Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) New York City Transit Interim President Demetrius Crichlow and MTA Construction and Development President Jamie Torres-Springer greeted customers at the Metropolitan Av G Station on the first morning of full train service following the line’s series of partial 24/7 shutdowns, which allowed the MTA to complete major repairs and signal upgrades across the entire line.
During that time, the MTA completed three phases of 24/7 outages for nine and a half weeks along the line to perform critical signal modernization and state of good repair work.
Replacing 1930s era signal infrastructure with state-of-the-art Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC) will dramatically improve train service and reliability for the line’s 160,000 daily riders.
“Projects like these to upgrade signals and modernize the subway system ensure customers will have more dependable service for many years to come,” said Crichlow.
Signal Modernization Project
Work on the signal modernization project will continue until Q3 2027.
Since the shutdown began on June 28, the project team has successfully installed modern signal equipment across the entire G line and completed critical state of good repair work, including the reconstruction of the Court Square interlocking and approximately 30 miles of track.
Many of the signals on the train date back to the line’s debut in the 1930s and have been a frequent source of service disruptions and delays.
Moving into the Future
The project upgraded signals and associated signal infrastructure to state-of-the-art CBTC. This is MTA Construction & Development’s first design-build signal modernization project, and innovative contracting methods like design-build allow the MTA to contain project costs while limiting service disruption and impacts to customers, according to the agency.
In addition to CBTC work, NYC Transit took advantage of service outages to perform Re-NEW-vation upgrades, repairs, and deep cleanings at 10 subway stations along the line including:
Scraping, priming, and painting 233,645 square feet of platform, track, and mezzanine ceiling.
Replacing 9,495 tiles.
Scraping, priming, and painting 1,802 station columns.
Converting 4,858 LED lamps.
Suspending service in segments allowed the MTA to complete upgrades much more efficiently and quickly than limited overnight and weekend outages. Some weekend and overnight service outages will occur as the project continues.
