It is a weird quirk built into the system but not too many situations where it slows anyone down since 42 is the next / previous station and you will almost always end up connecting to the same train you would have at Penn?
I guess there could be some situation where uptown local and express pull in to Penn at same time and you would be able to make a connection but then one is held and they don't connect at 42. But unusual and they run pretty frequently on 1-2-3?
that being said ... not long ago I was waiting pretty late, like midnight, express train stopped on local platform with no indication or announcement whatsoever and I ran and missed it , had to wait 10 minutes for next train. that was some BS.
and there is the possibility if you're switching, that they hold one train a bit longer and don't ensure you get same connection at 42. but pretty rare, they are decent at holding for connection except in rush when trains come super frequently.
it's a bit of a quirk and not seeing why it gets people super riled (other than my late night CF)
> Those stops were built that way intentionally. [...] the designers wanted to coax passengers to switch between local and express trains at the Times Square — 42nd Street — Port Authority Bus Terminal complex, one stop to the north.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/16/nyregion/weird-subway-qui...
The worst is when you're waiting for the express and for some reason it shows up on the local track.
I still don't know -- was it intentionally designed to be idiotic? Or was it meant to operate some other way and they had to shoehorn local/express in?
New North-South lines between Brooklyn and Queens, however :-)