The excellent rush hour service that existed on the #5 train in the Bronx is taking a reprieve, thanks to the Metropolitan Transit Authority's decision to suspend express service between E. 180th St. and 149th Street and 3rd Avenue. Bronx riders who could count on getting zoomed past seven stops, shaving off at least nine minutes from their commutes in peak directions, must now sweat it out as the train makes local stops and, hope they make it to their destinations on time.
Local service during rush hour has been activated from August 24 to November 13, 2009, in the Bronx due to track and signal improvements, according to signs posted in stations on the #5 route.
Riders can smile at the men in the orange vests and put blind faith that their commutes will improve when the track work ends if they want but the problem is, the work seems to never end. This writer-Dyrerider- has been utilizing the #5 train on the Dyre Avenue and Nereid Avenue line for 16 years and, according to first hand accounts, service changes occur on a regular basis on weekends and during the weekday as follows:
· shuttle train service between E. 180th Street and Dyre Avenue. on weekends
· shuttle bus service between E. 180th Street and Dyre Avenue on weekends
· no # 5 service in the Bronx on the Dyre Avenue line; take the #2 train running
on the # 5 line--on weekends
· no Nereid Avenue #5 trains at all on weekends; use the #2 train
· #5 train terminating at Grand Central Station (E.42nd Street), weekends
· no # 5 train traveling to Brooklyn, weekends
· express service on the #5 line from E. 180th Street to 3rd Avenue; occurs on
some weekends
· #5 trains terminate at Bowling Green during non rush hour, weekdays
· #5 trains stop running the full Brooklyn to Bronx route at 10:30pm -5:59am,
M- F, and from 12 midnight to 6:00am on weekends and instead operates the
shuttle train from E. 180th Street to Dyre Avenue during late night hours from
E. 180th Street to Dyre Avenue
The MTA institutes and suspends these service changes on an inconsistent basis with no discernable end-goal in sight.
Strangely, riders have not asked for more transparency from transit officials in the case of the #5 train’s latest service disruption. People aren't the least bit curious to know exactly what type of track and signal maintenance is so specific and so sensitive that hundreds of subway cars from the #5 and #2 lines which share the same tracks in the Bronx, pass through 3.4 miles of track 24-7 and yet repair work will be thrown off kilter if the express track is utilized during rush hour? Sadly, riders must be so accustomed to unpredictable service it's business as usual for them. Astonishing!
While relief from the longer commute is slated to end in November of this year, skepticism remains for this writer and for good reason. Several years ago the MTA tried to permanently establish local service on the #5 Dyre Avenue route but straphangers fighting back with signed petitions against the idea appeared to be effective as express service was preserved on this route during rush hour in peak directions. Unfortunately due to budget woes transit officials may somehow use dwindling revenue as justification for preserving local service, presumably their wish all along.
Now, #5 train riders must leave home earlier to pad their commute times in correlation to extra stops made on a local route, but no matter how much they adjust their schedules, they cannot predict when train service will disrupt and eat into their reserved time. You do not get a break.
On the surface it seems as if working class people who must use the #5 line to travel into Manhattan from the Bronx and Brooklyn to reach their jobs get the short end of the stick where value vs. cost of a subway ride is concerned. Commuters’ arrival time at work depends on public transit's dependability, and when service interruptions occur, especially in Manhattan, few if any options are left for outer borough commuters to reach their destinations in the city. Two dollars per ride can easily morph into a $10, $15 or $20 cab ride to another train line or, for desperate measures, a ride into Manhattan just to make it to work without nerve-wrecking hassles.
The only upside observed so far with local service in the Bronx is the elimination of the bottle neck after the Jackson Avenue station where Manhattan bound local #2 trains and express #5 trains reach the end of their respective, separate, elevated lines and have to move onto one track entering the Third Avenue and 149th Street station underground. Since both train lines now run on the local track, less “jockeying” for first place occurs.
