Gothamist reports the The Straphanger's Campaign recently rated the 1 train to be the best line in the city, based on surveys of clenliness, regularity of service, announcement quality, ability to get a seat and amount of scheduled service.
I have more than a passing knowledge of the 1, having used it whenever I missed my school bus. I've also used it a fair amount this summer, mostly for social events. I'll give Gene Russianoff and crew the ability to get a seat and announcement quality, but I beg to differ on two fronts. First of all, the 1 is not that clean. Now that the 2 train has been upgraded from old Redbirds to new R142s, the 1s are dark and dingy by comparison, covered in gum and scratchitti.
As for service, this may reflect my bias as a weekend rider, but the 1 is almost downright unbearable sometimes. Whether it's the slow crawl down the UWS when express trains run on the local track, unexplained and unannounced express runs through midtown, or the counterintuitive "terminal" layout at 14th Street, the 1 is a nightmare on Saturdays and Sundays. At the very least, that deserves a little consideration.
As someone who lives here in New York year-round, I can honestly say that the 1 train is the best line in the city. No other train in Manhattan runs as frequently as the 1 and they tend not to have as many service delays/switching problems as several of the other lines.
The 1 train is dirty, but that's really nothing new. In regards to the express runs through midtown, it's a matter of reading the signs that they place around the station on weekends and that 14th Street thing is annoying where the uptown train runs on the downtown track but that's just a matter of getting used to. The 1 actually runs the most frequently on weekends - I've waited longer for the 4/5/6 on a weekend night than I have the 1. That train line has gotten a lot better since the good ol' days of taking the 1/9 to high school.
More frequent than the 6? The report says the 6 is better during rush hour, but they don't have any after-hours statistics. I think they should put together a report on the best lines for night owls.
I haven't read the report so I can't say but I feel pretty comfortable saying that the 1 runs more frequently than the 6. I feel like I wait a bit longer for the 6 train on average than the 1. I imagine that during rush hour, the 1 runs on a more frequent basis but there's probably a bit of congestion on the track since it runs so frequently and the trains get backed up. At night, the 1 runs pretty frequently I think. The A/C/E is the WORST TRAIN line to take in Manhattan at night especially on weekends when they are doing "track work". I think the shittiest train line in all of the city is the G train.