I had one conductor on the 1 who was really good at being audible and always was announcing points of interest

I agree with you that the subway cars all have the same stainless steel look, but New Yorkers gave the MTA no choice, do to graffiti in the 1970's & 1980's.

I definitely agree with the screens part you mentioned. The screens just advertise the same things when they could have displayed something else. Service changes obviously need to be address for those who are riding the train over the weekend.

The reason why the rolling stock we have now looks identical is because we kinda had to. The red birds were the way they were because the city was broke at the time and they were cheapest equipment we could get. Problem was that the exteriors were difficult to clean which was a huge problem especially in the 70's and 80's when the city had high levels of crime and whenever those trains were being stored in yards or unused track at night, they would because frequent targets for graffiti. Eventually when the city started purchasing new equipment, we went with stainless steel exteriors as those were easier to clean

I 100% agree with fixing the PA systems on the trains. I was on the E yesterday and it was stuck at Spring St. because of signal problems but the announcements were so garbled that I had to go to the front and talk to the operator.

Open gangway is a must. In case of emergency, passengers can run to other rolling stock.

for the landmark parts of the announcements, the Piccadilly line in london has 2 sets of annoucnements, a "peak time" one where station announcements are brief and only mention connections, and a "tourist" one where the local landmarks and touristy things are as well as connections, so the commuters get the info they need without excessive announcements, and tourists get the extra info in the off peak

An art contest for train liveries would be an excellent idea, give some trainsets a unique look and get local artists some publicity.

I am also someone who prefers transverse seating, mainly for comfort for long distance travel. This is one thing I love about the Toronto, Ontario subway system. BMT/IND trains really ought to all have a mix of transverse and longitudinal seating; I know IRT trains are likely too narrow for this.

I remember when the NTTs rolled out on the Lexington Ave lines, the surprising thing was the coherent pre-recorded announcements and how bright they were the lighting on those cars seemed like a major improvement.

I think, to rethink the NTT interiors, we can use darker colour blue seats like they will for R211s to absorb the brighter lighting. For wheelchair seating, use turquoise or a lighter, contrasting blue, NOT yellow. Longitudinal seating is better, but I think transverse seating at the car ends in the corners is a good compromise.

Over the pond in Germany (at least here in Frankfurt) we switched to AI generated Voice announcements, while there where sone Rocky starts, now they sound exactly like before. But funnily enough for decades more of half of announcement in the whole country where voice-recording by a single person. Our subway cars are colored turquoise (a very odd choice and many hate it, I like it because it is standing out).

The advertisements have been on trains since the days of the Manhattan Els

"Having diagrams that display exits relative to the car you are in" He spoke it into existence.

We could extend the Arts for Transit program to include painting the subway cars and more of the stations.

I'm so glad Boston's subways don't have this problem, as each of the lines are distinctly color-coded, which is incorporated into the rolling stock's designs. You can take one look at an MBTA train and know "Oh, that's the Blue line, or the Green line" etc.

I agree with the lack of information on the trains.. I live in Southern California but I come out to New York for a week every year or two(I’ll be there on September 8th)and I get confused sometimes and I’m fairly adept at getting around

Here's my idea, any station is now arrived, they should put accessible station announcement first, like the one in Philly (SEPTA) before the transfer & commuter rail announcements. For example in Philly: next stop - Girard. A wheelchair accessible station. For example on the uptown 5 in NYC: this is 125th St (Lexington), a wheelchair accessible station. Transfer to the M60 SBS to LGA, 4 & 6 trains. Connect to Metro-North.

One thing I miss that you can’t do on new trains is standing at the front window of the first car. I used to love doing that when I was a kid riding the trains. Watching the tracks. Seeing when the trains speed up and slow down. Seeing what the operator sees. These videos show me just how much the system has changed since I was a kid. They’re great. I love them

I remember this operator on the N train. Whenever we would reach the last on the train he would always tell us the weather and what time it is on the PA.

I still rather have the regular screens because it much easier for me to see what stops I would need to. Now i think it would be more useful if they added some information, as long they keep the stop showing up then i'm fine with it.

