This morning on the Broadway IRT Line something went wrong, and communication about it was poor to say the least. Commuters (including this one) were stuck in the tunnel between 96th and 86th streets for 20 minutes. Announcements were garbled and when clear, not clear about what was going on. Then we heard the conductor complaining that he wasn't getting any info from the motorman. That was encouraging.
Eventually riders were asked to walk to the front to get out at 86th street since only the first car made it into the station. But people were asked to do this before the doors opened so there was a rush to the front. Then the conductor said "Wait till I tell you." which of course he had told everyone to do. When we got out of the train, there was another train in the station in front of us. The bell rang. The doors closed. They opened again. There was an incoherent announcement. I jumped on the train. The doors closed, and opened again. Another announcement I couldn't make out. I got off the train and come home. Waiting for it to clear through.
The point of all this though is that once again the NY Subway system shows itself incapable of dealing with minor issues, much less a real problem. Communication issues -- poor communication, garbled communication is completely unacceptable today.
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