Travel –
NYC To Get Long, Open
Subway Cars
Have you ever seen those long “caterpillar-like” buses rolling through the streets of most major U.S. cities? Well, that design will soon be making its way underground in New York City as a new addition to the NYC subway system.
Travel
With ridership growing every year and subway cars becoming more and more crowded, the NYC Metropolitan Transportation Authority says it wants to reduce the headache of traveling in New York City. Its solution is to implement modernized “open gangway” subway cars by the year 2020.
Imagine one very long train instead of several compartmentalized subway cars attached to each other. The now wasted space between cars will be replaced with an accordion that will not only provide usable sitting and standing space for passengers, but also a means for the train to safely make curves. Passengers will be able to redistribute themselves throughout the long train, so as to prevent overcrowding at certain doorways. The single long car will also allow passengers to walk from one end of the train to the other without first needing to disembark.
Another proposed feature for the new trains is something most NYC commuters will love: adding a bit of space between the edge of the subway doors and the start of the row of seats. This would give those standing in the doorway a space to step aside and clear a path for passengers to enter and exit.
The MTA plans to spend $52 million on 10 open gangway cars for at least 2 train lines. One of the lines speculated to receive the new train will be the overcrowded A train, which runs from upper Manhattan to the outskirts of Brooklyn. As reported earlier, the trains will also be equipped with WiFi and charging stations, as part of a $29 billion plan announced in January by New York Governor Andrew Cuomo. This will coincide with a plan being announced today by NYC Mayor Bill De Blasio to build a streetcar connecting the boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens.
“We’re using this project as an opportunity to just test that technology and see if it works for New York,” NYC Transit head Wynton Habersham said.
In addition to saving space and increasing the amount of passengers a train could carry, authorities believe an open gangway subway will also be much safer. If someone is experiencing a medical emergency or a disturbance is happening toward the rear of the train, a doctor or policeman toward the front of the train will have access without having to wait for the train to enter the next station.
Take a look at the new open gangway trains that are coming and tell us what you think below.
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