I think adding a bit of color to the rolling stock would really help, but use different colors for each train model (Blue for R46, Red for R160, and so on)

insane that they don't provide systemwide service changes on trains, where internet access is typically limited to find out myself. that's probably my strongest critique now. very often i'd be riding the 456 to transfer to the L only to find that it stopped running the moment i got underground

I think the PATH trains are largely similar but somehow just nicer looking, maybe its just having color

As a Londoner myself, our S Stock trains (used on the Metropolitan Line, Hammersmith & City, Circle and District Lines) on the London Underground are very popular. The only difference is that the S7 Stock trains used on the District, Hammersmith & City and Circle Lines don't have Transverse seating unlike the S8 Stock trains on the Metropolitan Line. All the seats in each carriage on the S7 Stock train are Longitudinal so they provide more standing room with strap handles during peak times along with the wide open Gangways which is not so bad at all. The reason why the S8 Stock trains on the Metropolitan Line has Transverse seating is because those trains travel as far as Watford in Rural Hertforshire, Chesham and Amersham in Rural Buckinghamshire.

4:59 thats why the London underground is never boring for some people It's colourful

The older trains uses fluorescent lighting vs led lighting for new trains.

In Stockholm, our new metro rolling stock are equipped with LED screens that are mounted above each door pair displaying the station exits/entrances, above level street directions upon station arrival as well as transfers to buses and bus station directions and information about connecting mass transit lines. Due to the old infrastructure of a number if subway stations in New York which require you to exit the and enter through the opposite side of the street for transfers, this seems like an ideal solution to inform passengers who are in a hurry and need to navigate quickly for transfers.

I think they need cab side doors for the drivers and conductors like they have in London and here in Australia so the conductors can help passengers more when at stations also help with dwell times

personally i think that the 'hospital lighting' is quite good because the subway is FILTHY. and having things come across as sterile makes it a lot more palatable to me--the warm lighting on older trains seems to enhance the filthiness of the subway. absolutely agree with you on all other points, but i'd add one, and i think it's prolly more important (except for door standardization) than all the others combined--plug doors. would massively reduce noise levels and allow for more window space, which helps pax claustrophobia (something the MTA looks at in design). in regards to transverse seating that works if (and only if) you want to go the french route and dedicate certain fleets to certain lines. now i think that's quite smart (in general new york could learn from paris in about 6,000 ways lmao and not just with RER/Transilien, the metro in paris is certainly better than what we've got here i can sadly attest), but it would require the MTA to start doing that at a much larger scale than currently.

Agree with the new info screens to provide more information instead of ads. As far as the C/R making better announcements, until you have worked the job be aware that the complexity of more manual announcements on SMEE equipment doesn't provide better service. Considering that more than 50% of the ridership are self involved with headsets, phones, radios and other distractions or are non English speaking, they never hear or understand any of the announcements as is. We try our best to provide appropriate information but it is a frustrating effort. Walk a mile in our shoes to find out what I'm saying is true. I have 25 years experience with NYCT.

I disagree with your comment about having conductors make "better announcements" and list "points of interest" As a former conductor we are told to keep it per the "blue book" which makes straight to the point announcements, we are not paid any extra to let these passengers know where the empire state building is. We are not paid any extra to hold passengers hands. And you try and make announcements for over 150 stops on one tour and lets see how enthusiastic you sound as your day comes to an end. You should be thankful they''re still conductors on the trains and earning a paycheck because believe me if the MTA had their way the'd eliminate conductors from ALL subway lines!

In terms of useful information, I feel the same way about the announcements on the letter trains vs the number trains. On the number trains they say something like "There is an uptown express 2 train to Wakefield-241 St approaching the station. Please stand away from the platform edge." That is a great announcement because it tells you what the train is, both its direction and terminal, whether it's local or express, and how far away it is. That's really all you need to know, and the announcement says it in a clear, concise way. On the letter trains, it just says "The next Brooklyn-bound train is now arriving on the local track. Please stand away from the platform edge" which may be a bit shorter but doesn't tell you enough information.

2:22 Perfect shot, double helicopters.. Amazing.

External sliding doors (similar to those used on some London tube stock), in the relevant colour of the line being operated on, could brighten up the outside of the trains and if done correctly, improve access for vision impaired passengers.

