February 8, 2007
Never and Whenever Train Riders, Brace Yourself
A dispatch from the field - the Ditmars Boulevard field, that is - from Dan Dickinson, who says that there is no N service into Manhattan from Queens. Why? A broken rail at Lexington! Now the MTA's service advisory is up, and it's a doozy:
Due to a rail condition at the Lexington Avenue-59th Street Station:Brilliant! What's also great is that there are no announcements being made on the train, so the people who were at Ditmars Boulevard and heard the announcements on the PA system are the ones telling fellow passengers what's up.There is no service on the W train between the Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard Station and the Whitehall Street-South Ferry Station.
In addition, there is no service on the N train between the 57th Street-7th Avenue Station and the Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard Station.
Also, the Manhattan-bound R trains are running on the F line between the 57th Street-7th Avenue Station and the 36th Street Station.
Please expect delays in service on the N, R and F trains at this time.
Good luck, everyone.
Photograph of the mob scene at Queensboro Plaza by Dan Dickinson
|
What boggles the mind is why they aren't doing what they normally do when there's a conflict at Lex - run the N/W as a shuttle down to Queensboro and shunt everyone off on the 7. Instead, they've just told hundreds of people standing on six platforms to basically get lost?
Krissa -
It was a bit confusing reading the service advisory saying there were no trains while standing on the sole train in Astoria, indeed.
The issue is that with the rail condition, there is literally ONE train in Astoria, and it is running as a shuttle - but this ends up favoring people at Queensboro or Ditmars than the people at the five stops in between.
Is it me, or have the subways been completely messed up for about a week now?
The N/R have been all screwed up this week in Brooklyn as well. What's up with that?
"...run the N/W as a shuttle down to Queensboro and shunt everyone off on the 7."
That's exactly what they were doing as of 8:50am or so. It really wasn't that bad.
the L was down this morning too @9AM. lame!
i've had issues with the n/r and the d all week. it sucks!
just made it into work fifty minutes later than I normally do, which really, isn't that bad. I stood on the 30th Ave platform for 20 minutes before getting a text from my friend saying that she saw on the news that NW was suspended. I call her back to try to find out what's going on, get the gist, tell a couple of the people standing around me and head off to the Steinway stop for V/G/R. In those twenty minutes, the train that's stuck in Queens came once and was too full for really any of the hundreds of people on the platform with me. When I was leaving for the other stubway station, I see the woman in the booth warning the people arriving at the station. I go into bitch mode and cut in front of everyone (I'm really sorry to anyone I may have cut off, I hope you understand now), ask the operator if the train is running at all. Shake of the head and "no."
"Well are you going to tell everyone up on the platform, cuz they're all just waiting!"
Blank Stare...
I turn and go in a stream of people, saying to anyone walking up the stairs that the train isn't running.
Moral of the story: under no circumstances should I have put a skirt on this morning, my legs are still warming up.
the n/r has been screwed up in astoria all week, but today takes the cake.
what really gets me upset is that there were no announcements whatsoever about service delays, which were quite obvious once you got to the platform and saw the hundreds of people waiting.
i ended up walking down to queensboro plaza and taking the 7 train, though when i got down there a little after 9 i saw some N trains running, so maybe the problem had been fixed.
Service through Atlantic Avenue has been crazy all week as well! Because of this same disruption, a Manhattan bound Q sat on the bridge for half an hour this morning, and then crept through the tunnels as local trains overtook us. That's not to mention the severe service disruptions (signal problems) that delayed the Q, B, 2, 3 on Monday morning rush, and general delays on all those lines on Tuesday/Wed morning rush.
I can't take it anymore! Would love it if Gothamist would look into why so many disruptions/delays in Brooklyn this week. An as other people have mentioned, why the MTA can't be better about communicating problems that would empower riders to make alternative arrangements.
It took me an hour and 45 minutes to get from 25th St in Brooklyn to Madison in the 50's. I had to transfer at 42nd St for the E to Madison/53rd after being stuck on the bridge on a N for at least 30 minutes and then held out on the train as it putted along between stops. Sweet.
Service in Brooklyn through Atlantic Avenue has been totally aggravating all week! Because of the above-mentioned service disruption, a Manhattan bound Q sat on the bridge for half an hour, and then crept through the stations as they sent locals past us. THat's not to mention signal problems on Monday that affected the 2,3,Q,B lines (those are just the ones I attempted to take), and general delays on all every morning rush all week.
