Why does the F train hate me?!
Or maybe it's the MTA.
Has anyone noticed that the MTA seems to go to extraordinary lengths to prevent people from transferring from local to express trains? This morning I was on a Queens-bound F departing Broadway Lafayette when I saw a B train pull into the station. I got up so I could get out at West 4th and go across the platform to wait for the B. Instead, our train slowed to a stop in the tunnel and stayed there for several minutes. That gave the B time to come and go.
This happens to me all the time, and it appears to be a deliberate attempt to prevent riders from transferring between trains. But why? Do the train operators just find it amusing to frustrate people, or do they do this for some kind of technical reason in order to make traffic flow more smoothly?
Has anyone noticed that the MTA seems to go to extraordinary lengths to prevent people from transferring from local to express trains? This morning I was on a Queens-bound F departing Broadway Lafayette when I saw a B train pull into the station. I got up so I could get out at West 4th and go across the platform to wait for the B. Instead, our train slowed to a stop in the tunnel and stayed there for several minutes. That gave the B time to come and go.
This happens to me all the time, and it appears to be a deliberate attempt to prevent riders from transferring between trains. But why? Do the train operators just find it amusing to frustrate people, or do they do this for some kind of technical reason in order to make traffic flow more smoothly?
Comments
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because you're a whiner (ok, I'm kidding, but it was an easy target!)
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Oh, that's nothing! At DeKalb I got out of the express train because the local was across the platform with the doors open. Just as we all got to the local train doors they slammed them in our face! So I turn around to get back on the express train, and they slammed those shut too! ASSSSSES! :ncool:
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this stuff happens to everyone.
caaaah, you gotta learn to run and throw body or arms or legs into the subway doors. -
After 12 years of riding the "F" (or as I like to call it that fucking F) - I have finally said "No Mas." I now walk further to board the tranquil and placid "B" train to speed me on my journey to Broadway-Lafayette.
If there is a worse train in the system than the "F" (yes, I know that maybe it's the "G" or "L") I never want to ride it. -
I used to take the B to work (I work right by rock ctr) and then I thought "gee, I can get a SEAT on the 2/3, might as well take that instead". but the switch to the 1 train for one freakin' stop could kill up to 10 minutes on a really bad day and was rarely expedited by a 1 train keeping it's doors open 30 seconds for folks to run across the platform. SUCK. so. I'm back to the B train, where there is no seat, and there is a lady ranting about the lord and 9/11 (wtf?) but, thankfully, I don't have to worry about grabbing another ride.
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armchair_warrior wrote: this stuff happens to everyone.
Normally I move like lightning. I guess it was an off day for me. :P
caaaah, you gotta learn to run and throw body or arms or legs into the subway doors. -
Livetotravel wrote: After 12 years of riding the "F" (or as I like to call it that fucking F)...
Aren't the R and the N called the Rarely and the Never off in some corner of Brooklyn? Or is it just me & my mother? -
The R is the tortoise of the trains--slow (and too many damn stops) but steady. The F can have moments of greatness (transfers to the express, though few, seem to run smoother than on other lines; brief flirtations with express service), but so, so many moments of frustration (G trains crossing over, spotty late-nite service punctuated by multiple passings of "garbage barges" onto which I'm sometimes drunkenly tempted to hop).
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Yeah, I've always called the N/R the Never/Rarely Line
the F train speaks for itself
as for the doors closing and all the other BS we have to deal with, I've got to think some conductors are just f'ing sadists.AnnaClaire wrote: [quote=Livetotravel]After 12 years of riding the "F" (or as I like to call it that fucking F)...
Aren't the R and the N called the Rarely and the Never off in some corner of Brooklyn? Or is it just me & my mother? -
If you read enough on "Overheard in NY" you totally get the sense that the conductors find amusement in that slamming-door game.
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jennitrixie wrote: The R is the tortoise of the trains--slow (and too many damn stops) but steady. The F can have moments of greatness (transfers to the express, though few, seem to run smoother than on other lines; brief flirtations with express service), but so, so many moments of frustration (G trains crossing over, spotty late-nite service punctuated by multiple passings of "garbage barges" onto which I'm sometimes drunkenly tempted to hop).
man, the amount of times i've looked at the garbage barge at W 4th Station at 3am thinking "man, it wouldn't be THAT bad. and i just got some Gray's so i have a built in good mood for atleast another hour..." waiting for the D and F that late at night is like waiting for a virgin to have twins. -
Why does the F train hate me?!
The F train hates you because you're beautiful. -
I love the F train.
She only abuses me because I deserve it. I know she loves me too. -
SouthSlopeSuit wrote: I love the F train.
She only abuses me because I deserve it. I know she loves me too.
No, no, no.
The F train is MALE!
He comes before I do, he leaves whenever he wants, I don't understand what he's saying half the time
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brava
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Flexichick wrote: [quote=SouthSlopeSuit]I love the F train.
She only abuses me because I deserve it. I know she loves me too.
No, no, no.
The F train is MALE!
