Three mornings this week, 36th St southbound has shown an R train at '2 min' for so long I literally watched four express trains pass on the middle track before one R finally crept in with a huge gap behind it. This isn't the usual R train is late thing. The clock will hold at 2, then flip to 8, then back to 2 with no train in sight. I've been on the Bay Ridge R shuffle long enough to know when something's off. Is this a signal issue or is someone at 36th just trying to gaslight us?

Okay so I just moved off the D line and started taking the R from 36th, and I thought I was reading the signs wrong! I kept waiting because the clock said 2 min and then it would change to 7, but no train. I kept asking the guy next to me if maybe we were on the wrong platform. He said Manhattan-bound is the other side, but I was going to Sunset Park, so I think I was right? This is not normal right? I noticed the N trains just zoom by on the center track while we sit there.

This sounds exactly like the 'phantom arrival' problem at 36th! The countdown clocks are only as good as the data feed, and between 59th and 36th the interlocking gets gummed up when a train enters or leaves the express track. Have you tried checking the MTA app at street level instead of the platform clock? The app will sometimes show 'No R train for 20+ min' while the board is still stuck in the loop. The worst is when they hold an R at 59th because a D or N is crossing at the 36th interlocking! It creates this weird artificial gap where the train exists but isn't actually coming to the platform. Not saying it's okay, but you're not crazy!

Ferryfanatic, the app was doing the same thing both times I looked, so it feels like the whole feed for that station just repeats the last known state. I've started doing the walk to 59th when I see the southbound platform getting deep and the board is lying. By the time I get there, the same train I would have waited for usually rolls in half empty. It's ridiculous.

Wait, is this the same thing as a ghost bus? I just started taking the R from Bay Ridge Avenue and the screen always says 'R train 4 min' but then nothing for 10. I thought maybe the R just doesn't run that often in the morning. Do I need to transfer at 36th for Manhattan? I've been staying on because the map says it goes to 14th, but the N trains that skip my stop look way faster.

DykerNewbie, the R is local all the way through Brooklyn and into Manhattan, so you can stay on to 14th! The N is express on 4th Avenue between 59th and 36th in the morning (I think it stops at 36th but skips the local stops), so that's why it looks faster. If you want the N, you would take the R one stop north to 59th and transfer. But honestly at that hour the R sometimes makes up time because it skips nothing, while the N gets held at the 36th interlocking. It's maddening!

Ok so I tried your trick this morning, ferryfanatic! I got tired of the 36th platform and walked to 59th. That station was also a mess, but I got a seat on the N. The conductor announced it would run express after 36th? I don't remember exactly, but I got to Atlantic Ave way faster. I think I'm just going to build in the walk to 59th whenever the clock at 36th is doing that weird bounce. Thanks!