Metro North/GCT/MTA query

[Michael L. Coch]

( I apologize in advance if this has been discussed. I've gone back as far
as I can in the group and see no mention)
---------------

I, for one, am sort of loving the new electronic arrival/departure displays
(depite their smaller size) at Grand Central Terminal. From August's issue
of Mileposts, a publication for MTA Metro-North Railroad customers:

"The 11 year old Omega Board, which was recently dismantled, is to be
replaced by the midde of 1997 with state-of-the art liquid-crystal
departure boards positioned above the banks of ticket windows. Meanwhile,
the monitors on the north side of the Main Concourse have temporarily taken
over the old board's function....The Landmarks Commission, which is
overseeing all aspects of the restoration of the Terminal's historic
fabric, has approved the board's design as archichtecturally unifying.
Metro-North is looking forward to the greater flexibility the new boards
will give us in providing customer service."

Here's my question:

I notice that Metro North at GCT posts it's track numbers many many minutes
in advance, in sharp constrast to the last-minute notification that takes
place for New Jersey Transit and the Long Island RailRoad at Pennsylvania
Station. Does anyone know if there an operation reason for this? Do
trains get "committed" to a track earlier on at GCT than at Penn? Do
commuter trains usually leave from the same track every day?

Thanks in advance and again apologies if this is redundant.

Best,
Michael L. Coch

[Peter Rosa]

Michael L. Coch wrote:
> [snip]

> Here's my question:
>
> I notice that Metro North at GCT posts it's track numbers many many minutes
> in advance, in sharp constrast to the last-minute notification that takes
> place for New Jersey Transit and the Long Island RailRoad at Pennsylvania
> Station. Does anyone know if there an operation reason for this? Do
> trains get "committed" to a track earlier on at GCT than at Penn? Do
> commuter trains usually leave from the same track every day?
>
> Thanks in advance and again apologies if this is redundant.
>
> Best,
> Michael L. Coch

I suspect the reason for GCT's earlier track postings is that there are many more
available tracks than at Penn (remember - Grand Central is a terminal, not a through
station). In my experience, trains usually do arrive and leave from the same tracks
each day, at least the Harlem division trains do.

[Robert M. Forstner]

Michael L. Coch (bee...@nyc.pipeline.com) wrote:
> I notice that Metro North at GCT posts it's track numbers many many minutes
> in advance, in sharp constrast to the last-minute notification that takes
> place for New Jersey Transit and the Long Island RailRoad at Pennsylvania
> Station. Does anyone know if there an operation reason for this? Do
> trains get "committed" to a track earlier on at GCT than at Penn? Do
> commuter trains usually leave from the same track every day?
>
> Thanks in advance and again apologies if this is redundant.
>
> Best,
> Michael L. Coch

Metro North has a lot more tracks to work with, which gives it much
greater flexibility in committing trains to tracks early. The LIRR
and NJT, on the other, share (along with Amtrak) a much smaller
terminal (in terms of track capacity) depsite the fact that the LIRR
alone is bigger than MN, and NJT only adds to it. As a result,
the LIRR and NJT can't post tracks too far in advance 'cause odds
are there's another train already boarding there. Despite the tight
scheduling the LIRR (don't know about NJT) does manage to _typically_
keep departures on the same tracks day after day, though it's
certainly not guaranteed.
--
Robert Forstner -- fors...@netcom.com for...@cooper.edu
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I cannot put my finger on it now.
The child is grown, the dream is gone.
I have become comfortably numb. --Pink Floyd

[Lisa/Jeff]

Very good question. I think (but don't know for sure) the reason is
that GCT has a lot more tracks to work with, but fewer trains than Penna
Sta. Penna Sta has to accomodate the LIRR as well as NJT and Amk.
That's a LOT of trains between all 3 railroads.

[Dobrow Stephen]

But compared to stations in Europe and Japan, both stations are
inefficiently used. You could handle the traffic with far fewer
tracks.

---Stephen Dobrow

[stan berinstein]

The big thing with GCT is that it is a stub-ended station.
Trains have to be backed out and run against traffic on a
four-track line to get to the yards in the Bronx for maintenance.
Lots of deadhead traffic.
NYP is a through station and trains coming in from NJ can
continue through to Sunnyside for maintenance. The biggest
problem is that there are only two tracks under the Hudson River
and they are saturated at peak times.

[Peter Rosa]

Actually, GCT has a couple of loop tracks. In addition, the main service facilities
aren't in the Bronx, but farther out on the lines. The main one is at Croton-Harmon on
the Hudson line.