NYC subway CBTC cutovers, 2021–2026
For a before/after study on train-arrival data from 2021-04-01 to 2026-09-30. Researched 2026-10-02.
Three event types, kept apart:
- Install/test: equipment in place or under test; trains still run on old signals.
- Mixed service: passengers ride under CBTC on part of the line or fleet; old signals still in place as backup (all legacy projects keep an auxiliary wayside system, so “signals removed” rarely applies).
- Full: whole section in CBTC; later milestones are ATO (automatic train operation) and substantial completion (SC).
“CPC” = MTA Capital Program Committee board book; “IEC” = MTA’s Independent Engineering Consultant. MTA PDFs at mta.info block scripts; archived copies at web.archive.org work.
| Section | Routes | Limits | Event | Date | Confidence | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| QBL West, Intermediate section + Section 1 | E F (M R) | Express D3/D4 71 Av–Roosevelt Av (Intermediate); Section 1 near Kew Gdns–71 Av (inferred) | Mixed service | Before Apr 2021 (planned early 2020) | Medium; before window | CPOC Jan 2020, CPOC Apr 2021 p.24 |
| QBL West, Section 3 | E M (now F M) | 53 St tunnel, Court Sq–50 St / 47–50 Sts (inferred from outage limits) | Mixed service | Cut over in 9-day outage 2020-12-26 to 2021-01-04 | High for outage dates; section limits inferred; before window | CPOC Apr 2021 p.11, MTA outage notice |
| QBL West, Section 2 (first part) | E F M R | Part of Section 2 (Queens, likely Queens Plaza/36 St–71 Av area; inferred) | Mixed service | Planned “by end of May 2021”; by July 2021 CBTC was “in service west of 36 St” | Low–medium; month only | CPOC Apr 2021 p.24, amNY 2021-07-27 |
| QBL West, Section 2 sub-sections | E F M R | Not named | Mixed service | 3 sub-sections between Apr and Nov 2021; cutovers paused ~Jul–Oct 2021 for software fixes | Medium; no exact days | CPOC Nov 2021 p.22, CPOC Dec 2021 minutes, THE CITY 2021-11-16 |
| QBL West, Section 2 sub-section | E F M R | Not named | Mixed service | 2021-11-06 | High (exact day in IEC report) | CPOC Nov 2021 p.22 |
| QBL West, last section | E F M R | Likely express tracks 36 St–71 Av (inferred from the outage) | Full CBTC on all of QBL West | February 2022; likely Presidents’ Day weekend 2022-02-18 to 02-22 (inferred) | High for month; day inferred | CPC Apr 2022 pp.15, 27, MTA Feb 2022 work notice, Systra |
| QBL West | E F M R | Union Tpke–50 St/8 Av and 21 St–Queensbridge | ATO starts (ramped up) | Early March 2024 (approved 2024-02-27) | High | CPC Mar 2024, IEC QBL page |
| QBL West | E F M R | same | R179 cars start CBTC revenue service | Between Mar and Jul 2025 | Medium | CPC Jul 2025 p.12 |
| QBL West | — | same | Substantial completion (last contract) | March 2025 | High | CPC Jul 2025 |
| QBL East | E F | N of Union Tpke–Jamaica-179 St (4 interlockings) | Install/test; no passenger CBTC found through Sept 2026 | Testing from Q4 2025; in-service forecast Q2 2027 (MTA) / Mar 2028 (IEC SC) | Medium (absence of evidence) | CPC Jul 2025, CPC Sept 2025 minutes, CPC Sept 2026 TLR: 81% done |
| Culver test track | (F) | Southbound express, 4 Av–Church Av | Test track done | Dec 2015 | High; before window; not regular CBTC service | Wikipedia IND Culver Line citing CPOC Jul 2016 |
| Culver S1 | F | Southbound local (B1), Kings Hwy–W 8 St | Mixed service, manual ATPM, no ATO | Late Feb/early Mar 2024 (video posted 2024-03-02) | Medium (rider video + MTA “first section in revenue service” by 2024-03-25) | CPC Mar 2024 p.10, YouTube 2024-03-02 |
| Culver S2, N1, N2 | F | Rest of Church Av–W 8 St | Mixed service | Jul–Sep 2024; one-way express diversions Jul 1–13 and Aug 5–17; weekend shutdowns Jul 5–15, Aug 9–Sep 16 (inferred cutover windows) | Low–medium; days inferred | MTA notice, CPC Mar 2024 IEC |
| Culver, whole line | F | Church Av–W 8 St (21.7 track mi, 3 interlockings) | Full CBTC with ATO (“beneficial use”) | September 2024; likely from 2024-09-16 after last weekend shutdown (inferred) | High for month; day inferred | CPC Jul 2025 p.13, CPC Oct 2024 book, Sept minutes |
| Culver | F | same | Substantial completion | September 2025 | High | CPC Sept 2025 TLR variance |
| Culver north / Crosstown | F G | Court Sq–Church Av (incl. Bergen St–Church Av on Culver) | Install/test; no passenger CBTC | In-service forecast North 2027, South 2028; IEC says ~2029 (5G radio retrofit) | High (no service) | CPC Jul 2025, NY Daily News 2025-07-28 |
