The Q may be quicker, the N not-so-sluggish and the R actually rapid.
Subway riders with a need for speed will be glad to learn that NYC Transit is picking up the pace on these and other subway lines so trains can get through tunnels at a faster clip.
Q, N and R trains can now travel at 25 mph instead of 20 mph on tracks south of 34th St.
The 15-mph speed limit south of 42nd St.-Times Sq. was scrapped, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority said Monday. And the speed limit south of the City Hall station on the R line got a bumped to 15 mph last week — up from a system-wide low of 6 mph.
A 20 mph limit was removed on the No. 1 line beween 207th St. and 215th St. in Manhattan. An 18 mph speed limit on southbound No. 1 trains between Times Square and Penn Station is also gone, and an 18 mph limit on northbound No. 1 trains in the same area was raised to 20 mph.
The MTA said last month that it would increase five speed limits along the N and R lines between 36th St. and 59 St. in Brooklyn, part of a larger initiative to move trains faster throughout the subway.
Speed limits at more than 100 locations will rise by springtime, the agency said.
Train speeds had been falling for years since the MTA started to rely on signal timers to slow trains after two deadly crashes in the 1990s, one at Union Sq. and one on the Williamsburg Bridge.
Those signal timers were often out of whack, forcing train operators to slow to a crawl or even stop completely between stations.
On Monday, the MTA said it had identified approximately 320 faulty signal timers across the system, and re-calibrated 59 of them.
Signal timers are paired with mechanical devices designed to automatically trip the brakes on speeding trains. The MTA is testing out the addition of countdown clocks to the signal timers that would work like countdown clocks at pedestrian crossings.
The countdown clocks will tell train operators when the signals’ braking devices will deactivate. The MTA hopes they’ll shave train travel time by helping operators approach signals at faster speeds.
The clocks will be tested on four signals along the 4 and 5 lines between Franklin Ave. and Atlantic Ave. in Brooklyn. The first one was installed last week at Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center.
