Early yesterday evening I traveled from Queens to Manhattan. The N train crawled ... and crawled ... and crawled ... at a snail's pace through the tunnel between Queensboro Plaza and Lexington Avenue. A subway train stopping and starting and going slow through a tunnel is nothing new. Usually there's a signal malfunction or congestion that causes the problem. But this was something different.
Very different.
Just before the train picked up speed again, I saw, through the window, four or five track workers standing right outside the train. They were face-to-face with the window, only inches separating them from the train. You could see that they were petrified, quaking under their orange vests and hardhats. Considering what a hot day it was and what they were wearing, this must have been pure torture for them.
Something clearly was very wrong.
Clearly someone goofed. These men were not given enough time to clear out of the tunnel before the train came. It was a miscommunication of some sorts or just downright imcompetence. The result was a very dangerous situation.
How could this happen? After all the track workers who have been killed in the line of duty, how could such a situation be allowed to arise again?
I cannot imagine that this was business as usual. This was clearly a highly, highly unsafe situation and I'm sure the Transport Workers Union would never agree to let their members labor in such unsafe conditions.
But at this moment I was thankful, not for the MTA which is run by a bunch of hacks, but the subway workers who literally give their lives so that we can get around this town. They have brutally tough job and they should be protected at all times.
I hope something like this never happens again.
Very different.
Just before the train picked up speed again, I saw, through the window, four or five track workers standing right outside the train. They were face-to-face with the window, only inches separating them from the train. You could see that they were petrified, quaking under their orange vests and hardhats. Considering what a hot day it was and what they were wearing, this must have been pure torture for them.
Something clearly was very wrong.
Clearly someone goofed. These men were not given enough time to clear out of the tunnel before the train came. It was a miscommunication of some sorts or just downright imcompetence. The result was a very dangerous situation.
How could this happen? After all the track workers who have been killed in the line of duty, how could such a situation be allowed to arise again?
I cannot imagine that this was business as usual. This was clearly a highly, highly unsafe situation and I'm sure the Transport Workers Union would never agree to let their members labor in such unsafe conditions.
But at this moment I was thankful, not for the MTA which is run by a bunch of hacks, but the subway workers who literally give their lives so that we can get around this town. They have brutally tough job and they should be protected at all times.
I hope something like this never happens again.
Well.... that's how they do it... If they waited for them to clear the tunnel... the trains would be tied up... So a foreman with a lantern signals the motorman to go reeeeeal slow.... And the workers all step into little safety zones where they aren't at risk from a slow moving train.... Now, a fast moving one would have been a different matter.... I remember the first time I saw this, I was shocked too... You'll be seeing a lot more of it! Perfectly normal!
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