He comes before I do, he leaves whenever he wants, I don't understand what he's saying half the time
=D> =D> =D> -
It's male? That explains why it's so resistant to my advances...
During the day I don't have too many F woes; the standing and the crowds are just a staple of life by now, but at night it is frustrating. I don't think any other line has as many obnoxious and blatantly pointless service changes, and the only line I've come across with less frequency at night is the G.
Lucky me, my regular commutes are the F, the G, and the L. They look nice and go lots of places, but overall exist for the sole purpose of making me sad. -
i prefer a seat on the R any day.. a long ride but calmer indeed.
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Ah . . . thought I'd resurrect to ask: What the HELL was the matter this morning? Normally I hit the 7th Ave. platform around 8:10-8:15, pop on a terribly crowded train with everyone's damn children and burrow into my book. Today I had to let five trains pass (at up to 10 minute intervals each) before I could get on, so it took an hour and a half to get to 34th Street. If I'd had any information I'd have just humped it down to the R (and, actually, if I had enough personal days, I'd have just said "fuck it" and stayed home with some Family Guy DVDs).
And happy fair hike, all! -
I was right there with you, but got on after three trains.
What I especially love about the F is how not one announcement is EVER made at 7th Avenue. When is the last time anyone has heard the PA system work? (Maybe I missed the memo--has it been broken all this time?) Ah, good times on the F. -
Flexichick wrote: [quote=SouthSlopeSuit]I love the F train.
She only abuses me because I deserve it. I know she loves me too.
No, no, no.
The F train is MALE!
He comes before I do, he leaves whenever he wants, I don't understand what he's saying half the time -
the MTA is an equal opportunity hater. you are not so special.
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Kid_Baco wrote: Yeah, I've always called the N/R the Never/Rarely Line
It has to do with the conductor trying to get out of the station on time in order to stay on schedule. It seems often times that if the conductor is anything less than aggressive with the doors, people will just keep sneaking in, and in, and in... not to mention, the sheer increase in crowdedness that's taken place here in Brooklyn both with cars on the road and people on the subway in the past 6-7 years or so.. shit has tripled, not doubled, but tripled around here.
the F train speaks for itself
as for the doors closing and all the other BS we have to deal with, I've got to think some conductors are just f'ing sadists.
Not too long ago saw some tool get knocked around like a rag doll by the F doors on 7th Ave, while his chihuahua in his shoulder bag was looking around in a panic, lol.. -
I want an express train on the F line!! Wah!!!
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Subject: Why no V train to Brooklyn
Seriously, why can't they at least extend the V train to Jay Street? This past month has been off the hook terrible. -
AnnaClaire wrote: [Aren't the R and the N called the Rarely and the Never off in some corner of Brooklyn? Or is it just me & my mother?
i have heard it called the Never Running line. -
does anyone know what prevents them from at least running the damn G train up to 7th ave? i can't count the number of times i've seen multiple "not in service" G trains smirk by (yes, i mean "smirk." there is something very smirky about the way they roll by) while waiting for a never-coming F. is there something very special about smith and 9th that makes it worth standing at late at night in the freezing cold if you're trying to get anywhere along the G line? not to mention that once you're there, there are never any G trains, even if several passed you while you were waiting for the F to ride two stops to the G.
maybe "G" stands for "ghost." or "gotcha"! -
^rumor has it the G will be running to court st (or court ave or whatever it is) in 08. I live in bedstuy literally on TOP of the G train, so I keep up with G-gossip...since it's basically my one true hate in life. Especially since my boyfriend lives in park slope- its a 2 mile commute that can take anywhere from 25 minutes to an hour, depending on if the G decides to show up and then if the F decides to come in a reasonable amount of time.
Oh and FYI the G stands for all kinds of things, Ghost, Ghetto, Gangster- the best G train quote I've ever heard was on the Greenpoint platform after about a 45 minute wait at 3AM. A group of drunk guys standing next to me were bitchin and one turns to the other and says
"You know what the G stands for?"
"What?"
"Sucks."
So the G stands for sucks. HA -
i also heard that the G train will be running to 7th Ave starting in 2008. wasn't there also talk of a possible F express?
the F train is horrible, but is it more crowded than the 4/5 in the morning? i'm not sure that's possible. -
i heard that the F express is planned for 2012 at the earliest. apparently there are express tracks, but they're in such abysmal condition that it'd be dangerous to regularly run trains on them. i guess they're going to first renovate smith and 9th, and then get to work on making those tracks safe. (all of this with the caveat that i am a known rumor-mongerer and, worse yet, a mis-rememberer.)
oh, and let us not compare the F to the 4/5. crowdedness be damned; at least the 4/5 people get service and regular transfers, not to mention trains that stop in numerous useful locations such as 125th st., grand central station, union square, and atlantic ave. oh yes, we slopesters can get to the ultra-trendy east village with the greatest of ease - but in my opinion, access to (yet more) bars, restaurants, and stores selling overpriced faux mid-century modern decor doesn't make up for the irritation of not being connected to, like, any of the city's main transit hubs.
just saying.
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