If you’re ever annoyed by service changes because of “Track Repair”, never forget the hard work behind them that keeps our subway alive.
Submitted by beechcraft10 t3_11iq05q in nyc
I live in an elevated line, and for about 9 months we didn't have uptown local service because of track replacement. The yanked out the old segmented track and replaced it with continuous track. It's a massive improvement to the quality of life in the neighborhood. The clacking noise of the wheels hitting the seams between track segments is gone, it was well worth the wait.
My only complaint is that when they upgraded the station (a separate year-long closure), they weren't able to install an elevator to either platform from the street. Our station remains inaccessible, which is, I think, a failure on the part of the redesign plan.
I’ve been harping on the lack of continuous rail since I moved to NYC. So glad they are finally making a change
Dunno where you've been but CWR has been going in for a long time now. It's not everywhere, but it's been installed in lots of places in the system.
So does many subway lines every time we have to do even minor work.
Is that something they should do on just the elevated lines or the underground ones as well
Everywhere. It’d be smoother, quieter, and less maintenance on the cars themselves, not that they do that work. But for sure elevated/open trench lines should be first as it would be the biggest quality of life impact there.
wasn't there some issue with being unable to install CWR on the elevated tracks due to thermal expansion/contraction issues?
Was there? I don't know. I believe there are stretches of continuous welded rail on the line near me, if not the entire line.
The issue would be the ties. Continuous rail is all over the world in all sorts of climates undergoing freeze thaw cycles without issue. But on the NE corridor Amtrak lines for example they had to relayre-lay rail bed and replace ties with concrete to install it. Idk if that was just overlapping upgrades or if one required the other
> Our station remains inaccessible
Every station in Astoria on the N was renovated over the past few years and just one out of six got an elevator added. Add onto this that of thirteen stations on the local M/R in Queens, just three are accessible. There's so much more work to do, especially in the outerboros. At least Queensboro is finally getting one soon.
I'm on the N :P
If there’s no elevator, it may not have been feasible. I used to work there in the design office. Believe me, they have studied accessibility compliance for every single station.
A friend of ours was involved in an adjacent agency and had seen some of the issues that proved insurmountable. So I know that they looked at it, but it is still frustrating that there wasn't a solution. My guess is it involved acquiring property on the street for the additional infrastructure required, but I don't know.
Some of the stations have no space. Smith/9th St is positioned over the road with a concrete plant behind it. Every station is different and most of them can be updated with the elevators or ramps, but some are just super difficult because of their design or how they are positioned in relation with the street above or below. It’s also incredibly expensive and takes forever to coordinate with adjacent owners and related agencies, especially when excavation is needed.
>...positioned over the road ... positioned in relation with the street above or below.
This is the part that I find most frustrating because it implies that surface street vehicles should take priority over accessible public transit. That's a view I reject as being against the public interest, but I recognize that I'm in the minority.
Meanwhile every parent with a stroller, every person with mobility issues, every person who's just plain dead tired after a day of work, every person who got a crap night's sleep because they are working 2 jobs, is forced to use the stairs so that cars drivers of vehicles aren't inconvenienced.
/rant
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