InsideTransit

I wish I could say the video below is Photoshop’d but sadly it is not. It’s a video from India where the trains are so packed that people ride on top of the train. I assume there is no fare collection for those people. I wonder how the people get up there and how long they ride up top for.

Over my many years riding the NYC subway, I like to think I’ve seen it all. From having a gun pointed at me, to watching a man take a pee off the edge of the platform, to a woman changing her clothes between two cars as we crossed the Manhattan Bridge, nearly nothing could shock me.

But today I have a video that I never thought I would see. Below is a video of a man playing with his chicken on a Bronx-bound 6 subway train. The video shows a man on the floor playing with his chicken (yes a clucking chicken) while others look on. You see, most people probably weren’t pissed that a chicken was on the subway, but that they were missing some seats!

So leave a comment, what’s the weirdest thing you’ve seen on the subway or bus? Make sure to note your city as well.

For 9 years the Improv Everywhere group has completed a train ride they call “No Pants!” Basically what they do is have a bunch of people ride the subway with no pants on. It’s a hoot! And no pervs, the people aren’t naked down there – they just ride in their underwear. You can read the history of the No Pants! movement here. Last year about 20 cities participated including Atlanta, Amsterdam, Sydney and Seoul.

It’s not just a few people running the mission but a load of people. The 2010 edition will take place on January 10th. More details on the Facebook signup page. So far they show about 5,000 registered attendees but I doubt that many will actually show up. The requirements for participation are:

1) Willing to take pants off on subway
2) Able to keep a straight face about it

Here’s a video from last year’s No Pants! event.
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Passengers on a NJ Transit bus were lucky to exit the bus before a New Jersey Transit train struck the bus and carried it down the tracks. A driver saw the bus stuck on the tracks and rushed to the bus to let the driver and passengers know to get off the bus immediately. The weather was near full whiteout conditions.

NJ Transit spokesman Dan Stessel says an engineer had minor injuries. The 26 bus passengers evacuated before the Atlantic City line train hit it.

Here’s a video from 6 Action News in Philly:
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Alright folks…it’s Thanksgiving here in the U.S. One of the most popular meals on the holiday is to eat turkey.  Found via SubChat, here are some real live turkeys just waiting for their train in New Jersey.  They line up nicely, they wait quietly, they don’t bother other waiting passengers. What’s odd is that when their train arrives, they move away – maybe they are waiting on the wrong track? Is the Perdue train arriving on track 11 or 15?

The woman in the video below is VERY lucky to be alive this morning. The woman stumbles and falls onto the tracks at a subway station in Boston.  She fell at the worst possible point – the entry point for trains into the station. Other passengers waved for the oncoming train to stop. Luckily the train operator was able to stop the train just a second before it would run over the passenger. The train operator and other fast-reacting passengers saved this woman’s life.

Please note that this video is very dramatic and could be considered frightening.
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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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Have you ever wondered who would win in a battle — a porsche or a city bus? Wel the video below provides details on which vehicle wins.  As a bonus we have included bus vs. bus shelter battle.

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!

Everyone always wants trains to go faster. Here in the northeast U.S, we have “Acela” which is supposed to be very fast but it seems to get to about 125 miles per hour max for about 5 minutes. Below is a video from France that shows a test train that hits an amazing 574.8 kilometres per hour. For us Americans, that’s over 350 miles per hour. Or nearly three times as fast as the fastest thing we’ve got here.

Even if you don’t care about trains, you should still watch the video. It’s put together like a movie promo and gets your heart going as they continue to speed up.

I sure hope one day in my lifetime we see trains like this around the world.