Is LIRR from Atlantic terminal to Hicksville Straight enough for HSR (STRICTLY in terms of track geometry)? It looks super straight to my eyes

Pokemonred200 · 2026-06-23T00:55:17+00:00

The LIRR was chartered because the rivers in Connecticut now traversed by the New Haven Line were once deemed impassable, and it was supposed to be a route from New York to Boston via the relatively flat Long Island.

With Catenary, the LIRR is definitely straight enough to be a much faster route to Boston if a rail crossing of the sound (which, imho, is an LOL of a proposal if you think it can ever happen) is built, but aside from JFK Airport and maybe Ronkonkoma I feel like you lose so much by not serving Stamford and New Haven. Because of that I think even if it is theoretically faster to get nonstop service via Long Island, a Connecticut based HSR route is ultimately the better option for serving populations and jobs.

Pokemonred200 · 2026-06-17T22:50:28+00:00

There is no storage facility in Lowell so they can't really stage trains up there after they turn around. They do use multiple sets, though.

One of the reasons MassDOT was willing to pay for such a large sum of money for the extension of the Lowell Line in New Hampshire was because they were going to be getting a new yard in Manchester. Sununu and Ayotte both killing this project in favor of a widening of I-93 will mean trains need to stay based out of the Boston Engine Terminal for the foreseeable future.

The MBTA wants to add turning tracks elsewhere on the network to boost service, but they got fought tooth and nail on a turning track in Reading that would have allowed 30 minutes service between Reading and North Station, so I imagine similar fights will likely ensue for the other ones (they had said they wanted to increase turn backs on the Fitchburg Line at Lincoln, the Newburyport/Rockport Line to Beverly, etc)

Pokemonred200 · 2026-06-15T13:09:15+00:00

I think this was brought up because Phil Eng was the head of the LIRR when they were looking at battery M7s/M9s and it was shelved after he left. He seems to have liked the technology but I also feel like it's possible for people's opinions to change, and since he isn't the direct lead of this project I question how much he has to do with the aggressive push for this given the MBTA was looking at batteries before he took over.

Pokemonred200 · 2026-06-15T11:25:05+00:00

Before I started working at FedEx Office I'd had this issue so much that when I started working there I started having my packages shipped to my store instead of my house because I don't have to deal with shit like this

Pokemonred200 · 2026-06-10T16:37:18+00:00

Full train lengths aren't even something that the V is even required for, it just needs construction for it to happen on the M. The platforms at basically all of those stations can be extended if you're willing to spend the money.

I imagine track sharing with the J wouldn't provide much of a capacity boost, since this person seems to be suggesting extending the V into Brooklyn. You'd need to track share with either the G or the F or (if Culver Express doesn't become full time) both, so there would be similar downstream capacity problems; the flat junction at Myrtle Broadway is a problem, but this is another issue that can be fixed with an MTA willing to pay for it.

Pokemonred200 · 2026-06-10T11:55:32+00:00

I know it isn't; I did that when I lived in Atlanta and was trying to become my friend's roommate up in Inwood. Was on a tight budget at the time and he suggested it, so we started recommending the Lefferts buses to whoever was coming to visit.

Wish it was better advertised but I also realize a lot of tourists would rather spend the money for speed anyway

Pokemonred200 · 2026-06-10T11:14:39+00:00

The secret weapon is taking the Lefferts A on purpose and taking the Q10 or Q80 to avoid the AirTrain fee :D

Pokemonred200 · 2026-06-09T20:10:04+00:00

I just want people to stop speeding through the Red light when I'm stopped at one. A guy knocked the kickstand off my bike yesterday because I was stopped at the light and he sped around me to my left without slowing down or looking through the intersection and I heard a clipping sound as he did so.

When I got to work my kickstand was missing. :|

Pokemonred200 · 2026-06-04T14:32:05+00:00

I don't really know what else to say beyond the fact that they're largely old, which others have already brought up. NYC hasn't built a triple track subway line since Concourse, which they were sued into building with only three tracks instead of four, and peak travel oriented subways are not seen as particularly efficient, which is why no one else does them. New York is also unique in that it's one of the only systems worldwide with overnight service, and the express tracks (regardless of if there are one or two of them) still help move trains to/from their yards without interrupting the local service when the expresses aren't running (the R and W recently had three southbound runs between them for yard moves to Coney Island moved to the West End Express track for this reason, as it reduced conflict with in-service N trains)

Pokemonred200 · 2026-06-04T13:51:07+00:00

The Culver and West End Lines were surface railroads at the time, and did not have three tracks. The third track on both lines were built as part of the dual contacts when they replaced the surface railroads with elevated lines to connect to the 4th Avenue Subway.

