When it comes to New York City subway lines, R is for repulsive.
The Broadway Local line has the dirtiest cars in the MTA system — with only 27 percent of them rated as “clean” in a new subway seat and floor “schmutz survey.”
The R train is grungier than a year ago, when 39 percent of cars on the line got a clean rating, according to the annual Straphangers Campaign study, released today.
The 7 train was nearly spit-shined in comparison. The Times Square-Flushing connector was deemed the city’s most unsoiled in 2010, with 68 percent of its cars rated clean, up from 63 percent last year.
Last year’s dirtiest ride, the perennially begrimed M line, cleaned up its act to become this year’s most-improved. It grabbed a 61 percent clean rate, up from 32 percent in 2009. The M was restructured last year, merging with the V line and dumping 24 stations between Manhattan and downtown Brooklyn.
Overall, the subway system continues to get filthier, with only 47 percent of cars getting a “clean’’ nod, down from 51 percent in 2009. The 2009 figure represented a drop from 56 percent the year before, the survey said.
“Last year, we predicted ‘more cuts to come’ means more dirt for subway riders,” said Straphangers campaign lawyer Gene Russianoff. “Sadly that’s turned out to be true.’’
The MTA cut subway cleaning staff 10.5 percent for 2010, to 1,030 cleaners. The number of supervisors was slashed 16 percent, to 123.
Meanwhile, five subway lines — the L, 6, B, E and R — showed “significant deterioration” from 2009 when it came to keeping things dirt-free, according to the survey.
Most deteriorated of all was the B, which plummeted from 61 percent clean last year to 37 percent in 2010.
Fourteen lines remained essentially unchanged against a year ago.
The cleanliness survey is based on 2,000 observations of subway cars on 20 lines between September 14 and November 20 last year. (The 2009 study covered an almost identical time period.)
The trains were rated using the MTA’s official cleanliness measures and similar, but not identical, methods. The watchdog group rates cars throughout the day and night and on weekends. The MTA rates weekdays, between 8 a.m. and 10 p.m.
Straphanger Campaign results were wildly different that those reported by the MTA in its own annual cleanliness report.
The MTA said 94 percent of all cars scored “clean” for 2010, compared with just 47 percent cited by the watchdog group.
MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz said the agency strongly disagrees with the report’s findings and methodology.
“Despite reduced funding, we have managed our resources in such a way as to have minimal impact on car appearance by monitoring car cleanliness and adjusting the deployment of cleaning staff to react to changing conditions,” he said.
Cars got a “clean” rating if the were “basically dirt-free” or had “light dirt,” including occasional ground-in spots.
Cars with dingy floors, or sticky dry spots got a “moderately” dirty rank. Those with open or spilled food, hazardous or foul conditions, sticky wet spots and unusable, filthy seats were dubbed “heavily dirty.”
The survey does not rate litter.