August 31, 2010 A train at 145th Street

Wow! I got the A Express. I managed to get up early this morning and get to the station by 7 am...had my metro card in hand and zipped right through the turnstile...and there's an express barreling onto the platform. I've got some papers to grade that I've got to return so I'll be able to get a seat, get some work done on the train, and then get to work in time to make those copies that I need to make.

The doors open, and I find surprisingly a single seat available squeezed in the middle between 2 other fat people...I'll sit on the edge. This way I'll be able to grade some papers.

At 125th Street another seat opens up and I managed to relocate and sit back so that I better manage all the paperwork. Ok. We're rolling and I'm going to be able to get organized before class....

The Express train slows down between 125th and 59th Street....ok that means I can get more papers graded.

at 59th a gaggle of new geese pile onto the car after a somewhat orderly exodus of the daily commuters. There are a lot of people at 7:25 in the morning...what? it's 7:25...but what happened to that extra 15 minutes I scheduled into my commute?

Ok, ok, ok...get back to work...the train zips relatively uneventfully from one stop to another until we get to 14th Steet.

Delay. The doors don't close. Delay. The PA comes on, "There is a slight delay due to a mechanical difficulty with the doors in the front of the train. We'll be moving shortly." We wait and I try to grade papers. 5 minutes later, we get the same neutralized announcement. People begin to look at their watches and squirm a little. another 3-4 minutes, and another announcement, "Due to mechanical problems, we are taking this train out of service."

A mass of people move quickly out of the train and onto the platform, knowing full well that the more quickly we move, the more quickly this train will leave. The platform is sweltering. We are drenched, and the clock is ticking.

An E local comes grinding into the station. We jump on the already packed train, cramped together with the other sardines basting in sweat, and all types of oily and otherwise bodily liquids...at least it's air conditioned.

The train stops at West 4th, then at Spring, and finally at Canal. It's 7:50. My class starts at 8:00. What happened to that extra time to get my copies and get to the room?

Another memorable beginning.

A Train -- Rat City

Riding home from the Village late Monday night...a rat the size of a possum was running from one corner of the car to the other...the train stopped a few times...stopping and starting...people rushed to the other end of the car...some of us pulled our legs up resting them on seats ... MTA strikes out again.

February 22, 2010

Arrived at 145th St. Station at 7:25 or thereabouts...the new neon sign is flashing that an express train is approaching...of course it doesn't say whether it's upstairs (A) or downstairs (D). The D is pulling in downstairs...we all rush downstairs, the conductor announces to watch the closing doors...we all grab a seat or stand delighted that we have managed to catch the express...then nothing. The doors don't close, the train doesn't move, the bell doesn't chime,...but we hear the sound of the A express arriving way upstairs....we sit, sit, sit...finally an announcement that we are being held in the station ... the sound of the A doors closing...the train pulls out and we continue to wait on the D express....

February 19, 2010

145th Street and St. Nich. I came down to the A/C platform as the A train was pulling out. Now we have neon signs announcing trains. There is a message saying that a Brooklyn bound train is arriving in 4 minutes on the express track. Then a voice comes over the PA repeating the same message but adding that there is a Brooklyn bound train at 161st Street. Now the problem is that there are 2 express tracks -- a D train express track downstairs and an A train express track. Unfortunately, the announcements do not specify which express track -- the A or the D....It's the same situation as before...we stand on the stairwell straining to hear whether the train will come upstairs or down....What was the first train to come into the station? A C local going downtown. What train was next? A B local arrived on the downtown express track headed north...How long did the next A take to arrive about 5 minutes. It's amazing how difficult it is for the MTA to get the logistics of something like announcing the train schedule! Is it that hard?

Thursday, 1/28/10

W. 145th Street, 7:15 am. When I got to the station, the upstairs platform for the A & C was full of people...people lined up on the stairs to try to catch the first express that pulls in -- either the A upstairs or the D downstairs. There is the beep beep beep of a train coming but no announcement of which train...it's an uptown train on the other platform...we are all frozen in our places, straining to hear...a big loud announcement...warning us about security...no information about the trains that are arriving...we wait. a C train pulls in unannounced....then suddenly I see people rushing downstairs...it's a D...we all try to get there as quickly as possible....we get on and stand some seconds but within the minute we are leaving...on the express....by the time I get to W. 4th, where I need to change to the A or C to go downtown to BMCC, I am exhausted...the train is crowded and the lighting is poor and I stayed up late last night and had to get up early to get to school....ready to sleep rather than teach...but anyway...I try to go upstairs to the C/A platform quickly...just as I get to the top of the stairs the subway doors slam shut on the C...I have to wait another 5 minutes -- you'd think that in the middle of rush hour, there would be a more structured, organized approach to mass transportation...finally, there is an annoucement that an A is appraoching (this is downtown W. 4th...the Village...in my neighborhood, there are no announcements by the dispatchers...it's just a "let them eat cake" attitude...). I wait for the A, get on, the doors stay open, an E local arrives, opens its doors, makes an announcement, closes the doors and begins to move even before the express train's doors close...our doors close and we begin to move fast, overtaking the E in the tunnel along the way...but the lead is not great nor does it last for long...30 seconds after we pull into Canal Street, along comes the local....what is the notion of Express? Should an expres train have slightly different goals and function more efficiciently to try to bring the local trains up to the standards set by the express and not the other way around? Very frustrating...

Friday January 8, 2010

12:05, 145th St and St. Nich, A express arrives exactly the moment I get to the platform. Several people are waiting on the stairwell and run up...everyone gets the express. It's all the way downtown without a glitch! Hallelujah!

MTA Update

w. 145th Street -- A line, 1/7/09, about 2 pm or thereabouts...the usual confusion...people are lining the stair wall, standing on the middle stair platform to be able to get the next express....a C train pulls in on the upstairs downtown local track. No announcement. A B train pulls into the station on the downstairs track. No announcement. Some race down the stairs thinking it is an express. Other more seasoned passengers with better ears to determine where the train is arriving wait to catch a glimpse BEFORE they rush downstairs. About 4-5 minutes later, finally, an A pulls into the station on the upstairs express track. I yell out, "It's an A." Five people rush from the stair well to get teh train. No announcements except to warn us that the MTA has the right to search our bags.