Another plus? Passengers waiting at the local stops are now able to hop on the first train that comes along instead of waiting for the #2 train (local in the Bronx, both directions at all times) for a quick ride to Third Avenue and 149th Street or 149th Street and Grand Concourse where they would jam into Brooklyn-bound #5 trains on a same platform transfer or dash upstairs for the #4 train. The end result? Less crowding in August when this undesirable schedule started and no upsetting delays after kids returned to school in September.
Will the good times last? Stick around. Dyrerider will definitely keep you posted if the commute dissolves into an overcrowded, chaotic mess.
Dyrerider rides the #5 train from the Gunhill Road stop in the Bronx.
The views expressed on this page belong to Dyrerider and are not endorsed by the MTA.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Friday, August 28, 2009
#5 Train Cut Off!
I’m confused!
The #5 train on the Dyre Avenue line runs from the Bronx, travels through Manhattan and into Brooklyn during rush hour. Thousands of people use this train everyday, packed in like sardines on one of the busiest routes in the entire system. Its sister train, the Nereid Avenue #5, runs on the same track from E. 180th Street in the Bronx all the way through to the last stop in Brooklyn, and it too is a rolling sardine can. Each train is driven by a motorman and a conductor who rides in the middle of the 10 cars.
It’s no secret, that despite the large volume of riders who live or work on the east side of Manhattan, the only subway available is the Lexington Avenue line which is comprised of both # 5 trains and the #4 train which runs down the west side of the Bronx, through Manhattan and into Brooklyn. When you factor in commuters and tourists, more than a million riders per day utilize the east side trains. So what logic is NYC Transit Authority employing when service is cut on one of these lines?
No, this is not a rhetorical question; it is simply hard to figure out why the #5 train ends at the Bowling Green station in lower Manhattan for passengers headed downtown during off- peak hours. Cost-cutting measures don’t seem to make sense, as mentioned beforehand, transit employees are needed to drive the train whether it travels the entire route or not.
So, were the decision-makers thinking the bulk of riders dissipate out of the system altogether after the morning rush hour ends? This line of thinking doesn’t make sense either, because if you ever ride the Dyre Avenue #5 train leaving the Bronx after 9:00am, observe closely: the trains are still crowded with passengers heading to Manhattan.
It is true that some of these passengers will transfer in the Bronx from the #5 train to the #2 train which does run its entire route from the Bronx to Flatbush Brooklyn, 24-7, alleviating some crowding and solving this whole conundrum of reaching Brooklyn during off-hours. However, some riders board trains on the east side of Manhattan, and I’m absolutely certain they will not want to make the foot-killing transfer to the west side at Grand Central ( E. 42nd Street) or any points from mid-town to down town merely to catch the #2 train. It’s tedious, tiresome and completely undesirable, even for the most energetic commuters.
Perhaps transit officials used telepathy to determine that the bulk of the riders’ final destination is somewhere in Manhattan, therefore, putting them off the train at Bowling Green somehow made the most sense, that is, if you prescribed to this shaky method of decision making.
Recent information on the internet and on the MTA website states that weekdays, the #5 train will run its complete route from the Bronx to Brooklyn during daytime hours but all other hours except late nights, it stops at Bowling Green. Huh?
Late nights weekdays = 11pm to 5:30am
Weekends late nights = 10:15pm to 6am
Rush hour = 6:15am to 10:00am; 3:15pm to 8:45pm
Rush hour peak direction = 6:15am to 9:00am; 4:30pm to 7:45pm
If someone can figure out what “daytime” hours are, please write to me! In the meantime, if I ever want to travel to Brooklyn on the #5 train I will call MTA first, to confirm that trains are running the entire route.
Accurate information must be made public otherwise, passengers will continue to be irate waiting at the Bowling Green stop for another train that will transport them into Brooklyn where transferring to yet another train is the last thing anyone wants to do. Got it?
Truncated service is a bad idea.
Dyrerider rides the #5 train from the Gunhill Road stop in the Bronx.
