on the

Wednesday, October 24, 2012

Last night, MTA New York City Transit's pro-active maintenance program —FASTRACK—continued its fourth round on the Eighth Avenue subway line between 59 St-Columbus Circle, Manhattan and Jay St-MetroTech, Brooklyn. FASTRACK requires the partial closure of a subway line to train service on four consecutive nights for seven continuous hours (10 p.m. to 5 a.m.). This round of FASTRACK on the lines runs nightly through 5 a.m. Friday, October 26. Because no trains are running along the line segment, workers can work on and near the tracks without having to stop work every few minutes while a train moves through the area. This is a safer and more efficient way to maintain and clean the massive New York City subway—a system that runs around the clock.

With no trains running along Eighth Avenue last night, more than 800 Transit employees were able to inspect and perform maintenance work on signals, switches and associated components. Work crews were able to continue their efforts to replace rails and cross ties and scrape track floors, thereby removing muck and debris. They were also able to work in subway stations scraping, priming and painting areas that are paintable, but not reachable during normal train operation. Maintenance workers took the opportunity to enhance customer safety by cleaning lighting fixtures and changing bulbs, resulting in a more illuminated station environment. Platform edges were repaired and ceilings, platforms and walls of some stations received high-intensity cleaning. These maintenance activities improve train performance and efficiency while also providing a pleasant station environment.

Major accomplishments from last night's maintenance effort include servicing 10 signals and 11 switches, removing 1,375 bags of debris (22,800 pounds) and repairing train holding lights at the West 4 St station. Workers also installed 11 running rails (sections of track), and 427 track tie plates, corrected 242 track defects and scraped and cleaned 560 linear feet of track under and around the third rail. In addition, 160 linear feet of handrail, 35 linear feet of "no clearance signs" and 52 column tags were installed. In addition, crews sealed 25 leaks and made repairs to 12 square feet of benchwall (an extension of the station platform that is located in tunnels and used by maintenance workers for emergency egress). Maintenance of the Eighth Avenue line's physical structure was on the agenda as 200 linear feet of track trough, the space between the rails, was cleaned, 900 linear feet of the Cranberry Street Tunnel surfaces was power washed and pump room preventative maintenance was performed. A pump room houses equipment that removes water from the subway.

For a safer and more aesthetically-pleasing station environment, 12 platform edge signs, 144 tunnel lights and 10 square feet of tactile warning (ADA) tiles were replaced, 130 linear feet of rubbing board (fiberglass or wooden edge of station platform that is adjacent to the side of the train) was repaired and graffiti on walls adjacent to track was removed. At the World Trade Center station the picture was optimized on three Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) monitors and a defective monitor was replaced and at the Fulton Street station, the picture was optimized on five monitors and eight cameras. Elevator maintenance was also part of this maintenance effort.

How this impacts service?

Reliable service - service you can depend on to get you to where you need to go when you need to get there - requires regularly scheduled maintenance to critical components customers never see. Pumps, signals, track, and power are just some of the vital system equipment we are focusing on so that we can continue providing our riders with train service that is safe and reliable.

Accomplishments:

Tuesday, October 23, 2012