Hacker News Reader

Comment by glittershark | Hacker News Reader

As someone who commutes on the L train daily, I was really disappointed to see that this was actually a metaphor. I want a literal better train to Brooklyn!

View on HN

There's a source that I can't find that explains why the L in particular so bad. It's basically that most subway lines (e.g. the 2 and 3) have heavy traffic both ways at both rush hours, because they begin and end in residential areas. The L trip profile is lopsided, westbound in the morning and eastbound in the evening, so the marginal gain in capacity of adding another train to it is less than to another line and the MTA is broke enough they have to make those kinds of choices.

I think it's that the tunnel isn't wide enough to have an express. They already run a shitload of trains on the L track, but there's an upper limit to capacity.

Would an express help with the ludicrous crowding at Union Square? A few months ago I was heading to Brooklyn, and I had to catch it from Union Square to the 8th avenue terminal - otherwise, there was no chance of getting on an eastbound train. (The westbound train was full; when we arrived at 8th, maybe five people got off. Everyone else was just trying to take the long route to Brooklyn, because it was the only option.)

Express trains would help with volume. If an express traveling on another track was just hitting Manhattan stops plus Bedford, Morgan, Myrtle-Wyckoff, . . . That would take care of a lot of the volume that gets packed onto the always-local L.

I wonder if that's related to the frequent full-on outages (rather than just the standard sardine-tinning); last Monday evening the L was out completely due to a cracked rail - maybe the added weight of people on the train creates more stress on the structure?

It's also that there are fewer alternatives to the L, if the L is down, you are kind of screwed. Only the Upper East Side is so dependent on a single line, and that is changing.

Plus, the L has exploded in popularity in the last 10-15 years. It was not that popular 30 years ago. Demand has grown much faster than any other line in the system.

Haha! I feel your pain...rush hour on the L is terrible. Sorry if the title got your hopes up :)

Reply on news.ycombinator.com