Quote:
Originally Posted by scalziand
Shoot, the 7 should have extended down to the L since the tail tracks for the 7 already extend to 25th street. If they just pushed it another 10 blocks it would have been there and massively enhanced connectivity, even if they didn't add anymore expensive stations.
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I wish they could do something like this, because Hudson Yards is way too huge a development for that one 7 train station. The problem is that the numbered lines and the lettered ones were built by two different railroad companies (the IRT and BMT), and although the gauge of the rails is the same, the actual bodies of the train cars used on the L are something like 10ft longer and over a foot wider than the ones on the 7, and physically can’t fit in the same tunnels. So you’re faced with having to either completely rebuild the 7 line to accommodate the larger BMT trains (which would probably take over a century knowing the MTA), or operate the combined line with the smaller IRT trains, and reduced capacity as a result (not to mention a huge gap between the train and the platform, unless every station on the L was renovated). It was incredibly shortsighted for city not to require the two companies to standardize the size of their train cars.
Also chris08876, you do know that the congestion pricing revenue is earmarked specifically for subway repairs, right?