sht6131 Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 As I was traveling on the Kennedy early afternoon I noticed 4 car trains on the Blue line. Sometimes a 2600 and a 2200. When did they go from 8 to 4? Was the interval decreased at least? Did the Red line decrease in length also? Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jajuan Posted April 9, 2009 Report Share Posted April 9, 2009 As I was traveling on the Kennedy early afternoon I noticed 4 car trains on the Blue line. Sometimes a 2600 and a 2200. When did they go from 8 to 4? Was the interval decreased at least? Did the Red line decrease in length also? Thanks It's been quite a while now with the midday 4 car trains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trainman8119 Posted April 10, 2009 Report Share Posted April 10, 2009 It's been quite a while now with the midday 4 car trains. Long after rush hour is over (usually after 7:30 out of O'Hare) and on most weekends, Blue Line has been running 4 car trains. They break up the 8 car consists in sequence, that is why you will see 2 2200's and 2 2600's. You will notice that one train will have the 2200's trailing and the next train will have them in the lead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sht6131 Posted April 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2009 It's been quite a while now with the midday 4 car trains. Is there a site that shows midday ridership? I wonder if the midday decreased as I remember running 8 for some time. I am sure there is reason to drop to 4 as I would think more man power would be needed to couple and uncouple during the AM and PM rush. I think Metra keeps there consists together at all times. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Busjack Posted April 10, 2009 Report Share Posted April 10, 2009 Is there a site that shows midday ridership? I wonder if the midday decreased as I remember running 8 for some time. I am sure there is reason to drop to 4 as I would think more man power would be needed to couple and uncouple during the AM and PM rush. I think Metra keeps there consists together at all times.The ridership reports are by station boardings, not time. While Metra keeps some consists together, including keeping the lights off some cars, it also puts some together on the BNSF to make up a real long rush hour train. The main Metra constraint is that there has to be a cab car on the inbound end of a diesel train. ME trains (which may be more comparable to the CTA in that they are both electric and each car has a cab) are of various lengths, and, because they are not in married pairs, I have seen some with an odd number of cars. It has been traditional for CTA to run shorter trains in the off hours, to save electricity and wear. The only constraint on the Blue Line is that there has to be one pair of 2600s to meet ADA requirements. Also, CTA trains have coupler controls in the cab, so you don't need yardmen to do the coupling. For that matter, I have been on northbound Purple Line trains that coupled up to 4 more cars at Linden for the Express trip. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
trainman8119 Posted April 10, 2009 Report Share Posted April 10, 2009 I think Metra keeps there consists together at all times. For the most part, that is correct....on the diesel lines. The UP keeps everything together once the day starts. They will make some cuts on the weekends at the outer yards from time to time. The Milwaukee West stays intact. The Milwaukee North cuts two 7 car trains into 4 in the morning and couples up upon return from the trip north for the afternoon rush trip home. The Southwest stays intact. I believe the BNSF stays intact. The Rock Island will cut a couple of morning trains at La Salle Street, similar to the Milwaukee North. As for the Electric....there is more moving and shaking there than a Las Vegas Disco in the 70's. The patterns stay the same, but cars are constantly being cut and repositioned. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sht6131 Posted April 10, 2009 Author Report Share Posted April 10, 2009 Is there a site that shows midday ridership? I wonder if the midday decreased as I remember running 8 for some time. I am sure there is reason to drop to 4 as I would think more man power would be needed to couple and uncouple during the AM and PM rush. I think Metra keeps there consists together at all times. Thanks everybody for the info. Sandy Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artthouwill Posted April 10, 2009 Report Share Posted April 10, 2009 Years ago all of the lines cut their trains down during midday and after p.m. rush trips. The initial purpose of running 8 car trains midday on the Red and Blue lines was to eliminate runs. For example, rather than running 8 4-car trains in 1 hour at 7 1/2 minute intervals, you could run 6 8-car trains at 10 minute intervals or 5 8-car trains at 12 minute intervals. The move would effectively eliminate 2 motormen (at least) per hour. It was supposed to be a cost savings measure. The longer trains would accomodate more passengers affected by the longer intervals between the trains. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sht6131 Posted May 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2009 It's been quite a while now with the midday 4 car trains. Looks like for some unknown reason they are back to 8 again. Noticed this a few times between 11 and 11:30 am. They must have been running the 4 car temporarily for another unknown reason. I know I was not hallucinating. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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