The Crappy Commute

SILENT BUT DEADLY

Mon, 11 Jun 2012 08:31:10 -0400

Each morning I prefer to ride in the Quiet Car. On my train it happens to be the last car of the...

THE TUESDAY MORNING BOOZE This morning’s “Quiet...

Tue, 29 May 2012 08:50:34 -0400

THE TUESDAY MORNING BOOZE

This morning’s “Quiet Carmute” was not available. According to the conductor there would be no quiet car this morning due to the addition of a bar car to this morning’s train. The conductor also apologized for the over crowding. Overcrowding comes from the fact the the bar cars (circa 1980), have very minimal seating. This forces the riders that would’ve sat in that car to move. Who needs a bar car this early(I’m sure some do)? You know they’re meant for standing around pounding a few tall boys before you get home to the family.

NEW CARS, OLD PROBLEMS

Wed, 23 May 2012 19:22:07 -0400

Fun times in new cars. The brand new M8 train has lost power, in the first 2 cars, which means no...

I’M SORRY I CAN HEAR YOU. Tonight’s commute went...

Tue, 22 May 2012 19:14:53 -0400

I’M SORRY I CAN HEAR YOU.

Tonight’s commute went noticeably quiet. Not in the good way. No announcement from the conductors that the first car was the quiet car. Nada, nothin. Announcements were made about the stops being made, although they were half hearted, mumbled and incomplete. When the conductor came around to collect tickets I inquired whether or not this was the quiet car. I knew the answer. He looked around the car and said. Yeah. I mentioned that there were no announcements made and people were talking, obviously unaware. The conductor then stated that they were short staffed and couldn’t do it. What? You could half ass the stop announcements, you couldn’t spit out that the first car was a quiet car? Really ?

WIRED FOR VEX

Tue, 15 May 2012 20:06:32 -0400

Again again again… More overhead wire problems. I was stuck somewhere near Rye NY. If...

One train unloads late the other boards late. The perfect storm.

Fri, 11 May 2012 18:40:03 -0400

One train unloads late the other boards late. The perfect storm.

MORE CRAPPY COMMUNICATION On the New Haven bound 6:41 train and...

Wed, 09 May 2012 19:30:01 -0400

MORE CRAPPY COMMUNICATION

On the New Haven bound 6:41 train and there has been no mention of any delays. I’ve now been in this train for almost 40 mins, and nothing. I think the conductors need to get twitter. I seem to get this info before they do.

IF YOU TWEET… If you tweet and people don’t follow...

Wed, 09 May 2012 08:40:14 -0400

IF YOU TWEET…

If you tweet and people don’t follow you how else are they supposed to know what’s going on? Luckily I own a smart phone and follow @metronorthtweet . This was tweeted as my platform sign was saying “GOOD SERVICE”.

GOOD SERVICE? Now this is what I’m talking about....

Wed, 09 May 2012 08:34:32 -0400

GOOD SERVICE?

Now this is what I’m talking about. Communication. Or lack there of. On my ride in to my station I heard on the radio that there were up to 40 min delays due to a power line problem between Stamford and Mt Vernon. When I got to the platform at my station the above message is what greeted me.
Way to go.

Rainy Day People Just got on to a train that had “taken...

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 08:31:38 -0400

Rainy Day People

Just got on to a train that had “taken water” last night according to our conductor. Too bad I forgot to wear my wet suit today.

That’s not a highly polished floor that’s rain...

Mon, 23 Apr 2012 08:29:22 -0400

That’s not a highly polished floor that’s rain that’s leaked in.

Stuck in Bridgeport. 8:10pm A there is a brush fire in Milford....

Thu, 12 Apr 2012 08:52:27 -0400

Stuck in Bridgeport. 8:10pm
A there is a brush fire in Milford. We were told moments ago that there is no word on when we would leave this station. There are trains backed up in Stratford.

8:30pm : announcement, no word on movement.

8:49pm: indefinite delay…

8:57pm: still no word. No announcements.

9:00pm: announce - they will be backing up train to pick up passengers on another train. Then head to Stratford. No info after that.

