by the RPA Staff
As revived C and A trains chug their way through ancient tunnels to serve millions of folk from the tip of Manhattan down and across Brooklyn, New York City Transit should be commended for its stellar job in getting both trains up and running at nearly full capacity.
The furies descended last weekend on the transit agency and in particular its president Mr. Larry Reuter, who initially suggested it would take three to five years to restore service after a fire burned out an operations room vital to the C line, which in turn affected the A line. The fire destroyed equipment dating back to the 1930s, which would have to be specially manufactured to be replaced. Kind of like blowing out some tubes on an old radio.
Those parts will still have to be replaced, but the MTA has figured out a way to get the trains running almost at full capacity without them. This is something it's used to, after all. They are running a railroad that is over a century old without enough money to modernize and maintain it on a regular basis.
The track fire last weekend underscores the need to give the MTA the money it needs to fully fund its five-year capital plan so this kind of thing doesn't lead to disaster in the future. The cold truth is that such an accident could leave a lot more than stranded passengers in its wake. Much of the 1930s infrastructure so badly in need of replacement is lighting, ventilation and pumping systems - systems vital but vulnerable in the event of a fire or flood where evacuations would be necessary.
Even just sticking to practicalities, can you imagine how the city would function - or not - if some accident takes out the Lexington Avenue line, the only subway on the East Side, which carries 1.4 million people a day? The fire underscores the need not only for modernizing the existing system, but for projects such as the 2nd Avenue subway line that would add capacity and redundancy.
When the trains stop, it's natural for angry straphangers to swear at the people who run the trains, New York City Transit and its boss, The Metropolitan Transportation Authority. But the next time the trains stop, here's hoping that the tired commuter, the tourist, the university student, will direct their anger not at the MTA staff, who are by and large doing their best with the resources they have, but at the politicians at the city and state level who have failed to make the hard choices necessary to give the MTA the money it needs to run a railroad well.
As revived C and A trains chug their way through ancient tunnels to serve millions of folk from the tip of Manhattan down and across Brooklyn, New York City Transit should be commended for its stellar job in getting both trains up and running at nearly full capacity.
The furies descended last weekend on the transit agency and in particular its president Mr. Larry Reuter, who initially suggested it would take three to five years to restore service after a fire burned out an operations room vital to the C line, which in turn affected the A line. The fire destroyed equipment dating back to the 1930s, which would have to be specially manufactured to be replaced. Kind of like blowing out some tubes on an old radio.
Those parts will still have to be replaced, but the MTA has figured out a way to get the trains running almost at full capacity without them. This is something it's used to, after all. They are running a railroad that is over a century old without enough money to modernize and maintain it on a regular basis.
The track fire last weekend underscores the need to give the MTA the money it needs to fully fund its five-year capital plan so this kind of thing doesn't lead to disaster in the future. The cold truth is that such an accident could leave a lot more than stranded passengers in its wake. Much of the 1930s infrastructure so badly in need of replacement is lighting, ventilation and pumping systems - systems vital but vulnerable in the event of a fire or flood where evacuations would be necessary.
Even just sticking to practicalities, can you imagine how the city would function - or not - if some accident takes out the Lexington Avenue line, the only subway on the East Side, which carries 1.4 million people a day? The fire underscores the need not only for modernizing the existing system, but for projects such as the 2nd Avenue subway line that would add capacity and redundancy.
When the trains stop, it's natural for angry straphangers to swear at the people who run the trains, New York City Transit and its boss, The Metropolitan Transportation Authority. But the next time the trains stop, here's hoping that the tired commuter, the tourist, the university student, will direct their anger not at the MTA staff, who are by and large doing their best with the resources they have, but at the politicians at the city and state level who have failed to make the hard choices necessary to give the MTA the money it needs to run a railroad well.
@RegionalPlan