Second Ave. Sagas

Video of the Day: Time Lapse — Corona Subway Yard

Written by

Benjamin Kabak

in

As 7 ridres and Mets fans, the Corona Subway Yard in Queens looms large near Flushing. Originally opened in 1928, the yard is the home of the subway’s fleet of cars that service the 7 line. Each morning between 5 a.m. and 8 a.m., 27 trains leave Corona Yard to provide rush-hour subway service for the line’s 450,000 daily customers. The 27 join five already in service so that Transit can provide 32 trains during the peak hours.

The MTA posted the above video to its YouTube channel earlier this week, and since I’m a sucker for a good time-lapse video, I’m sharing it here. I love the way the city comes alive as the sun rises and the 7 trains set out for the day. The idle subways await the crush of passengers who need to get from Queens to Manhattan and back, and the train operators and conductors bring the sleeping train sets to life.

Comments

4 responses to “Video of the Day: Time Lapse — Corona Subway Yard”

  1. Steve

    Cool. At 450,000 riders/weekday, the 7 carries nearly twice as many people as Atlanta’s entire metro rail system.

    Reply
    1. Alon Levy

      Sure. It also carries nearly half as many people as Tokyo Station. What’s your point?

      Reply
  2. Scott E

    I always found it odd that the 7 has a full-width motorman’s cab on the Manhattan-bound side, but only the small “corner” cab on the Queens-bound side. (Being that they are 11 car sets, and the conductor can’t sit exactly in the middle, I assume it never turns around). Any idea why?

    Reply
    1. Andrew

      Most cars on the IRT are linked into 5-car sets. That’s fine for most of the IRT lines, but obviously not for the 7, so, when most of the R-62A’s were linked in the 90’s (they were originally built as singles), some were left as singles. (Actually, the singles were originally used on the 3, which at the time ran 9-car trains, but now they come in handy on the 7.)

      When the cars were linked, the cabs at each end were widened.

      Each 7 train is made up of one 5-car set (on the Manhattan end) and 6 single cars (on the Flushing end).

      Reply

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