on the

Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Last night, MTA New York City Transit's proactive maintenance program — FASTRACK — continued its third 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, July 13. 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 two switches, 22 signals, removing 705 bags of debris (91,100 pounds) and replacing 60 track bolts.  Workers also installed 11 running rails (sections of track), 165 track tie plates, six tie blocks, corrected 476 track defects and scraped and cleaned 1,460 linear feet of track under and around the third rail.  In addition, 205 linear feet of handrail was installed, 55 square feet of leaks were sealed, and 225 linear feet of “no clearance signs” were installed.  For an aesthetically-pleasing, station environment, 121 columns, eight stairway K-A rails (street level railings, usually green, at station entrances/exits) and eight stairway copings (the concrete base, usually black, of K-A rails) were painted and 197 station lights were replaced.  Also, 500 square feet of paintable surface was scraped, 1,200 square feet was primed and painted and 42 square feet of tactile warning (ADA) tiles were replaced.  With an eye toward customer safety, 1,500 square feet of rubbing board (fiberglass or wooden edge of station platform that is adjacent to the side of the train) was painted.

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:
Accomplishments: Tuesday, July 10, 2012