IRT Locals get the same grade as every other train

We’re coming down the home stretch of the Rider Report Cards. With just three trains and the Staten Island Railroad left, let’s jump right now.

Today, we find ourselves visiting the 1 and the 6, the IRT Local trains. The 6 pulled down a C; the 1 fared worse with a C-minus. I’m familiar with both trains; the 1 was my ride up to high school for a few years. I probably would have given each a C-plus.

The 1 train runs from South Ferry — where the MTA is constructing a snazzy new terminal — north up 7th Ave. and Broadway where it stops literally everywhere. Why the train has to make six stops from (and counting) Chambers St. to 14th St. and then five stops from (and counting) 14th St. and 34th St. is beyond me. The 1 then shoots up the West Side through Harlem and and Washington Heights before ending at 242nd St.-Van Cortlandt Park. Once upon a time, it ran a skip-stop express service along with the now-defunct 9 train in northern Manhattan and the Bronx.

The 6 runs from Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall (and around the City Hall loop) local up Lexington Ave. and then through the Bronx to Pelham Bay Park. It’s the local service to the 4 and 5 express. Some rush hour trains run express in the Bronx.

The riders, as you would expect, expressed their litany of familiar complaints. Here are the top ten lists:

1. Reasonable wait times for trains
2. Adequate room on board at rush hour
3. Minimal delays during trips
4. Station announcements that are easy to hear
5. Train announcements that are easy to hear
6. Cleanliness of stations
7. Station announcements that are informative
8. Sense of security on trains
9. Sense of security in stations
10. Working elevators and escalators in stations

1. Adequate room on board at rush hour
2. Reasonable wait times for trains
3. Minimal delays during trips
4. Station announcements that are easy to hear
5. Cleanliness of stations
6. Sense of security on trains
7. Sense of security in stations
8. Station announcements that are informative
9. Train announcements that are easy to hear
10. Working elevators and escalators in stations

The full grades are after the jump.