Home MTA Absurdity On Memorial weekend eve, Roberts calls for longer, faster trains

On Memorial weekend eve, Roberts calls for longer, faster trains

by Benjamin Kabak

So the word in The Post today is that New York City Transit head Howard Roberts wants longer trains to run faster to ease the overcrowding now seen on the subways. This sounds like a horrible idea.

Faster, longer subway trains may be needed to handle the anticipated crush at the turnstiles as the city’s population grows by 1 million over the next two decades, [Roberts] told The Post.

Platforms could be lengthened to allow for a shift from 10-car trains to 12-car trains – a 20 percent increase in capacity, he said.

Roberts claims that building longer platforms would be cheaper than building new tunnels. Stunningly, what Roberts proposes would involve renovating all 468 stations. This idea doesn’t account for stations such as the West Side IRT stop at 72nd St. where it would be impossible to extend the platform.

This may be the dumbest idea I’ve ever heard relating to the subway. I hope this isn’t indicative of things to come under Roberts, and if you think weekend service delays are bad now, imagine if the MTA had to redo every single station.

SUBWAYblogger notes that the MTA should just update its 1930s technology. I couldn’t agree more. He also has your weekend service updates. And remember, trains run on Sunday schedules on Monday due to Memorial Day.

Have a great three-day weekend. I’ll see you back here on Tuesday.

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5 comments

Yonni May 28, 2007 - 1:20 pm

But… the MTA could easily upgrade just one of the lines — for instance, if L ridership continues to exceed capacity, even when more trains are in service, platforms could be extended on the line’s 24 stations alone. Roberts never said that he wanted to expand platforms on all of the lines. L trains are not shared with other lines, so running trains with more cars wouldn’t interfere with service elsewhere.

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Todd May 28, 2007 - 4:40 pm

Wait, he wants to extend the platforms how? Doesn’t that seem like a massive project? Why not fix the system so there’s no “train traffic ahead of us” or “switch malfunctions” or anything like that.

Honestly, I think the MTA is run by monkeys.

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Post to MTA: Do something soon « Second Ave. Sagas | Blogging the NYC Subways May 29, 2007 - 1:16 am

[…] Contact Me « On Memorial weekend eve, Roberts calls for longer, faster trains […]

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MTA should address future problems today « Second Ave. Sagas | Blogging the NYC Subways May 29, 2007 - 1:17 am

[…] use longer (and faster) trains to carry more people throughout the city it a quicker fashion. While two commenters on SAS and I both agreed that Roberts’ proposal sounds ludicrous, his main point is on the money. […]

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Marc Shepherd May 29, 2007 - 12:49 pm

Yonni is right that not all 468 stations would have their platforms extended. But I nevertheless agree with the main post that this would be an insanely expensive and disruptive undertaking. There are better uses for the money, such as moderninzing the signal plant, which would allow more trains to run over the infrastructure we already have.

Also, some lines don’t currently run at capacity. The Culver Line is the obvious example, with the express tracks currently unused.

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