But today comes very welcome news: Subway speed limits are going to increase, according to Andy Byford, the head of the city’s subways. It’s part of his plan to increase efficiency in the beleaguered system, The Times’s Emma Fitzsimmons reports this morning.

Over the weekend, subway speeds went from 15 miles per hour to as much as 30 on parts of the N and R lines in Brooklyn.

“This is all about getting the safe maximum out of the existing signaling system,” Mr. Byford said.

Mr. Byford plans to present his plan for speedier trains at today’s meeting of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which oversees the subways. He emphasized that the changes should not affect safety.

Context: New York’s subways are scheduled to travel at about 17 miles per hour, the slowest of any heavy rail system in the country, according to a 2010 analysis.

Officials plan to change the speed limits at 100 locations by the spring.

Why it matters: Where to begin? The subways are miserable and, although there’s been some improvement since Mr. Byford took over about a year ago, the system’s overall performance is worse today than when his boss, Gov. Andrew Cuomo, took office in 2011.