Q Train To Lose 'Conversational' Seating, Gain New Trains: Report

PROSPECT HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — The quirky seating set up found in older train cars on the Q line, and others, are about to become dust in the wind, according to reports.

A recent $1.7 billion purchase order from the MTA of 640 next-gen subway cars signals the end of the "conversational seating" convention, according to Gothamist.

The MTA confirmed to the digital news site on Thursday that the new train cars, which will replace the vintage rolling stock found on the Q, B, D and N lines, will have a mixture of fixed and folding benches in the style more commonly found on modern trains, Gothamist reported.

Not only will this mean an improvement in service reliability, as the old cars were notorious for frequent break-downs according to Gothamist, but also it will give New Yorkers a new thing to be nostalgic for.

Q train riders shared with Gothamist their mixed feelings over the news.

Analiese Yu, 30, told a reporter as the Q crossed the East River that “If you’re able to sit like this so you can look out the window, that’s great.”

Another rider said that they appreciated the intimacy of the two-by-two seating.

Veronica Karpoich, 33, explained to Gothamist that the current vintage seating has clear boundaries, essential in a city where personal space is often a blurred line.

The new cars lack “that marker where you should contain yourself, which I feel like, for a lot of people, is really necessary,” Karpoich, a Park Slope resident, told Gothamist.

Read the whole story at Gothamist.com.