Now that we have far entered the peak-of-the-peak for snow, and that we've also received some snow on a couple of occasions, I think it would be cool to talk about how the MTA does deal with snow across the network. I believe it makes sense to first talk about the LIRR, then MNR, then New York City Transit.
The LIRR alone has quite a snow-fighting fleet. According to the MTA, this is the LIRR's snow-fighting equipment ready for deployment:
- 978,000 lbs. of de-icing material
- More than 22,000 linear feet of third rail heater
- 262 portable snowblowers / throwers
- 250 cars equipped with ice scrapers / contact shoes
- 235 chainsaws
- 167 portable generators
- 28 front loaders
- 25 cubic yards of sand
- 25 torches
- 17 box trucks
- 10 dump trucks
- Eight truck-mountable snow plows / salt spreaders
- Four de-icer trains
- Five excavators
- Three backhoe loaders
- Three cold-air rail snow blowers / throwers
- 2 double-ended snow broom/blower machines
- Two forklifts
The captions aren’t working, so here’s a snow broom:
And, a snow blower at work out east: (I wish I had my own!)
A snow fighter, credit to MTA Flickr for all of these images:
Metro-North, the more wintry of the two has an even more impressive fleet.
- 1,816 ice scraper railcar mounted contact “shoes”
- 635 track switch heaters / melters
- 220 portable snowblowers / throwers
- 196 portable generators
- 146 chainsaws
- 70 Truck-Mountable Snow Plows / Salt Spreaders
- 21 front loaders
- 20 backhoes
- 20 excavators
- Six dump trucks
- Six cold-air rail snow blowers / throwers
- Three emergency response trailers
- Two rail-bound snow brooms
Here’s a limited look at one of Metro-North’s Jet powered snow blowers:
And, the “Darth Vader” snow spreader:
NYC Transit has all of this equipment to help fight snow on it's elevated lines:
- More than 236,000 lbs. of de-icing material
- 9,300 gallons of diesel fuel
- 4,300 gallons of gasoline
- 2,770 ice scraper shoes
- 259 third rail heaters / melters
- 249 track switch heaters / melters
- 230 portable generators
- 218 jet engine powered blowers / snow melters
- 129 portable snowblowers / throwers
- 126 chainsaws
- 60 emergency response vehicles or road service trucks
- 56 box trucks
- 43 forklifts
- 42 torches
- 14 dump trucks
- 11 de-icer trains
- Eight truck mountable snow plows / salt spreaders
- Six front loaders
- Five excavators
- Four debris-clearing trains
- Three backhoe loaders
NYC Transit’s de-icer which constantly roams all over the system:
Now, that's quite an impressive fleet, and it does a good job. However, it doesn't mean service won't be disrupted if things get bad. So, if an awful lot does fall down, there really isn't much they can do to not have to curtail service while they attempt to get everything safely working again. The LIRR will suspend service if snow accumulations exceed 10-13 inches, and I believe the New York City Subway will first try to only run trains underground (i.e the Flushing Line will only run between 34- Hudson Yards and Hunters Point Avenue), and if things get too bad (blizzard conditions), they'll begin to really suspend service. Now, if they need to shovel the yards or keep trains underground during bad conditions, they’ll commonly keep trains parked in the express tracks, therefore, they are out of the way and don’t affect local service.
I think overall the MTA was an outstanding job keeping services alive during storms, because, all in all, people really shouldn't be travelling during storms unless it's absolutely necessary.
I'm sorry this is late, I was hoping to get it out this morning, but I ended up being busy with real-life responsibilities.
If you need real-time information during a snowstorm, always check mta.info