Governor Andrew Cuomo announced on Oct. 8 that the speed of New York City’s trains could be increased by 50 percent.
If you ride the Metropolitan Transport Authority, you’re probably familiar with the sighs and groans that follow delays. In an interview with NTD News, Shamika Brown, an MTA rider, said she sometimes waits 20 minutes for a train expected to arrive in 10 minutes.
“If we can improve this, people will feel it immediately,” said Governor Cuomo during his announcement.
The MTA managing director said trains are moving slower than they did 20 years ago. After two deadly accidents in the 90s, speeds were reduced across the system. Other factors, such as devices limiting acceleration, slowed them down even more.
The findings of the Train Speed and Safety Task Force are only preliminary, which means that they have not decided what trains will go at what speed. But just the thought of trains going faster is enough to make some riders happy—and others not so much.
“That would be terrific, but I’ve lived in New York all my life, so I’ll believe it when I see it,” said Susanna Cole, awaiting the train at the 14th Street station.
Sarah Freymann, also awaiting a train, thinks the trains should be sped up because they often stop because of the train before them.
Among the many factors that slow down the trains were old speed limit signs. The task force will now determine safe speed limits and submit their findings to the MTA by the end of this year.