Opinions expressed on this blog are of Dyrerider, not MTA.
Monday, June 8, 2009
The #5 Train and Its Contradictions
Sharpen up, you folks who can barely read a map, folks who can’t take direction, folks who have no business traveling by themselves, and lastly, tourists. If you don’t retain this information quickly, you will literally reach the end of the line, the subway line, in some remote neighborhood after the sun has gone down in New York City.
To the discerning subway rider, a thorough perusal of a subway map is sufficient enough to get a grasp of how mass transit runs throughout the five boroughs of New York City, especially for the lucky commuters who only travel from top to bottom in Manhattan. However, if you ever get the urge or the need to travel to the outer boroughs, it doesn’t matter how adroit you are at reading a map; riding the #5 train line will test your transit map IQ and probably your patience as well.
HARD, COLD FACTS TO DIGEST NOW: there are two #5 train routes. Shocked? Well, get over it. Both trains travel through Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx. Both trains run on the east side of Manhattan. Northbound trains are called Eastchester-Dyre Avenue or Nereid Avenue, the last stop in the Bronx on each line. Southbound trains are called Crown Heights-Flatbush or Eastern Parkway Express. During midday hours, both #5 trains terminate at the Bowling Green stop in lower Manhattan when traveling from uptown. Only during rush hour do both trains travel their complete routes from Brooklyn to the Bronx and vice versa, just in time for the sardine commute. Unfortunately, during late nights, the Eastchester-Dyre Avenue line runs between Dyre Avenue and E. 180th Street only. The Nereid Avenue line stops running.
IF ONLY YOU WERE RICH. YOU COULD AVOID ALL THIS CONFUSION BY TAKING A TAXI OR LIMOUSINE TO YOUR DESTINATION.
If you’re traveling from Brooklyn headed for any stops in Manhattan and you board the Eastchester-Dyre Avenue #5 or the Nereid Avenue #5, you’re fine, but let’s say you decide to travel further north. You’re standing on an uptown subway platform. The overhead sign says Bronx-bound 5 train to Dyre Avenue and 5 train to Nereid Avenue. Which train should you board?
Well, it depends on where you want to go and what time of day you want to travel. Most tourists want to check out the Bronx zoo. Luckily, a few options exist for this site-seeing venture. Take the Eastchester-Dyre Avenue #5 to the East Tremont Avenue/West Farms Square stop. You can also take the Nereid Avenue #5 train to the same stop for access to the zoo. From 9:00am to 4:00pm, unless otherwise noted by NYC Transit Authority, both trains make local stops in the Bronx. However, if you’re traveling during rush hour-- 4:00pm to 7:00pm-- the Nereid Avenue and the Eastchester-Dyre Avenue trains make express stops in the Bronx heading north, so it pays to AVOID riding uptown during this time to minimize chances of being squished into the train by Bronx-bound commuters heading home after a long day at work and missing your stop.
If you’re trying to get out of the Bronx, south-bound trains make local stops during rush hour. Weird, huh? **Please refer to a transit map for more details, especially quirky service changes during late night hours. **Yankees fans, take the #5 train to 149th Street-Grand Concourse and transfer to the #4 train to Yankee Stadium.
RETURNING TO YOUR STARTING POINT IN THE BRONX TO HEAD FURTHER NORTH
East 180th Street is where the perennial fork in the train track occurs. This is where the curious and the determined must decide which direction to take.
I advise you to pay close attention at this train station, as sensory overload occurs here on a daily basis, and it may affect how you get to where you’re going. An unseen announcer blares out directions and updates at this outdoor train station from some overhead office with loud speakers hanging over the platform. In fact, you can sometimes hear the announcer tapping the microphone first, to see if it works, before he makes his all important transit announcements. “The next uptown 5 train is five minutes away.....” or “the train on the middle track is going to Dyre Avenue.,” information that is of little consolation to passengers who have been waiting for half an hour already. Watch commuters who exit or board these trains with angry, annoyed expressions on their faces as the MTA tries to clean up messy rush hour delays which seems like an impossible task since three train routes converge at this stop.
