a Success On the
Queens Boulevard Line

Our FASTRACK maintenance program made its first appearance in Queens this week with hundreds of Transit workers descending into tunnels and stations on the Queens Boulevard Line, repairing and replacing items from cracked floor tile to corroded columns.

FASTRACK debuted in January 2012 and targets subway lines in segments.  It has been highly successful in considerably reducing the time for maintenance and repair tasks while improving the level of safety for work crews, who no longer have to share tracks with trains moving through the work area.  In addition to addressing important maintenance, work crews also have the chance to do such jobs as high-intensity station cleaning and station painting, chores that are impossible to do with customers waiting for trains.

Beginning last Monday, March 18, an army of workers were deployed along the six-mile long Queens Boulevard Line as train service was suspended for four consecutive nights at    stations between 5 Av-53 St/21 St-Queensbridge and Roosevelt Av.  Repair crews took full advantage of an uninterrupted seven-hour work window between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m.

Joseph Leader, Vice President and Chief Maintenance Officer for the Department of Subways said, “Our FASTRACK maintenance program is a win for all concerned parties.  Customers benefit from improved service reliability, it lessens the chance of an employee getting injured while working and it saves money.”

Highlights of the work completed:

• Track – Generated 11,371 bags of debris, removed 57,500 pounds of scrap and debris, scraped and cleaned 14,600 linear feet of track, replaced 272 tie blocks, installed 945 plates, 58 running rails, 868 friction pads.  Generated 21,800 pounds of scrap debris.

• Third Rail Operations - cleared 495 identified defects, scraped and cleaned 2,367 feet of track under and around the third rail and inspected 31,730 feet of third rail.

• Signals – Serviced 13 signals, replaced four signal and two switch components and supported Track Department on 11 rail and switch jobs.

• Infrastructure – Repaired/replaced 315 linear feet of handrail, cleaned 1,550 linear feet of track drain, repaired 45 square feet of bench wall, installed or repaired 230 feet of “no clearance” signs, performed maintenance at three pump rooms and sealed 55 leaks. 

• EMD - Optimized pictures on 17 Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) monitors and 25 CCTV cameras, completed inspecting, servicing, and testing public address systems at nine locations and 1,208 public address system speakers.

• Station Environment – Replaced 21 platform signs, 1,491 tunnel light bulbs, repaired 749 linear feet of rubbing board and 13 square feet of platform edge, scraped 21,050 square feet of paintable station surface area, primed 19,900 square feet and painted 8,400 square feet.

The next FASTRACK will take place on Manhattan’s East Side as MTA New York City Transit brings this repair and maintenance effort to the Lexington Avenue Line.  From 10 p.m. until 5 a.m., for four consecutive weeknights beginning Monday, March 25 to early Friday morning March 29, 456 trains will run express between Grand Central-42 St and 125 St, in both directions.

Be sure to check our website for complete details; posters and brochures will also be available at affected stations.

Accomplishments:

Monday, March 18, 2013

Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Wednesday, March 20, 2013