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Rally For The Final W Train

Posted by
on June 24th, 2010 at 5:53 pm

As I noted here, there are some upcoming service changes involving the M Train, V Train, & W Train. This entry however will focus on the W Train. A few days ago, loyal Transit Blogger reader Danielle sent me a notice about a group rally to salute the final W departing Astoria. I wanted to share this with all of my readers as I am sure some of you would like to attend:

On Friday Night, June 25, 2010, the W Train—the bastard stepchild of the BMT-Astoria Line—will make its final run from Ditmars Boulevard to Whitehall Street, a victim of the MTA’s 2010 Budget Cuts. On the final night of the W, and on its last fateful ride, come celebrate with us as we commemorate the short, complicated and often pathetic life of our beloved W.

All cultures mourn in different ways. Some cultures wear black, others sing songs and eulogize the dead. Others pour out a 40 on the station platform at 36th Avenue. All expressions of mourning are welcome. We will remember the good times—like the day we were super late to work and the W went express from Astoria Boulevard to Queensboro Plaza, or the first time we met the “Have a Smile” guy.
We’ll remember the bad times, like when the W was named the “Worst Train in the MTA Subway” by the Straphangers Campaign, or when the blind guy who plays “The Girl from Ipanema” played so loud you couldn’t hear your iPod.

The final W Train Departs Ditmars Blvd. at 10:17 p.m. on Friday, June 25. It will stop at Astoria Blvd. at 10:19, 30th Avenue at 10:20, Broadway at 10:21, 36th Avenue at 10:23 and 39th Avenue at 10:25.

At Union Square, we’ll disembark and wait for the 11:02 W, which will be the final W train that comes back to Astoria.

On Monday morning, June 28, the Q will come to Astoria on weekdays and the memory of the W will begin to fade. Let us send our train line out in style.

After we return to Astoria, perhaps we’ll throw a wake at the Beer Garden?

-Bill Reese

http://www.facebook.com/#!/event.php?eid=109181082452638

I am not sure if I will be attending but I urge my readers to go & support a fun event to give the W Train the sendoff it deserves.

xoxo Transit Blogger

You might enjoy reading these related entries:
Queens, Subway
0

Service Diversions 06-24-10

Posted by
on June 24th, 2010 at 5:37 pm

I have just updated the “Service Diversions” page with the latest information for the weekend & following week (beyond in some cases). For riders going near the Broadway-Nassau & Fulton Street stations, do not forget to read this entry to see what service is affected.

I suggest you print out a copy of the diversions to carry with you or use your mobile device to access the phone friendly version of Transit Blogger. The next update will be Saturday morning sometime after 12:01 AM when I remove all of the diversions scheduled to end by 11:59 PM Friday.

Have a safe & wonderful weekend!

xoxo Transit Blogger

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Service Diversions
4

LIRR July 4th Holiday Service Information

Posted by
on June 24th, 2010 at 2:38 pm

As usual, the MTA Long Island Rail Road has plans for additional service prior to a major holiday. Here is the information for their plans for the upcoming July 4th holiday weekend courtesy of the press release they sent me:

The MTA Long Island Rail Road will provide additional early afternoon service from Penn Station for customers planning to leave work early on Friday, July 2 for the start of the Independence Day holiday.

The LIRR will be operating on a weekend schedule on July 3rd and 4th and a Sunday/holiday schedule on July 5th. Please note that the additional Sunday afternoon Montauk Branch westbound trains from Montauk and the Hamptons will not operate on July 4, but instead operate on July 5.

Eight extra trains will depart Penn Station between 2:03 PM and 3:48 PM on July 2. The extra service will include: three trains on the Port Jefferson Branch; three on the Babylon Branch; one on the Port Washington Branch to Great Neck; one on the Far Rockaway Branch as detailed below:

Extra Train Service from Penn Station, Friday, July 2

Port Jefferson Branch to Hicksville and Huntington:

• 2:03 PM stopping at Jamaica, Carle Place, then all stops to Huntington.

• 2:31 PM stopping at Forest Hills, Kew Gardens, Jamaica, New Hyde Park, then all stops to Huntington.

• 3:24 PM stopping at Jamaica, Mineola, Westbury and Hicksville.

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Babylon Branch:

• 2:23 PM express to Lynbrook, then all stops to Babylon.

• 2:48 PM stopping at Jamaica, Rockville Centre, then all stops to Babylon.

• 3:31 PM express to Rockville Centre, then all stops to Babylon.

