Quote:
Originally Posted by MotormanMike
Everything you want to do and have suggested has been looked at and seriously considered by those who have the power and authority to make those decisions. And the reason why those things cannot and will not be done is because the system is an old system and if what you wanted to accomplish were to be accomplished by completely renovating the system from the ground up , the system would be completely shut literally for years.
Many of those 100,000+ unemployed that you talk about are unemployed from sectors of work (mostly through no fault fo their own) where they would have never considered working in tunnels with the insane heat , rats , electricity , waterbugs , homeless people that live in the tunnels and with live trains passing by them , even for decent money , let alone $12.50 an hour. Some would no doubt , but don't think an army of unemployed or underemployed persons would kill to take a track worker job. Especially now when our bankrupt governments answer to unemployement is to expand unemployment insurance to 2 years instead of create jobs through tax incentives.
The reasons 'modern metros' are as you describe is because they are 'modern' and were built that way from the ground up. And these modern metros have p*ss poor safety records , like the modern metro in Washington DC where the signals failed on a subway line a few years back causing a collision that killed the train operator and six passengers. Or the high speed rail collisions that have occurred in Germany and France. Since you used the word metro you're probably into all things European so you should know about those.
Conductors don't make 60k a year without overtime , and their jobs ARE necessary on 8 and 10 car trains. Perhaps you confused the job titles of conductors with train operators. Happens often.Train Operators make in the mid-60k range without overtime but we deserve it frankly.
We go through 6 months of training for our jobs and we are trained how to operate 300-400 tons of equipment safely and protect the riders. I cannot post details of what we do and what can go wrong in the system because the wrong eyes could see it here , BUT I can tell you for a fact that things could go wrong if we didn't follow established procedures , and injuries and death could occur.
We do more actual work than airline pilots whose planes fly on auto pilot most of the time yet nobody begrudges them their salaries and the reason they don't is because of the fear factor of flying and the feeling that each airline passengers life is literally in the hands of the pilot. People are not afraid to ride subways so therefore they don't usually think about the job we do and if they do , they don't think there are safety issues involved because the train is on tracks and not in the air. But let me be direct in saying when you get on a train , yeah , your safety IS in the hands of the one operating the train. Some people that don't think we deserve that kind of money usually think so because it is one of the few decent jobs left that does not require a college education , although many of us , myself included , do have some college.
You do not know the culture of the MTA and speaking frankly train operators and track workers are NOT buddy buddy down here and there is at BEST a professional working relationship between those two titles , and I am not on here to say how great they are , but what you are suggesting is to vent your frustrations with the system and not because your ideas are actually practical.
I do appreciate your input though.
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It's not your fault the system sucks.
My ideas may not be practical, but in the long haul- it's what would be great to get done.
Hence the joke about the tallest building in the world.
If you read into it- you'll note that when the WTC fell, NYC in a month erected a plan to build the largest freestanding structure in the world.
In that time it was completely trumped by a project that started later, and was completed way earlier, by a nation that used next-to-slave wages from illegals who didn't have so much as the benefit of 99 weeks of unemployment.
While the High Speed Rail industry may not have 100% safety rating, it certainly is much closer to 98% than driving an Automobile ever will be.
If you could double the efficiency of the NYCT Subway by sacrificing 1% of safety, and get 10% more people on it rather than driving or in Taxis. In the greater good, more lives would be spared.
I understand this is never the intention of our governments- but again- nothing will ever get done for the good in New York if we think with the concern and greater good for every individual. Sort of goes against the human nature of living on an Island.
Good luck down there in the tunnels. I know you don't set your salaries- and some do the best a job they can with what they are given; but your highest ups are crooks and criminals, most with absolutely no urban planning knowledge.
How is it they can unsuccessfully guide the system into turmoil and remain in power?
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