The Long Island Rail Road's Enlightened Stance On Traffic Priority And Some Issues Arising From The Implementation Of It.

Well, once again my commute was made more bloody than strictly necessary by the Long Island Rail Road.

The whole network was running a little late last night because of a sudden monsoon that arrived at the same time as the opening of the rainy season. Volumes of water were belting various parts of Long Island all night, but (and this is crucial) not at the same time.

I had been delayed in departing work and so traveled to Penn Station to begin the business of getting home. As I've mentioned before, if I miss the 6:04 from Flatbush I have to change at Jamaica. This would work except that the trains I would be changing to start from Penn and are usually full from the get-go. Hence, it is usually a better proposition to go to Penn and get on the thing there, as far as getting a seat goes anyway.

The Late start meant that a light rain was falling over NYC when we started out, but we easily outpaced it. The rain made a determined effort to catch us and a light drizzle was falling on the train when to pulled up on the west side of route 110, just after Farmingdale and just before the single track section. Where we waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Waited for the westbound off-peak train to get through the chicane.

I am absolutely bloody sick to the back teeth of this f#$%ing nonsense. If westbound trains are going to get priority no matter where they are in the g-d network, why am I being charged an arm and a leg for peak fares on the eastbound leg of the journey? Where else in the world do off-peak trains get traffic priority over peak ones?

This enlightened procedure once again cause me to have the joy of arriving home late. Once again I was drenched because the weather caught us while we cooled our wheels for five minutes and watched the traffic go by on 110.

These idiots couldn't organise a piss-up in a brewery. They should all be flogged naked around the f#$%ing Hillside Facility (major capital investment boondoggle, incapable of achieving the design parameters that it was built on), then Harold Junction ( major capital investment boondoggle, incapable of achieving the design parameters that it was built on as demonstrated on the first day they opened it) and the West Side Loop (you can guess this bit).