Slush Cripples 7 Train's Pricey Signal System, MTA Says

QUEENS, NY — Wednesday's slushy snow storm was too much for subway infrastructure along the 7 line, slowing trains to a crawl during morning rush hour, MTA officials said.

Slush covered transponders that sit on the tracks, part of the 7 line's pricey new signal system installed last year, thwarting their ability to communicate the exact location of several trains.

As a precautionary measure, eight trains slowed to 25 miles per hour from their typical pace of 45 to 50 mph, Gothamist reported.

While the transponders are a key component of the line's new signal system, called communications-based train control or CBTC, NYC Transit President Andy Byford says the blame lies not with the technology but with Thales, the company that provided the infrastructure.

Byford claims Thales has known about its transponders' inability to deal with slush since March 2019 but has been slow to solve the issue by covering the equipment.

Similar problems hit the 7 line just over a week ago when a light dusting of snow fell on the city.

"This failure is wholly inexcusable and constitutes a woeful inability on the part of Thales to address a known issue within an acceptable timeframe," Byford wrote in a Dec. 11 letter to the company.

"While I'm aware that work has been undertaken to provide protective covers on a number of transponders, that remedy has been too slow, inadequate in its scope and unacceptably ineffective."

Byford threatened "severe commercial consequences" if the company doesn't immediately remedy the situation.

Thales has a $344 million contract with the transit authority to provide the signal equipment, according to the New York Post.

A Thales spokesperson said the company "is deeply sorry for the impact this problem has had on New Yorkers and their reliable use of the 7 Line under adverse weather conditions," the Post reported.