Harry G wrote:

I saw an interesting programme about the South Ferry 1 line terminal
reconstruction on a cable channel here the other night - amazed that
such a cramped and awkward operating layout has survived until now.

It is somewhat cramped. But as far as train movements go, it's
incredibly efficient. It can easily handle 30 tph; the only reason
service only runs at 20 tph is that the north terminal, at the other end
of the line, can't handle anymore, and NYCT is generally highly allergic
to short turns (although there are two stations where alternate trains
could be easily turned). While the claim has been made that the new
terminal will support 24 tph, that's still substantially less than the
current 30 tph, and the documents released to the public justifying the
new terminal don't justify the 24 tph claim. In fact, based on the
track diagrams, it looks very much like the Jamaica Center terminal on
the E, which can only handle 12 tph, except that Jamaica Center has
longer tail tracks. So some of us are quite concerned with the possible
repercussions of this expensive reconstruction.

And before anyone suggests that reduced service will be adequate once
all ten cars can platform at South Ferry, it turns out that the busiest
part of the line is nowhere near South Ferry. This post from 2002 gives
1999 ridership counts (turnstile entries) along the 1 line, excluding
transfer points to other lines (but including several express stations
also served by the 2 and 3):
http://groups.google.com/group/nyc.t...23b9e388bd967b

Since 1999, ridership has increased at most stations, although South
Ferry is one of the few exceptions -- by 2004, ridership had dropped to
3,382,813.

As these numbers reveal, the most crowded part of the line is the
section between Times Square and 137th Street. And as a daily rider of
that section of the line, I can say that trains are already overcrowded;
we badly need more service, not less.

Also, bear in mind that the typical subway station in New York is a
modest affair. Typically, several sidewalk staircases lead either
directly to the platform or first to an intermediate mezzanine. Station
buildings are uncommon.

From this I guess that the track layouts, connections and switches on
the NY Subway are more like a tramway (with many connections not used
for normal service) rather than the London Underground (with relative
rare non-service connections between lines) - I can't imagine LU being
able to operate anywhere near this sort of revised service.

That's an interesting analogy, although London's subsurface lines are
quite similar. It's only the deep tube lines that are effectively
isolated from each other.

Here are some (slightly out-of-date) track maps for New York, incidentally:
http://www.nycsubway.org/maps/track.html

The most unusual diversion I can think of is when Bakerloo line
(Stanmore branch) services were diverted over the Metropolitan line
south of Finchley Road into the terminal platforms at Baker Street -
this would have been around 1975/6, when the junctions for the future
Jubilee line were being constructed.

Tube trains at the terminal platforms at Baker Street? I hope somebody
took pictures!

One that I just noticed for the Northern line, King's Cross southbound:
"Euston (To Picc.) Bank Branch" (which I am sure is not in public
service, and probably would just be described as 'Not in Service' on
the platform!)

I've caught that system claiming that the next southbound train at
Archway was 2 minutes away, between Golders Green and Hampstead.
--
David of Broadway
New York, NY, USA