Collective Film Group

HISTORY:

 

The New York City subways have been a fixture

in the city since Mayor George McClellan took

control on the inaugural run of the city’s

innovative new rapid transit system on October

27, 1904.  It was the beginning of what is today’s 236

miles of track connecting four of the five boroughs.

 

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The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the City of New York and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, a subsidiary agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened in 1904, the New York City Subway is one of the world's oldest public transit systems, one of the world's most used metro systems, and the metro system with the most stations. It offers service 24 hours per day on every day of the year.

The New York City Subway is the largest rapid transit system in the world by number of rail miles.

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The system is also one of the world's longest.   When it was built, it actually linked three independent companies into one. While New York boosts of its success with its subway, we also delve into a collection of unexplained indents that occurred over an 80-year period that to this day haven’t been fully explained by the city.

Regardless of whether you believe in ghost stories, we believe you’ll find it interesting. 

 

SUBWAY ACCIDENTS:

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Despite the signal system, there have been at     

least 64 major train accidents since 1918, when  

a train bound for South Ferry, smashed into      

two trains halted near Jackson Avenue on the    

IRT White Plains Road Line in the Bronx.         

Several accidents resulted when the train           

operator ran through red signals and rear-        

ended the subway train in front of it; this          

resulted from the signaling practice of "keying 

by", which allowed train operators to bypass     

red signals.                                                               

 

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The deadliest accident, the Malbone Street Wreck,

occurred on October 31, 1918 beneath the

intersection of Flatbush Avenue, Ocean Avenue, and

Malbone Street (the latter of which is now Empire

Boulevard) near the Prospect Park station of the then

- BRT Brighton Line in Brooklyn, killing 93 people.

As a result of accidents, especially more recent ones

such as the 1995 Williamsburg Bridge crash, timer

signals were installed. These signals have resulted in

reduced speeds across the system. Accidents such as 

derailments are also due to broken equipment, such

as the rails and the train itself.