RIOC Announces South Roosevelt Island Tram Cabin Will Be Out Of Service For Repairs From February 10 To 14 And Suggests You Consider Other Modes Of Transportation During That Time - How About Tram Priority Boarding Preference For Residents/Workers Before Sightseeing Tourists Instead?
Walking past the Roosevelt Island Tram station this afternoon, it appeared that both cabins were racing each other on their way over the East River.
But that was not the case. 1 cabin was occupied by riders and the other one was undergoing maintenance work.
The Roosevelt Island Operating Corp (RIOC) announced last Friday, January 24:Dear Roosevelt Island Community,
Our Tram operator, Leitner-POMA, has scheduled upcoming repair work for the Tram’s South cabin, which will require the cabin to be taken out of service for several days. The repair work is scheduled to take place from Monday, February 10th through Friday, February 14th.
This repair work mirrors the work done last February when the North cabin was taken offline to replace a hydraulic tension cylinder at the Manhattan Tram Station. This work is necessary to perform periodically to ensure the Tram continues to run safely and efficiently.
Please be advised that only the North Tram cabin will be in service during this repair period (February 10th–14th). Travelers should consider utilizing other modes of transportation, including the F-train, Ferry, and Q102 bus for off-island travel. The North cabin will remain in service throughout the entire day during this time, and the POMA team will work to ensure full service is restored as quickly as possible.
We thank you in advance for your patience and understanding.
- Team RIOC
WHAT: South Tram Cabin out of service to replace hydraulic tension cylinder
WHEN: Monday, February 10th through Friday, February 14th
WHERE: Work will take place on the Manhattan side Tram Station
No mention from RIOC about providing any Tram priority boarding preference for Roosevelt Island residents before sightseeing tourists during this time.
The January 2025 RIOC Newsletter Employee Spotlight feature
includes an interview with Leitner Poma Roosevelt Island Tram Assistant Manager Darren McCarthy who started working at the Tram in September 2023. According to the RIOC Newsletter interview with Mr McCarthy:
... What are the biggest challenges in operating the world’s most popular aerial tramway?
Regular maintenance is crucial to ensure the tramway’s safety and reliability. This includes inspecting and replacing cables, maintaining the tram cars, and ensuring the mechanical and electrical systems are in top condition — we pride ourselves on the reliability of the Tramway. The Tram has the best reliability hands down compared to any other urban transportation in New York City and around the world. When we do have a disruption of service be it in the air with passengers or on the ground before the Tram leaves the station, we assure passengers the Tram is safe and in fact is the safest form of transportation in NYC.
We also get a lot of questions about Tram maintenance, which POMA performs every day during the midday period. Can you tell us what that maintenance entails, what the team is checking, and the general importance of this maintenance?
During the week excluding holidays our maintenance begins at 10:30AM and stops at 2:30PM. We take one cabin out of service at a time to perform our daily Preventative Maintenance (PM). Our mechanics performs inspections on the Towers looking for any issues that need to be address immediately. Cleaning and lubricating the ropes and saddles on all Towers. Safety checks are top priority. Automation and control systems are tested to verify smooth operation, including communication systems between the Tram cabins and stations. Once we are completed with one cabin we switch services to handle passengers to we can do maintenance on the second cabin. Safety mechanisms, such as emergency brakes and backup systems, are inspected to ensure they are in optimal condition. The structural integrity of the Tram is also inspected. We follow a very rigorous PM schedule; each shift needs to complete assigned PMs daily.
Finally, what’s the best part about working on Roosevelt Island?
The community. They are very involved with the Tram. I feel very close with the public and RIOC associates. I feel I have a strong connection with transparent cooperation with RIOC. Collectively we want to make the Tram the best experience. Additionally, working with the advanced technology of the tramway is both challenging and rewarding. It’s exciting to be part of a team that ensures the operation of such a complex system....
Here's the January 2025 newsletter including the full interview with Mr McCarthy.
Mr McCarthy spoke about Roosevelt Island Tram operations
during the Decemeber 11 RIOC Operations Advisory Committee meeting.
UPDATE 1/29 - A Roosevelt Island parent shares this correspondence with RIOC:
Is there anyway to shift the week of tram maintenance by one week? All the kids would be out of school then, and the tram demand would be substantially lower for RI residents. No school for kids Feb 15-23. It would make so much difference to RI residents.
RIOC answers:
Thank you for your email and suggestion regarding the upcoming Tram repair work the week of February 10th. We are expecting heavier than normal Tram usage the following week (2/17-2/21), which coincides with the Presidents' Day holiday, and we want to have the cabin repaired and back in service beforehand to account for the increased ridership. We understand that any Tram outage presents a difficult situation for islanders, so we apologize in advance for the inconvenience and will work restore the second cabin to service as quickly as we can.
Have a lovely rest of your day,
The parent replies:
Yes I figured there would be more tourist traffic 2/17 - 2/12, but less RI resident traffic in President’s Week. I was hoping the resident traffic would be higher priority.
Thank you for the reply though.