To shorten announcements, here is what I suggest: At station: Brooklyn bound (4) train to Crown Hts, express stops only…….. Stand Clear.. Doors are closing On the train: Next Stop: Fulton St, a wheelchair accessible station, for the World Trade Center, the Pearlman Arts Performing Center and interchange to (A, C, J, Z, 2 & 3) trains are available. Entering Station: Fulton St, doors open right side

I say just wrap the subway cars with different colors. If they graffetti it, just pull the wrap off. Give the NTT some nosogia looks of the old train designs, (red, blue, green, white, etc).

I don't mind the plain stainless steel look of our subway trains on the outside. Personally (this is subjective), shape matters more to me than color. But if you want more color, although I prefer a R46/M3-style colored stripe, the best scenario is to have colored doors, which other train systems across the world, regional rail included, do on purpose for accessibility. (But also, many of those systems have riders open doors by pressing a button. Is there a reasonable application of this in the NYC subway? Otherwise the doors will always open automatically anyway, so does it really matter? lol) For interiors, I feel like deinterlining would make it more practical to give some train services different features. For example, transverse seating is a better fit on the A and J than, say, the G and L. Also I'm personally a fan of cooler lights but they don't have to be bright. Agreed 100% on information presentation. I'd really like for MTA to work on a new system of information relay/display (not talking about technology/electronics but the framework and details of what passengers should receive).

All full-length trains are actually two half-length trains linked together. Since they almost never have to split up, they should be converted to fixed 8/10-car sets by eliminating the cabs in the middle during their next refurbishment. Plus, regardless of ridership, only the 42nd St and Franklin Ave lines lack full-length platforms. The former can stay the way it is since there are planned 6-car sets dedicated for the shuttle and because it shares no tracks with any other line and the latter can be replaced by an underground section with full-length platforms and connect to the Crosstown Line. The Staten Island Railway has half-length platforms but again, dedicated rolling stock is planned.

There used to be a Conductor on the D train, back in the 80's, who did exactly what you are calling for...Welcome Aboard the Dynamite D Express...Have an Amazing Day" MTA ordered him to STOP doing his announcements, saying it was "confusing"...

Mystic you always point out the facts keep it up

I think the dark tunnels are a missed opportunity for advertising, and showing off artwork, and they should make the windows bigger to show it. I don't understand why they never introduced the larger train doors they talked about. Many station still lack accessibility for the disabled, and there should be platform gates to make them safe. Wifi and restrooms should be at every station and on every train. All this should be paid for with corporate taxes, since they benefit the most by having a more productive work force. More elaborate visual advertising like movie trailers would justify charging more for advertising to help keep the fair price down.

MTA should hire this guy

I prefer my bucket seats over the NTT seating. Makes me feel like I'm actually sitting in a chair, while the others make me slide when accelerating and decelerating.

The unpainted cars is to save money and to prevent vandalism.

Moquette seating is an icon of London's Rolling Stock. That, plus the lighting, would surely make for a cozy ride.

5:28 I always thought if u took the color of the train itself and put it in a strip it would be appealing without doing too much. For example, a 1 train could have a red strip along side. While a 7 train can have a purple strip.

PATH PA5s are a great example of what the NTTs could look like. They’re similar to what the MTA’s NTTs look like (Maybe R142A/R160 mix) but they look better due to the their design!

Talking about livery of trains, there's an A train that is decorated in the theme of A-Train from the show "The Boys". As a fan of the show I found that extremely fascinating and I was buzzing through out my short ride on it. The MTA should experiment with more livery designs particularly those of sports teams, as Chicago does with their sports themed garbage trucks.

