Despite Social Media Complaints, MTA Says Fewer Hot Subway Cars Now than Last Year

A car on the 1 train that Gothamist recently called the hottest subway car in the city is no longer riding the rails. The MTA said car 1872 was replaced, so it could be taken out for service.

The news was first reported by the New York Post. 

MTA spokesman Shams Tarek said the problematic car was repaired four times since May and is now being refurbished. But that job was already planned long ago because the car is over 30 years old. 

It may seem like there are more hot cars than ever because so many people contact the MTA now through Twitter as they encounter the subway saunas. But Tarek said there are actually fewer cars without air conditioning now than last summer.

"We're engaging more assertively," he said, of the social media effect. "People see they're getting responses and action" to their Twitter complaints, he explained. "We've also increased our followers tremendously since last year."

If you see the same car being reported on Twitter again and again, he said, that doesn't mean it wasn't fixed or checked at some point. WNYC looked into this last summer. 

When a car is reported, he said it's typically checked out at the end of its terminal. If the car's system doesn't respond to a reset, he said, it's replaced with an extra car and taken off line for repairs. Older cars are scheduled for refurbishment of their brakes, propulsion, doors and air conditioning every six years - which was exactly what happened with 1 train car 1872.

Manhattan resident Joe Duley cheered news of the car's refurbishment because he often takes the 1 line to work downtown.

"It's like a bad appendage," he said. "If your leg is gangrenous you amputate it. You take the damn car off, or you fix the thing."

But which train line has the most hot cars? The MTA said it doesn't keep stats by line. But Tarek acknowledged the 1 train has a high high concentration of old cars, which are more prone to having AC troubles. 

He also said that on an average weekday, about 98 percent of all 5300-plus cars system-wide do have air conditioning.

As for fixing the overall subway system, that will have to wait for full funding of the MTA's capital plan.