As usual, a train is considered "on time" if it arrives at its final destination within 5 minutes and 59 seconds of its scheduled arrival time. We'll have to wait until the November LIRR Committee meeting to get some more exact specifics on September and October's OTP, but for now, here's the overview of the standard categories from TrainTalk:
The month of September started out rocky, with the month's three worst days in terms of delayed canceled trains coming within the first eleven days of the month. The single worst day for delays and cancellations was September 5th, which saw a whopping 160 delayed or canceled trains. Honroable mention also goes to September 9th, which saw 78 delayed or canceled trains and September 11th which had 103.
However, the LIRR finished off the month of September strong. On September 26th, the LIRR scored its first perfect morning rush hour in a long time. They also came one train away from getting a perfect PM rush, which is even harder to do. There were only 11 trains late on that entire day.
Every branch improved over last month's total OTP numbers. The Hempstead and Far Rockaway Branches tied yet again for the best OTP performance. My home branch, the Montauk Branch performed the worse, though 92% being the "worst" still isn't all that bad. Considering the first couple weekends in September are usually busy out east, the October OTP's on the Montauk branch *should* be more pleasing, but when you have lots of trains and lots of people and lots of clumsy meets in Manual Block territory, things are bound to go wrong. But September 14th saw the first 100% weekend OTP east of Speonk since May, so there is hope for us!
Nevertheless, the LIRR seems to have its rough patch of the year behind them. The second half of September and pretty much all of October so far (fingers crossed!) have been pretty good on the LIRR. Let's hope they keep that up for a good bit longer!
A couple of years ago, federal regs concerning PTC forced Speonk - Montauk speed limit reduction of 65 to 59 MPH. Were running times extended at all for this ? Could a couple of minutes more make some difference ?
ReplyDeleteThe pennywise/pound foolish construction of high level platforms that were too short for many trains are taking its toll on the OTP of the busier trains, and the trains that they meet on the way.
The speed limit reduction doesn't really do anything. The 6 m.p.h. reduction in the speed limit only amounted to like four minutes more of running time. So if a train went express from Speonk to Montauk it would take four extra minutes with the lowered speed limit, but in reality they make a bunch of stops inbetween, so by time you take into account the time trains spend accelerating and decelerating up to top speed, the real impact on the running time is really only a minute or two, and for the most part, the trains are able to keep their schedules pretty well east of Speonk.
Delete~ Patrick @ The LIRR Today