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| Re: Staten Island Railway to get New Trains (511122) | |||
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Re: Staten Island Railway to get New Trains |
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Posted by Michael549 on Sat Nov 3 12:35:57 2007, in response to Re: Staten Island Railway to get New Trains, posted by Chris R16/R2730 on Sat Nov 3 11:38:54 2007. The SIR is really more like the PATH than a commuter line like the LIRR.1) Like the PATH the riders pay a fixed fare regardless of distance, and use electronic turnstyles to enter the main station. While PATH sations have electronic turnstyles at every station. LIRR stations do not have turnstyles, but conductors on the trains to collect the fares. The SIR ended the practice of collecting fares on the trains many many years ago. While there were zoned fares on the SIR that practice ended in the long ago distant past that one has to look it up in the history books. Except for the main SIR terminal, none of the stations have ticket offices, and few have waiting rooms. 2) Like the PATH, in general the trains run the full length of their route with established routes and terminals. During the rush hours some SIR trains run express (on a two-track line) to/from the Great Kills station, while some rush hour local trains begin and end their runs there. Otherwise all SIR trains run the length of the route. On the LIRR, the trains run the distance that they are told/scheduled for, even it is not the complete distance of the trackage. 3) Like the PATH and LIRR - the wait between trains are 30 and 60 minutes during weekends and nights. Unlike the PATH, during the day the wait between trains is 30 minutes. And the SIR considers rush hour to consist of trains at 15 and 20 minutes apart. 4) Like the PATH, the SIR uses rapid transit - subway type cars with multiple doors per car. There is no effort to provide seats for the riders or to "segregate" cars for certain purposes or stations. Nor are their smoking cars or bar cars. All unlike the LIRR which has bar cars, and often reserves certain cars for certain stations. I believe that at one time there were smoking cars on the LIRR - but someone I'm sure will correct me. 5) Like the PATH, the SIR uses rapid transit - subway cars of a standard length, there are generally few effots at coupling cars or uncoupling cars for particular trips. On the LIRR, the length of a train can change depending upon passenger load, time of day, etc. 6) Like the PATH, the SIR uses rapid transit - subway cars uses the third rail to draw power. On the LIRR while most trains are electric, some trains consist of diesel engines that can not enter underwater tunnels - I'm told. 7) Like the LIRR, the SIR uses a train schedule where one is advised to consult before waiting 30 or 60 minutes at a station. Luckily now the schedules are posted along the station entrances on the SIR, before it was a crap-shot when it came to knowing when the train would arrive. Not everyone carries a train schedule with them. 8) The SIR operating unit was moved to the New York City Transit division of the MTA, while communter railroads such as the LIRR and Metro-North remained in the commuter division. The Staten Island Ferry could be seen as the linkage between the SIR and the city's subways, even though the ferry is operated by the city's DOT. 9) Staten Island residents, the prime users of the SIR, are New York City residents. While it seems that some think of Staten Island as a separate planet, it is not a self-governing self taxing unit likes many of the towns and cities that both the PATH and LIRR serve. When Staten Island joined with the other boroughs to create the City of Greater New York in 1898, all of its local towns and villages were no longer self-governing. Today while some want to still call those places on Staten Island "towns and villages" they are not. Just in the same way that neither Harlem, Long Island City, Flushing, Bay Ridge, Yorktown, or Flatbush -- are not considered to be self-governing towns or villages. 10) As I understand it both the PATH and the SIR were connected to the national railroad grid, but over time thoses connections were severed - such that now each runs its own operations. Mike |
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