How Does the Subway Prepare for Winter Weather?

How does the subway prepare for winter weather? When we know that extreme cold weather or a significant winter storm is approaching, we implement what we call a cold weather plan. The goal of the cold weather plan is to keep our customers and employees safe. The cold weather plan also protects our infrastructure so that when the storm passes, we can restore normal service as soon as possible. Under the cold weather plan, subway service may change based on the forecast and actual weather conditions. Changes could include express trains running local trains running only on the underground parts of the line, or no trains running at all on some lines in the most severe weather conditions. We may even shut down the entire system when a storm is coming. We communicate to customers far in advance as possible and in a variety of ways, but because weather and forecasts can change quickly. We recommend that customers check our website and social media to keep track of the latest changes. After the storm passes, we restore as much service as possible wherever we can. This process can take several hours or even as long as a day or two, depending on the severity of the storm. Every storm is different, so every service restoration is different too. So why do we have to do all of this? It's just no right. Can't trains run through snow despite what you see in the movies? It's more complicated than that. Our first job is to protect our passengers and employees so we won't run revenue trains anywhere. There's a safety risk. Our second job is to protect and maintain our tracks, cars in yards, so that when the storm passes, we can restore service as soon as possible and get our customers where they need to go. The main way we do this is by protecting our subway yards from becoming frozen, both literally and operationally. You see a subway yard. It's like a parking lot for trains. It's where trains are stored, maintained and repaired when not in service. Our yards are critical to restoring service after a winter storm. So we have to keep them free of snow and ice so that they're ready to go once the storm passes. It's much easier to do this when there's no trains in the yard. So where do we park the trains when the yards have to be cleared, the express tracks, of course, these metal tracks are the only places in the system where we can store trains without affecting local service. That's why before and after a storm, you may see limited or no express service. During the storm, you may still see trains running even when a line has been crossed, sometimes a regular passenger train that's not in service, we run trains this way to keep the tracks warm and help clear snow. But sometimes by train you're seeing is a very special one. Part of our snow fighting by sleet. Snow throwers keep snow off outdoor tracks. Designers use special fluids to keep rails from icing up. And jet snow blowers use super hot air to keep snow and ice off our tracks in our yards. And that's how the subway prepares for winter weather. You can find our winter weather travel guide at MTA.info/ColdWeather Bundle up.

Channel: mtainfo

Views: 159,244

Keywords: mta, nyc, ny, transit, bus, train, railroad, bridges, tunnels, transportation, snow, winter, cold weather plan, blizzard, local, express, animation, yard, cold

Id: 6mYS_SAPAVc

Length: 3min 17sec (197 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 22 2017

Reddit Comments

[u/[deleted]]

Subway saint DJ Hammers is on our side too

[u/zhadn]

pretty interesting how the trains need to be stored on the express track, leading to less express service

[u/LifeBeginsAt10kRPM]

Yesterday was a mess for the commute but I guess it helps the next couple of days not be as bad.