Retiring Old Subway Cars

BART recently announced the retirement of all its 53- year-old subway cars. I could not help remembering my July 1975 interview with MBTA Chairman Robert Kiley, new on the job after stints at the CIA and Boston City government. I have a copy of the article, and found I didn’t include this exchange, although I recall it distinctly.

“Why is it that the first train on the Blue Line each morning is a 1923 car?” [Then 52 years old]

“Because the 1923 cars will start reliably in bad weather, while the 1956 cars will not.”

I am hoping that the experience will not be repeated here, since the old BART cars will not be available the way the MBTA 1923 cars were. Maybe the new ones will be able to run on wet tracks.