I C you...

The C train doesn’t do as much as it could, and it hides in the shadow of its big brother, the A train, hoping that no-one notices. The C train is one of the only trains in the system to retain the corrugated tin look. Other lines might have one or two trains that have that rolled up aluminum exterior, but the C is the only one to exclusively sport that look. It is also a couple of cars short, making a pain for anyone who has ever waited at the back of the platform for it only to then have to run (or feign nonchalance while walking really really fast). These are physical deformities, though, and it would be unfair of me to pick on it for that. However, when you look at the map, and analyze its route, you also see that not only is it ugly and short, but it is also lazy.

Traveling from 168th street all the way to Euclid Ave. in Brooklyn is no easy feat. For such a short, deformed train, the C maintains a fairly long run compared to most other trains in the system. However, its true lazy nature can only be appreciated when compared with its big brother and line/color mate, the A train. The A train is made into a confused overachiever with multiple personality disorder if you look at its behavior in Brooklyn and Queens. After all, where does the A train wind up? Far Rockaway? Lefferts Boulevard? The other side of Far Rockaway? All three are correct. But, how can that be? Why do we have one train running to three different and distinct locations? How confusing is that for people getting on to have to not only wait for an A train, but then wait for the correct A train. The A is helped out in Far Rockaway by a shuttle train, but it splits duty between its other two destinations. With this as a given, how does it even make sense that the C train would stop at Euclid Ave? Why have a train running the same line as another train and have one of those trains stop midway while the other goes to two different destinations?

The solution: Run the C train permanently to Lefferts Boulevard. Run the A train Permanently to Far Rockaway. Why can’t that happen? The only reason I can think of would be that with all the extra stops (7 of them), and the same amount of trains dispatched, C train service would be more sparse, which is something that really shouldn’t happen or else the C train will just be a ghost. But, remember from a few posts ago that we have already discontinued the B train and given some of its service and machinery over to the C train – that handles some of the additional needed traffic.

This way would be far more elegant than the way that is there now. It will also serve the purpose of giving the C train a designated task independent of the A train, which will help it create a more positive image of itself.