The Eastchester-Dyre Avenue line, the Nereid Avenue line and the #2 to Wakefield. All three lines travel on the uptown and downtown tracks. It’s the middle track that may cause some confusion.
The Nereid Avenue bound #5 train runs to the north and west of East 180th Street along White Plains Road, a major roadway lined with businesses and shops. The last stop on this train line will put you near the Wakefield area of the Bronx. The #2 train which runs on the west side in Manhattan, runs on the same line in the Bronx as the Nereid Avenue train but goes one stop further to Wakefield. Weird!
The Eastchester-Dyre Avenue #5 train travels to the north and east of East 180th Street. Often, this train arrives on the middle track. Usually, the announcer will state if it’s a shuttle train traveling back and forth from Dyre Avenue to East 180th Street or if it’s traveling on the complete route. If a train arrives on the middle track heading uptown, you must pay close attention. Read the train’s electronic signs to see if its going to Eastchester-Dyre Avenue or Nereid Avenue. As an extra precaution, wait for the overhead announcer AND the train conductor to confirm its true destination because there have been times when the overhead guy says one thing but the train goes in a different direction or no announcements were made and passengers who didn’t want to go the Eastchester-Dyre Avenue route found themselves riding back to E. 180th Street vexed as ever!
The Dyre Avenue line is off to itself in sort of an isolated area without convenient cross transportation options available, therefore it is imperative that if you do not want to access this area but you find yourself getting off at one of the stops anyway, be prepared to do additional walking as you attempt to find an alternate route. However, if you do find yourself on the Eastchester-Dyre Avenue line and you get off at any stop after E. 180th Street, believe it or not, there are a plethora of businesses around to occupy your time, but be prepared to walk, take buses and cabs to get around, as this is more of a residential area where people rely on cars.
Food, clothing and shelter is available at Co Op City and Bay Plaza where shopping for a home and all the objects to put in each room are concentrated in this area. Some of the major department stores are located here, and at least four train stops on this line give you access to Baychester, Co Op City and Eastchester neighborhoods:
1) Pelham Parkway--#12 bus takes you directly to the Bay Plaza shopping district
2) Gun Hill Road--#28 bus takes you to Co Op City and Bay Plaza
3) Baychester Avenue--close proximity to Co Op City
4) Eastchester-Dyre Avenue--close proximity to Co Op City
**Please refer to transit map for additional travel options at each stop.
DON’T GET STUCK WITHOUT COMFORTABLE SHOES!
Get off at any stop after East 180th Street on the Nereid Avenue line and you will not be hard pressed to find amenities within a reasonable walking distance from the train station which is not the case with the Eastchester-Dyre Avenue line, but even if you don’t want to walk but you’re desirous to peruse shops along White Plains Road, a bus line travels this route, thus affording you the views without the hassle for a mere free train to bus transfer.
Should you smile, thinking of the aforementioned positives for riding the #5 Eastchester-Dyre Avenue line? This is a complex train line with two faces. You must get to know it well before you can render an honest opinion.
If you work in upper Manhattan, i. e., above 96th Street, and you ride the #5 Dyre Avenue line, as New Yorkers call it, you literally can get to your workplace in under 45 minutes coming from the Bronx and sometimes within 30 minutes. Train service is excellent during rush hour, as this line has only four stops from the beginning of the line before it runs express from East 180th Street to Third Avenue, skipping several stops. Barring service delays, sick passengers or other unforeseen obstacles, the train flies through the Bronx, although it gets packed to the gills with some mean looking commuters at the Gun Hill Road stop, and it stays that way until it reaches lower Manhattan, so forget about being comfortable but don’t forget to wear comfortable shoes, bring your iPod and something to read. Riders coming from Brooklyn enjoy the luxury of express service in Manhattan.
