Gomprecht vs. MTA: The battle continues

Three more e-mails, in probable order (correction of order is welcome), with commentary (by me) following:

Several parents have asked for an e-mail address for Metro North.

The following web site for Metro North allows you to send an e-mail message. Click on FAQ'a/Contact Us on the left side of the page. Then click on the e-mail tab. Complete the fields to send a message


http://www.mta.info/mnr/index.html

The following is an excerpt from one of our parents. I found it of interest and it contains an address to which you might write.

"The customer relations employee told me he had not had a chance to drink
his coffee due to the number of phone calls he received from the Fordham
Prep parents and friends! He was very receptive and seemed quite sure
that schedules would be adjusted very soon. He suggested I follow up
with a letter to: Metro North Customer Relations 420 Lexington Avenue,
9th Floor NY NY 10017."


Metro North apparently has been inundated by calls and messages from Prep parents. Metro North intimates that they are willing to make adjustments but so far no changes have been made. If I find out additional information, I will pass it along.

Thanks for all your help and suggestions.

Bob Gomprecht

Isn't the e-mail address obvious. It's right there on the home page, like he said.
ANyway, they don't need adjustments to the schedule. They just need trains to be on time!
Myabe #324 should do for #624 what #516 does for #616. ("I took the early train, but I still came in late." -SDK, on thursday morning, when we heard announcement at NWP that #616 is late.)

Below are two reponses which were sent to some of our parents.

After the Second Response, I've included what may be good news which we received from Metro North a few minutes ago.


RESPONSE ONE

"Thank you for your e-mail regarding the Harlem Line schedule changes that took effect on October 31, 2004. Please accept our apologies for any difficulty or inconvenience.

While I regret that you have gotten a negative impression, providing the best service possible to customers at all stations is very important to Metro-North. We make a concerted effort to offer a proper balance of local and express service to and from each fare zone and to ensure that we are deploying available equipment in the most effective manner
possible. While all schedules are by nature a compromise, we try to make those changes that will benefit the greatest number of customers possible.

Metro-North recently completed the installation of a third track between Mount Vernon East and Crestwood. While this is a significant improvement for all Harlem Line customers, it has required us to adjust
our schedules up and down the entire line. Any schedule change may have an adverse affect on some customers and a positive affect on others. We make every effort to do this in a way that is as equitable as possible to the various communities and markets we serve. However, no schedule change is cast in stone, and we closely monitor the service impact after
the implementation of any timetable change, especially in regard to seating availability and connections.

We have received a number of letters and calls from parents of Fordham Prep students regarding the same issues that you have. Our Operations Planning Department is looking to make any adjustments as quickly as possible and I have shared your e-mail with them.

Again, we very much regret any difficulty, and appreciate that you took the time to write.

Sincerely,
George Okvat"


RESPONSE TWO

"Thank you for your e-mail regarding the new timetable that went into effect on October 31, 2004. Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience that
your son and our other Harlem Line customers have experienced this week.

Every schedule must be a compromise that takes optimal advantage of the equipment and track capacity available to us, while serving the needs of as
many customers as possible. Any adjustment can have a domino effect on other trains, and require that they leave a bit earlier or later or make different
stops. The change has been compounded this week by an unexpected equipment shortage, which we are working to correct as quickly as possible, and by a slippery rail condition which requires us to reduce all track speeds. This is caused by fallen leaves and damp conditions in the autumn. This morning, the extremely high winds knocked down several trees, which fell across the tracks and caused further delays.

We are well aware of the problem the students and other customers making connections are experiencing, and are working to find a solution. Your e-mail has been forwarded to our Operations Planning and Operations Services Departments for review.

Again, we very much regret any difficulty, and appreciate your taking the time to write.

Sincerely,"

Metro North called the Prep to tell us the train which goes through Chappaqua will stop at Mt Vernon West in time for students to catch an 8:00 am train which will stop at Botanical Gardens and Fordham. The students will no longer need to transfer at White Plains.

I'm not sure if this resolves all the issues but hopefull it makes the commute more reasonable for a large group.

Bob Gomprecht

ok. I'm not quite sure what the call was supposed to mean. That train (#624) was always supposed to be able to catch the 8:00 AM train at MVW (#324). It's just late! If the trains were all on time, we would have NO problems. So them saying it will make it doesn't mean it will, because it hasn't yet.
I'm impressed that the MTA resonded with actual people writing e-mails, and not just form letters.
One major diss is that they basically said, "The new schedule helps most people. We really don't care if a few students are screwed over by it. They pay discount prices anyway."
The domino effect is certainly true.
About the equipment shortage: I think this might be another BRI (mayor micheal Bloomberg-Related Incident). Or even if it's not him, I think they mean we aren't getting M7's as fast as we had hoped, so there aren't enough cars for the new schedule. Therefore, we have to cut cars. One interesting thing is that there were still ACMU's in NWP last time I checked. Maybe they are still sitting there, decommisioned, just waiting for a loco to bring to scrapper.

The following is a more detailed explanation from one of our parents of the issue with some suggestions:

All of the boys north of White Plains are affected by this. According to the new schedule train #622 connects with #624 at White Plains, #624 is scheduled to arrive at Mount Vernon West at 7:57AM, and train #324 is scheduled to leave Mount Vernon West @ 8:00AM for the local run through the Bronx. All well and good if #624 gets to Mount Vernon West on time; unfortunately it has yet to do so.

I called Metro North this morning to complain about this, and was told that the problem is that #624 makes more stops than it used to and is therefore more crowded, resulting in more "loading time" at each station. I was on #624 this morning, and it was ridiculously crowded. The customer service rep suggested that the boys take an earlier train, which is ludicrous--in Jonathan's case he would have to catch a train at 6:41, which is about 15 minutes earlier than the train he used to take before the schedule change.

It seems that the solution to this is twofold, which is for Metro North to: (1) put enough cars on train #624 to alleviate the overcrowding and reduce the loading time at each station; and (2) make sure that #324 doesn't leave Mount Vernon West until #624 arrives.

I've already followed up my call with an e-mail to the MTA, and will continue to make a nuisance of myself in an attempt to get Metro North to remedy the situation, but I believe that they will only do so if many, many more weigh in on this.

Please feel free to share this with anyone else in the Prep community if you think it will help to motivate them.

OK- well this has some logic in it. Finally, someone has said what I have been saying all along. 6:41-that's it!?!? - I wish I could get on a bus that late! What a bunch of wimps. Although this year I discovered that I could make the old 7:40 out of WP by taking the 2nd Bee Line #77, but with the trains being late I can't anymore. (I was hoping that since the train is scheduled 6 minutes later at WP, I could be guaranteed to make the connection (Before, it was a bit shaky, it was about 75% chance of making it. The bus was usually late.) So now I'm stuck on the 6:09. I would hardly call 6:41 "ludicrous."
Then comes the idea of having #324 wait for #624, as #516 waits for #616 ("I took the early train, but I still came in late." -SDK 2004). The problem here is that from what I've heard, 624 isn't just a little late, it is so late that it hits WP at just before 8:00. If 324 waits for it, it will still possibly be late, and all customers at MVW and points south are screwed over.
This "nuisance" and "motivation" stuff is BS.