Yo, Metro-North–what was with the 20-minute ride from 125th to Grand Central this morning?

You pulled out of 125th at 8:53, like you normally do. You sat at Blackberry Hill for about four minutes, waiting at the mouth of the tunnel like a child afraid to enter a haunted house.

Then you positively crawled your way through the tunnel before resting at track 23. All told, a 20-minute ride that covered about 80 blocks–pulling in at 9:13 instead of your scheduled 9:04.

That’s even late by your lax standards.  

The results are in for the October Metro-North train challenge, which saw us keep track of every ride into and out of the city we took for the whole month, and chart how often the train was on time. Of course, our definition of on time is within 59 seconds of when it was supposed to arrive, not the 5 minutes, 59 seconds Metro-North uses to come up with to come up with its 99%-plus on time figures, which are about as credible as MLB home run totals in the late ’90s.

We’re happy to report the Harlem Line had a very, very good month. Metro-North was, in fact, on time more than it wasn’t–18 early or on time arrivals, compared to 17 late arrivals (1 minute or more). That’s a 51% rate, folks–a big leap from the 41% it scored in July. Bravo.

With November upon us, we’ll see how well Metro-North’s Waterworld project, geared towards combating the evil slippery rail phenomenon, fares.

The results of the inaugural “Trainjotting Puts Metro-North to the Test” study are in: the Harlem line was on time 41% of the time in July.

How it worked: We kept track of every ride we had in July, giving Metro-North a 59 second cushion before it was deemed “late.” (In fact, the British term “trainspotting” actually refers to keeping track of train times, not shooting dope and enjoying the fruits of Scottish socialism with friends Sick Boy, Spud and of course Franco.)

Out of 32 rides on the Harlem Line, the train came in early or within 59 seconds of its scheduled arrival time 13 times, or 41%. It was a minute or more late 19 times, or 59%.

The numbers are not as bad as I figured, though a far cry from the 99%-plus on-time figures Metro-North gives itself, thanks to its generous six-minute “on time” cushion.

We suspect our findings actually flatter Metro-North, as July is a big vacation month, with fewer riders. We may try it again in September.

Today is the first commuting day of July, which means:

1. You need a new monthly pass, and

2. It’s the first day of the Great Metro-North On-Time Challenge, where Trainjotting puts Metro-North to the test to see how often it’s on time (unlike Metro-North’s self-test, which allows a five minute, 59 second cushion–thus enabling those 99% “on-time” rates–we’re giving Metro-North 59 seconds).

And, wouldn’t you know it, Metro-North rubs it in our face by pulling in to Grand Central a full two minutes before it was due in this morning. (Granted, it was the slacker-friendly 9:16, when tunnel traffic is light, but still.)

It’s a heck of a start for Metro-North.