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Port Washington Branch to Great Neck:

• 3:40 PM stopping at Woodside, Flushing-Main Street, then all stops to Great Neck.

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Far Rockaway Branch:

• 3:48 PM stopping at Locust Manor, Laurelton, Rosedale, Valley Stream, then all stops to Far Rockaway.

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Cars will also be added to some regularly scheduled eastbound trains as well as on some westbound trains on Monday, July 5.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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0

Upcoming M, V, & W Subway Changes

Posted by
on June 24th, 2010 at 2:20 pm

As I mentioned yesterday (1 & 2), the reminder press releases on the upcoming service cuts/changes will be coming often over the next few days. Earlier today, MTA NYC Transit sent me the reminder press release about the upcoming discontinuation of the V Train & W Train trains along with the rerouting of the M Train. Here are the complete details:

As part of the 2010 service reductions, major subway changes will go into effect this weekend. Being weekday only service, the V and W will make their last runs on Friday evening, June 25. The new orange M will make its first run on Monday, June 28.

W Discontinued; Use N, Q, R

The W subway service will be discontinued and replaced by the N, Q, and R in Manhattan and Queens. N service continues to operate from Astoria-Ditmars Blvd. in Queens, making all local stops to Canal Street. During the late night hours, the N will run local via Whitehall Street in lower Manhattan. Weekday Q service will be extended to Astoria-Ditmars Blvd. and will stop at 49th Street in Manhattan. During late nights and weekends, Q trains will terminate at 57th Street-7th Avenue and will skip 49th Street. R service to Whitehall Street will be available except during late night hours when it is replaced by the N. There are no changes to N, Q, or R routes in Brooklyn.

The W was introduced as an Astoria – Coney Island express in 2001, when service was restructured due to reconstruction of the Manhattan Bridge. The W was changed to an Astoria – Whitehall Street local in 2004 upon restoration of full Manhattan Bridge service. On Friday, June 25, the very last W train will leave Ditmars at 10:17 p.m. and continue to Brooklyn where it is scheduled to arrive at 86th Street at 11:39 p.m.

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V Discontinued; Use New Orange M

V subway service will be discontinued; the new orange M will replace weekday V service along Sixth Avenue except at 2nd Avenue in Manhattan. The new M will travel from Middle Village-Metropolitan Avenue to Forest Hills-71st Avenue in Queens via 6th Avenue. Customers bound for the 2nd Avenue station must take the F train. The M will no longer operate in lower Manhattan or to Bay Parkway, Brooklyn. Brooklyn customers heading for lower Manhattan should take the J or Z. On weekends, the M will continue to operate as a shuttle between Middle Village-Metropolitan Avenue and Myrtle Avenue at Broadway in Brooklyn.

The V was introduced as a Forest Hills – Second Avenue local service in 2001, with the opening of the 63rd Street Tunnel Connector and the restructuring of service on the Queens Boulevard corridor. The last northbound V is scheduled to arrive at its northern terminal, Forest Hills-71st Avenue, at 12:11 a.m.

The M designation was first used to describe trains running between Metropolitan Avenue and the Nassau Street Line in Manhattan in 1967. On Monday, June 28, 2010, the first southbound (orange) M is scheduled to leave Forest Hills-71st Avenue at 5:38 a.m. And the first northbound (orange) M is scheduled to leave Metropolitan Avenue at 5:14 a.m.

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M Discontinued in Lower Manhattan and South Brooklyn

M customers traveling between Bay Parkway and lower Manhattan should take the R or D trains.

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New Subway Maps Available

The MTA has designed a new subway map which incorporates the new service changes. It is the first major redesign of a subway map in over a decade. Customers will find the new map simplified, rescaled and with new colors for greater contrast. Manhattan is wider for more clarity and Staten Island is displayed as an inset. Approximately 1.5 million maps are currently available for customers.

Speaking of the W, I do have an event related to its final ride to share with my readers. More details shortly.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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3

MTA Proposal Would Save Over 700 Jobs

Posted by
on June 24th, 2010 at 11:30 am

The level of dissent between the MTA & Transport Workers Union Local 100 has been ongoing for years. Anyone who has been reading this blog over the last couple of months know that it has only intensified late with the MTA dishing out pink slips to hundreds of union members due to their budget woes. On the other side of the debate, the sometimes maligned union continues to tow the line that the agency did not do enough cutting of management positions or properly use available federal funds.