| 8 Av | A C E | 59 St–High St | Install/test; no passenger CBTC found through Sept 2026 | In-service forecast Q1 2027 (MTA, Jul 2025); IEC SC Oct 2027; 91% done Sept 2026 | Medium (absence of evidence) | CPC Jul 2025, Gothamist 2025-07-28, CPC Sept 2026 TLR |
| Fulton + Liberty | A C | Jay St/High St–Euclid Av–Ozone Park-Lefferts Blvd | Contract only | Board approval Dec 2025 (LK Comstock, $1.3B); Siemens/LKC award announced 2026-04-27 | High (no service in window) | amNY 2025-12-17, Railway Gazette 2026-04-28 |
| 6 Av / 63 St / DeKalb | B D F M (N Q R at DeKalb) | 47–50 Sts–York St, 63 St line, DeKalb | Procurement | Proposals due 2026-09-16 | High (no service) | MTA notice S48020 |
| Lexington, Astoria, Broadway, Rockaway, Nassau, SAS | various | — | Planning only (Lex/Astoria pushed to 2025–29 plan) | — | High (no service) | Wikipedia Signaling article, Gothamist 2025-08-15 |
| Canarsie (reference) | L | 8 Av–Rockaway Pkwy | Full CBTC | Feb 2009 (install done Dec 2006) | High; before window | Railway Gazette 2009-03-12 via Wikipedia |
| Flushing (reference) | 7 | Main St–74 St | Mixed then full | Passenger use Aug 2017; full Oct 2017 | High; before window | Wikipedia Signaling article |
| Flushing (reference) | 7 | 74 St–Steinway Tube; Steinway–34 St-Hudson Yards | Mixed then full | Mid-2018 weekends; last segment 2018-11-26; SC 2019-03-07; full ATO May 2019 | High; before window | CPOC Nov 2018 via Wikipedia |
Usable in-window cutovers: QBL West Section 2 pieces (May–Nov 2021, incl. 2021-11-06), QBL West final (Feb 2022), QBL ATO (Mar 2024), Culver S1 (~late Feb 2024), Culver full (Sept 2024). Nothing else reached passenger CBTC by Sept 2026 as far as I found.
- No source gives exact days or station limits for each QBL Section 2 sub-section. The IEC reports for Jul and Sept 2021 (if any exist) or GTFS/real-time data (CBTC lines report train positions differently) may pin them down.
- I found no MTA signals report dated 2026: the July 2026 signals item was moved to Nov 2026. So “no 8 Av or QBL East CBTC service” rests on the Sept 2026 traffic-light report and lack of news, not on a direct statement.
Confounders
Section titled “Confounders”- QBL West instability, 2021–2023. Signal incidents spiked in June 2021 during cutovers; E and F were the worst lines for OTP that month (Bx Times 2021-07-21). The IEC counted 6–20 CBTC incidents a day in late 2022 (THE CITY 2022-12-02). Effects may show up negative first, then improve with software fixes into 2024–25.
- QBL East work, from 2023-03-17. Nightly from 9:30 p.m.: R ends at Queens Plaza, E and F run local in Queens (MTA). Open-ended.
- F/M swap, 2025-12-08. Weekdays 6 a.m.–9:30 p.m., F via 53 St, M via 63 St; M peak service raised (MTA, board item). Changes QBL merges at Queens Plaza; overlaps no CBTC cutover but changes QBL baseline.
- Fleet. R160 CBTC retrofits for QBL (305 of 309 units by Nov 2021; 310 of 335 by Apr 2022). R179 joined QBL CBTC service in 2025. R211 cars arriving on A/C from 2023; 8 Av cutover depends on them.
- Culver weekend shutdowns. F cut back to Church Av on most weekends 2020–2024, incl. Jun–Dec 2023 and Jul–Sep 2024; one-way express runs Jul 1–13 and Aug 5–17, 2024. Ditmas/Kings Hwy interlocking cutovers (non-CBTC) around Memorial Day 2022.
- Crosstown (G) shutdowns. G partly suspended 2024-06-28 to 2024-09-03; weekend suspensions in 2026 for Newtown Creek tunnel leaks. Affects Church Av transfers and F/G mix.
- 8 Av work. Weekend A/C/E reroutes; Feb 17–27, 2023 switch work north of 42 St (MTA).
- System-wide. COVID ridership recovery and crew shortages in 2021–22; congestion pricing from 2025-01-05. Use non-CBTC lines as controls.
Published before/after results
Section titled “Published before/after results”- E line, QBL: MTA says rush-hour travel times fell about 10% (CPC July 2025 signals update, minutes in Sept 2025 book). Governor’s office: CBTC on 7, L and QBL gave “train speed increases of up to 10 percent” (2025-12-17). No method given.
- QBL vs Culver: QBL West took three years after going live to hit SC; Culver met performance targets one year after going live (Sept 2025 minutes). Culver “functioning as intended… with no impact on service” (IEC, Jul 2025).
- 7 line: Lieber says OTP went from 68% to high 80s/low 90s within weeks of CBTC (Streetsblog 2024-02-01). Signal delays fell 60% on the 7 and 56% on the L, 2019 to 2023 (NY State Comptroller report 18-2024). 7 peak service rose from 27 to 29 tph with ATO in 2019.
- I found no peer-reviewed or MTA-published before/after study of QBL or Culver using arrival data. MTA’s monthly NYCT committee performance reports (OTP, wait assessment by line) are the best raw source for a check.