April 27, 2018 By Nathaly Pesantez
The long-awaited completion date for the MTA’s signal upgrade work on the 7 line has once again been pushed back, according to a new report.
The new date for the system’s complete implementation is now set for sometime in November, months away from its June 30 deadline, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Thales Transport and Security, Inc., the contractor behind the project, recently told transit officials that the delay is due to ongoing design and software issues.
The prior June 30, or second quarter 2018 deadline, was announced in late 2017, and is one of several blown deadlines past the original 2016 completion date. Work on installing the modern, $585.9 million signal system began in 2011.
But Andy Byford, the new MTA New York City Transit Authority President, said the November deadline is unacceptable, according to the Wall Street Journal. He suggested that additional service outages could be implemented to get work done faster.
“I think customers would prefer to rip the band aid off and get on with it rather than have this slow creeping limp to the finish line,” Byford said.
The outages, however, would have to be done on days where there are no Mets games at Citi Field. Whether the outages would be on weekdays or weekends is unclear.
The contractor told the Wall Street Journal that it is studying the feasibility of moving the deadline forward, and that a revised deadline is expected to be announced in the coming weeks.
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17 Comments
I don’t understand the MTA. There’s a finite amount of work that needs to get done on the 7 signal project. If you knew years ago that it takes X hours to do Y feet of track, and you have Z number of workers to do it, and you’ve allocated Q dollars, then you should have known all along whether or not the project would be finished on time, on budget. Why do blown deadlines and cost overruns happen again and again on the subway? It’s so depressing. How is this city ever going to grow and remain competitive when we have to depend on the dysfunction of the MTA? If the work on the 7 signal project is any example of the MTA’s capabilities, let’s just get rid of them and start from scratch before it’s too late.
The city is horrible at project management but so is your rudimentary understanding of the complexity of the project that they are trying to finish.
I wish people would stop complaining about the MTA. No need to be whiny. If you want a nice transit system you can move to Berlin, Paris, Tokyo or Hong Kong. You know what you were getting when you moved here.
When you move here you are getting something that is not available in any of the cities you mention and this continues to make NYC the better city to live in. When a city wide service is not working properly, residents have a right and an obligation to complain.
Especially when their tax dollars help to pay for it!
I have been here all my life and service has declined a great deal. It is a shame this transit mess had to come down to what it is today. TERRIBLE. Years of neglect by the city and especially the State have brought us here. Thanks, Gov. Pataki, Mayors Giuliani and Bloomberg, Govs. Spitzer and Paterson among others. No preventive maintenance and upgrades for years. I would bet the maintenance was written as done and not done. That is the NY way.
Are you senile? You think service now is worse than it was in the 70’s and 80’s? You must never actually ride the subway.
“Senile”? Are you incapable of responding to a posting without an insult to the poster? I have used the 7 train since the Lindsay administration. The 7 line was a disaster during his administration. Then under Koch it improved (there was ac on the trains) and it has been downhill from there. NYC deserves better. I just returned from Paris, France and yes the metro there is cleaner but the issues of lines being shut down with poor signage and information is just like it is here in NYC
CBTC signaling on the 7 line is a complete failure and needs to be removed ASAP!! Used to take 35-40 minutes from one end to the other but now it can take at least an hour when CBTC is on (flashing green lights means it’s on and if they are a solid green, then CBTC is off). Unacceptable!!
CBTC is only active in the eastern portions and only during off peak hours.
CBTC isn’t currently being used west of 33 st.
The entire concept and project was and is totally unnecessary.
The bureaucracy is running on its own and DeBlasio and Cuomo say nothing.
Both of them ARE the problem. Privatize the MTA.
Henry is right. Why can’t the public know what is going on. I was traveling on the E train last Sat and it was rerouted on the M line and there were no signs at Court Square Station. Mr. Byford has promised better communication between what is happening and how quickly and accurately we get that information. The contractors need to be held accountable and not be paid if they blow deadlines. Remember this was a project to be finished in 2016.
Did the contract get fined? If they need to pay millions back, they would not have any delay. However, you know MTA is too smart to have such thing.
4/27/18 9:47 am – 40th Street Station inbound to Manhattan: signs stating no trains after 9:45 am turnstiles not blocked. Ask agent and got a yest no trains. Go to other side to ride up to 61st and take train back. Local pulls into inbound. Ride to 61st Street, take local to Queensborogh-took an extra 45 mins. to get to work today!
It would be very nice if the public was informed of exactly why the work is taking so long. I cannot recall when the 7 line operated 7 days a week, 24 hours a day without delays. This has been going on for years and years now. The public needs to be informed of the specific issues in regards to the change of the completion date.
I’ve sent in dozens of complaints online and over twitter during the three years I lived in Sunnyside. And every time asked when CBTC would be finished. No response, no acknowledgment, nothing. It’s a pathetic disaster.