Over the last week or so, the New York Daily News highlighted the situation 2 specific bus drivers faced in terms of losing their jobs. The 2 in question serve our country overseas in the military & were going to be losing their jobs as of this weekend. As one would expect, the union took advantage of this situation to showcase how unfair it would be if they lost their jobs as one of their division chairman’s Frank Austin stated

The way Transit is laying off these two individuals who are fighting for their country is totally unpatriotic and unethical.

According to sources of the New York Daily News, due to public outrage, the MTA offered to save the jobs of these 2 workers if the union would offer up 2 senior members positions instead. The union clearly balked at this which prompted Transport Workers Union Spokesman John Gannon to say

For the MTA to ‘offer’ to steal the livelihoods and futures of two other workers and their families to blunt public outrage over their actions makes it even more reprehensible. We are talking about people, about families.

Throughout the entire process, the union has continued to say it prefers to sit down & negotiate versus waging a battle for public opinion through the media which the MTA was clearly doing for awhile. This has led to the two sides holding discussions recently to try & hammer out a deal that would benefit both sides. The latest sees the MTA offering a new proposal that would save over 700 jobs. Pete Donohue of the New York Daily News has more:

In exchange for cost-cutting concessions like a less generous pension for new hires, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority also has offered to bring back about 250 token booth clerks who were laid off just last month, sources told The News.

Short- and long-term savings from the proposal would enable the MTA to reduce the size of its staff through attrition rather than layoffs, board sources said. But budget deficits are too large for it to stop service cuts that go into effect this weekend and Monday.

Under the proposal, TWU is asked to accept three contract changes, previously accepted by other state and transit unions, affecting new hires:

* The plan offers a less generous pension. Now, most workers are eligible for full benefits at age 55 after 25 years of service. But new workers wouldn’t be eligible until they are 57 with 30 years or 66 with a decade.

* Workers would get the top hourly pay rate after five years, up from three.

* Union members would have higher contributions for their health care coverage.

Click here for the complete report.

The first thing to note is that I like the fact that both sides are sitting down & trying to hammer out a deal. The time wasted bickering with each other in the media did nothing to help the situation & only served as a way to waste time. Riders want results, not fights. Normally I bemoan the comments left to stories on the New York Daily News as it is filled with tons of idiocy. However I would like to take this time to highlight a response to this article left by the user “Trainman” who makes some excellent points:

Given the MTA’s toxic financial situation, it needs to set the bar a good deal higher than it has in this proposal. Rest assured, this measure will not right the ship, and then it will be more and more renegotiations. All the while, the people who depend on the system for transportation will suffer.

There will never be enough new money from DC or Albany or NYC taxes to sustain the current system. The only approach that might work is a four point approach.

1. Stop all over-budget and behind-schedule capital plan projects. Debt service is eating the operating budget.

2. MTA leadership must cut the cost and waste at the HQ and mgmt levels.

3. Unions must agree to work rule changes and benefit changes to save money.

4. Riders must pay more of the cost of the service they use, meaning much higher fares on buses and zone pricing for subways.

I feel he makes a good point in terms of the over budget & behind schedule capital plan projects. Don’t get me wrong, many of them are vital to the system & should be done. However if they continue to be over budget or behind schedule, they should look into stopping them & doing a thorough reevaluation on how they can improve schedule wise while keeping clearly within a strict budget.

Point #2 is one I have hammered home numerous times over the years especially during the last couple of months. Just attacking the blue collar workforce will not starve off budget woes. This is not to say that strictly attacking the management level positions will either but an accurate mix of both is completely necessary & justified.

I have routinely defended the unions over the years as I understand the need to protect their members & rightfully so. However at the same time, I have always felt & stated that they need to do that while also being fair to the MTA when possible. If the union is seriously interested in protecting their members, they need to understand that they have to work with the MTA & not help to bring them down. If they don’t, their members won’t have jobs to protect.

The last point is one that could have strong cases made for both sides. On one hand, even at current prices the bus & subway service provided is an extremely great deal. This is when you factor in the level of service compared to other major cities & the 24×7 access it provides throughout the region.

However I can also understand those against it as the level of this service has deteriorated over the years & why pay more for less. There needs to be a fine balance between the two although I can’t see zone pricing being a solution that will work or get much traction.

In the end, no matter which side of the fence you play, it is clear that changes need to be made by both parties. If they can do this & couple it with legitimate funding from the city & state, the budget woes that plague everyone from the agency down to its riders can be turned around. This is what we all need to strive for as if it not, we will all suffer the consequences.

xoxo Transit Blogger

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