[URBAN NOTE] "Why New York Subway Lines Are Missing Countdown Clocks"

[rfmcdonald]

CityLab's James Somers reports on why New York City's subway system lacks the countdown clocks of Toronto's network. The answer? The technology behind it is almost astonishingly primitive.

The reason there are no realtime countdown clocks on the F line is that even the tower operators don’t know which train is where. All they can see is that a certain section is occupied by a certain anonymous hunk of steel. It’s anonymous because no one has a view of the whole system. A hunk comes into one section of track from somewhere else; the tower’s job is to get it through their section efficiently. The next tower they pass it to will likewise not know whether it’s an F, say, or a G. When there are incidents, trains are located by deduction.

This complex—of towers, signals, switches, and track sections—is responsible for a disproportionate share of the costs and foibles in the operation and maintenance of New York’s subway system.

The equipment is old and breaks all the time. In fact it’s so old that the MTA can no longer buy replacement parts from the manufacturer; it has to refurbish them itself. Some of the controls for the interlockings are originals from the 30s. Much of the wiring is still insulated with cloth, instead of rubber; ten years ago the entire Chambers Street interlocking caught fire. Salt water from Hurricane Sandy did damage to trackside switches and signals that is still being repaired.

Inside the Signal School there is equipment from every major era, since it’s all still active in various parts of the system. As a demo, Habersham at one point flips an old-style switch on the big replica track. It lets out a giant pneumatic wheeze, as though the tired station itself were sighing. Even the little toy train that he used to demonstrate signaling basics is falling apart; there was so much rust and dust on the tracks that at several points another MTA employee had to help it along with his hand.