For a few weeks now, the 1, 2, 3 lines have been making weird connections. There is some construction happening on the 1 line, but that’s nothing unusual at all. For some reason, the trains are waiting extra long at the joint platforms. Are they waiting to make connections with express trains?
Sometimes the local train waits for two express trains to come by. It’s getting really annoying.
It’s definitely not train traffic. How do I know? Because I had to wait 2o minutes for the train to come in the first place. I know there isn’t another train ahead of us for at least 8 stops.
“We are being held in the station by the train’s dispatcher. Please be patient.”
Once in a while, I can be patient. Every trip is getting a bit much.
Also, isn’t “dispatcher” a bit much for this person’s title. They aren’t dispatching trains anywhere. The extent of their dispatching includes: 1) Stop. 2) Go. That’s it.
The person on the other end of the police and fire radios are dispatchers. They’re actually doing work. Not sure that a “train dispatcher” does besides keep the trains from running into each other. Its not like they’re telling them to take a left or something.
I guess the only time they need to spring into action is when they have to divert trains around incidents or construction at which point they are just transferring tracks. Anyway, I digress.
SUBWAYblogger 
I think subway dispatchers do operate switch tracks however.
-Chris
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What makes you an expert on being a dispatcher?
[Not sure that a “train dispatcher” does besides keep the trains from running into each other.]
Uh..I’d see that as important…if you got trains lets say that are late, they shift them to express but if you got 2 express trains that were late, the local’s on hold and they’re all going to the same stations, you cant just have them all go out one after another. Also if it was a train running on the same track with another train up head you wouldn’t have seen, you really don’t want to crash into them. How do you know theres no train for 8 stops? I assume the dispatcher has access to see what trains are where on a grid so they’re not just holding your train for their health. And its possible the trains are held on one track and not another because something could have happened at a station ahead or there’s track work going on while keeping the track in use for the day’s trains. If you don’t like waiting, then don’t take the train and blog about something else. Blogging is one thing but complaining about something you will never be able to fix is just pointless.
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The dispatcher doesn’t keep trains from colliding, the signal system does that.
Dispatchers enforce schedules, operate the switches, and manage alternate routings in emergency events.
If you notice the orange lights on the platform at the front of the train and where the conductor is, those are holding lights. When they are on, the dispatcher is holding the train in the station for some reason. Sometimes it is for a connection, but a lot of the time it is because the train is simply ahead of schedule.
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They weren’t working because the trains were sucky this weekend and yesterday. No trains were going past Franklin Ave in Brooklyn, so there was shuttle buses and alot more traffic than usual because everyone had to get off and on at the same stop.
An example of yesterdays nightmare-ish commute would be. I got on the 3 train at Sutter Ave in Brooklyn, got off at Utica ave (next stop) to take a shuttle bus (yes BUS) to Franklin (which was the last stop of the shuttle bus) and then again got on the train AGAIN to take the 2 train from Franklin, just for it to go local to Nevins Street AND to catch the 4 train going to the East side..and to make the connections less painful than they were on the weekend, they held up trains to stuff as much people in the trains as possible.
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I have also been experiencing strange train schedules on the 1-2-3 lines. It is happening more and more frequently and I am getting incredibly frustrated. It’s not just this weekend’s transportation nightmare, it’s progressing even during the week as the weeks go on.
More often than not, now, I have to wait for multiple trains to go by before I can catch one. I used to be fine getting on the 1, and then at most have to get on the second express train at 72nd. It’s now impossible to get on the 1 on 79th, and then even more impossible to get on any express train at 72nd. It’s incredibly crowded and the time between the trains is getting longer. Today I waited for 15 minutes to finally get on a 1 at 8:15 in the morning. That’s absurd. 72nd was so crowded that I stayed on the 1, knowing I had a better chance to get on the express at times square. Very disappointing. I’m not feeling very patient anymore.
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[…] else notice odd waits and transfers on the Nos. 1, 2 and 3 lines lately? [The Subway […]
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Thanks for the information.
Rocky
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