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So are subway lines switching over constantly in NYC? Or is the redundancy all over? That sounds like a high price to pay for 24/7 service. Even the busiest li

by rtpg 10y ago

So are subway lines switching over constantly in NYC? Or is the redundancy all over? That sounds like a high price to pay for 24/7 service. Even the busiest lines in Tokyo are mostly single-rail. Of course, when a train breaks down, then nothing can happen, but at least you don't need 4 sets of rails, only 2 (one for each direction). There's probably way less in terms of delays because of that too. Each train is on its own set of tracks, so little cross-cutting.

bogomipz 10y ago
>"Even the busiest lines in Tokyo are mostly single-rail." But aren't most of the train lines in Tokyo owned and operated by separate competing companies They don't have to interoperate or not that much correct? Once upon a time the trains in New York City were also owned by separate competing companies, there was the IND, BMT, and the IRT but they now operate as one entity under the MTA. As a result all these lines were originally built differently with different tunnel widths and platform to accommodate the different size cars. I think this level of interop adds to the complexity of the system as a whole.