New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1904-12-28
SUBWAY RECORD TO DATE.
CARRIES 10000 DAILY.
Many Complaints after T4oo
Months of Operation.

With two months of operation to its credit. the
subway is now integral q part of the citys life
as the surface roads the elevated lines. with
their years OF seniority. Complaints Of bad service
and Of defects in cars and signals, and all
the usual criticisms with which railroad man
agement is deluged have been made against the
underground railway. but it remains significant
fact that the traffic is increasing daily, and al
though blocks which delay the trains, they
always have occurred the elevated roads, the
average service is many degrees nearer to rapid
transit than the best of the old systems
The subway is carrying from 10000 to $4,000 pas
sengers day now. and is running just as many
trains as be handled comfortably In fact.
many of the delays and blocks which occur have
been because of the many trains. which clog in the
great vein running uptown because Of some trihing
delay TO one near the head OF the procession. Yet
when delays because of the desire of the
management to many trains possible, the
public protests that the transportation facilities
inadequate and the company should run more
trains. says L. P. Bryan the vice-presdent.
In the first month of its existence the subway
carried some 100000 passengers daily. When the
LenoX-ave. line was put into service. the mid
night of November %. it carried daily from 1900
to 100000 which number has grown considerably
now. In this second month the number of passen-
gers has increased greatly because of the increased
number of trains and because the and rain.
delaying the elevated and surface lines, make the
subway much more attractive by contrast
or the three hundred thousand to three hundred
and fifty thousand passengers carried daily II is
believed that about one hundred thousand taken
from the patronage of the surface lines. The e.
lief to the elevated and surface systems which
expected by the public a result of the opening of
the subway apparent only for a week or two at
the birth of the new system Then conditions re-
adjusted themselves; people began to the lines
which were most convenient instead of riding in the
subway merely because IL was new and had a rep
utation for speed. Just many passengers
hanging from straps now as last winter and the
management Of the elevated lines protests there has
been no reduction in the number OF trains The
surface lines have felt the rivalry OF the subway
more seriously, and their long distance traffic much
or which used to be theirs because the elevated
lines didn't reach some sections Of the West Side
and the Lenox-ave. section, has fallen off heavily.
For short distances however no difference in the
number OF people carried can be observed
1t he's been a subject for much speculation as
10 whence came the two hundred thousand people
VINO use the subway in addition to the hun
dred and fifty thousand estimated as derived from
the old systems Frank Hedley. the general
ager Of the marlborough company believes they
are people who have not been riders" who
induced to travel because they find the new sys-
TEN SO convenient. William Barclay Parsons
thinks that no matter how many transit sys-
TENS may be installed in this city there will be
always more than enough people TO all their cars
Street railway officials say that a crush at the
rush hours will be with always for the city
is growing faster than transit facilities can de-
velop- In this connection the service OF the sub
way mas been severely criticised by many who
have had 20 wait from five TO fifteen minutes
often longer, for express trains That the service
Gals who plead that it is new road O and nf things
are not running quite smoothly yet. 4 Comprehen-
sive system of receiving and recording complaints
relative to the service and the employees is main
tatned and each complaint is investiga ted.
Complaints that the are overcrowded. par
uculdry the expresses are met with the reply that
trains are run on A two-minute Roadway In rush
hours, while the expresses only two and half
minutes apart Eight-car expresses Prac-
tically the system Is running SIS full capacity
now, and this capacity will be increased only by
the completion Of switching facilities the ex-
presses between the Bridge and Ann The only
thing the officials do is to strive remedy the
irrsgularity which has characterized running
of the trains since the opening OF the Lenox-
ave branch. This they trying hard do and
II they keep the trains schedule they be-
Aeve that overcrowding will be relieved a great
extent.
Other complaints have received prompt attention
from the management, OF the suggestions for
relief coming direct from August Belmont. At
nrst there were several accidents. because in the
crush people were pushed down into the space be-
1t intended to build guard rails there as at
the elevated stations. but instead OF electric
lights is ranged along the front of the station
platforms. These lights show the wide space be-
plainly that no accident has been recorded since
the device adopted.
suggestion from the Health Board that the
rock ballast roadbed the stations replaced by
cement or asphalt had been considered by the In
terborough company before IL made by the
advisory board II II comes formal
mendaton from the Health Commissioner the road
bed will be changed and the change may occur be-
fore the recommendation is made.