Train in Vain

Train in Vain

As one part of its year-long subway centennial celebration, the MTA has pulled a few vintage cars out of the Subway Museum, dusted them off and put them back in service. The cars, which were built for the IND and remained in operation from the 1930s to the early 70s, are being put back into regular service for the next year along the A line between 59th St./Columbus Circle and Brooklyn's Jay St./Borough Hall stations.

We think it's a fine, charming-even funny-idea. We've strolled through these cars, with their wicker seats, porcelain fixtures and ceiling fans, while they were on display in the museum, and they're quite lovely.

We do have to wonder, though, how wise this idea really is. Next month, the MTA is offering a day-long extravaganza in which people will be able to ride a variety of different vintage subway cars, but they're charging $30 a pop for that. Who's gonna pay $30 for a subway ride? A bunch of train geeks and history buffs-in short, people who will be respectful and appreciative of what they're riding in. But to put these cars back in regular service for the rest of us? With wicker seats and no air conditioning?

Straphangers have changed considerably over the past 70 years. There are more of us, for one thing, and we're fatter. We like our air-conditioned trains in the summertime, and more of us are carrying knives. We don't care about history, we don't care about much of anything. Plus we like to carve shit up. Charming idea or not, how long does the MTA really expect these cars to remain intact?