New York Governor Andrew Cuomo has announced that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) in the US has accelerated the work on capital projects worth $2bn.
This work is being carried out during the Covid-19 pandemic due to reduced passenger numbers.
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MTA projects include the launch of rehabilitation of the F Train’s Rutgers Tube, speeding up the 11 ADA stations, and rehabilitation of 138th Street Grand Concourse Station.
The MTA is also completing the work for the repair of steel and concrete defects and leaks on the Eastern Parkways Line in Brooklyn.
New Yorkers are mandated to wear face coverings in public transport and should follow social distancing protocols.
Since 6 May, the MTA has carried out 30,000 station cleanings and disinfections, as well as 500,000 subway car cleanings and disinfections.
Cuomo also said that the state plans to deploy more than one million masks align with 25,000gal and 500,000 2oz sanitiser bottles to the MTA.
Cuomo added: “New York City and the MTA are reopening, and today I took a ride on the 7 Train because if the subway isn’t safe for me, then I wouldn’t ask anyone else to go on the subway.
“The MTA has done phenomenal work – the subway cars are cleaner than they have ever been in my lifetime and they are disinfecting the cars every single day. And during this period of reduced ridership, the MTA has also smartly increased their construction so fewer riders were inconvenienced and accelerated $2bn in capital projects.”
In March, MTA announced protocols for disinfecting train stations, bus stations and vehicles to limit the spread of Covid-19.
