More than two decades later, those rules have slowed down trains more than is necessary for safety, which contributes to a system plagued by delays.
Now the subway’s leader, Andy Byford, is changing the rules in some areas to speed up trains as part of a major effort to improve service for frustrated riders. Over the weekend, the speed limit was raised on parts of two lines in Brooklyn — the N and R trains — from 15 miles per hour to as much as 30 miles per hour. Other lines will be sped up in coming months.
“We want to keep pushing trains through the pipe and moving them,” Mr. Byford said in an interview. He outlined his plans on Monday to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s board, which oversees the system.
The changes to the speed limit are one piece of Mr. Byford’s sweeping plans to turn around service and modernize a system that descended into crisis last year. Workers have also started to replace faulty signals that trigger a train’s emergency brakes at low speeds, a problem investigated by The New York Times and The Village Voice that has also led to slower service.
Subway riders often wonder why an express train suddenly crawls along slowly instead of zooming to the next stop. Slow train speeds are less disruptive than major delays caused by train breakdowns and sick passengers, but they have added to the feeling that the system is constantly delayed.
Mr. Byford says he is confident that trains can travel safely at higher speeds and that fixing the balky signals will allow train operators to travel at the correct speeds.
