We talk a lot about “state of good repair” here at New York City Transit, and for good reason. The subway system is 120 years old and needs regular maintenance and renewal to keep working well, especially for the tracks.
There are 850 miles of steel rails snaking from Van Cortlandt Park to Far Rockaway. To fix damaged sections, workers used to have to carry wooden track ties over their shoulder to install replacements one at a time. Today the process – managed by Chief Maintenance Officer Dom Gallo — is highly technical, and much more efficient.
It starts in East New York at our Linden Shop. There, led by Superintendent Rameshwar Sambhu and Maintenance Supervisor Ronnie DeMaria, we fabricate and construct every single foot of rail, every switch, and every track tie that goes into the subway system. That’s a massive operation, requiring 36 flatbed trucks, 26 trailers, three cranes, and constant use of work trains, overseen by Maintenance Supervisor Kenneth Schulze.
Expert welders like 34-year MTA veteran Rob Frantzen use their skills to prepare every element of metal rail. They perform work known as “frog welding” because, by repairing and rebuilding switches, they enable trains to “jump” from one track to another safely. This technique allows us to rebuild some switches three or four times. Welders also create super-long segments of continuously welded rail – up to 390 feet long — that are loaded onto feeder tables and fabricated one at a time in our welding plant.
Renewing the subway system’s 168 miles of elevated tracks is especially complex. Elevated track is made up of 39-foot-long wooden panels, each purpose-built for its segment. Everything from curves to elevation changes need to be considered in the design, like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle.
Before work starts, our sketching team diagrams the track, marking precisely where every beam, plate, and rail should go. Then, the team at the sawmill churns out tailor-made wooden ties. Everything comes together in the shop, where plates are drilled into the ties, rail is laid down, and every segment of the panel is knitted together. Cranes then load each panel onto a flatbed for drivers like James Salerno to ferry to their destination.
Last year, crews installed 960 of these track panels, the most we’ve ever done. That’s roughly 37,500 feet of brand new, more reliable elevated track. This year, we’re determined to raise the total higher yet by working more efficiently than ever. Just last week, Track Construction Superintendent Stanley Summer’s team replaced sections of track on the F line near Kings Highway and Superintendent Roydell Brathwaite’s team replaced sections of track on the 2 line near 233rd Street in the Bronx.
The best part? We do this work during the middle of the day and on weekends, reducing delays and restoring full service for weekday rush hours with time to spare. To continue improving safety and service, it’s critical we keep our tracks in good working order – and thanks to the efforts of hundreds of colleagues to renew the system, we are doing just that.
Demetrius Crichlow is president of New York City Transit.
