express?

Is the "A" really express?? I came down the steps to the platform just to see the last car of an A train pull out of the station. I got on the "C" which is always parked across the platform and 3 minutes later we actually started moving. We stopped at 163rd (a really useless stop, considering the next one is 168!), and then on to 155th, and on to 145. To my surprise, about 10 seconds AFTER we pulled in to 145th, the "A" rolles up across the platform. So, to sum up, the A is really really freaking slow. I switched trains anyways, and we ended up passing the C by 86th street. Which means the C was faster than us from 145th to 86th streets. So the A was technicaly 5 minutes faster. Big Whoop! So annoying!