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Transit August 2026

Every Subway Signal Upgrade Has Finished Late. The G's Is 22 Months Behind and Counting

Seven communications-based train control (CBTC) projects since the Canarsie line, from contract award to the date the MTA promised and the date it delivered or now projects. Four are finished, 11 to 27 months late. Three are running, 21 to 33 months late by the MTA's own consultant. The Crosstown contract was signed in March 2023 as a "just under five years" job; activation is now put at 2029.

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All seven subway signal modernizations since 2003 finished late or are running late, by 11 to 33 months. The G's is 22 months behind and rising.

Each bar runs from contract award (or installation start) to the completion the MTA promised at award, then to the date the line actually ran under CBTC or the date the MTA's independent engineering consultant now projects. Months late are measured against the promised date.

  • Contract award to promised completion
  • Promised completion
  • Months late, delivered
  • Months late, current projection
Source: MTA capital program materials as reported by Gothamist (Jul 28, 2025), Metro Magazine (2015), THE CITY (Dec 2022), amNY (Dec 2022), 6sqft (Jul 2025) Note: Canarsie dates are the MTA's published history as compiled on Wikipedia; no award date was published. Queens Blvd West is dated to the final section entering CBTC service (Feb 2022); the consultant dates project close-out to Mar 2025.

Late is the norm, and the G is on the same curve. The Flushing line's signals were promised for 2016 and switched on in November 2018. Culver South was promised for June 2023 and delivered in September 2025. The Crosstown contract was signed in March 2023 as a job of "just under five years"; the MTA said "through Q3 2027" in June 2025 and a month later put activation in 2029, because the R211 cars the line will use need new radios first. That is 22 months against the promise, before the Newtown Creek tunnel leak repairs that added closures in 2026.

What the G gets when it is done is what the L and the 7 already have: trains that know exactly where the train ahead is, so they can run closer together and recover faster from delays. The MTA has not published a headway or trains-per-hour target for the modernized G.

Dates. Canarsie: installation began 2003, promised 2006, operational under CBTC February 2009 (MTA history via Wikipedia). Flushing: Thales award June 2010, promised 2016 in the 2010–2014 capital plan and 2017 by 2015 (Metro Magazine), full line in CBTC November 26, 2018 (Gothamist). Queens Blvd West: Siemens and Thales awards August 2015, promised March 2021, final section cut over February 2022, close-out March 2025 (Gothamist). Culver South: Tutor Perini award February 2019, substantial completion promised June 2023 (THE CITY), delivered September 2025. 8th Avenue: L.K. Comstock award January 2020, promised January 2025, consultant projects October 2027. Queens Blvd East: board approval December 2021, promised Q2 2026, consultant projects March 2028. Crosstown: award March 2023 (amNY), MTA said "through Q3 2027" in June 2025 (InfraUS), consultant projects July 2029 (Gothamist, Apr 2026).

Not shown. The Culver express test track (2015) and the Fulton and Liberty lines (awarded December 2025, $1.3 billion, no completion date published) are omitted.

Sources: Author's compilation from MTA capital program materials and the press reports linked above.