InsideTransit

The public transportation system in Atlanta is called “MARTA”. This week MARTA decided to change the name of their subway lines and has moved to colors for the rail line names. The updates are as follows:

• Red Line = former North line
• Yellow Line =- former Northeast line
• Green Line = former Proctor Creek line
• Blue Line = former East-West line

MARTA officials say the change is to follow many of the other rail systems that use colors like Chicago, Dallas and Washington, D.C. They also say it will minimize confusion – not sure about that because now all websites and content materials will point to the old names for years to come. Even our Atlanta pages will need to be changed.

If you are traveling to Atlanta, check out our Atlanta Airport Travel page to learn about using MARTA from the airport.

Here’s something from the NYC subway wayback machine courtesy Subchat. Many years ago, there was a special “train to the plane” that operated in NYC. It made only a few stops in Manhattan and one in Brooklyn then ended at the Howard Beach subway stop. From there passengers boarded a shuttle bus which took them to JFK airport. The train ran every 20 minutes and there was an additional fare of $3.50-4.00 which was collected on board.

If you are traveling to/from the NYC airports and want to try using transit (you should!), check out our NYC airport guide. I find that using the subway and the LIRR is much faster and way cheaper than taking a taxi from JFK airport.

Here’s a video with 2 commercials from the Train to the Plane – both look like they were created by the people who made the Brady Bunch tv show.
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This is exciting except if you are one of the riders of the BART subway in San Francisco. As of Sunday night, the Amalgamated Transit Union has decided to strike. A strike would basically completely suspend service across the entire system.

The BART website has lots of suggestions on how to handle a strike if it happens. They include (sarcasm is mine):

• adjusting your hours – yeap that’s certainly possible for most
• telecommute – sure if you work a cash register or make coffee at a starbucks you can do that from home
• carpool – i wonder if those with vans will start gypsy service similar to that in some parts of nyc
• alternate routes – yep, you could walk all the way – wonder if they will let you walk through the bay tunnel
• ride a charter bus – this might be the best option but will still be massively overpacked with people
• bicycle – yep, another great option for 12-20 miles lol
• take other transportation

The San Francisco Chronicle has put together a forum where BART riders can express their thoughts and get help on how to commute in the event of a strike. Here’s their full post where they also note that over 340,000 daily riders use BART.

Best of luck to our bay area friends – just remember to breathe and don’t do anything that will put you on Alcatraz!

As a railfan, I am often asked which subway gets you to the new Yankee Stadium fastest. Well it’s clear from the video below that it’s the 4 train. The video below which I found on Subchat shows a race between the B, D and 4 trains from midtown Manhattan to Yankee Stadium. As one of my friends pointed out, the D is not blue in real life. Of course the trains are longer than one car, they don’t share the same tracks and the B is a local so it should never win a race. It’s sponsored by Subway (the sandwich place) and if you ignore all the transit mistakes, it’s a whole hoot of fun!

Hmm – we’ve seen a dog on the subway in Russia. We’ve also seen plenty of rats on the tracks in NYC. But never a horse…until today that is.

Here’s a video of a horse on the Tokyo metro subway. You will note that the horse is pretty calm and even has time to read the local newspaper. The horse also has time to take photos with other subway riders. You will note that other subway riders look on in amazement at a horse in the subway.

There is this myth that one day there will be a subway here in NYC that goes up and down second avenue. Apparently work is going on to build it but many wonder if we will see it before the martians arrive to fight us for earth.

NY Daily News writer Pete Donohue notes that his sources told him that the first phase of the Second Avenue Subway won’t be open for riders until 2015. This is two years later than the latest provided date of 2015. And in more exciting news, the LIRR tunnel to Grand Central has been pushed back a year to 2016.

“It will not come as shock to the American people that the Second Ave. subway is behind schedule,” Straphanger Campaign leader Gene Russianoff said. “It’s a big complicated project. I think part of this is bowing to the economic realities of what money is available and when.”

The original date for the subway was 2012. The Second Ave. budget is revised upwards slightly to $4.4 billion from about $4.3 billion.

I will keep dreaming that it will be here one day….

Yesterday we reported on a crash between two Muni cars in San Francisco. Today (via the AP) the Union President says, “a light-rail operator blacked out just before his train crashed into a parked train, injuring dozens of passengers”. Apparently the blackout had to do with a medical condition. Four passengers were seriously injured in Saturday’s crash, including the driver.

From the AP, “The crash on Saturday afternoon injured 48 people, four seriously, in the latest in a series of commuter train wrecks in recent months in the U.S. None of the injuries were life-threatening.” Neither Turpin nor local transit officials would identify the driver, but said he started as a San Francisco bus driver in 1979 and switched to light rail in 2007. He was hospitalized after the crash and a drug test had been administered, which was standard procedure for crashes.

Let’s get it together! Enough with the crashes – especially because we believe more public transit is needed across the U.S.

What’s with all of the transit crashes lately? Today in San Francisco, two light rail Muni cars crashed on the outbound platform of West Portal Station. There were multiple injuries in the crash but none appeared life threatening.

CNN has more on the crash and notes, “Initial reports are that a one-car train traveling at low speed collided with a stopped one-car train, Muni spokesman Judson True said in a written statement. He said the collision occurred on the outbound platform of West Portal Station.”

The SF Muni website notes major service delays. From the website, “On Saturday, July 18th at 3:15 pm, SF Muni is advising major service delays on the K, L and M light rail lines due to an accident between two light rail vehicles. There is no light rail service between the West Portal and Castro station.”

A police officer told CNN, “Apparently the conductor for one of the trains miscalculated a turn. It’s still under investigation right now.”

I have got a video for you today that will just blow the house down. It’s the BBRR from the TARC – that’s the Bus Bike Rack Rap music video for you newbs. My favorite part is when the woman raps “then it’s done…then it’s done”. The TARC is the Transit Authority of River City which is basically Louisville.

When you ask people which train station is their favorite, you always get different answers. For me, it’s always been Grand Central Terminal in NYC because it was my first love. But the new station in Berlin is beautiful along with some of the stations I’ve been to in Munich and London. Of course there are so many other stations around the world that might be better but that I haven’t been to as of yet.

The Daily Mail in the UK has put together a list of the top ten train stations in the world. Check out the full list to see all the photos and explanations of why each station is on the list. Here’s the list of locations:

1. Atocha Station, Spain
2. Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus, India
3. Union Station, Chicago
4. Pickering Station, Yorkshire
5. Ushuaia Station, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina
6. Choum Station, Mauritania
7. Tanggula Mountain Railway Station, Tibet
8. Broken Hill, Australia
9. Haydarpasa, Istanbul
10. Divisadero Barrancas, Mexico

Which train stations are your favorites?