on the

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Last night, MTA New York City Transit's continued its fourth round of the FASTRACK maintenance program on the Sixth Avenue subway line between 14 St and 57 St. This round of FASTRACK on the lines runs nightly through 5 a.m. Friday, September 28. As 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.), 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 vast New York City subway — a system that never stops running.

With no trains running along Sixth Avenue last night, more than 800 subway maintenance employees were able to inspect and perform maintenance work on signals, switches and associated components. Work crews were able to continue their efforts replacing rails and cross ties and scraping track floors, thereby removing muck and debris. They were also able to work in subway stations scraping, priming and painting surfaces that are 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 brighter station environment. Edges of platforms were repaired and ceilings, platforms and walls of some stations received high-intensity cleaning. While improving train performance and operating efficiency, these maintenance activities also provide a more comfortable station environment.

Significant accomplishments from last night's maintenance effort include servicing four switches, and installing six sections of track, nine track tie blocks, 260 track tie plates and removing 24 sections of scrap rail. Maintenance workers also corrected 190 third rail defects and scraped and cleaned 415 feet of track under and around the third rail. Making repairs to the subway's physical infrastructure and clearing the track of debris was also a key goal. Crews installed 80 linear feet of handrail, sealed 35 square feet of leaks and cleaned 800 linear feet of track drain and 570 linear feet of track trough, the space between the rails. In addition, repairs were made to the tunnel lighting between the 14 St and 42 St-Bryant Park stations and to 10 square feet of benchwall (an extension of the station platform that is located in tunnels and used by maintenance personnel and for emergency egress).

With a focus on customer safety and convenience, Closed Circuit Television systems received attention as one camera was replaced and six cameras and nine monitors were serviced and the picture on all monitors was optimized for clarity. Three elevators and four escalators received scheduled maintenance and inspections and repairs were performed on escalator fire alarms.

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 you 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, September 25, 2012