Transport / Subway / New York
Century Old System in Trouble

New York’s subway is creaking ... It needs more than the customary bodge

Burgess COMMENTARY

Peter Burgess

New York’s subway is creaking ... It needs more than the customary bodge



“WE ARE delayed because of train traffic ahead of us,” intoned the familiar automated message on a stalled subway train on June 27th. Earlier that morning a train had derailed, injuring 34 people. The derailment caused delays, re-routings and suspended trains across the century-old system. “The subway is worse now than in the 70s,” grumbled one experienced commuter. Back then the subway was plagued by crime, graffiti and delays galore. Today crime is low, graffiti gallery-worthy and rider numbers at levels not seen since the 1940s. Partly as a result of this popularity, delays have increased by more than 200% since 2012.

The problems have become so bad that Andrew Cuomo, New York’s governor, declared the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), the state entity that runs the subway, bus lines and two regional commuter rails, to be in a state of emergency. Emergencies are usually called when a natural disaster strikes. The problems plaguing the transit system are man-made. The antiquated signal system, some of which dates back to the 1930s, breaks down frequently. According to the current timetable, updating it will take up to half a century.

Mr Cuomo has given Joe Lhota, the new MTA chairman, 30 days to come up with a reorganisation plan, ordering him to start with a blank piece of paper and giving him 60 days to assess and allocate capital for track repairs, signal upgrades and new carriages. Mr Lhota is a familiar face. Prior to an unsuccessful run for mayor in 2013, he ran the MTA during the clean-up after Hurricane Sandy, which flooded subway tunnels.

The MTA was meant to be somewhat removed from politics. Instead, it has been micromanaged by governors, who control its board. “People like to put their names on big projects, obviously. I’m talking about elected officials,” notes Jeffrey Dinowitz, a state assemblyman. “You can’t put your name on a railroad, on a train.” Governor Cuomo intends to add $1bn to the capital plan, which is a drop in the bucket. Fares, which are relatively low compared with other cities, need to go up. Higher taxes, perhaps a property surcharge along new or improved lines, are another option. Yet the state of disrepair is such that the MTA needs to do something even more unpopular: close lines while work is carried out. The suspensions of the L and M trains are a sort of pilot for this. Sweet Jane’s, a bar near the M line, is offering a number of “F the M train” cocktails to help ease the pain for straphangers.