Metro North: Can It Get Any Worse?
For those of us that commute into Manhattan on Metro North, can it get any worse? Leave your comments below.
Metro North train service has been lambasted by Assemblyman Latimer's surveys while former MTA honcho at Rye resident Dale Hemmerdinger gave himself and his cronies free rides.
Where do we start?
- The cars smell like urine;
- The seats are so worn out they must keep an army of chiropractors and physical therapists in business;
- Each winter service not only smells like a toilet, it goes in the toilet… Cancelled trains, late trains, short trains, local service trains, over crowed trains, stand up for the entire ride trains; imagine anything-that-sucks trains
And let's talk about the station parking. This writer commutes via the Harrison station:
- After 7:03am, good luck finding parking;
- On a snowy day, wear boots to get through the parking lot and foot paths;
- On a snowy day, good luck finding your parking spot number–they painted the thing on the ground and it's under snow. And oh yeah, they have not repainted the numbers for a couple years, so even if it was 80 degrees out you need to caucus with a fellow sufferer (AKA commuter) to guess what the number really is;
- Stand in line for the three privatized parking fee meters for the hundreds of spots. The lines back up dangerously close to the platform; the machines take their sweet time (must be a Microsoft OS); spit out a small paper receipt (slowly); people do not take said receipt and because there is no trash basket nearby they blow all over the platform.
And now the pièce de résistance: this week a New Haven line train had one of its doors open randomly – while barreling towards Grand Central station. Living the dream, living the dream… Watch the video and tell us what you think of Metro North by leaving a comment below.
You are spot on here. It is unacceptable. And where are all of these new train cars for the New Haven line? I commute from Harrison too. Disgrace.
The rolling stock is crap Jay because the CT and NY Transit exec’s and politicos 10 years ago started kicking the can down the road on placing the orders for the replacement cars. This video should be sent to the news directors of all TV stations in the NY metro area. It shows a failure of the train safety systems AND a failure of the train crew to identify the situation.
Indeed, the recent level of poor service is galling after the New Year’s fare hike. If you drive your kids to school and take the 8:01 you know what a daily
sh1t show MNR has become. That standing room only train is like something you’d experience in Calcutta. I’ve started calling to complain but get the usual blather re weather, shortage of cars, old infrastructure. Did I read somewhere the Chairman of the MTA lives in Rye? I hope he reads My Rye and either improves service or lower fares. You can’t have it both ways!!!
The state of service on the New Haven line is a complete embarrassment. The cars are completely worn out. The open door is just the tip of the iceberg. These trains have been pushed way passed their limit and it’s only a matter of time before we see a catastrophic failure that causes a major accident. Not only have the replacement cars been repeatedly delayed but there isn’t any long term planning to improve the reliability of the service. Why isn’t there a plan in place to replace the Catenary wires (overhead electrical lines) that cause so many of the problems? If there was some planning, the MTA could have likely received stimulus funds to replace them with the more reliable 3rd rail. Why is the work on the Rye station taking so long? Some of the stairwells have been blocked off for 1 year! As the writer mentions, the parking machines at the Harrison station are completely ridiculous. When will someone hold the MTA accountable?
What do you people expect ? The unions pay the workers ABSURD salaries and benefits and there is no money left over for equipment maintenance .
Welcome to the new 3rd world future of NY .
Cities and counties have to fire the youngest / cheapest / strongest workers to be able to pay the retirees and most senior workers .
MTA is a sympton of everything else that coming our way in NY state .
You can expect massive double digit increases in your fares every year going further and in return ? they will reduce train service , cleaning , etc .
I can’t wait for my kids to finish school and then its HASTA LA VISTA BABY!
I was started to wonder why myrye.com never covers the terrible state of affairs at Metro-North in particular our sorry railway station. Sure many of Jay’s readers care about their commute? The Rye station is a laugh. Shoveling on the platforms over the past winter has been absent. The workers are the clumsiest of the tristate area… they ‘forgot’ to order the glass panels for the one overpass they have managed to complete now. When the other one is finished nobody knows. The station hall is a sad reminder of the 50s. It has no CLOCK to tell the time (…not that it matters much now anyway) Announcements from the lone sorry station manager and the automated voice from out of space confuse the passengers and conflict. One can go on…
Conclusion: let’s give up on MNR and the trains that never come. Time for a boat service to Manhattan. Playland Piers anyone? Maybe a nice extra income for Seaside Johnny and Astorino. Parking is not the problem. And good catering too for the trip in.
Should have added to my post below for perspective – I’m now a “30 yr man” on Metro North. And as such will say the rolling stock condition is now by far the worst I’ve ever seen. On the other hand, train crews are better trained and more attuned to passenger issues than ever before. And since I’ve come to know many of them and can speak candidly with them – they are as disgusted (many appalled) with the rolling stock condition as we are. And they all predicted to me that we would reach this tipping point either last year or this.
@Ted-You are correct. The staff on trains is very competent and they are certainly embarrassed by the constant shortcomings of the service. I found a depressing article about the M8 cars on a CT blog: https://www.westportnow.com/index.php?/v2/comments/talking_transportationwhere_are_the_new_m8_cars/