New Subway Trains for NYC
Reply With QuoteAs you may know, the Lexington Line and the 7th Avenue IRT have replaced most to all of their trains with modern cars by Kawasaki and Bombardier, along with most Canarsie-Line L trains. *The new, climate-controlled cars feature electronic voice announcements heralding the train's arrival at each station and listing available transfers, as well as what the next stop is. *The progress can also be monitored on overhead maps, with a small lighting diode denoting each station on the line. *Lit diodes denote the remaining stops. *Marquees state the time, the final destination of the train, and the name of the next stop. *All cars also feature small paintings from various artists.
My favorite feature about the new cars, however, is that they were custom-designed to take into account the craftiness of New York graffiti artists. *All surfaces can be easily wiped clean of paint or ink, and the window glass has a special polymer that is resistant to etching acid, which is what graffitists use to scratch tags or messages on the windows. *However, now some people have taken to using knives to carve into the drywall at the narrow ends of each car; but I think even that can be remedied.
I haven't heard much about new fleets for any of the IND or BMT trains, or for that matter the IRT 7. *My guess is that they won't be ordered until the MTA completes several projects which will include the addition of extra stops: the extension of the 7 west to the Javits Center, the extension of the N east to LaGuardia Airport, and A, C, J, M, and Z connections to the JFK Airtrain. *My guess is that the F, B, V and D trains will be the next to get upgraded, or perhaps the Times Square shuttle. *Then again, most to all of those might hold out for replacements until the Second Avenue Subway is finished; it depends on the shelf-lives of the various models.
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