The first round of MTA New York City Transit's FASTRACK closures was completed at 5a.m. this morning as ACE trains resumed their normal routes. Once again, hundreds of Transit workers were busy in tunnels and stations performing a four-night blitz of inspections, repairs and maintenance jobs as well as cleaning and painting chores. This round of work focused on infrastructure between 59 th Street-Columbus Circle and Jay Street-MetroTech in Downtown Brooklyn.
The FASTRACK Program kicked off in January along the Lexington Avenue Line, and it was immediately clear that the ability to work without interruption from passing trains would improve both efficiency and worker safety.
As in prior FASTRACK efforts, Transit workers took the opportunity of a train-free environment to clean lighting fixtures, change bulbs and repair platform edges while performing intense levels of station cleaning—things that improve efficiency while also providing a visible improvement to the station environment. On the maintenance side, employees inspected signals, replaced rails and ties, scraped roadbeds, and painted areas impossible to reach during normal train operation.
Work accomplished:
- Signals: Replaced 15 switches, serviced 34 signals, serviced two timers, supported the Track Division on various rail and switch jobs;
- Track: Installed 21 rails, installed 1,610 friction pads, scraped 16,750 feet of muck, removed 11,972 bags of rubbish, removed 27,950 pounds of scrap; Corrected 2,605 third rail defects, installed 1,269 plates, installed 60 tie blocks, and cleaned, scraped and bagged refuse from nearly four miles of track;
- Stations: 1,657 station lights replaced, 52 platform edge signs replaced, replaced 81 square feet of ADA tiles, repaired 1,510 linear feet of rubbing boards, grouted floor tiles, inspected 20 platform edges, installed yellow safety tack tiles and floor tiles at various locations, cleaned and tested 101 emergency alarms and telephones, inspected and cleaned 23 cameras and 12 monitors, and replaced two cameras. Additionally, workers scraped 19,970 square feet, primed 11,590 square feet, and painted 7,970 square feet of space at stations; and
- Elevators and Escalators: Cleaned glass enclosure panels, performed tests on fire alarms and sprinkler systems, corrected 22 outstanding work order defects.
"With the first round FASTRACK complete, we can already see how much progress we can make in the vital areas of cleaning and maintenance, and just as importantly, our customers can see it in the station environment," said NYC Transit President Thomas F. Prendergast. "There is a winning combination here of increased productivity and improved worker safety."
For late night riders who had to navigate through the segment closure, scores of Stations Division and Customer Service personnel were on hand at major transfer hubs to direct customers to nearby trains. Only subway line segments with substantial subway alternatives were selected for the overnight shutdowns. So, in addition to nearby lines, other lines that don't usually operate during the late night hours continued to operate in order to help accommodate customers. In order to avoid further inconvenience, other service diversions in the area affected by the closure were avoided.
During the four-night series of shutdowns, more than 800 maintenance workers each night completed hundreds of tasks, an effort that would have taken months under normal operations
The next FASTRACK overnight closure will take place on the 7 th Avenue 123 Line starting on Monday, April 9.
System-wide, NYC Transit's weeknight ridership is approximately 250,000. The closures affected from 10% to 15% of those riders depending on the line segment.