Longest headline ever, or what?

The new Mileposts is out, which Trainjotting readers know tickles TJ to no end. Among this month’s factoids and findings: The winner in February’s on-time performance race was, for once, not the darling Hudson Line. Indeed, the Harlem Line was best in class, posting a 99.2% on-time* performance (*”on-time” of course means within 6 minutes of being on-time according to the MTA’s stringent standards). That was a tenth better than the Hudson.

New Haven, true to character, pulled up the rear with a 98.1%.

Speaking of the New Haven Line, all its riders are eagerly awaiting the arrival of those flashy new cars (and, more important, the demise of those crappy old cars) in 2009. But lest one think that means you’ll be zipping along to Rye in a hot new M8 within a year, you’re in for a longer wait. Mileposts says all of eight cars will be on the line in the last half of 2009, with 10 more joining the fleet each month until the whole of the New Haven Line has new trains by…get this…mid 2012. So get used to the blue ooze of cleaning fluid and urine spilling out of the bathroom, and all inherent odors.

On the bright side, the M8s will feature higher ceilings, auto-flush toilets, individual headrests and looped armrests that promise not to tear your trousers.