MTA Launches $1.9 Billion Signal and Track Overhaul on A and C Subway Lines

The MTA announced the start of the largest signal and track replacement project in the agency's history, covering 42 miles of track and 23 stations on the A and C subway lines serving Brooklyn and Queens. The $1.9 billion initiative will replace analog signaling systems dating to the 1930s with Communications Based Train Control, or CBTC, technology. CBTC allows trains to operate closer together and at higher speeds by providing continuous real-time positioning data rather than relying on fixed block signals. MTA Chair Janno Lieber identified signal failures as the number one cause of subway delays across the system. Approximately 350,000 riders use the A and C lines daily. Comparable modernization projects — including work on the No. 7 line and the E line — have demonstrated substantial performance gains: the 7 line reached 91 percent on-time performance, up from 68 percent before the upgrade, while the E line in Queens recorded a 10 percent speed increase. The entire $1.9 billion cost is funded by revenue from New York State's congestion pricing program, which charges most drivers a $9 base toll to enter Manhattan south of 60th Street. The initial construction phase focuses on replacing aging switches and 250 feet of track between 104th and 99th Streets in Queens.