The New York subway system runs on 100-year-old technology
“In our system, it’s not just the architecture that’s 100 years old,” an MTA employee explains. “It’s a lot of the basic technology as well.”
Here, at the West 4th Street station, MTA employees log train movements by hand.
Every signal on each line is mapped on this board, which looks more like a an old board game than a method of keeping thousands of commuters safe and on time.
Here's a closer look.
Staff members even have to manually pull handles to operate track switches and signals that tell train operators when it is safe to pass through a section of track.
These antiquated signals are changed by the manually operated handles in the control room. They are difficult and expensive to maintain.
“This equipment is not supported at all by the railroad industry,” explains Wynton Habersham, vice president and chief officer of subway delivery. “It’s very hard to maintain.”
That means when something breaks, the agency has to turn to its own machine shop to either produce a replacement or scavenge the system for an extra part.
Just check out the year on that sticker — over 50 years ago!
Currently, the fixed-block signaling system allows staff to know the general area of a train, its "block" of about 1000 feet, but with "no precise location or speed control, we never really know where the train is," the video says.
Change is coming, but slowly. The MTA is working to install what is known as Communications Based Train Control, or CBTC, which is already in place on Canarsie-bound L trains.
Installing the system on the L train took over six years, with multiple delays and cost overruns reaching $288 million. The so-called "robot trains" require far fewer operators, too, which drew ire from the Local 100 of the Transport Workers Union of America.
Currently, controllers have an imprecise understanding of where the trains are. But the new system attaches transponders under cars, so they can all be tracked in real time.
This means the system can handle more trains at even higher speeds, as the video demonstrates, because trains can communicate with each other and will automatically brake to avoid collisions if they get too close.
Communications Based Train Control is currently being installed on Flushing-bound 7 trains, and someday (fingers crossed!) it will find its way to the entire subway system.
Here's the full MTA video, if you want to see even more outdated technology.
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