, my misinformation reference was directed at Nexis.

[Stylo]

Originally Posted by Wilton2ParkAve

I've never seen a door jamming that requires more than one or two minutes to remedy in several thousand trips. However if it occurs at every stop, that could add 10-15 minutes to the trip.

We spent almost 20 minutes sitting at Grand Central while they figured it out

[jax12479]

The chronic lateness of Metro North has been occurring LONG before the recent track problem in the Bronx. For the last TWO YEARS, I can count on one hand the number of times my train has arrived at exactly the time it was supposed to arrive. Sure, sometimes it was only 4-5 min late - but that's still late.

[jesse_f]

It's funny this came up, because on Friday, as I was sweating it out in my delayed and non-air conditioned train car (the 4:40, prob the same one as Stylo), I thought about how much I missed the efficiency of NYC subways...