Every week since the beginning of 2007, I have diligently posted the MTA’s numerous weekend service advisories as a public service for my readers. For many, the service changes are obscure and pointless. A track chip-out? No express service down the West Side IRT?
While I was away, amNew York ran a bit on the constant weekend service changes. Let’s take a look:
Even NYC Transit agrees: Weekend subway service is painfully slow. And it might not get better for decades
Less than half of subways are on time on weekends, according to the most recent figures released by transit Monday. The lettered lines were the most delayed, with 59 percent of trains off from the regular schedules, transit statistics from May show…
The MTA’s ambitious maintenance work schedule, which includes dozens of projects to improve the system, is to blame for the ongoing weekend headaches, officials said. In May, transit delayed weekend service 31,000 times for maintenance. Sick customers, in comparison, only caused 94 weekend delays…
This summer, the MTA has also reduced the frequency of service on the lettered lines by 25 percent, with trains now scheduled to arrive every 10 minutes on weekends. It made the same switch on the numbered lines last year to align service with what it could provide given all the maintenance, officials said…Workers are also ripping up track for longer hours. Recently, it scheduled two major maintenance crews to work 12-hour shifts. The push will help workers get jobs done more efficiently, transit spokesman Paul Fleuranges said.
But officials admitted that the aging system will force them to mix up weekend service for decades to come. More than a third of the system’s signals are 50 years and older, which is well-beyond retirement age, according to transit’s head of engineering. The only option to working on weekends would be to shut down the subways for evening maintenance, which officials don’t plan on doing, NYC Transit President Howard Roberts told the MTA board.
It’s all about the state of good repair. While I too bemoan the weekend service changes, if that’s the price we have to be for a system that runs pretty well the rest of the time, so be it.
And with that in mind, this weekend’s changes:
From 1 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturday, August 15 and Sunday, August 16, uptown 2 and 3 trains run local from Chambers Street to 34th Street due to survey and preparatory work for an upcoming track project. – Got that? It’s a service change in preparation for future service changes.
From 12:01 a.m. to 6 a.m. Saturday, August 15 and from 12:01 a.m. to 8 a.m. Sunday, August 16, Brooklyn-bound 2 and 4 trains skip Bergen Street, Grand Army Plaza and Eastern Parkway due to switch work near Eastern Parkway.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, August 15 to 5 a.m. Monday, August 17, Manhattan-bound 6 trains run express from Hunts Point Avenue to 3rd Avenue due to platform edge rehabilitation at Cypress Avenue, East 143rd Street, East 149th Street and Longwood Avenue stations.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, August 15 to 5 a.m. Monday, August 17, Brooklyn-bound A trains run local from 168th Street to West 4th Street, then on the F line to Jay Street, then resumes local A service to Euclid Avenue due to the Chambers Street Signal Modernization Project.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, August 15 to 5 a.m. Monday, August 17, Manhattan-bound A trains run local from Euclid Avenue to 168th Street due to the Chambers Street Signal Modernization Project.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, August 15 to 5 a.m. Monday, August 17, there are no C trains running due to the Chambers Street Modernization Project. Customers should take the A instead.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, August 15 to 5 a.m. Monday, August 17, D trains run local between 34th Street and West 4th Street due to a track chip-out in the 53rd Street tunnel.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, August 15 to 5 a.m. Monday, August 17, E trains are rerouted on the F from Queens to Manhattan. There are no E trains between 34th Street and World Trade Center. Customers should take the A instead. Manhattan-bound E trains run on the F from Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue to 34th Street-6th Avenue. Queens-bound E trains run on the F from 34th Street-6th Avenue to 47th-50th Sts, then resume normal E service from 5th Avenue to Jamaica Center-Parsons/Archer. These changes are due to a track chip-out in the 53rd Street tunnel and cable work along the Queens Boulevard line.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, August 15 to 5 a.m. Monday, August 17, the Manhattan-bound E platforms at Queens Plaza, 23rd Street-Ely Avenue, Lexington Avenue-53rd Street and 5th Avenue stations are closed due to a track chip-out in the 53rd Street tunnel. Customers should take the R, G or 6 at nearby stations. Note: Free shuttle buses are operating between the LIC Court Square G, the 23rd-Ely Avenue E and the 21st Street-Queensbridge F stations.
From 12:30 a.m. Saturday, August 15 to 5 a.m. Monday, August 17, Queens-bound E trains run express from Queens Plaza to Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue due to cable work along the Queens Boulevard line.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, August 15 to 5 a.m. Monday, August 17, Manhattan-bound F trains run on the A line from Jay Street to West 4th Street due to the Broadway-Lafayette to Bleecker Street Transfer construction.
From 12:30 a.m. Saturday, August 15 to 5 a.m. Monday, August 17, Manhattan-bound F trains run local from Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue to 21st Street-Queensbridge due to cable work along the Queens Boulevard line.
From midnight to 6:30 a.m. Saturday, August 15 and Sunday August 16, and from midnight to 5 a.m. Monday, August 17, Queens-bound G trains run express from Queens Plaza to Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue due to cable work along the Queens Boulevard line.
From 8:30 p.m. to midnight Friday, August 14 and from 6:30 a.m. to midnight Saturday, August 15 and Sunday, August 16, there are no G trains between Forest Hills-71st Street and Court Square. Customers who are Brooklyn-bound should take the R to Queens Plaza and transfer to the shuttle bus to Court Square. Queens-Bound customers should take the E instead. Note: Queens-bound E, G and R trains run express from Queens Plaza to Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue. These changes are due to the track chip-out in the 53rd Street tunnel and cable work along the Queens Boulevard line. – Yes, I realize this alert combined with the one above it doesn’t make sense. I have no idea what’s actually happening here.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, August 15 to 5 a.m. Monday, August 17, Manhattan-bound N trains run on the D line from Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue to 36th Street due to track panel installation.
From 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m. Saturday, August 15, uptown Q trains run local from Canal Street to 34th Street due to track cleaning.
From 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m. Sunday, August 16, uptown Q trains run local from 34th Street to 57th Street-7th Avenue due to track cleaning.
From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, August 15 and Sunday, August 16, Queens-bound R trains run express from Queens Plaza to Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue due to cable work along the Queens Boulevard line.
3 comments
Makes sense to me. During the day, the G runs to Court Square. At night, when the R doesn’t run, the G runs to Forest Hills. And the eastbound local track is shut down from Queens Plaza to Roosevelt all weekend, so whatever happens to be running through that area is going express.
Except that I took the G at 11:30pm Saturday night and it was running to Forest Hills.
You probably caught one of the first few through trains. I rode the G around 9 last night and it dumped me at Court Square, as I expected.