The C train has some of the oldest cars in use. It's always dark in there and it makes me feel like everyone is mad and in a bad mood, but it's just the lighting. It would be a great train (as far as where it goes) but I find myself avoiding it in favor of other lines.

Sooo I guess there are only rats on the A train at W 4th station???

This report is based on MTA statistics. The MTA has proven to be not so trustworthy at giving accurate information, so I question how accurate this report can be.

Huge difference between accounts of Manhattanites and everybody else. Outer boroughs are much worse for service. Unannounced changes to service at least once a week in my experience.

I'm down in Bensonhurst, primarily dependent on the N line. Our station leaks like a sieve, often resulting in more puddles past the turnstiles than out on the sidewalk. Service is interrupted nearly every weekend, and often suspended on weekdays during mid-day hours. I've yet to see any improvement during these "work periods." Night service is terrible. The MTA does a terrible job updating its site when service changes. Train is wretchedly slow between Atlantic Avenue and Canal Street. I'm continually baffled by the way the MTA continually cuts services and yet experiences more "train traffic ahead of us."

I give the N in Brooklyn a D. It runs, but not much else.

the J and Z used to be okay when we had the M, but now without the M, it takes forever for the train to come. Bowery, Essex, Canal on the J/Z are some of the worst stops in Manhattan. yikes!

And I have given up taking the subways on weekends -- utterly hopeless. Always changes over and above what is announced.

One change in the past two years -- much more crowded on _all_ the lines I take.

I frequently take the F, G, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and Q trains. The Q train is the worst for being on time. The 2 has new trains, but the 3 is garbage. The 2, 3 are fine, but the 1 is hopeless. I frequently have 20 minute waits for the 1 when it is supposed to be running every 5 or 6 minutes.

Not one of the lines is running as frequently as the MTA claims, as far as I can see.

I want to defend the lines I ride daily. The A and the 1 work as well as can be expected, for a big messy city and compared to the other lines I ride.

Just got back from a trip to Europe where I used the subways in London, Paris, Madrid, and a few other small towns. They were all better than NYC.

I take the 4,5,6 lines a lot. I give them a B minus, because they do what they're supposed to fairly well, but they don't impress.

On my wishlist:
-more handicap access (subways get an F here)
-signs at *every* platform telling how long till the next few trains arrive (union station has these some places - but they should be ubiquitous)
-turn the internet back on
-cleaner (at least it's better now than it was when "my dinner w/ Andre" was filmed, but still...)
-water pumps that aren't as old as the Panama Canal (some are actually from the Panama Canal)

all of the other places I visited had these things, and they were all older cities with just as many technical and political challenges. There's no real reason nyc's subways should be so far behind - it just seems the transit authority is financially haywire (even before the recession hit)

sorry for the long comment!