The subway was a awful B-movie rerun in 2025.
For the second straight yr, the B prepare has taken the doubtful title of New York Metropolis’s tardiest subway line — because it arrived late as a lot as 26% of the time, in keeping with a Submit evaluation of MTA knowledge.
The poor efficiency really marked a slight enchancment for the troubled B line — as in 2024 it took the least on time crown with a dismal 65.1% price of being late. That was worse than the low it hit in 2019 of 65.4 p.c.
This previous yr the B maintained an improved common on-time price of 78.5%, with service dipping to its worst in July at 74.1%.
The prepare — which is greatest often called one of many principal methods to get to Yankee Stadium — begins within the Bronx and heads by way of Manhattan into Brooklyn, with one finish in Brighton Seashore.
Among the many points that brought on the road to be so delayed is that it ceaselessly shares tracks with different trains, particularly in Manhattan, and might gradual to a crawl at main intersections, Streetsblog reported. It additionally has antiquated indicators for a lot of its size.
Whereas a dozen traces in complete had on-time averages under 85 p.c, the MTA solid this yr’s numbers as an enchancment over the previous.
In a December year-end report, New York Metropolis Transit President Demetrius Crichlow praised the transit system’s “good momentum over the previous few months,” delivering an total 84.4% on-time common in November — the “greatest November in trendy historical past outdoors of the pandemic period.”
September’s 85% on-time common equally broke information, in addition to August’s 85.1% common that marked the “greatest August in a decade.”
Crichlow additionally famous that, since implementing subway timetable modifications in November, the B prepare’s on-time averages jumped to 80.7% in the identical month.
“Comparable updates on the C produced a 9-point enchancment from October, and the road’s greatest non-COVID month-to-month efficiency,” Crichlow mentioned.
“Our shift towards data-driven operations and extra superior analytics additionally extends to stronger scheduling practices. Every schedule replace is a chance to surgically pinpoint bottlenecks throughout the system and implement modifications that enhance the rider expertise.”
The system’s failing, old-time indicators plague many traces, and the B is only one of over a dozen trains that had on-time averages of 85% or much less this yr.
The D, Q, M and F trains adopted swimsuit, with 12-month on-time averages standing at 79.4%, 79.7%, 80.4% and 81.5%, respectively.
The G, J/Z, R, N, A, C and a pair of trains had been marginally higher, however all nonetheless maintained decrease than 85% on-time charges.
And to the MTA, “on-time” is even all that on time, as a prepare solely as to be with-in 5 minutes of its scheduled time to be thought of on schedule.
Essentially the most punctual prepare total this yr was the L, arriving on-time roughly 90.3% of the time in 2025, the info present, adopted by the 7 (89.8%), 6 (89.6%) and 1 (89%) traces.
Save for the forty second Road and Franklin Avenue shuttle trains, the L was the one prepare this yr to crack above 90% arrival charges.
The L’s service is one in every of 9 trains that dipped in on-time arrival charges in comparison with 2024 – alongside all three of the system’s shuttles and the 7, J/Z, G, M and Q trains.
Of the bunch, the Rockaway shuttle prepare and the M and G traces faltered probably the most year-over-year, with arrival charges plummeting 7.4%, 6.4% and 6.3%, respectively.
Systemwide, delays had been down 3.2% since final yr and 4.9% since 2019 – with the most important enhancements being seen within the C, 2 and B trains.
These traces noticed on-time arrival averages improve 15.5%, 14.4% and 13.4% since 2024.
Nonetheless, the MTA could possibly be doing extra to focus on identified delay-causing points — reminiscent of deliberate work, police and medical points — to additional enhance efficiency, in keeping with a scathing September report from State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.
“Focusing on drawback areas like indicators and points with subway vehicles that add to delays can enhance straphangers expertise and increase ridership,” DiNapoli wrote, noting that subway automobile issues are the “fastest-rising” reason behind main incidents.
“Working with the Police Division, Hearth Division, and Homeless Providers may assist scale back incidents that trigger delays,” the comptroller added.
“Above all, the MTA ought to be clear and open concerning the work it’s prioritizing to scale back delays and the way these actions will profit the general public.”
