BijouPyramidette t1_jbvdv4n wrote on March 12, 2023 at 12:37 AM

Reply to comment by Pollsmor in Latest subway cars roll into service, start their journey on the A line by kuberlog

That's quite a step up from the usual.

BijouPyramidette t1_jbu8kjb wrote on March 11, 2023 at 7:26 PM

Reply to comment by IIAOPSW in Latest subway cars roll into service, start their journey on the A line by kuberlog

My bad, I really thought the gauges were different. Does that mean you could technically send a number train down a letter line since they are smaller? Mind the gap, lol

BijouPyramidette t1_jbs5877 wrote on March 11, 2023 at 7:43 AM

Reply to comment by iv2892 in Latest subway cars roll into service, start their journey on the A line by kuberlog

There's an interesting historical reason for this. Before there was an MTA, NYC subways were run by private operators that were competing against one another. The was the IRT, which opened in 1904; the BMT, which incorporated in 1923; and the IND which was actually city-owned and operated, starting in 1932. It was only in 1940 that the city took over the privately operated lines. The IND and BMT lines became the B Division (the letter lines), and the narrower-gauge IRT lines because the A division (numbered lines and 42nd St shuttle). As a result of this competition, and the 20 years between IRT and the others, today you have a system with two different, incompatible track gauges.