a question in these corona virus times

Recently I've been on the MTA NY subway tab of this forum commenting on how beginning Wednesday at 1:00 am the NYC subway will close until 5:00 am for deep cleaning every day for now. There's a possibility that change may become permanent.

As far as I know, that would leave CTA as the only US rail transit system, excluding PATH in NJ and NY and PATCO in NJ and PA, with any scheduled 24 hour service. A couple of lines, the Orange and Brown now run roughly 22 hours per day Monday through Friday. Any chance they could go to 24 hours perhaps as "Brownage" line trains overnight, at least on weekdays? CTA buses seem to be a problem area because drivers are not insulated from passengers and they appear to have a greater fear of contracting covid-19. The CTA rail cabs are full width, protecting the operators to a great degree.

Do you think this can be feasible?

The issue in NY is the same as at CUS, which also closes from 1am-5am daily (and did so before COVID-19). Clearing out the people who would never leave the station/system if it didn't close.

Does CTA have problems with eternal riders? I believe CTA does a decent job with loitering (don't hang around the station - get on the next train and leave after getting off the train). It has been many years since I rode just to ride (getting off at terminal stations to board a train headed back to the city). When I rode like that I purchased an all day pass (and rode during the day, not overnight).

Closing can be an effective way of clearing out the system, if nothing else is working.

orangeline wrote: ↑Sun May 03, 2020 11:43 amAs far as I know, that would leave CTA as the only US rail transit system, excluding PATH in NJ and NY and PATCO in NJ and PA, with any scheduled 24 hour service. A couple of lines, the Orange and Brown now run roughly 22 hours per day Monday through Friday. Any chance they could go to 24 hours perhaps as "Brownage" line trains overnight, at least on weekdays?

Don't think so. Recall that the primary purpose of the "brownage" trains is to take advantage of the extra storage capacity available at Midway yard to support increased Brown line frequencies during rush hours. This idea floats about every now and then, but with adequate overnight bus service available for Brown on north Western and Ashland avenues, combined with owl service on Archer for Orange line trains, it fails the cost benefit analysis every time.

I'll also inform some and remind others that during subway cleanings, Red line trains have a built-in detour; where trains can run "over the top" via the Lake and Wabash segments of the Loop. Way back when, this used to be scheduled on Sunday mornings, don't know if that's still the case. For both the Dearborn and Kimball Ave. subways, Blue line service has to be temporarily truncated at either end of course, usually overnight with bustitution in effect.

Shutting down NYC's subway system for overnight cleanings is a necessary move in these times and will last awhile, but I don't think it'll be permanent. The people will come back eventually, amid whatever the new normal turns out to be.