T to Dyre Avenue

The MTA is not going to run different types of subway cars on the and lines because they need to have the flexibility to send a train back out of Flatbush as a train and vice versa. For decades the and have operated the same or compatible subway cars to allow and trains and crews to enter and leave Flatbush faster. They will not change that just to please a few loudmouth politicians in the East Bronx and/or Upper East Side whose giant egos will be hurt if the R62As return to the line. Perhaps if those clowns had been properly funding the MTA instead of cutting its funds, there could have been money to buy a whole new fleet of CBTC-compatible cars for the so that the could then keep its R142As.

Coexisting with the A on CPW is most likely what prevents the D from running 15 tph. As for the N, Q and R, running 15 tph apiece is excessive, especially if you 're going to run both the N and R local all the way through Manhattan and Brooklyn. Do the Broadway and 4th Ave Local stations really need 30 tph?

Does Astoria really need both the N and the W on weekends? Does Broadway really need three locals on weekends? If anything, shouldn't 2nd Ave get more service. Maybe send the N to 96th with the Q and eliminate the needless switching at 34th or Prince Streets.

Not really. can operate in two sections - Ditmars to Lexington/59th (or Queensboro Plaza) and Whitehall to Stillwell. can be cut back to Atlantic.

Maybe even back then, the TA wanted the and to have the same cars for flexibilityat Flatbush Avenue, so the got passed over for R62As, even after they were tested there.

Riders from "Chinatown, Brooklyn" can't transfer from the N to the 7 at Times Square like so many other riders do? Yes it's a huge station with a lot of stairs and passageways. But it's not like they have to go on a long odyssey to make that transfer. And plenty of N riders from Brooklyn already change for the 7 at Times Sq. If they do decide to put in switches north of 57th to allow Broadway Local trains access to 2nd Ave, then I'd be ok with sending the W up that way. It would be similar to the A/D and B/C merges at Columbus Circle.

That's why I suggest running all Broadway Express trains to 2nd Avenue and running all Broadway Local trains to the 60th St Tunnel. By running both the N and the Q to 2nd Ave, you eliminate the time-consuming switching that is currently done in two locations on the Broadway Line (Prince and 34th) and you can run more trains per hour per line. Just resurrect the W and have it serve the Astoria Line once 2nd Ave opens.

Except that the front LED route sign on the R142/143/160 (and most likely the R179s) is always the same reddish-orange color, regardless of route. Now if the NTT cars used front rollsigns like the R42/46/62/68 cars, that would certainly be true.

The MBTA and SEPTA still paint their subway and trolley cars. Neither of those transit authorities have gone belly-up yet. And both are facing major funding issues in their respective states. The MTA won't die if it paints at least the fronts of its NTT fleets different colors. Hell, it didn't kill them to paint the area around the head and tail lights red on the R142/142A fleet.

I didn't even know they could do all-amber LEDs. I thought red and green were the only options.

The biggest mistake the MTA made in all of this was not renovating Corona Barn to handle the R142As in the 90s. Why they didn't renovate Corona back then is beyond me. Had they done that, they could have put the R142As on the right from the start and not had to go through all this moving R62As around... twice.

The R62As are very good and reliable subway cars, but they are not CBTC- or ATO-capable so they should not stay on the line. They also don't handle the (7)'s heavy rush hour crowds well. And those bucket seats...they gotta go. Too many riders are under the impression that their bodies are made out of Silly Putty and that they can fit their big bodies into those tiny seats and will jam themselves into those seats. Ugh!

Well, it sure was nice riding R160s down to the Rockaways during the late summer and early fall of 2006. Damn shame that won't happen again for quite some time. Yes, the R110s were test trains. But I really would have preferred that the NTT cars looked more like the R110B, especially up front. Large roll signs up front are much more legible than small LED signs are and way more legible than the godawful flipdot signs the R32s and 38s got during GOH.

That's too bad. Post-GOH R32s are pretty dark on the inside, unlike before they were sent out for GOH. At the very least, they should have painted the seats, ceilings and walls the same colors as the R142s.

I still hope they can at least get Phase 2 done. Much of the tunneling for it was done in the 70s. A short section would need to be built between 105th and 110th Streets to connect the two existing sections. Probably the most significant new tunneling required in Phase 2 would be from 120th/2nd to 125th/Lex. Doesn't seem like a completely impossible, super-expensive project to do.

I can't see UES riders waiting that long during rush hours for a train, when the runs far more frequently than that. Second Avenue will need more than just the . They should send the up there too, especially if they can get Phase 2 done.

I'm glad others on here agree that even with just Phase 1 open, the will not be sufficient to handle the potentially high ridership.

Switch and terminals in Queens, then? The runs in Queens and Manhattan 24/7 and extends to Bay Ridge during overnight hours to replace the shuttle. The overnight would then turn into a shuttle between Pacific and CI.

A train in revenue service in Queens. Yes, that would be a real sight. But then some other train would have to replace the in Upper Manhattan and the Bronx.

Not quite. While Queens does have significantly more rail service than Staten Island, there are vast areas of Queens that are far from the nearest railroad or subway station. Those areas deserve to have better, more convenient transit options just as much as SI does. There are no plans to turn the Rockaway Line into a High Line type of park. There is only a proposal from Queens Community Board 9 to do that. So there is no guarantee that will happen either. Restoring rail to the Rockaway Line is not just about providing another transit option to a casino, convention center and Kennedy Airport. It is also about providing better connectivity within Queens. Given the borough's significant increase in population over the years, much of it made up of transit-riding people, better connectivity is something that is sorely needed. You won't have any disagreement from me that SI needs more rail service. But that's for another topic...

@ CenSin - Right. I meant Astoria riders. Any Midtown-bound riders to/from Astoria are the ones who have local service only because the and are both on the local tracks until the switches to the express. Of course 2nd Ave riders will have a full Broadway Express from 57th to Canal once the 2nd Ave stations open. At that time, if the stays at Astoria and the is revived and joins it there, Astoria line riders are likely to still have both of their lines running local until 34th St. I guess it's really not that huge of a deal since there's only one local stop above 34th.

Haven't seen so many different B-Division cars in the Bronx, well, since 1988. And all cleaned up or repainted too.

I hope they don't have those wide single side doors that the M7s and M8s have. Those damn things take forever to open, close and secure. What idiot at the MTA thought that was a good idea? I hope the M9s have double doors that meet in the middle of the doorway, like the M1/2/3/4/6 series had.

Express service only benefits those headed to 14th, Canal or Brooklyn. If you're headed to Midtown, you only have local service because the doesn't start running express until after 34th. The pre-July 2010 and 2001-2004 operated the same way.

I agree with your post. Express trains should stay on the express tracks and and local trains should stay on the local tracks. It keeps the trains moving with minimal delays and allows more trains per hour to be run on the tracks. That's why I've suggested and agreed with others who have suggested sending the to 2nd Avenue with the rather than keeping it at Astoria and having it switch from the local to the express tracks between 42nd and 34th as it used to before the June 2010 service cuts (and as the currently does).