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L train technology headed for No. 7?

By Marlene Naanes, amNewYork Staff Writer
More stories | MNaanes@am-ny.com

February 27, 2008

No. 7 line riders in the upcoming years may be able to tell when their trains are arriving under a proposal to be unveiled Wednesday to install electronic signs on platforms, according to transit officials familiar with the plan.

The computer-based technology, which is already rolling out on the L line, would eventually lead to trains being largely guided by computers, thereby allowing them to run closer together.

The train communication system for the No. 7 line is part of a preliminary five-year capital plan the Metropolitan Transportation Authority is releasing today to its board. No further details of the proposal were available Tuesday.

The capital plan contains about $30 billion in projects that would expand the system and maintain it, transit sources said. The plan proposes to move forward with the agency¹s mega construction projects, including beginning the second phase of the Second Avenue Subway.