6 Lexington Ave Posted August 10, 2012 Share #1 Posted August 10, 2012 So, guys, what's your opinion on the performance of our subways? More specifically, I'm interested in knowing what you think of the reliability of trains and other components of the system in general. Do you think that the current breakdown rate is acceptable, excellent or in urgent need of improvement? I don't want your opinion on specific lines. Just your general view on the way the system works and on the frequency of breakdowns in the system.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Via Garibaldi 8 Posted August 10, 2012 Share #2 Posted August 10, 2012 Performance IMO in terms of breakdowns has been fine from what I've experienced and I suspect it'll get better as the older trains are replaced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Quill Depot Posted August 10, 2012 Share #3 Posted August 10, 2012 NTT's are pretty reliable. Older cars like the R32's and 42's aren't as reliable. Current Breakdown is acceptable especially with old, old cars still running. Overall, the system works great. This city is huge. The MTA fits under the rating: good. I wouldn't say they are perfect, but no transportation system is. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q10 Airport Posted August 10, 2012 Share #4 Posted August 10, 2012 Overall the MTA is very good. In four years travelling to and from high school (and travelling on other occasions) I can count on one hand the number of times my commute was disrupted by any problems. I can count on one or two fingers the number of times my commute was disrupted by train breakdown. This was even though I quite frequently travelled on lines with R32's/40's/42's/46's (QBL and Fulton). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Broadway Local Posted August 10, 2012 Share #5 Posted August 10, 2012 The new generation cars (NTT-New Tech Trains) cars are making the subways better, but I hate the traffic and problems along the subway. Some older cars kind of needs improvements though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R32 3838 Posted August 10, 2012 Share #6 Posted August 10, 2012 for the LAST TIME ITS NOT THE OLD CARS, its they way everything in general is Maintained, I said it over and over again, in 2010 Jay Walder layed off alot of workers and thats why you have more breakdowns, and NO the NTT's does not make the subway better, In terms of bringing more heat in the system because of thier HVAC but in terms of breakdowns they are alright, as for the R142's they are begining to show their breakdowns much more now, you can replace the older trains and still have issues, if anything the subway has improoved just a little bit, but they Really need to work on alot of stations along the sea beach, Fulton and Crosstown lines as well as others, Especially Chambers st on the , everyone always wants to blame the damn fleet, its not the fleet, its the people who are incharge and responsble for the fleet in general. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSubwayStation Posted August 10, 2012 Share #7 Posted August 10, 2012 for the LAST TIME ITS NOT THE OLD CARS, its they way everything in general is Maintained, I said it over and over again, in 2010 Jay Walder layed off alot of workers and thats why you have more breakdowns, and NO the NTT's does not make the subway better, In terms of bringing more heat in the system because of thier HVAC but in terms of breakdowns they are alright, as for the R142's they are begining to show their breakdowns much more now, you can replace the older trains and still have issues, if anything the subway has improoved just a little bit, but they Really need to work on alot of stations along the sea beach, Fulton and Crosstown lines as well as others, Especially Chambers st on the , everyone always wants to blame the damn fleet, its not the fleet, its the people who are incharge and responsble for the fleet in general. Oh lord...Here we go again. Look, it's common knowledge that older equipment breaks down more. Maybe the system would be better if Walder hadn't laid people off, but the older trains still wouldn't be performing as well as the newer ones. You can look at the MDBF (I know you won't because it makes the R32s look bad) and you'll see that the R142s are second best in the system. Of course they're breaking down more; they're getting older. But the oldest trains in the system (R32s, R42s, R46s) are much worse still. Yes, I know that the R142As are doing quite badly, but I think that some of that can be attributed to Westchester Yard and their bad maintenance (the R142As on the always seem to have dead motors, while the ones on the rarely do). I'm not pretending to be an expert on Westchester Yard; this is just my guess. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BSmith Posted August 10, 2012 Share #8 Posted August 10, 2012 I agree. I think the R142As on the 6 are the poorest NTTs in the system. There's some cosmetic issues, they buck, they have too many flat wheels, they squeal more and just don't operate as smoothly as the other R142s and R142As. So Westchester Yard needs to step it up. The NTT's improve the reliability of the system, they are still fairly young trains. The 62/68s are good, some could use some work and some 46s are getting ragged and need attention but they don't that often have to go OOS. There are a lot of GOs, they count on performance but this is a 24-hour system. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
6 Lexington Ave Posted August 11, 2012 Author Share #9 Posted August 11, 2012 First of all thanks for replying! In my opinion, the performance of the subway is very good. I wouldn't say excellent, but very good. I check the MDBF numbers regularly and they seem to be very good. From what I understand it's not the trains that break down that much. Many of their breakdowns can be attributed to the signals which cause them to go into emergency. Of course, if we consider the size of the system these problems seem like a drop in the ocean.. During the month I was there I was delayed 3 times and only once because of a train malfunction (door problem on a ) and that's after riding the subway excessively nearly every day.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Q10 Airport Posted August 11, 2012 Share #10 Posted August 11, 2012 I don't think it's worth criticising the older trains. Sure, they break down more often the NTT's, but that's expected. The bigger issue would be a lack of maitenance. The R32's are not suffering from this problem but I guess the R142's on the are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheSubwayStation Posted August 11, 2012 Share #11 Posted August 11, 2012 I don't think it's worth criticising the older trains. Sure, they break down more often the NTT's, but that's expected.That was exactly my point. It's not that I wish the older trains were retired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brooklyn Posted August 11, 2012 Share #12 Posted August 11, 2012 In general, I would say "good" as well. IMO, it's about maintenance and quality of stock. Yes, older cars will have some problems because of age, but then again, the newer ones can as well. I remember reading about the R46 cars and how they were plagued with problems early on. But maintenance is key....many of the trains on the look old on the interior even though they are relatively young. I think signaling can improve. Some rides strike me as taking longer than they should. The MTA also has a habit of turning a simple 1-2 minute delay into a 5+ minute delay: because of lack of communication. For instance, the controller spent 5 minutes trying to decide whether to send an train local (Hoyt and Schermerhorn) and ultimately decided to do so. We lost 2 minutes because it ran local with the additional 5 minutes waiting, whereas if they had simply made up their minds quickly, we could have lost only 2 or 3 minutes. This frequently happens, and it's annoying. Communication needs to improve with the public as well. Announcements need to be clearer in stations in case there are train delays. Certain structural adjustments can be made (like track crossovers) in case of an emergency and a train needs to be rerouted. Some routes need better terminals to reduce bottleneck and increase line capacity, especially the . Some tail tracks would really help at 8th avenue. We talked about this in earlier threads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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