Moving forward
MTA stats show improved subway service Primary challenge for veteran Bronx rep
Two years after subway service hit a bottom that led Gov. Cuomo to put the MTA in a state of emergency, improved track conditions have led to a surprising sense of calm at the system’s command center.
The state of emergency is still on — but train delays are plummeting, on-time performance is creeping up and riders are enjoying the most reliable service in years, MTA data show.
Nearly 80% of weekday trains ran on time in April, up from 68% a year before.
More than 100 people manage the subway from the MTA’s Rail Control Center, responding to problems in real time. The Daily News on Friday got a rare tour of the mid-Manhattan facility that is the subway’s nerve center.
At around 8:45 a.m. — just as the morning rush peaked — fewer than 10 trains were delayed.
A signal issue near the W. Fourth St. station delayed the A, C and E lines. Another signal issue near the DeKalb Ave. station in Brooklyn led to a hiccup in B and Q train service.
On the subway’s “A division,” which is comprised of the system’s numbered lines, just five No. 6 trains ran with delays.
That is a departure from June 2017, when a series of high-profile derailments and service problems highlighted years of crumbling service.
“If you went back to 2016, you’d see on-time performance of 40%,” a high-ranking NYC Transit official told The News.
“That sounds like four out of 10 trains are on time, they’re not,” the official said. “At certain times of the day, none of the trains would be on time.”
On one of the subways’ worst days in recent years, an A train derailed near the 125th St. station in Harlem on June 27, 2017, during the morning rush. The train’s passengers were soon evacuated through the tunnels — but the derailment was just the beginning of the day’s woes.
By day’s end, 3,700 trains were behind schedule.
Compare that to Friday, when the number of delayed trains was just 1,200, according to Metropolitan Transportation Authority data.
The improvements can be chalked up to a number of things — including a rapid drain-clearing project completed primarily by outside contractors and paid for by the $836 million Subway Action Plan launched in July 2017, weeks after the A train derailment.
“Every single line across the board is running significantly faster than it was this time last year,” said an MTA official at the Rail Control Center.
The Subway Action Plan has also paid for a major initiative to “deep clean” 100 stations and 3,000 cars across the system — an issue the Daily News covered in-depth on Monday.
The MTA labeled “misleading” portions of the story discussing problems with the program’s safety.
“We dispute that characterization of our reporting, which was accurate both in fact and context,” said Editorin-Chief Robert York. “We stand by the story 100%.”
The MTA still has a long way to go in its quest to improve subway service — and its issues run much deeper than what’s been addressed by the Subway Action Plan.
Just two lines — the L and the No. 7 — have modern signal systems that allow trains to run faster and closer together.
On the remaining numbered lines, Rail Control Center officials can see where trains are located, but are still unable to run them closer together — which would allow an increase in service.
On the lettered lines — which the MTA calls the “B division” — dispatchers cannot see precisely where the trains are. When an incident occurs, they stick a piece of paper on a giant schematic map and radio train crews to mitigate its impact.
NYC Transit President Andy Byford has a plan to modernize signals over the next decade.
The question moving forward is whether the MTA can pay for those upgrades — expected to cost $40 billion over 10 years. Bronx Rep. Eliot Engel, a 30year veteran of the House of Representatives and head of its powerful Foreign Affairs Committee, will be facing a primary challenge next year from an unlikely contender, the Daily News has learned.
Jamaal Bowman, a principal at a Bronx middle school, plans to announce he’ll be launching a run against Engel on Tuesday night.
The Yonkers resident founded the Cornerstone Academy for Social Action in Baychester in 2009 and continues to serve as its principal. Before that, he taught at P.S. 90 in the Bronx and Martin Luther King High School in Manhattan.
The Justice Democrats, the progressive group that supported Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez in her upset of Rep. Joseph Crowley, has pledged its support to Bowman, according to one source.
Recent census data show the district he’ll be fighting for is 60% nonwhite — a fact supporters will undoubtedly home in on as they try to unseat the incumbent Engel (photo), who is white.
Last year, Engel easily vanquished three primary challengers in his reelection run.
Andom Ghebreghiorgis, a teacher from Mount Vernon, is also planning a run against Engel.
“The beauty of our American democracy is that anyone can run for office in free, open and fair elections,” Engel said.