NYCTA Speed Increases - Q1 2019 Update

Back in December I reported on how the NYC Subway was finally being forced to move away from their "safety at all costs" mentality because they had pretty much melted the whole system down.  Well I am happy to report that the effort has continued on at pretty much the same pace into 2019 with about another 27 speed improvements taking effect since January 21th, 2019. 

And these aren't all just trivial increases of 5 mph.  If you look at the above chart you'll see an instance of a 25mph restriction being removed entirely (basically raising the speed to whatever the motorman can get) and if you like something a little bit more definite you can see another instance of a 25mph restriction being raised to 45mph.  You can see the MTA's official list of speed improvements right here and also catch some legitimate reporting on the project at Railway Age.

PATCO just recently had their 40mph tunnel stretches knocked back to 30mph because it made the consultants nervous despite there being not a single issue over 50 years over operation. 

Hopefully this will inspire other transit systems that have seen similar slowdowns, like PATCO and SEPTA, to disregard Cover Their Ass consultants and get back their lost capacity. You never know when you might need it.