No, the NYC Subway was Not Built by Private Companies | Mythbusters

To celebrate the 83rd anniversary of unification, we will debunk a common myth about the IRT and BRT that is held by railfanners: the NYC Subway was mostly built by the IRT and BRT.

Sources/Further Reading

Fares Study

[mohamad-mspb]

The year the dual contracts were signed was also the year the Federal Reserve act was pushed through congress. Prior to 1913 productive capacity since the 1870s allowed the US dollar to gain purchasing power which allowed prices to fall. The BRT and IRT thought this trend would continue which is why they somewhat welcomed the provision of keeping the 5 cent fare locked in. Then came the Fed and thus began the decline of the dollar, the cost of WW1 not withstanding.

[empirestate]

It's also worth noting the ELs ran much shorter trains at much slower speeds than the subway. While the subways (and new elevated sections) would whisk you at 50 mph, the old elevated trains trotted along at 15 mph. The old elevated lines were built cheaply, with thin columns that couldn't support heavier subway trains, and they were also deteriorating, so they would need to be replaced. It would make sense for the replacement to be underground in densely populated Manhattan and above ground in the less dense outer boroughs.

[Furitokama]

The similar thing happened in Paris, France.
The City built most* of the lines but it was opered by a private company CMP who provided all the rest (trains...).
It's after WW2 in 1949 that the CMP was taken over by a public company, the current RATP. Note that the RATP while a public owned company was (and still is) independ of the municipal govenrement.

*Most of current line 12 and the north of line 13 were built by a private company Nord Sud in early 1910s. This company was taken over by CMP in 1930 after its bankruptcy.

[CMPMGMT]

I don’t think anyone would say that the original subway was privately built given that the city would retroactively handicap both IRT and BMT by both constructing the independent and kneecapping them at 10c fare.

Once the IRT/BMT agreed to this and the dual contracts they sealed their own fate.

[WebSoak]

Elevated lines weren’t throwing ash onto the ground after being electrified in the early 1900s, steam engine els mostly ran before 1904. After that they were just electrified coaches. It should also be noted that some of the elevated subways are converted elevated lines. The Fulton Street, Broadway, and Lexington Avenue El were absorbed into the subway and reinforced. You can still see where the IND severed the Fulton Street El from what is now the A

[andrewweitzman]

I mean, the original NYC subway was a classic PPP: Public Private Partnership. It was actually innovative for its time. Most transit was built on the franchise system where for-profit companies bought rights to run their private "traction companies" on city streets. The NYC subway deal was very unusual for the time in that the city actually owned the infrastructure while the IRT provided the rolling stock, power supply, and manpower.

[diegodesouza]

Who would have thought that private companies don’t like investing in capital projects?

[StarlyrraRailfanning]

Also idk why u guys keep saying that the IRT Flushing Line stations are the worst the BMT Nassau St Line stations are 10x worse imo…

[jeffreywenger]

THANK YOU! Everyone who reads Ayn Rand must see this! And don't forget the Hudson and Manhattan Railroad... there were 4 companies!

[nlpnt]

Los Angeles' old transit system *was* built by private companies, and that was its' downfall. They were built by real estate interests and once the streetcar suburbs that required them were built out they had only the farebox which wasn't enough to keep things in good operating condition leading to the sale to the infamous GM-led coalition which replaced worn-out streetcars and light rail with sleek new buses that promptly got stuck in traffic. Flash forward decades, and every inch of operating subway LA has was built by a government agency which had to fight NIMBYs empowered by policies put in as a backlash against midcentury freeway projects and Urban Renewal.

[qiaowani]

I like how most of these true private lines are railroads and the BRT and there’s randomly the 7 under the East River

[TransitfannerDeon.]

Pls tell me what song this was at 1:20

[theexcaliburone]

so what I'm getting from this is that it was operated fairly similarly to how systems in Japan are operated: private companies build, own, maintain, and operate lines in the suburbs, and the more expensive infrastructure in the core is operated by the government with through running of suburban trains through the core.

[ccityplanner]

So it was privatised on the British model.

[WebSoak]

You forgot to include the Fulton St El in the private companies map

[jaimerosado]

The 9th Avenue El, and the other Manhattan Els, didn’t come under IRT control until after construction started on the subway. Also, the title of this video should be “No the NYC subway was not OWNED by private companies, ” not “Built, ” because to this very day, the subways are privately built. The 2nd Avenue subway was built by Skanska, a Swedish construction company.

[amazing]

Yes, most of the system always been built and owned by The City of New York and is now leased to the MTA, just like it was leased back then to the IRT & BRT (later BMT).

[pizzajona]

6:45 while I learned new information about the subway construction, I think it is disingenuous to suggest that the transit companies could not foresee inflation. Even without WWI, inflation is inevitable.

[believer]

The City of New York built the subways, but it was accomplished via Public and Private funding and cooperation.
The IRT had to equipment the lines it operated, as well as the BRT/BMT.
The BMT owned its elevated lines in Brooklyn as well as its surface routes to Coney Island and Jamaica Queens.

The Dual Contracts allowed the expansion of the system, with the city building the lines..again with public private funds.

In the 1920s, the dynamic changed.
The City of New York decided that it was being taken advantage of by the "private operators", and decided to start building All subways independently..
That was a toss up, since when construction was underway for the IND system, the city asked the BMT to operate it, but they refused because it didn't link to Their system.

The City's Board of Transportation decided to operate the line itself.

Since the government was able to pull off dirty tricks Legally, time was running out for the private companies.
1940, the BOT assumes control of the subway Elevated system, through buyouts and hostile takeover.

[johnv]

Rolling stock of New York City Transit System is obviously NOT "subway cars". The name "electric passenger railcar" is a more accurate description, and the official terminology is Electric Multiple Unit (EMU). EMU's have the capability of operating most anywhere on the planet, provided the necessary infrastructure is in place. Subway, open-cut, at grade, elevated, tunnel, bridge, &c. is simply where they'd operate.