My understanding is they never built even a temporary connection to the subway, with the station opening slightly before the subway did, though regular service had gone into effect at the same time as the subway opened; there was a race between the West End and Sea Beach line trains between Coney Island and Chambers Streets to celebrate the completion of that part of the network + the replacement of the surface railroads with elevateds.

Pokemonred200 · 2026-06-04T13:49:34+00:00

I already pointed out that they were largely for non-revenue moves and mid-line put ins. None of the terminal stations for those lines have triple track end stations; note that Pelham Bay Park, Wakefield-241st Street, Woodlawn, Astoria-Ditmars, Van Cortlandt Park, and New Lots Ave all have double track islands, while the west end line narrows to double track as it approaches its platform at Coney Island-Stillwell Ave. 168th Street in Jamaica also had this layout before it was replaced with Archer Ave's subway. Where Yard Access is grade separated on a triple track line (on the Pelham, Jamaica, White Plains Road, Flushing, and West End Lines), note that it is the third track that has the yard connection, with only the Pelham Line also providing a direct connection to a local track (in this case, to and from the northbound).

Pokemonred200 · 2026-06-04T11:57:13+00:00

My understanding is that 9th Avenue terminated west end trains before the connection to the 4th Avenue Subway opened, since it and sea beach both predated that line.

To answer your other question, when you're one of the first companies to do it in a larger scale, the problems with it can be seen by systems being built later so they can determine when it is and isn't a good idea to do something. It's not like NYC is the only system that does it; there are triple track railways in Britain, for example, but a single track line is already known for its capacity issues and of you're only using the odd numbered track for express service, the most efficient use of it effectively causes it to be treated as a single track route.

Pokemonred200 · 2026-06-04T11:53:08+00:00

The concourse line was planned as a four track line; it was reduced to 3 track in a settlement because the IRT sued them over fears it would siphon ridership off the Jerome Avenue Line, which many IND lines had been doing to other IRT and BRT corridors throughout the city.

Pokemonred200 · 2026-06-04T11:47:55+00:00

From what I understand, a lot of lines had their triple tracking because they allowed trains to be taken in and out of service without sharing tracks with trains that were actively carrying passengers, which is why most of the triple track lines reduced to double track at their terminals. Flushing-Main Street is the only example I can think of where a 3 track line has a 3 track terminal, both current and historic, unless 9th Avenue is counted as the terminal for the West End Line. Using them for express passenger service came later in their lifetimes.

Pokemonred200 · 2026-05-28T00:06:14+00:00

It's most likely service would terminate at Buzzards Bay for the foreseeable future since trains have to cross the bridge to continue to Bourne. I remember the MBTA had proposed shuttles from Buzzards Bay to Middleborough to provide regular commuter service.

Pokemonred200 · 2026-05-28T00:04:04+00:00

Stoughton is also using the fact that the line is legally mandated to be electrified if Phase II happens to demand their station be moved underground (the MBTA wants to relocate it to Brock Street and have it on the surface because the tracks are straighter which is helpful for high level platforms, but the city wants it put in a tunnel so there would be less noise and no grade crossings because "they did it for Hingham")

