Yea I figured this may be mentioned, it's the same in the UK they were running very old train stock of the same vintage until (I think) this year? I know it's also not the only problem but both the Japanese and UK cartridges aren't complete shit and falling apart.
Three times in the past 2 years (since I moved to the G line) the train had to be evacuated because the brakes locked on a car and someone smelled the awful burning it thinking it was an actual fire in the car. THREE TIMES.
If you maintain the cartridges there's no problem at all but there are so many problems it's way beyond that.
I'm a little of a train nerd (if not obvious) so I went to the train stock as an example but other underground systems prove that proper, well funded and well managed maintenance will make this a non-issue.
"Proper. Well Funded. Well Managed."
- Not the MTA Subway System
London's oldest trains are from 1972, the 1969 stuff was withdrawn by the end of 2014.
But England runs older trains, and this has recently been newsworthy [1]. I think the underlying problem is the electrification of two lines has been delayed, so the newer diesel trains used on those lines are still needed, and can't (as originally planned) be used to increase capacity on the other route.
It also shows that London's transport, which is directly managed by a government body, works far better than the privatized mess in the rest of the country.
Three times in the past 2 years (since I moved to the G line) the train had to be evacuated because the brakes locked on a car and someone smelled the awful burning it thinking it was an actual fire in the car. THREE TIMES.
If you maintain the cartridges there's no problem at all but there are so many problems it's way beyond that.
I'm a little of a train nerd (if not obvious) so I went to the train stock as an example but other underground systems prove that proper, well funded and well managed maintenance will make this a non-issue.
"Proper. Well Funded. Well Managed." - Not the MTA Subway System