Could Gothamist perhaps look into this...and also, as mention above, why the MTA can't communicated effectively to its riders and at least empower them to be able to make alternative arrangements when one line is clearly crippled and they know about it?
I am so sick of the bullshit L train. Every day this week it has had delays or not enough trains. People were out for blood this morning. If I were a train conductor, I wouldn't open my window for fear someone would pull me and throw me on the tracks.
the L is fucked every damn day from 815-915. The platform was downright dangerous this morning.
The advisory has cleared, so, fingers crossed.
There aren't even any PA systems on most of the platforms on the N/W line in Astoria - so there is no way for announcements to be made. How is that O.K.?
While it's understandable that things go wrong, it is completely inexcusable is that there were hundreds of people at the Broadway N stop waiting an hour for a train that was never going to come without anyone from the MTA letting anyone know. What's worse, when the token clerk (what do you call them now?) was asked what's going on and if trains were running he said "I don't know." Obviously not his fault - but shouldn't someone have let him know? What kind of idiots are running this joint?
A lot of this is the fruit of having the capital budget raided to operate the system, so the system wasn't maintained properly. We are today paying the price for the problems of a few decades ago.
It doesn't make it any less worse, but it is sort of Abe Beame's fault.
Hey is that guy in the photo wearing an Urban Sombrero? Sweet...
I can't take it anymore! Would love it if Gothamist would look into why so many disruptions/delays in Brooklyn this week. An as other people have mentioned, why the MTA can't be better about communicating problems that would empower riders to make alternative arrangements.
Why? The answer is simple: Because the subways aren't getting the proper funding.
Is it me, or have the subways been completely messed up for about a week now?
Yeah, what been up with the MTA the last few days. I was just talking to another straphanger this morning about how crappy my commute has been recently. Today's ride from Astoria, or lack there of, was horrific.
We should all get refunds on our metrocards.
the fucking N sucks. the fucking W sucks. More evidence...no one gives a SHIT about Queens.
...or Brooklyn.
I heard this announcement in Lexington at 9AM but I had just taken the NW from Astoria BLVD....so it was very confusing. Hopefully everything will be back to normal by this evening. Otherwise it will be the M60 home...ugh.
That's great!!!!! More drama for the MTA, Seriously though, This is something that should never happen . Why you ask ? Because the MTA has a group of workers for whom walk the tracks on a regular basis . These workers are called (Brace yourself) Track Workers, They are responsible for the maint. of the rails . You may have seen these gentlemen on the platform, or in the tunnel as your train creeps by them . They probably informed the MTA of this problem months ago & as usual the work order wasn't prepared in a timely manner hence service issues ! Prepare yourselves for a maze of stupidity during the weekends with their shuttle bus service, Don't forget the wildly "buffoonish"
"There aren't even any PA systems on most of the platforms on the N/W line in Astoria - so there is no way for announcements to be made. How is that O.K.?"
Most of the stations in Astoria are still stuck with 1930's technology, except for the fluorescent lighting. I believe non of these stations are in a 'state of good repair' either.
I understand that PA systems at old stations are usually installed as part of major station rehab, but I think the MTA at least could retrofit the line/stations regardless. This is definitely a safety issue here.
I apologize everyone for the problems on the N/W line this morning. It was my fault. You see everytime I attempt to take the train from astoria to Brooklyn for an appt there is a problem with the train. After leaving my house at 8:30, I did manage to get to brooklyn a little after 10 (which actually wasnt that bad )after take the N shuttle to the 7 to the B.
Seriously..WTF!?!??! with Monday morning's delays? It took me almost TWO HOURS to get into the city from Bay Ridge. I heard NOTHING at first, waiting 35 min for an R at the 86th st stop. By the time my a** got to Pacific on a long-delayed N (held up between every g.d. stop), they said there was a 'problem on the R line' and the N was going on the R line. It had already taken me 45 minutes to get to Pacific, so I got off to get the D instead. By the time I rolled into work at 10:10am, the mta.info site merely mentioned a 'service problem' on the D/B/F/V lines. No mention at ALL re: N/R problems. Absolute BULLS***.
Wow. I was just talking about how the Manhattan bound N has been packed recently before it even hits Pacific Street. Maybe there is something to this whole N/Q FUBAR theory.
Also, I had to goto work an hour early today, so I was there by 8. Thank goodness I wasn't on my normal schedule. I would've raged.
Hey !!!! Them sons of bitches at the Gothamist cut my comment off !!! What's up with that !!!!!