My favorite ride is the 3. You get everything. You start at Harlem-148 St which might be my favorite station in the MTA(very hard spot to take though because 81 St-Museum of Natural History exists). It's both a station and a train yard, and it's kind of above and kind of underground. You depart and go through an interesting ground-level part before getting to the underground 145 St station. It's fun to ride in the back 5 cars because you go through a stop without the doors opening in your car or you even seeing the station. Once you get to 135 St, the fun begins. You go pretty fast on Malcolm X Blvd through a mostly straight tunnel, similar to the 1 Broadway Local. Then you get to 96 and the Broadway-7 Ave Express is suuuuper fast. Like 50-55mph in some of the fast parts like from 72 St to Times Square-42 St, and in other parts around 45. Whipping by stations at lightning speed like 59 St-Columbus Circle is the best. Fastest express in the system. When you get to Chambers it's not so good, between Chambers and Wall St it's slow and curved as heck. But then you fly under the East River at at least 40mph, maybe even 50. Eastern Parkway between Clark St and Franklin Ave-Medgar Evers College is okay, going at a speed of around 30-35mph, sometimes 15-20 through curvy bits like Clark St to Borough Hall. Seeing the 4/5 whiz by you is kinda cool though, on the 3 you get both the express experience in Manhattan and the local experience in Brooklyn. After Franklin and especially Utica, you pick up speed, solo track no Rogers Junction or anything to worry about. Best part is, you go aboveground. You see East New York, and although it may not be the best neighborhood to live in, it's cool to see nonetheless. Elevated trains are just like that. You get a clear view of the people, apartments, and businesses of East New York. Then you start to rise a bit, passing over Livonia Ave on the L train between Junius St and Pennsylvania Ave on the 3 train(If you look, you can see the next L train station in the Manhattan-bound direction, Sutter Ave, from the 3 train! Cool little bit of information, the stops are VERY close together). The landscape is nice all the way to New Lots, then you're done. Going back uptown I find it's even a bit better, just going a bit faster in most parts. The whole downtown ride 148-New Lots took me 57min, which is quite fast for a line that long. It's pretty quick in all parts except Chambers-Wall St and the ebismal Rogers Junction. Last but not least, connecting this long post to the video, you're doing all this in an R62A, which is certainly my favorite non-automated rolling stock and one of my favorites in general, only really being beaten by the R179 E trains, which I just think are so modern I just have to love them. So Mystic, what's your favorite subway line to ride end-to-end? I'm inclined to think you'll say the 7. It's one of my favorites too, certainly has the best views, 3 is just the best overall experience for me, the hyper-speed and everything. Excited to hear what you have to say! Great video.

Also don’t forget the R188 which runs on the 7 line which uses 11 cars.

I go along with you on the seating arrangements. It is more relaxing to be able to look out the window rather than staring at the people sitting on the other side or looking at the ads above. Also, why do trains to Coney Island say they are going to Stillwell Avenue? This makes absolutely no sense. It just makes life more difficult for visiting passengers. Who thinks of these things?

0:11 so we are just going to pretend that the R44s don’t exist. I’m not going to mention anything about the 211 missing from this list since the order isn’t complete

I am mixed on the design, I don't mind the bare stainless steel but I think my idea for some of the trains livery is to add more dark red striping to the IRT NTTs, wrap the rest of the NTT's on the BMT with the "Cuomo Wrap", ironically I think the interiors on the older cars are ugly mainly the seats and the lighting is too dim. One idea I can think of is have some of the seats ROTATE into transverse during off peak and longitudinal during rush hour.

Love the content, ive never been to NYC, the subway system looks great, the only train ive riden is the vancouver skytrain and i find trains interesting. I find it crazy how many lines and trains there is in new york. Love the content

The problem with the announcements is that they were voiced around 1999 for the A Division and 2005 for the B Division. While they worked well back then, much has changed over the last 20 years, and that has resulted in the announcements being spliced together in a messy and incoherent manner. For example, Select Bus Service didn't exist back then, but was introduced later, so it had to be added to the announcements. It's probably time to start from scratch with the announcements. The transfers need to be announced all at once, with subway transfers coming first, followed by select bus service or bus routes serving airports. Nowadays, the bus transfers are just randomly spliced in. Connections should be listed after that. And then stations with a major attraction or point of interest nearby should announce that. For example, for an E train arriving at 34th Street Penn Station: This is 34th Street Penn Station, transfer is available to the A and C trains, and the M34 and M34A Select Bus Service. Connection is available to Long Island Rail Road, New Jersey Transit, and Amtrak. Exit here for Madison Square Garden. The interior screens on the R211s need to display station information for the next stop, such as what car of the train you are in, where the exits are, and what transfers are available and where in the station are they located. I wonder if this could be retrofitted onto other new tech trains like the R142s or R160s.