On the weekends, the ugly truth comes out. The Eastchester-Dyre Avenue line evaporates, replaced by an ugly monster with no discernable train schedule. For several weekends in a row, from month to month this line shuts down, replaced by shuttle train service or bus service that runs from Eastchester-Dyre Avenue to East 180th Street presumably to allow for track work and train maintenance to occur, according to advisories posted in the train stations. Sometimes uptown and downtown trains travel on the same track, running every 30 minutes. When this occurs, it looks as if only one train operates back and forth between Eastchester-Dyre Avenue and East 180th Street, all day. Furthermore, it’s a major inconvenience when the shuttle train arrives on the wrong track at East 180th Street, forcing riders to traverse downstairs, under the platform and back upstairs to board a train heading in their desired direction.
There’s no escaping this looping nonsense, as passenger must wait on the platform at East 180th Street for the down town #2 train which makes local stops to 149th Street-Grand Concourse where riders can pick up the #4 train running down the east side of Manhattan. Be prepared for overcrowding, noise, and excessive walking up and down stairs as you make the transition from one train line to the other jostling along with irate, worn out passengers carrying humongous shopping bags or pushing baby strollers or handling both. You will definitely want to keep money on your person in case you get fed up and decide to skip this cattle roundup and take a taxi to your destination. **Special note to passengers in the Bronx trying to get to Brooklyn on the #5 line on weekends: forget about it! Take the #2 train instead.
The Nereid Avenue line disappears on the weekends. Passengers coming from the neighborhoods serviced by this train must utilize the #2 train which makes the exact same stops as the #5 in the Bronx once it passes East 180th Street but it travels down the west side upon reaching Manhattan. The bottom line: weekend train travel in the Bronx sucks.
GETTING RIPPED OFF!
Go to work during the week and stay home on the weekend or drive your own car! Is this a viable option?
It’s a pity that most New Yorkers who ride the #5 trains use weekly or monthly metro cards thereby paying NYC transit in advance at a full time service rate when they’re actually getting part time service. It’s something to think about the next time you buy a metro card.
C. D. Jackson has been living in the Baychester area of the Bronx for 16 years, getting on at the Gun Hill Road stop on the Eastchester-Dyre Avenue line.
To the discerning subway rider, a thorough perusal of a subway map is sufficient enough to get a grasp of how mass transit runs throughout the five boroughs of New York City, especially for the lucky commuters who only travel from top to bottom in Manhattan. However, if you ever get the urge or the need to travel to the outer boroughs, it doesn’t matter how adroit you are at reading a map; riding the #5 train line will test your transit map IQ and probably your patience as well.
HARD, COLD FACTS TO DIGEST NOW: there are two #5 train routes. Shocked? Well, get over it. Both trains travel through Brooklyn, Manhattan and the Bronx. Both trains run on the east side of Manhattan. Northbound trains are called Eastchester-Dyre Avenue or Nereid Avenue, the last stop in the Bronx on each line. Southbound trains are called Crown Heights-Flatbush or Eastern Parkway Express. During midday hours, both #5 trains terminate at the Bowling Green stop in lower Manhattan when traveling from uptown. Only during rush hour do both trains travel their complete routes from Brooklyn to the Bronx and vice versa, just in time for the sardine commute. Unfortunately, during late nights, the Eastchester-Dyre Avenue line runs between Dyre Avenue and E. 180th Street only. The Nereid Avenue line stops running.
IF ONLY YOU WERE RICH. YOU COULD AVOID ALL THIS CONFUSION BY TAKING A TAXI OR LIMOUSINE TO YOUR DESTINATION.
If you’re traveling from Brooklyn headed for any stops in Manhattan and you board the Eastchester-Dyre Avenue #5 or the Nereid Avenue #5, you’re fine, but let’s say you decide to travel further north. You’re standing on an uptown subway platform. The overhead sign says Bronx-bound 5 train to Dyre Avenue and 5 train to Nereid Avenue. Which train should you board?
