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With air travel riddled with delays and cancellations in recent months, many New Yorkers are turning to trains and buses to escape the city for Thanksgiving this year.

On Tuesday, Allan and Alexandra Gibson and their two sons were all smiles at Moynihan Train Hall as they waited to board an Amtrak train to Washington, D.C. They were thankful they didn’t have to endure airport security ahead of the year’s busiest weekend for domestic air travel.

“I like the food and spending time with my family,” their 10-year old son Grant said. He was carrying a heavy scooter and big backpack, items that likely would not have joined him on a flight.

Alexandra said she’d recently suffered through an air travel nightmare. “I went to Chicago last weekend and both of my flights were delayed, so I didn’t want to fly again,” she said.

Her fears were well-founded. Outdated radar infrastructure and an air traffic controller shortage caused rampant delays at New York City’s airports earlier this year. Things were worsened by the federal government shutdown, when the U.S. Department of Transportation ordered a temporary 10% reduction in flights at 40 major airports, including those serving New York.

Allan acknowledged it’s a bit faster to fly to Washington D.C., but said it wasn’t worth the trouble.

“It’s less hectic than the airports,” he said. “The trade-off just was there this year.”

The Port Authority estimates 3.3 million people will travel through JFK, LaGuardia, Newark and Stewart airports in the period that started Nov. 22 and ends Dec. 1, about a 1% increase from last year’s Thanksgiving weekend.

Amtrak officials were unable to provide data on the railroad’s anticipated ridership in and out of New York for the holiday. Railroad spokesperson Jason Abrams said 1.1 million people used the system nationally between Nov. 22 and Dec. 1 last year

“We expect more than that this year,” Abrams said, without providing an exact number. “This increased demand and popularity for train travel aligns with what we are seeing all year round.”

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy earlier this week said travelers “should fly with confidence” during the holidays, claiming that air traffic controller staffing levels are back to normal after the 43-day shutdown, which ended two weeks ago.

But many people leaving New York this week weren’t sold on Duffy’s promise.

“We’re not expecting the train to be delayed and wait in the train station overnight,” Atlanta resident Brenda Fisher, 75, said before boarding a train to Poughkeepsie. “So it was just a better choice.”

Amtrak riders are not immune from delays. Chronic equipment problems in the railroad’s Hudson River tunnels have repeatedly cut off rail service between New York and New Jersey in recent years. The railroad’s service is also less desirable for people looking to travel cross-country. The voyage can last several days by train.

Comedian Amy Janes, 49, opted to skip both trains and planes in order to visit her mother in Kansas City, Missouri for the holiday. She said she’s been unable to get a Real ID, which is now required to fly domestically.

That left Janes on a 32-hour Greyhound bus trip.

“To buy a ticket and not be able to get through kind of terrified me,” she said.

Her bus trip would be slightly faster and much cheaper than an Amtrak ride.

Curious Commuter

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Questions from Walter in the Bronx

Will the R62A subway cars on the 6 train be replaced?

Answer

Walter’s talking about the 1980s-era subway trains used on the 6 train. They’re among the oldest subway cars in the city. And yes, they’re due for replacement. As part of its latest five-year construction program, the MTA plans to spend about $11 billion on 1,500 new subway cars to replace aging ones on the 1, 3 and 6 lines. These lines will get the new R262 cars, a more modern subway car similar to the new trains running on the A, B, C and G lines.