I'm not into the cozy lights on the older trains since I doze off with warm lights. I am welcome for the points of interest on the PA. One thing I would like to see is the train to announce other trains that are approaching the station. This is similar to how the stations announce approaching trains. This is useful for people who are thinking about transferring to an express train.

i personally love the look of the arnies and Lo-vs, the dark greens and blacks are such a classy choice, and the golden city of New York painted on the sides really feels like the cherry on top

We should take a page out of London’s book when it comes to the subway trains.

Would be nice to see a red bird heritage wrap on the A-division fleet

About screens in trains. Moscow Metro has screens that show city's and metro's news, different activities or just a couple interesting facts about Moscow

That’s why I like MARTA. Though it’s ofc not as expansive the seat layout and the information displayed inside is really helpful and very well done. Plus they maintain it quite well

New subway cars definitely would have to move to outside-mounted doors. It would alow for huge panoramic windows. And honestly you don't know what you're missing if you've never sat in one of those. Not that important underground in Manhattan, but in the outer boroughs most definitely.

MTA likely won’t bring back transverse seating because it’s only present on 75ft cars and they are being replaced by 60ft

1:33 Those screens belong to OUTFRONT, not the MTA, so of course they will be filled with ads that make OUTFRONT money, not MTA notifications.

Commenting about the train announcements. I was taking the 6 to work and the train operator ended each station announcements with “and remember stay positive and test negative.”

i want the redbirds back, or at least a modern version of it with the classic red paint.

I remember when the 125th Street subway station still had the original 1904 wood platforms and roofs.

yes

The newest of the new trains have the useful information

Hey mystic have u always thought of making your own nyc subway game the reason I say this is because u be great at it cause the way think and your suggestions that u make

The LA MetroRail KinkiSharyo P3010 actually has screens that display stations and Transfer and place of interest information

London has a cleaner system than ours and our system there is too much crime and that should be the first priority

Hmm. The MTA did its due diligence designing the NTT cars. Antenna Designed the cars to move riders efficiently and quickly. The cars were,for its time, able to do exactly what it was built for..not entertain riders. I cannot fault the MTA for doing what it was able to do with car design. The earlier models had less technical bells and whistles,yet worked just fine for years on end. nyct isn't London transport.. Operates more services than they do. While I'm with you on the lack of Information features on the older NTT cars, the 211s will address some of those issues. Also,the so called ideal setting arrangement has been under scrutiny . The PATH cars had a seating set up with more transverse setting near the ends of the cars and longitudinal seats near the doors. Obviously, this didn't work out since they refurbished the PA rolling stock with all longitudinal seating. Even the newest cars came in with those types of interiors, with no plans for changing. The older rolling stock of the NYCT did have transverse seating, from the R1 to R16s. Then the R44 to 68a. The problem was they weren't able to carry more standbys than the other cars, so R27s up to the R42s carried all longitudinal seating. Changes Could be done to car design, more than we see at the moment...with More information centers...which is what the 211s will have Be patient. Things take time to change. Also the bright interior of the new cars are purposely built that way to discouraged sleeping and other activities

Transit might try cleaning the trains and stations regularly for a start. The level of squalor, especially after the homeless have been in them, is truly appalling.

I 100% agree with all you said!!! It's NYC and the rolling stock looks beyond dated and bland. Its NYC!!! it deserves much better.

You have a nice Railfanning experience

After watching the Mets game yesterday I took the subway back to a hotel in Flushing (where I stayed before returning home) and noticed the R188 had doors that weren't perfectly across from each other (unlike the SNEE trains and R160/79). I would fix that...it becomes much harder to implement platform screen doors with these kinds of doors.

I just got to seeing a video showing China's metro stations. These stations look better than most Airport. Building attractive and useful architecture is one way of attracting more people to your transit. If you don't build it this way, than you limit your potential. So gone of the days is to just build and they will come! America needs better! Better Buildings, better Architects and most certainly better people! But if America continues this trend of just getting along, while spending billions of dollars on the military machine, it will continue to be in decline.