9:13pm: now a train going to Stratford in about supposedly in 15mins.

At this point I left the platform and got picked up.

Later Notes:
I was told this morning by a fellow passenger that had been on the 7:05pm that once they arrived in Bridgeport (which was after me) that it was another hour to get to New Haven.

New train mess.

Fri, 06 Apr 2012 09:11:29 -0400

New train mess.

Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day. It’s...

Thu, 15 Mar 2012 09:32:58 -0400

Just in time for St. Patrick’s Day. It’s everyone’s favorite train game, “What is it?”

Ok, what is it?

A) A snake skin that has been shed

B) Leprechaun puke

C) Commuter puke

Answer: D) Leprechaun commuter puke

On My Honor… The Metro North Pledge Finally the Metro...

Thu, 23 Feb 2012 08:44:35 -0500

On My Honor… The Metro North Pledge

Finally the Metro North Pledge has been posted! Up until now they haven’t been too keen on following it. I guess they felt they didn’t have to be held to it until it was actually posted. Now that it is, let’s see what happens.

One thing that I’d like to point out. If you’d like to report something or complain about the level of service, the MTA suggests that you visit mta.info in order to email them. This seems a bit disingenuous. They simply could have included the direct email address if they really wanted feedback. This just adds one more layer to the process. If you go to the site to check for the email address, you will find that there is no direct email. You are forced to fill out a contact form. I’ve read articles regarding contact forms on websites as a means to communicate with businesses. Turns out people hate them and won’t take the time to fill them out. I couldn’t agree more. Here’s the “email address.”
http://mta-nyc.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/mta_nyc.cfg/php/enduser/ask.php

Below is a link to the pledge so you can read it for yourself. All of these promises sound great until, well you know.

http://mta.info/mnr/html/pledge.htm

Open Says Me Tonight I had the wonderful experience of having...

Fri, 17 Feb 2012 08:29:54 -0500

Open Says Me

Tonight I had the wonderful experience of having two cars with door problems. The doors would open and then rapidly close. We were initially and unclearly, informed by the conductor that the doors weren’t working so be aware. Were we being removed from these cars? Did we have to get up & move before we got to our station? Not sure. People seemed to be moving to cars as needed when they arrived at their stations.
Then the conductor in a conversation with the other conductor over the PA decides we need to leave both cars. Most people remain in those cars, and the conductors have not attempted to move anyone. I’m not sure if we were met to hear that conversation.
The problem resulted in long lines of confused people not knowing if their cars would open at their stations. Yeah!

The MTA Loves You This months’ Mileposts is filled with...

Thu, 09 Feb 2012 08:51:54 -0500

The MTA Loves You

This months’ Mileposts is filled with love. According to the recent report when it comes to overall on time performance, the MTA does OK. But when it comes to the beautiful New Haven line love is a fickle thing. On time performance was the lowest of all 3 lines on the New Haven branch. And when the MTA means on time they officially mean up to 5:59 mins late. That’s correct. A train arriving nearly 6 minutes late is considered on time. I’d like that theory applied through out my life. “Hey airline, why is the plane door shut? My flight was scheduled to depart at 6:10 pm. I’m here on time, it’s only 6:15:59 pm.” Who knew that’s what on time meant?

Another great bit of info the came out of the Milepost. Something about the new M8 cars. The MTA and the fine state of Connecticut agreed to add in the future, 25 new cars. Yeah! The best part was this, the New Haven line currently has new M8 cars operating on a whopping 22% of the line. This transition will supposedly go on through 2015.

Who loves ya baby?

SUPER BOWL! (sorry couldn’t resist)

Mon, 06 Feb 2012 07:30:06 -0500

SUPER BOWL! (sorry couldn’t resist)

Last night my train was asked to fill out quiet car surveys....

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 07:30:06 -0500

Last night my train was asked to fill out quiet car surveys. Although I only saw two other people ask for a survey on my end of the car, I certainly filled one out.

How to simply tape off a train seat. As per the on going...

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 08:45:37 -0500

How to simply tape off a train seat.
As per the on going discussion on the CT Metro-North Rail Commuters page on Facebook.