Around these parts, we’ve known for a while that service changes were heading the G train’s way. Earlier this week, the MTA made it officially, and the changes are rather extensive to the much-maligned train.
Of course, as with anything MTA, the changes come with the good and the bad. The Daily News reported on these changes earlier this week. Peter Kadushin gives us the details:
The Transit Authority’s 2008 Service Enhancement Program trades increased frequency of G service – up to 50% on weekday evenings and 20% during afternoons – for the elimination of off-peak service to 13 stations across the borough.
The new plan means G service in Queens will end at Court Square in Long Island City, one stop shy of a key location – Queens Plaza on the E, R and V lines. That will force riders to make an extra transfer to get access to Queens Blvd. and Forest Hills.
Of note also is the Church Ave. extension. The G will now terminate at Chuch Ave., deep in the heart of Brooklyn. But why, oh, why is the train stopping at Court Square? (Yes, yes, I know. They can’t turn the train around at Queens Plaza. But still.)
Gene Russianoff, Straphangers Campaign guru, wasn’t too pleased. “The thrust of the G advocacy has been about building ridership,” he said. “But at every turn, they make it hard. These changes make the line less convenient for people.”
Less waiting; more transfers. That’s a questionable trade-off, but in the end, it’s one I would make.
3 comments
For me in Astoria, this is a big improvement. The G-7-N combo has always suffered from very spotty G service, and a 50% increase in trains will be great! Also, there’s a free underground transfer from the G to the E/V at Courthouse Square, so that’s only a minor issue (2 minute walk instead of accross the platform). The only real issue is that the V only runs weekdays, so on the weekends there will be no easy way to get to the local stops on the R. People will have to walk over to Queens Plaza, I guess, or take the E to Jackson Heights and the local back to their stop.
[…] the G train is also a big tease. For the next few months, until the Church Ave. extension is in place, the G doesn’t quite make it to Park Slope. And it stops tantalizingly close to […]
Don’t underestimate the benefits of extended G service to Church Ave. This is an outstanding improvement! It manages to link two fast growing neighborhoods (Park Slope and Williamsburg), it gives Kensington and Slope residents another option for local Brooklyn service (the F is like a grandma, reliable, but slow). It also changes the G turn-around from the elevated (and friggen scary) Smith-9th to the underground Church stop. This will prevent the consistent F train delays at Smith-9th, where the train leans on the track and overlooks a drop into the Gowanus canal.