Daily News Exclusive: MTA to add more space on L line by retrofitting train cars with fold-up seats

[Around the Horn]

 

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MTA to add more space on L line by retrofitting train cars with fold-up seats

Subway riders, prepare for the cattle cars.

Crews are retrofitting train cars on the L line so that entire benches can fold up and lock shut during rush hour so that more people can cram on board, sources told the Daily News.

Meanwhile, MTA crews are revamping an older model of train car — known as R46, which travels on the A, F, R and shuttle lines — by removing seats from the ends of the cars. The cars are getting an extra splash of Gov. Cuomo-approved color — blue seats with yellow panels, according to photos obtained by the Daily News.

Under Chairman Joe Lhota, the MTA is again experimenting with fewer seats on trains to get more people inside. This week, the MTA rolled out train cars on the E line that had the seats removed from each end, to put up to 10 more riders in a car.

The retrofitted L trains will use the same hardware from a 2008 pilot that was ultimately aborted when riders were getting hit with service cuts and fare hikes.

The seats will flip up and lock during rush hour, one source told The News. These cars also had plastic “straps” that hang from the handrail above.

A source said the cars on the L line will be used on a test train, but unclear when that will hit tracks or how many cars the MTA is changing altogether.

The MTA declined to answer questions from The News.

“Enhanced reliability and expanded passenger capacity are essential to getting people from Point A to Point B quickly, safely and comfortably,” MTA spokesman Shams Tarek said in a statement.

“Selected seat modifications on a small number of trains — like the trains that rolled out this week with new mechanical equipment as well as seat removals — is a pilot program that's only a part of Chairman Lhota's comprehensive Subway Action Plan."

Lhota in July raised the idea of removing train car seats on the L and 42nd St. shuttle lines as part of his plan to fix the subway.

Rider advocates cautioned that passengers may not like the trade-off between extra standing space and fewer seats.

“You’re going to anger a lot of riders who worked a long day or need a seat because they’re pregnant, have a disability or are just tired,” Jaqi Cohen, campaign coordinator with the Straphangers Campaign, said.

“I think they would rather see a greater frequency of trains to handle overcrowding than seats removed from their subway cars.”

Andrew Albert, a rider's representative on the MTA board, said he thought testing out a seatless ride would work on the 42nd St. shuttle, which zips between Times Square and Grand Central Terminal.

But he thought testing a ride with fewer seats on the L line or other crowded trains was too far.

“If someone’s commuting all the way (on the L line) from Canarsie to Manhattan, that’s a long way for someone to have to stand,” Albert said.

“People work hard all day and they deserve a seat if they’re lucky enough to get one.”

(I'm posting the photos from the article below)

[P3F]

Well, it looks like the folding-seat speculation was true.

I do wish they had spruced up the R46 interiors a bit more; those sand-colored walls can take a break.

[7LineFan]

Tan + yellow doesn't work. Might as well go full NTT and paint the interior white with blue seats.

[MysteriousBtrain]

I'm cringing at the R46 overhaul.

[Wallyhorse]

4 hours ago, MysteriousBtrain said:

I'm cringing at the R46 overhaul.

Those R46 overhauls are likely done as they are because those cars are already 42-43 years old.  They likely are only expected to be in use for a few more years.  

[RailRunRob]

Are those seat's position lockable? So during rush there locked in place? Or just pull down and sit?

[VIP]

The R46's should be overhauled into bench seating while getting the end seats removed. 

[itmaybeokay]

That friggin R-46 looks like a damn fast food restaurant in the early 1990s. This is what we're spending our money on? 

[BM5 via Woodhaven]

Wow,  that R46 interior is a mess of colors.