New York has been replacing its 1930s fixed-block subway signals with communications-based train control since the Canarsie (L) line, in full CBTC operation by 2009; the Flushing (7) followed in November 2018, and parts of Queens Boulevard and Culver since. The MTA reports CBTC lines run up to 10% faster, and on-time performance on the 7 rose from 68% in 2018 to 91% in 2023. Pace and price are the counterweight: the 7 arrived five years late and $157m over budget, and the agency's own systemwide projection in 2018 was nearly 50 years. Congestion-pricing revenue funded the first A/C signal contracts in December 2025.
MTA-reported: on-time performance on the 7 line rose from 68% in 2018 to 91% in 2023 after CBTC, and CBTC lines run up to 10% faster. Not independently audited.
🎓 Lesson
'Substantial completion' is not revenue service. The MTA declared substantial completion of the Eighth Avenue Siemens signalling contract in March 2025, but that is one contract inside a corridor project — the corridor was not a converted line at that date.
Evidence🏛️ Official
Scale🏙️ City-wide
Cost≈US$25M per track mile (MTA, 2025), down from ≈US$50M; US$1.3B contract for the A/C Fulton and Liberty Avenue signals
FundingMTA capital plans; the first signal contracts backed by congestion-pricing revenue were awarded in December 2025
Sources
↗ MTA Capital Program Committee, July 2025 (authority)Operator document stating that MTA declared Substantial Completion of the Siemens contract on the 8 Av CBTC project in March 2025 — one contract within the 59 St to High St corridor project, not the whole corridor and not revenue service.
↗ MTA — CBTC on 8 Av project page (authority)Operator project page: scope runs 59 St in Manhattan through High St in Brooklyn, serving the A, C and E; blocks automated fetching (403), content verified via search index of the same page.
↗ Governor of New York / MTA, 17 December 2025 (authority)Source for the operator's own performance claim — previous CBTC installations on the 7, L and Queens Boulevard (E, F, M, R) yielded on-time improvements and train speed increases of up to 10 percent — and for the Fulton Street (2020-24 plan) and Liberty Avenue (2025-29 plan) split.
↗ amNewYork, 17 December 2025Independent press confirmation of the funding link: MTA board approved $1.3bn to L.K. Comstock for A/C Fulton and Liberty Avenue signals plus $151m to Siemens for 25-year maintenance, the first round funded by congestion-pricing revenue.
↗ Regional Plan Association, March 2025Carries the sentence 'On-time performance has improved from 68% in 2018 to 91% in 2023 on the 7 Flushing line', plus the 2025-29 scope: at least 75 miles of CBTC on the A, J, Z, N, Q, R, W and Rockaway S, taking the subway to 40% CBTC coverage. RPA restates MTA performance data; it is not an independent audit, and the report does not state which on-time definition is used.
↗ Railway Gazette — New York: Signalling the Subway (trade press)Programme chronology: Canarsie line procurement issued 1997 with three suppliers shortlisted in 1998, Siemens the eventual supplier, and the June 2010 award of the $343m Thales contract for the Flushing line.
↗ Reinvent Albany, November 2018 (independent watchdog)Independent cost and schedule counterweight: the 7 line CBTC project was five years late and at least $157m over budget, against a Thales contract completion date of November 2016.
↗ Streetsblog NYC, 15 May 2025Source for the cost-per-mile figures, which are MTA claims: CBTC down from about $50m to about $25m per mile. Also carries independent criticism from Alex Armlovich (Niskanen Center) of the former practice of retaining the 1930s signals as backup.
↗ MTA / Mass Transit, 24 January 2020Establishes that the cheaper ultra-wideband alternative is a pilot, not a deployment: a nine-month Thales/Piper trial on the Flushing and Canarsie lines, with MTA committing only to apply lessons learned to future CBTC work.
↗ NY1, 3 March 2026Current state of the funding source: a federal judge ruled the US DOT's attempt to rescind approval of congestion pricing unlawful; the toll and the revenue stream behind the signal programme continue, with a federal appeal still possible.
📎 Cite this project
1001 Smart Cities (2026). “MTA Subway Communications-Based Train Control” — New York City, United States. The Smart City Atlas. https://1001smartcities.org/projects/ny-subway-cbtc/ (last verified 2026-07-26). Data: CC BY 4.0.
The underlying data is free to reuse with attribution — see the open data page.
