The New York City Subways’ Motormans’ Rant

by Torin Reid

Have you ever REALLY wanted to know why things are the way they are, in today’s New York City subway?Did you ever wish that some on the inside would just come out and talk frankly about the truths hidden within the subway?Well, lifelong rail enthusiast and 28 year veteran of the subway Torin Reid does just that. He takes a long and unblinking look at the New York subway as it never has been examined before. Mr. Reid, who is uniquely positioned to write this book, takes the time to look at the actions of the management, the employees and even the passengers in this information packed book about the subway. The reader will learn things and see angles that he or she never saw before. In this book Mr. Reid takes apart and exposes the overfunded subway capital plans, and tells you about the signal system so that the herd mentality about how these track signals perform can be seen in a more objective light, and so professional contractors can stop using the passengers and taxpayers’ ignorance for their own greed. He shows the dynamics of a train delay and how a passenger can bypass these things with a little preparation. Rather than offer dry testimonials and prepared statements, Mr. Reid will take you next to a manager, train operator, and frustrated passenger so that all can learn the true position of the other.Mr. Reid also has notes within this book he will quickly touch upon Amtrak, Metro North, Long island, New Jersey Transit and other railroads as well.This book is 1/3 life experience and 2/3 research into the way of the New York City subways, it’s employees and its’ passengers, and it is enlightening and well worth your time.

210 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 29, 2019

Reviews

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

Bravo Mr. Reid.

Someone needs to figure out how to dispense copies of this book to the riding public at MVMs. Maybe let station agents sell them (welp, maybe not the latter since station agents aren't allowed to sell anything anymore...uh, but I digress...

This book does a good job of explaining the whys and hows of the system in plain language for those who call train cars "carts" and think the conductor drives the train. 95% of the things that any front line TA worker takes abuse from the public about is because of some edict from a desk jockey at 2 Broadway or 130 Livingston Street.

Next time your train is delayed, know that the train operator and conductor are just as annoyed as you are. Yes, they're getting paid...but they gotta pee, they gotta eat, and want to go home just like you do.

[Richard · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should be required reading for all NYC Subway customers! The author. A 28 year train operator, keeps it simple but also goes into great depth on how the system really works and where the blame really belongs (hint: 99 out of 100 times, the delay is due to one of your fellow riders, so don't take it out on the crew who is just as frustrated as you!). He gets a couple of minor details wrong (for one, Train Service Supervisors do NOT supervise Train Dispatchers, even though some of them THINK they do) but as an 11 year employee of NYCT myself, serving in 4 different titles and working in some of the very rooms mentioned in this book, I can vouch that he knows what he's talking about and has said many of the exact same things which I've been saying throughout my career.

One interesting thing about this read is it was written in 2019, before the COVID pandemic and when Andy Byford was still in charge. So many things have changed here in the last 3 years that many stories told are now outdated, and now feel like distant memories.