Well, it depends on where you want to go and what time of day you want to travel. Most tourists want to check out the Bronx zoo. Luckily, a few options exist for this site-seeing venture. Take the Eastchester-Dyre Avenue #5 to the East Tremont Avenue/West Farms Square stop. You can also take the Nereid Avenue #5 train to the same stop for access to the zoo. From 9:00am to 4:00pm, unless otherwise noted by NYC Transit Authority, both trains make local stops in the Bronx. However, if you’re traveling during rush hour-- 4:00pm to 7:00pm-- the Nereid Avenue and the Eastchester-Dyre Avenue trains make express stops in the Bronx heading north, so it pays to AVOID riding uptown during this time to minimize chances of being squished into the train by Bronx-bound commuters heading home after a long day at work and missing your stop.
If you’re trying to get out of the Bronx, south-bound trains make local stops during rush hour. Weird, huh? **Please refer to a transit map for more details, especially quirky service changes during late night hours. **Yankees fans, take the #5 train to 149th Street-Grand Concourse and transfer to the #4 train to Yankee Stadium.
RETURNING TO YOUR STARTING POINT IN THE BRONX TO HEAD FURTHER NORTH
East 180th Street is where the perennial fork in the train track occurs. This is where the curious and the determined must decide which direction to take.
I advise you to pay close attention at this train station, as sensory overload occurs here on a daily basis, and it may affect how you get to where you’re going. An unseen announcer blares out directions and updates at this outdoor train station from some overhead office with loud speakers hanging over the platform. In fact, you can sometimes hear the announcer tapping the microphone first, to see if it works, before he makes his all important transit announcements. “The next uptown 5 train is five minutes away.....” or “the train on the middle track is going to Dyre Avenue.,” information that is of little consolation to passengers who have been waiting for half an hour already. Watch commuters who exit or board these trains with angry, annoyed expressions on their faces as the MTA tries to clean up messy rush hour delays which seems like an impossible task since three train routes converge at this stop.
The Eastchester-Dyre Avenue line, the Nereid Avenue line and the #2 to Wakefield. All three lines travel on the uptown and downtown tracks. It’s the middle track that may cause some confusion.
The Nereid Avenue bound #5 train runs to the north and west of East 180th Street along White Plains Road, a major roadway lined with businesses and shops. The last stop on this train line will put you near the Wakefield area of the Bronx. The #2 train which runs on the west side in Manhattan, runs on the same line in the Bronx as the Nereid Avenue train but goes one stop further to Wakefield. Weird!
The Eastchester-Dyre Avenue #5 train travels to the north and east of East 180th Street. Often, this train arrives on the middle track. Usually, the announcer will state if it’s a shuttle train traveling back and forth from Dyre Avenue to East 180th Street or if it’s traveling on the complete route. If a train arrives on the middle track heading uptown, you must pay close attention. Read the train’s electronic signs to see if its going to Eastchester-Dyre Avenue or Nereid Avenue. As an extra precaution, wait for the overhead announcer AND the train conductor to confirm its true destination because there have been times when the overhead guy says one thing but the train goes in a different direction or no announcements were made and passengers who didn’t want to go the Eastchester-Dyre Avenue route found themselves riding back to E. 180th Street vexed as ever!
The Dyre Avenue line is off to itself in sort of an isolated area without convenient cross transportation options available, therefore it is imperative that if you do not want to access this area but you find yourself getting off at one of the stops anyway, be prepared to do additional walking as you attempt to find an alternate route. However, if you do find yourself on the Eastchester-Dyre Avenue line and you get off at any stop after E. 180th Street, believe it or not, there are a plethora of businesses around to occupy your time, but be prepared to walk, take buses and cabs to get around, as this is more of a residential area where people rely on cars.
