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Exteriors of NYC subway trains covered in grime while MTA repairs car washers
By
Stephen Nessen
Published Sep 17, 2026
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Stephen Nessen / Gothamist
By
Stephen Nessen
Published Sep 17, 2026
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Subway cars across multiple lines aren’t looking their best these days.
Trains on the E, F, L, M and R lines are all running with dirty exteriors while the MTA repairs the subway car washers at two of its depots, the agency confirmed.
The MTA said the repairs are part of a $73 million job to fix the car washers at Jamaica Yard, where trains on several lettered subway lines are maintained, and Canarsie Yard, which services the L line. Subway trains on the L line have been dirty since last year when the Canarsie car washer broke down.
The MTA said the work on the Jamaica train washer won’t be finished until 2028. The agency also reported they plan to shut down the car washer on at the 207th Street yard, which services trains on the 1, A and C lines. That project is scheduled to be finished next year, along with the fix at Canarsie.
Stephen Nessen / Gothamist
But for now, the grime is building up.
Michelle Godoy, 30, from Bensonhurst, examined a smear of black streaks down the side of the L train car she boarded last week. It looked like a fossilized coffee stain.
“I wish I didn't see it, to be honest. It kinda grosses me out,” Godoy said. “That's why I have hand sanitizer, hand wipes with me at all times.”
Keron Gray, 34, from Canarsie, was among the commuters who said he didn't care about how the outside of the trains looked. He noted MTA staff regularly clean the trains' interiors.
“Most likely riders are more concerned with the inside of the car and the cleanliness of that and just getting to where they're going,” Gray said, before boarding an L train splattered in stains.
The train car washer at Canarsie Yard undergoing extensive repairs.
Stephen Nessen / Gothamist
MTA spokesperson Laura Cala-Rauch confirmed that some “cars are moved to alternate wash locations" when possible.
“This proactive bundling approach will facilitate one of the most comprehensive train wash rehabilitation programs undertaken in the agency’s history, allowing the MTA to deliver these three new wash facilities better, faster, and cheaper and give New Yorkers the clean train cars they deserve,” Cala-Rauch wrote in an email.
At the West Fourth Street station, Annelies Clemente, 59, who was visiting from Walden, New York, marveled at the grime as an M train rolled in. She noticed how much dirtier it was than the shiny new B and D trains across the platform.
“I think that cleanliness is godliness,” she said. “I think that everywhere you look, when you see dirt, the elevators, everything, if we would clean everything more, New York would be a much more wonderful place to be, and it would uplift the people that live here.”
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transportation
Stephen Nessen
Stephen Nessen covers transportation. Since 2008 he has reported on everything from Occupy Wall Street, the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, Hurricane Sandy, to Trump’s campaign for president. His transportation reporting has taken him everywhere from the MTA’s secret Rail Control Center to the gleaming subways of Seoul. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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