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With subway ridership at a new high in decades and many more riders on the way if the city's forecasts are true, the MTA has been thinking of ways to increase subway capacity. And Howard Roberts, president of the NYC Transit Authority which operates the subways and buses, says that one solution could be to extend subway platform and add two more train cars to the existing ten.
Roberts told NY1's Bobby Cuza that trying to extend platforms might be cheaper than building more tunnels: "What we have to do is cost those things, and then compare that to what it's going to cost to drill through solid rock" - it costs $2 billion per mile to build a new tunnel! One more thing the NYCTA should look at - how long will it take to extend the platforms. That sort of sounds like more weekend and late night service shutdowns and diversions.
Another idea mentioned by Roberts is increasing the speed of the trains. The Post reports that "a 10- 20-mph increase is not out of the question." And while the NYCTA is looking at dealing with overcrowding on the L line by running more trains, the subway's signaling system (which the Post calls "outmoded") prohibits trains from running close together.
Photograph of a crowded train by H2dez59 on Flickr
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Wow, Roberts sounds pretty dumb here.
More speed - I assume more speed comes with computerization and modernization of the signal system. Also the ability to run more trains. Hurry up, already.
Expand platforms instead of new lines? WTF?
The picture isn't the 7 train.
It's either the 4/5/6 at Grand Central.
The picture isn't the 7 train.
It's either the 4/5/6 at Grand Central.
This. And your grammar is horrendous, Jen Chung. It's a shame this site is led by someone with the mental capacity of a 7-year-old.
Thanks for pointing that out, anonymous commenters!
how much longer can the trains get? do the platforms automatically accordion fold out as well? or will you have to walk up to the next car to exit? (walking between cars is illegal!)
i think this is a massive trap for strap hangers. ;P
wow, commentors # 2 & 3, you folks are sooooooo smart! especially #3 for repeating what #2 already said only to then diss jen... get a life, sheesh!
yes, the platform signage in the pic is pretty damn clear, d-uh!!
going back to my own life now.....bye.
Regardless of which train it is, most trains are crowded. Let's update the signal system already!
How feasible is it to increase the speed of trains? Is there really enough space between most stations for the increase in acceleration and braking times necessary for increased speeds? Also, there are already a lot of conductors that seem pretty reckless when driving the subway cars so that anyone standing already goes flying because the brakes are being applied late.
What impact longer train platforms, and thus having to spend more time going into and out of stations, have on travel times? All serious questions, I think, that we need answers to before putting any of these plans into action.
Going off of no doubt misleading impressions and anecdotes, trains seem to be getting slower. If the new guy could just find a way to reverse this, that would be great.
Otherwise, the idea makes sense. We also need shorter and faster buses.
Bring back the G!
I don't mean to seem ungrateful. I ride the subway all the time. Gets me there faster and cheaper, etc. But when I tune in to the planning and money rhetoric swirling around these ideas to "improve" the system, I can't help feeling that the MTA, at its roots, is just a vestige of old fashioned graft and curruption on a massive level. The whole system is a disgrace given the greatness of this city and what the MTA should represent and deliver for all the cash and funding it administers.
Stations were expanded in the past when longer trains were introduced, which is why there are so many abandoned ones on the 4/5/6.
If this is done, it must be only one component of a bigger plan. The first issue is the signal system. It's frustrating to see trains waiting to get into a station when a train left a minute ago. If the L ever gets the trains, and they finish the signal project, it will be a model for the city. (Only decades late...)
this is the dumbest thing I have ever heard. Extending the platform??? In all my years of subway riding I have only not been able to board a crowded train a handful of times. On the other hand, I HAVE had to wait 20-30 minutes for a B train like every other day of the week. No wonder the MTA is Broken, those in charge are morons
#10- You're right on the money. Except it's not just the MTA, it's government in general! I still don't understand why people want to increase the role of government (healthcare!?!), haven't you ever been to the post office!?!
Also, more stairways and escalators to get between sidewalk and platform faster.
And fresh air vented to underground platforms.
Chill it to 55 F and I wouldn't mind the crowd.
this talking point I keep hearing about with people saying that they have to "upgrade the signals" is complete bullshit.
You want to know why you sometimes have to wait so long for a train?? It's because for every train they don't run, they are getting out of two full days employee wages.
The trains run frequently SOME of the time, which would lead those with common snese to the conclusion, that they are able to run frequently enough when they feel like it.
The trains used to run a lot faster 20 years ago. They also derailed all the time. The idea now is that since the rails have been more or less brought up to speed, it could be safe to start making the trains faster again. However, expanding the platforms would be a ridiculously large undertaking. Expanding signal capacity and speeding trains up will both add to the capacity without massive construction.
*Yawns* The trains run plenty fast enough ! What are you people trying to do here ? Give them an excuse to cause even more accidents ! Remember the accident a couple of years ago with the Lexington Ave. Line around Fourteenth Street ? Do you all want a repeat of that chaos ?
I find it fascinating how officials start talking about increasing the speed of trains less than 30 days after two accidents occurred that killed their own track workers. I am all for planning for the future, but please allow the Boggs and Franklin families and friends at least 60 days to grieve before talking in the media about speeding up the trains.
Should SAFETY or increasing the train speeds be the 1st Priority? What is happening to do everything possible to protect the workers?
“Major collision on the Williamsburg Bridge. … Investigators conclude that the J train ran a red signal at high speed, and that the spacing of signals and poor performance of the trains brakes contributed to the crash.” nycsubway.org/faq/accidents, June 5, 1995
Were not the speeds reduced throughout the system after this accident in assure that if a train runs a red signal, a collision would be avoided? Is the system still running at these reduced speeds? Was the signal system upgraded to allow the system to increase the speeds back to the pre-June 1995 speeds?
Yes, lots of questions. Where are the answers?