New York City Transit made subway speed improvements during pandemic

MTA New York City Transit (NYCT) has made progress in its efforts to safely speed up trains throughout the system during the pandemic, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced yesterday.

The efforts include the installation of 919 new digital timers on grade time signals, 270 civil speed increases across the system over the past two years and a reduction in time trains spend holding at station platforms. 

The work builds on recommendations made in the “MTA NYCT Subway Speed and Capacity Review, Phase 2 Report," which was commissioned as part of the Speed and Safety Task Force launched in July 2019.

Aging and faulty grade time signals and excessive time spent holding at station platforms were among the biggest factors that led to slower train speeds and comparatively poor on-time performance in the subway system, MTA officials said in a press release.