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it's frustrating to read this thread and watch people make excuses for NYC . NYC is not special. Tokyo has old subways 3-4x the stations and 10x the riders. They manage to rebuild , change tracks, build new ones and generally do the maintainence and upkeep required to keep it running well and on time.

NYC's issues are entirely about politics and leadership and nothing to do with anything unique to NYC

que more excuses

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NYC is unique in that they are one of the few systems running non-stop. Any maintenance results in delays. Other large systems (Tokyo, Moscow, London) shut down most nights. Those 4-5 hour windows can make a lot of difference.

As I mentioned in another comment: what stops NYC from running replacement busses while one of the lines is under maintenance during the night? A bunch of cities do that, for example Berlin, I don't see what stops NYC from doing the same...

The economy of Berlin is based on available transport. Using buses prolongs journeys a lot, e.g. in London the city estimated that a sizeable chunk of people will see a 30+ minute journey reduction due to night tube.

Using replacement buses works but would likely damage 24h businesses and take one of New York's advantages away.

The highway organization and hydrology of NYC Metro and Berlin/Tokyo/Beijing are very different.

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