Seems like Kevlar gloves would be more versatile. You get heat resistance, plus abrasion/cut resistance in case you need to manhandle mangled sheet metal or broken glass to escape from a derailed subway or subway collision. Well, any gloves would be better than bare hands, so we're talking relative benefits here.

Someone mentioned that Nomex is flame but not heat resistant. Can anyone confirm that? I always thought that Nomex offers both qualities.

And I don't know if all Nomex grades offers this, but I've seen Nomex stuff advertised as anti-static, too. Handy for those commutes after a really frustrating day at work when you just want to jump down off the subway platform and grab a hold of that third rail nice and tight. <img src="/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> (Yes, I realize, that's not what's meant by "anti-static")