Food, clothing and shelter is available at Co Op City and Bay Plaza where shopping for a home and all the objects to put in each room are concentrated in this area. Some of the major department stores are located here, and at least four train stops on this line give you access to Baychester, Co Op City and Eastchester neighborhoods:
1) Pelham Parkway--#12 bus takes you directly to the Bay Plaza shopping district
2) Gun Hill Road--#28 bus takes you to Co Op City and Bay Plaza
3) Baychester Avenue--close proximity to Co Op City
4) Eastchester-Dyre Avenue--close proximity to Co Op City
**Please refer to transit map for additional travel options at each stop.
DON’T GET STUCK WITHOUT COMFORTABLE SHOES!
Get off at any stop after East 180th Street on the Nereid Avenue line and you will not be hard pressed to find amenities within a reasonable walking distance from the train station which is not the case with the Eastchester-Dyre Avenue line, but even if you don’t want to walk but you’re desirous to peruse shops along White Plains Road, a bus line travels this route, thus affording you the views without the hassle for a mere free train to bus transfer.
Should you smile, thinking of the aforementioned positives for riding the #5 Eastchester-Dyre Avenue line? This is a complex train line with two faces. You must get to know it well before you can render an honest opinion.
If you work in upper Manhattan, i. e., above 96th Street, and you ride the #5 Dyre Avenue line, as New Yorkers call it, you literally can get to your workplace in under 45 minutes coming from the Bronx and sometimes within 30 minutes. Train service is excellent during rush hour, as this line has only four stops from the beginning of the line before it runs express from East 180th Street to Third Avenue, skipping several stops. Barring service delays, sick passengers or other unforeseen obstacles, the train flies through the Bronx, although it gets packed to the gills with some mean looking commuters at the Gun Hill Road stop, and it stays that way until it reaches lower Manhattan, so forget about being comfortable but don’t forget to wear comfortable shoes, bring your iPod and something to read. Riders coming from Brooklyn enjoy the luxury of express service in Manhattan.
On the weekends, the ugly truth comes out. The Eastchester-Dyre Avenue line evaporates, replaced by an ugly monster with no discernable train schedule. For several weekends in a row, from month to month this line shuts down, replaced by shuttle train service or bus service that runs from Eastchester-Dyre Avenue to East 180th Street presumably to allow for track work and train maintenance to occur, according to advisories posted in the train stations. Sometimes uptown and downtown trains travel on the same track, running every 30 minutes. When this occurs, it looks as if only one train operates back and forth between Eastchester-Dyre Avenue and East 180th Street, all day. Furthermore, it’s a major inconvenience when the shuttle train arrives on the wrong track at East 180th Street, forcing riders to traverse downstairs, under the platform and back upstairs to board a train heading in their desired direction.
There’s no escaping this looping nonsense, as passenger must wait on the platform at East 180th Street for the down town #2 train which makes local stops to 149th Street-Grand Concourse where riders can pick up the #4 train running down the east side of Manhattan. Be prepared for overcrowding, noise, and excessive walking up and down stairs as you make the transition from one train line to the other jostling along with irate, worn out passengers carrying humongous shopping bags or pushing baby strollers or handling both. You will definitely want to keep money on your person in case you get fed up and decide to skip this cattle roundup and take a taxi to your destination. **Special note to passengers in the Bronx trying to get to Brooklyn on the #5 line on weekends: forget about it! Take the #2 train instead.
The Nereid Avenue line disappears on the weekends. Passengers coming from the neighborhoods serviced by this train must utilize the #2 train which makes the exact same stops as the #5 in the Bronx once it passes East 180th Street but it travels down the west side upon reaching Manhattan. The bottom line: weekend train travel in the Bronx sucks.
GETTING RIPPED OFF!
Go to work during the week and stay home on the weekend or drive your own car! Is this a viable option?
It’s a pity that most New Yorkers who ride the #5 trains use weekly or monthly metro cards thereby paying NYC transit in advance at a full time service rate when they’re actually getting part time service. It’s something to think about the next time you buy a metro card.
C. D. Jackson has been living in the Baychester area of the Bronx for 16 years, getting on at the Gun Hill Road stop on the Eastchester-Dyre Avenue line.
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