The drama that is Metro-North continues - we still got it good with GO

Background info here.

Picture from cheezburger.com via ‏@ashm_smith on Twitter

Sweater cat rides the subway

Via tracylouwho

This cat is apparently legend on the TTC. Here he is on a train seat last summer.

They do... but...

The problem with the accessibility car is that it can be hard to tell who is being a jerk and who isn't

Found on the subway in Toronto - defaced advertisement points out the obvious

via SmartCanucks on Facebook

Pile of justice? WARNING - picture is gross

I've scaled down the photo so you can stop whatever you may be eating before you click on it.

As for what happened in this photo - it's one thing to say it should be done, it's another thing to actually do it.

Metrolinx tells Toronto Star Presto account problems have been resolved

All but three of the first 29 reader complaints that we sent along to the transit authority have been fixed, Metrolinx says.

The Toronto Star

When it comes to fixing complaints from Presto fare card customers passed along to it by the media, Metrolinx is the champ.

But if it was as diligent about resolving them sooner, the dozens of problems with Presto cards, accounts and customer service that readers told us about would never have come our way.

KEEP READING AFTER THE JUMP

My own problem with PRESTO and being charged an extra penny in fare has also been resolved. I will outline what happened in a new chapter of a Presto Chronicle later in the week. I am satisfied with the answer and very impressed with how GO Transit, after the first initial contact from PRESTO, handled the issue. 

Something borrowed... but it looks like the novelty wore off 8 months ago

Most of the photos on This Crazy Train are user-submitted and some have been tricky to verify as I am sure some of the photos sent to me could have been "lifted" from elsewhere, but when it's your own photo that you took that shows up on another site, with no credit? Not cool. At least mention where you got it from.

My photo/story | The same photo on http://movethefuckoversis.tumblr.com/ (second photo from the top)

Plus a whole bunch of other photos that were taken from thiscrazytrain.com. The Internet is public, yes, but I try to give credit whenever I can and other bloggers should do the same.

The tip-off:

from:		Andy
to:		cj@thiscrazytrain.com
date:		Sat, Feb 22, 2014 at 1:18 PM
subject:		CJ - are you on Tumblr?

Is this another site of yours? http://movethefuckoversis.tumblr.com/ 
Lots of pics on it that are also on your site.
I found this: http://movethefuckoversis.tumblr.com/post/51727092960/boorish and on your site it's this picture: http://www.thiscrazytrain.com/2011/12/its-been-some-time.html
A

Lemme know...

If y'all want me to share some hate email with you or if it's best to just leave it to languish in my in-box?

It's bad enough to be subjected to the trolls when I allow the occasional comment through but some of the emails are so over the top, you have to wonder what these people would do in a real crisis, let alone having to handle the fact that my website exists.

Remember in the mid-90s when people would leave the table in a restaurant to take a cellphone call?

It must be hard to be tall...

... and apparently blind, too, because according to LP, he wouldn't move his legs as people came down the stairs.

I wonder if she's pondering how she'll clean that seat when she's done

Oh those poor Americans - so much drama - reduced train service due to weather akin to "fall of Saigon"

Apparently riding the Metro-North from suburbs as far away as Connecticut to downtown Manhattan is so bad, hitching a ride with a serial killer to work is a better alternative, according to middle class passengers who complained to Newsweek about the deplorable commute. Bad weather often results in a 60% reduction in service and some trains are repaired using only duct tape.

And you thought we had it bad! GO Transit is the high-end limousine of commuter trains it seems.

According to its customers, Metro-North is a nightmare of bad service, outdated equipment and derelict coaches.

After reading the article, I feel a tiny bit bad for the times I felt sore at GO Transit for losing heat temporarily in a coach, only to find it fixed the next day.

For those who commute into Manhattan from tony Greenwich, many expressed their service is best suited to a third world country.

Full story here after the jump

The GO Bus IS NOT YOUR DAMN BED

I would run into those legs so hard.

Redecorating

Yeah, I gave the site some new skin. Some of you like it and some of you hate it.

I LOVE IT.

The theme is inspired by this post from our good friend Adam who lost his laptop one night on the train. He contacted me hoping I could help.

For those who want to reminisce over the This Crazy Train brand, you can visit the logogram gallery. Grab a box of Kleenex before you click here.

This one will always be my favourite.

Cute, but so many points lost due to footriding, especially that left foot

Photo via awkwardtransit

Because it really is about comfort, right?

Even in a GO station parking garage them donkeys still can't fit between them pesky lines

- Lovingly submitted by LP

Now hang on, yes, it is highly plausible that a Grave Digger-like monster truck was parked next to this person originally, which forced this driver to park as far over as he did, but I'm feeling pretty skeptical.

No title needed (and I absolutely remember)

from:		Van
to:		"cj@thiscrazytrain.com"
date:		Thu, Feb 20, 2014 at 11:33 AM
subject:		Hello

Hi CJ
You probably don't remember me but I remember you. 2 summers ago I was on a train heading to Oshawa sitting opposite you on the aisle. I was crying and not doing a very good job at hiding it. I had just learned that afternoon that my dad's cancer had come back and the outlook was really bad. You got up from your seat and crouched down to talk quietly beside me. I remember you had this orange bag and you pulled out some kleenex which I really appreciated because I knew I was a mess. I couldn't bring myself to tell you what was wrong but I really appreciated it when you said that you hoped that whatever is, I would get through it. Then the guy next to me put his feet on the seat when some people got off at Whitby and you cut him so much side eye I couldn't help but laugh. I remember you told me you had a website where you wrote about people like him. I read about you today in 24 Hours. In your picture on your site, you looked very familiar even though you have lost some weight since then (Congratulations by the way) that I was sure it was you. I don't ride the Lakeshore train any more now that my mother and I have moved to Markham but I still commute by GO. I'm sorry to tell you that my dad has passed on but I wanted to just write you and tell you that I have never forgotten your act of kindness and your compassion. 
Thanks
Vanessa

PS. Please put this on your website. The Toronto Sun comments were appalling. You are a good person.

I totally did this

Tonight.
Get off the train. Texting. Texting. Texting. Tweeting. Tweeting.
Get on bus.
Bus pulls out of station.

I DROVE TO THE STATION THIS MORNING.

The first stop off the bus out of Oshawa GO is not until we are well past the highway - a good kilometre or two from the GO Station. We were way past any place safe for the driver to drop me off so I didn't bother asking or begging. I just sat back and sucked it up.

I was on total autopilot. I had the car because my husband is away and I am on babysitter pick-up and drop-off duty. I just sat there on the bus totally pissed at my own stupidity.

It was a wet, snowy, windy walk back to the GO Station. I kept hoping that someone would recognize me and pull over, like a train buddy, or a friend, or a neighbour, and give me a lift back. Nope. Didn't happen.

I was over 45 minutes late to fetch my daughter.

My babysitter fed her dinner. I am blessed I tell you.