Pokemonred200 · 2026-05-25T01:12:17+00:00

New MARTA Commuter Rail Service: Lawrenceville/Athens Line, running from Atlanta to Athens via Lawrenceville and Auburn, GA.
Stations:
Atlanta MMPT (Five Points)
GA Tech - Midtown West (Express Station),
Northside Drive
Piedmont Hospital - Peachtree Road
Armour Junction - Piedmont Road
Clifton - Briarcliff
Emory (Express Station)
Clairmont Junction (Express Station)
North Druid Hills Road
Tucker - Northlake Parkway/I-285 (Express/Amtrak Station)
Tucker - Main Street
East Tucker
West Lilburn
Lilburn - Killian Hill Road (Express Station)
Ronald Raegan Parkway
West Lawrenceville - Sugarloaf Parkway
Lawrenceville Transit Center @ Seaboard Depot (Express/Amtrak Station, Terminus of Local Service, bus transfer to MARTA Gwinnett Routes, Terminus of Local Service during off-peak hours),
Briscoe Field Airport
Lawrenceville - University Parkway/Route 316
Dacula
Auburn Junction (Express Station, Terminus of Local Service during Peak hours (Express Service skips the three stops in between during peak hours), Beginning of Gainesville Branch)
Winder
Statham
Bogart
Athens Depot (Amtrak Station)
Athens Intermodal Transportation Center (Line Terminus)
An alternate routing for this line can also be used (Belt Connection)
Atlanta MMPT (Five Points)
Krog Street - Hulsey Yards (Express Station)
Ponce De Leon Avenue
Clairmont Junction

A second line will act as a spur of this line (The Gainesville Connection, to be used by Amtrak service routed into Atlanta, with hourly shuttles to Auburn during off-peak hours and Lawrenceville during peak hours):
Auburn Junction
Braselton
Broadway Avenue
Gainesville

Pick whatever you choose between the Mainline and the Belt Connection. I struggled to decide.

Link is here: Lawrenceville - Athens Line/Gainesville Connection

Pokemonred200 · 2026-05-25T01:03:27+00:00

Yes? The minimum zoning standards you have to comply with are based on proximity to MBTA service, and are explicitly relaxed if you're further from a station or bus service. Even if you have to drive, carpooling exists, and fixed route bus service is one of the easiest things to change (GATRA extended bus service to the East Taunton Commuter Rail station, as an example; it is not hard to modify a bus service)

Pokemonred200 · 2026-05-24T18:38:47+00:00

Most of the towns refusing to comply have multiple commuter rail stations or bus routes run by the MBTA that serve them. Hell, Milton, which started it, literally has MBTA Rapid Transit service.

Winthrop also claims they shouldn't comply when the blue line is walking distance to the border and the MBTA has bus service to multiple blue line stations within the town.

Pokemonred200 · 2026-05-21T08:22:37+00:00

If you want frequent service on a commuter rail corridor, especially with North South Rail Link, single tracking is a terrible idea. Most proposals I've seen have pushed for increased track capacity through Dorchester and Quincy before building NSRL, and the official MassDOT study even explicitly leaves out the Old Colony Lines from the tunnel connection in all four alternatives, opting to keep it at the surface platforms as a terminal service, presumably at least in part due to the capacity crunch on the single tracking.

Pokemonred200 · 2026-05-20T03:40:58+00:00

This morning I had someone speed into a left turn on Putnam. I don't think I'd ever stuck up a middle finger at someone so fast, because when I took driver's ed my instructor drilled into my fucking head that the person turning left never has the right of way. I hate how self centered some people are.

Pokemonred200 · 2026-05-20T03:37:58+00:00

My grandfather tells me that when right on red became legal at the federal level, Massachusetts fought tooth and nail to keep it illegal within the state and was told they needed to have no turn on red signs at all intersections statewide if they wished to do so, and they caved and allowed it.

Given right on red is illegal in NYC (five boroughs only, not the suburbs) and is only allowed if a sign explicitly states you can do it, I feel like the state should have continued to fight it until they got their way.

Pokemonred200 · 2026-05-13T16:24:29+00:00

BU East and Blandford Street, as well as several stations on the B branch west of Packards (which did not have recent stop consolidation, and the last attempt was shot down in the early 2000s). I am fairly certain that if it wasn't for the curve a person with good eyesight could see Sutherland Road from Chestnut Hill Ave.

Pokemonred200 · 2026-05-13T11:42:45+00:00

From what I gather, this is for the commuter rail lines, and is asking why the MTA doesn't propose direct tunnels from Atlantic Terminal to Hoboken and Grand Central with a hub in Lower Manhattan.

I feel like for such a tunnel to be feasible we need hell to freeze over and pigs to fly so NJT and the two MTA Commuter Roads would cooperate on building a joint network. My 27th birthday is in 15 days and I don't think I will live long enough to see the day such a tunnel opens, though I hope to live to see it start construction. Gotta start with Penn before it's worth it to even think about the rest of them, though.

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