NYCT news release, 5/28:
MTA Capital Construction Invites the Public to
Operate a Second Avenue Subway Train – Sort of
New Subway Train Simulator Unveiled at the Community Information Center
MTA Capital Construction has invited the public to stop by the Community Information Center and experience the facility’s newest feature – a subway simulator that will give visitors the experience of operating a train through the three new stations of the Second Avenue Subway. Click online at https://youtu.be/IwU2fIf6N4Uto see the simulator in action!
The simulated journey starts on the tail tracks north of the new 96th Street station and enables the virtual operator to guide the train through the tunnels, stopping at the 96th, 86th and 72nd Street stations. Virtual operators with the best times in making the complete journey will be able to post their initials on the leader board, but beware, breaking the rules and erratic driving add time to the score.
Passing a red light, speeding, overshooting the platform and enabling the wrong doors to open are among the actions that will add time to the score. Stopping or accelerating abruptly will cause the passenger mood indicator to drop, which also can add time to the score, while a positive passenger mood will subtract time.
The three new stations in the simulation were created using renderings as well as the actual materials being used in their construction, so the texture of floor and wall tiles and other materials are replicated in the virtual stations as closely as possible to how they will look when completed.
“Since it opened in July 2013, nearly 11,000 people from Second Avenue, other parts of the city and country and from around the globe have visited the center and experienced our three exhibits,” said MTA Capital Construction President Michael Horodniceanu. “They have learned about the history of the Second Avenue Subway, how it was built and what it will look like when it’s completed in a little more than a year-and-a-half from now. With the simulator unveiled today, visitors will experience what it’s like to operate a Q Subway Line Icon train down the Second Avenue line.”
Located at 1628 Second Avenue between 84th and 85th Streets, the center serves as a one-stop shop where Second Avenue residents, businesses, stakeholders and the general public can learn more about the project. Community Liaisons are available to answer questions and address concerns. A first-of-its-kind facility, the CIC offers rotating exhibits and programming about the construction of the Second Avenue Subway.
About the Second Avenue Subway
Phase 1 of the Second Avenue Subway will serve more than 200,000 people per day, reducing overcrowding on the Lexington Avenue Line and restoring a transit link to a neighborhood that lost the Second Avenue Elevated in 1940.
When Phase 1 is complete, it will reduce travel times by up to 10 minutes or more (up to 27 percent) for those on the far east side or those traveling from the east side to west midtown.
The line is being built in four phases, with the first phase providing service from 96th Street to 63rd Street as an extension of the Q Subway Line Icon train. Passengers can stay on the train to travel to the West Side, Lower Manhattan and Brooklyn via the Broadway line. Three new ADA-accessible stations are being built along Second Avenue at 96th, 86th and 72nd Streets, as well as new entrances to the existing Lexington Av/63 Street Station at 63rd Street and Third Avenue. Further phases of the project will extend the line from 125th Street in Harlem to Hanover Square in the Financial District.
