Later, Hoban stopped the train between stations, ushering them out of the back car, up a rickety set of metal stairs and into the control tower for the 7 line, which shook every time a train rumbled by below.
The press viewed the long, gray control panel, which shows a map of the tracks and stations on the line, with colorful lights marking the location of trains and showing which tracks are open.
Hoban began his tour by saying that the 7 line — by itself — constitutes the fourth largest transit system in the United States, based on the number of passengers transported each day.
Even though the 7 line has only 19 miles of track and 21 stations, its trains carry about 475,000 people each day — more than are carried by the transit systems in entire cities, such as Los Angeles, Philadelphia and Atlanta. During peak hours, up to 1,000 people pass through the 7 line’s Main Street station each minute.
Because of the high volume of passengers and the frequency with which the trains run, maintaining the 7 line is a challenge, Hoban said. “Anything you do on this line is like rebuilding a car at 60 miles per hour,” Hoban said. “Think about that — trying to change a tire at 60 miles an hour.”
Hoban said he realizes it’s an inconvenience for passengers when service is restricted for work, but he said the maintenance is necessary to keep the trains safe, and occasional weekend closures are needed to keep weekday service running smoothly and swiftly.
“We’re never going to be done with track work,” Hoban said. “If you wear the same pair of shoes every day, what happens? They wear out. In order to carry as many people as we do and run as many trains as we do, it’s like wearing the same pair of shoes every day.”
Hoban continued, “We’re running over these tracks over and over and over and over again in the course of the day, every day, 365 days a year. We never take a day off. So that’s an issue that requires constant maintenance.”
So why does the 7 line experience annual closures, when other lines are able to continue running year round? Part of the reason is that the segment of the 7 line between Queensboro Plaza and Times Square — the piece that experiences closures for several weekends in a row each year — only has two tracks, rather than three.
“When one track is taken out of service, there is only one track left, and that is not sufficient to run service,” Hoban explained, adding that the sharp curves in the tracks in Long Island City are “unusually maintenance-intensive.”
Curved track wears out faster, he noted. “The steep grade and tight clearances in the East River tunnel also contribute to an above-average need for closures,” Hoban said.
If the MTA did track maintenance without shutting down the 7 between Queensboro Plaza and Times Square, weekday service would slow down significantly, since trains would have to run slower around construction areas to protect the safety of the work crew, according to Hoban. That would lead to traffic jams on the 7 line during the work week.
When 7 line service is shut down, the MTA provides shuttle service to Queensboro Plaza for people living in Long Island City, but there is no added bus service into Manhattan.
That is because there aren’t enough buses or drivers to accommodate everyone who would normally ride the 7 line, Hoban said. It would take 40 buses to replace one train.
Each time the MTA shuts down part of the line for maintenance, different projects are planned. Part of the work usually entails replacing old track. In addition, during the last maintenance project, all the piping and pump rooms for the tunnel were rebuilt, and caulking work was done, which was necessary since the tunnels leak, Hoban said.
In the last three years, $72 million has been spent on replacing switches, which allow trains to move from one track to another at intersections. The system by which tracks are attached to ties is also being changed, to make for a smoother, quieter ride, and in some cases, the third rail is being replaced.
Signal upgrades have also been included in the maintenance plans. A string of red and green signals spans the length of the tracks, informing train operators when they can proceed and when they must stop. If an operator ignores a red signal, the train is stopped automatically.
Within the next seven to 10 years, the whole signal system for the 7 line will be replaced with a Communication Based Train Control system, which means that computers will control the movement of trains. Operators will still hold the ultimate responsibility for the trains, but more of the trains’ movements will be automatic.
Hoban said the MTA does its best to transport passengers efficiently — but he said that occasional delays are inevitable. One of the leading causes for delays is sick passengers, he said. If a sick passenger is reported, the train stops at the next station, and an MTA employee stays with the passenger until help arrives. When passengers hold car doors open, service also slows down.
A less common — but significantly more serious — cause for delay happens when people try to commit suicide by jumping in front of trains. Last year, such incidents happened once or twice a week, Hoban said.
Suicides aren’t the only cause of death on the subways. Since the 1950s, 41 transit workers have been killed in the line of duty, including two in 2007. Most were hit by trains while doing repair work, Hoban said.
To help avoid casualties, the 7 line does not authorize repair work at night, except in emergencies, and yellow flags are placed at the beginning and end of work zones to alert train operators of the construction work.
One might think that subway work would become monotonous after a while. But both Hoban and Manuel Zayas, the operator of the 7 train the press rode, said they love their jobs.
Zayas has been operating subway trains for “15 beautiful years.” He said it’s the job he dreamed about as a child, and he still hasn’t gotten tired of it. “It feels like I’m in charge of something,” he said. “It’s fun.”
Hoban has been with the MTA for about 25 years and has been general manager of the 7 line since November. The job requires long, often unconventional hours, and Hoban said he rarely gets a thank you when service runs smoothly. He joked that he works eight days a week, 25 hours a day — and getting up at 4:30 a.m. makes it hard to squeeze in time with his wife and two daughters.
But he said he loves “the privilege of affecting so many peoples’ lives.” He likes getting feedback from passengers — even if it’s negative. And he said he’s striving to do things that will make service better — such as learning Spanish so he can communicate more easily with the Hispanic population — and providing multi-lingual signs informing passengers of service changes.
When asked if he rides the subway to work, he replied: “Every day.”
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