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The Number 9 Train's Final Days
By
Jen Chung
Published May 25, 2005
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published May 25, 2005
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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As it was suggested last year, the 9 train is leaving the NYC subway system. There's a NY Times story about how signs will be taken down as the 9 train will go to subway heaven on May 31. For instance, the "9" will be taken down from the flashy Times Square subway entrance, and the 9 information are probably black-decaled over on the platforms. The 9 train had served as a way to help get people living uptown to their destinations faster by offering skip-stop service (the 1 would go local). But now that there are more trains overall, and more people living uptown, the 9 is an old-fashioned throwback. Lawrence Reuter, President of NYC Transit, told the Times:
"Skip-stop service on the 1 line is an idea which today doesn't make sense for our operations or our customers. By eliminating skip-stop service, the majority of riders along the 1 line will benefit from shorter travel times and will no longer have to stand on platforms as trains pass them by during rush hour."
Still, the 1 and 9 remain inseparable in our minds. There's good subway ephemera in the article, like how the 8 train was an elevated train along Third Avenue and that skip-stop service is still on the J and Z lines.
More about the subways on NYC Subway. And Gothamist on how the 1/9 trains have been dirtiest and the death of the Q Diamond.
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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