Not going to lie but I agree with you for like the screen advertisement I also draw kind of like an r160B and a diagram advertisements say where it goes moving on advertisements diagrams

i was fortunate enough to travel in HK its still get ugly packed, but the reliability and efficiency is amazing!

actually i thought of your videos on the announcements when you said we thought about the smee announcements

I like the new trains' lighting. It is not like a hospital.

Advertising screens are going to do 2 things, decrease costs as they are easier to change than paper, and likely increasing advertising rates. But yeah, it would be nice if they utilized more dynamic screens for service related info on the trains, rather than just for ads.

Aside from the issues you have with the information screens, MysticTransit (I agree with said issues, BTW, and wish that we could have the same info screens on our subway trains here in Toronto), I have no big problem with the NYCTA trains (and since graffiti's [probably] still a problem, I wouldn't be as eager to get rid of the stainless steel ones like you want.)

just an idea would also be to indicate local and express service on trains by diffrent train designs for example diffrent colors used for all local and another one for all express services so that navigating the complicated system becomes a bit easier. you could also reflect that design in navigation apps, maps and so on may be a bit but still better navigation is something new york could improove greatly on

Any idea when open gangway subway cars will come to NYC. This is just another thing that’s been floated about and yet to be realized. The subway system is so frustratingly behind smh.

Great vid!

My favorite commentary KZfaqr

I think a whole other issue is the noise the wheels produce, it’s absolutely horrible when trains approach with that extremely loud squeaky noise. I really wish the trains were more silent because over time it can cause hearing damage.

Here's my take on this: 1. If the trains had led screens, you could list all the nearby sites you'd want to visit, but that's extra $$$. 2. Re-recorded stops should be made to take advantage of both subway and surface transfer points at each station. Have a sensor that is triggered while the train is in the tunnel 3/4 of the way to the next stop that'll give enough time to give all the information needed for riders. 3. Create a transit app that can help you map your journey based on your current location, with service/route alternatives should an interruption in service occur. This could also feature the location of the next 2 busses or trains not yet reached to your closest station giving you a chance to board them on time. 4. As for railcar design? Some simple car wraps with designs made by local artists that reflect the pride of the city.

MTA could literally replace all of the ad space with digital screens, dedicate some of them for active service changes, and pair some of them with the AIS. R179 Sub is crazy though lmao.

The arm rest on the London trains are not big person friendly. No arm rest allows for people of all sizes to comfortably sit on the bench.

One thing you tend to overlook is most overseas systems were built much later than NYC's system. Also, except for the IND, they were built and run by private companies. NYCT tends to be somewhat resistant to new technology, which was surprising when they went to NTT's in the late 1990s and early 2000s. I, as a motorman, was surprised as well.

Have you seen the Marc Jacob's car. I wonder if we will see more like them.

A lot of people will hate me saying this but they need to remove Old Technology Trains, leaving only the NTTS to run, they’re much more better than just saying You like OTT cause of the design, that’s not the point. It’s about improving subway cars with better lighting and features, based on how they run and maps with announcements the OTTs don’t have, they’ve been around for years they need to go.

I agree with you about the new tech. I'm not excited at all by the R211s. They need to break that R143 mold. They're not different enough. Nice to bring back the bullets but from the side, they look like an R143 with smaller windows. The MTA cheaped out by making the wider doors have the same width window. But the inside of the R211s are changed how? They have the same style poles, only yellow. the same type of lighting. The same type of seats albeit a darker color. Where are changes? The green/red lights by the door. OK, but that's not enough. This doesn't look new. Look at the R44 compared to the R42, there was a huge, deluxe change. The R211 is boring IMO. Not sure if they can go to transverse seating but time to change the exterior and interior. The R262 look like the same type of thing. Get some designers in place. And yes to screens giving us useful information.

Why not do this get Alstom Metropolis Platform then spawn two versions from it an IRT and BMT/IND sized? Remember the late 1940s-1960s this was a common practice with BMT/IND R10 being shrunk to spawn R12 IRT R16 becomes R21 22 17 IRT Trains R27/30 these became the IRT R26 33 ML 33WF 36ML and R36WF. *Hint these became the museum train IRT versions of R10 27/30 & R16 TOMC while the BMT/IND versions TOMM*

What u think about the 211t to stop surfing?

Back in the day please do that now you can do that because I have a complaint 30 years ago yes