Home Service Advisories Countdown clocks and weekend service advisories

Countdown clocks and weekend service advisories

by Benjamin Kabak

The above photo comes to us via Rolando Pujol. The managing editor of amNew York spotted this at Penn Station and shared it on Twitter. It is, as you might guess, the activated countdown clocks at Penn Station.

I’m an unabashed fan of the countdown clocks. They make waits more palatable and help people plan their travel. This one at Penn Station is particularly useful because of the track configuration. Since the local and express trains do not share a platforms, the clocks allow straphangers to pick their trains ahead of time without playing the Penn Station guessing game.

Anyway, enough fan-boyism. It’s Friday, and you know what that means. Here are your weekend service advisories. Take note of the 42nd St. shuttle. Due to track work, it’s completely out of service this weekend. As always, these come to me from New York City Transit and are subject to change without notice. Listen for on-board announcement and check the signs at your local station. Subway Weekender has the map.


From 11 p.m. Friday, February 11 to 5 a.m. Monday, February 14, uptown 1 trains skip 50th Street, 59th Street-Columbus Circle and 66th Street due to switch renewal north of Times Square. Customers traveling to these stations may take the 1 or 2 train to 72nd Street and transfer to a downtown 1. Customers at these stations traveling uptown may take a downtown 1 or 2 train to Times Square-42nd Street and transfer to an uptown 1 or 2.


During the weekend overnight hours from 11 p.m. to 6:30 a.m. (to 5 a.m. on Monday), uptown 2 trains skip 50th Street, 59th Street-Columbus Circle and 66th Street due to switch renewal north of Times Square. Customers traveling to these stations may take the 1 or 2 train to 72nd Street and transfer to a downtown 1. Customers at these stations traveling uptown may take a downtown 1 or 2 train to Times Square-42nd Street and transfer to an uptown 1 or 2.


During the weekend overnight hours from 12:01 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. (to 5 a.m. on Monday), downtown 4 trains skip Astor Place, Bleecker, Spring and Canal Streets due to work on the Broadway/Lafayette-to-Bleecker Street transfer connection.


From 5:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., Saturday, February 12 and from 7:30 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., Sunday, February 13, 5 trains run every 20 minutes between Dyre Avenue and Bowling Green due to work on the Broadway/Lafayette-to-Bleecker Street transfer connection.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday. February 12 to 5 a.m. Monday, February 14, downtown 6 trains skip Astor Place, Bleecker, Spring and Canal Streets due to work on the Broadway/Lafayette-to-Bleecker Street transfer connection.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 12 to 5 a.m. Monday. February 14, there are no A trains at Fulton Street in either direction due to work on the Fulton Street Transit Center.


Beginning Monday, February 14 until early summer, Manhattan-bound A trains skip Beach 36th Street and Beach 60th Street due to station rehabilitation.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 12 to 5 a.m. Monday, February 14, Manhattan-bound A trains run on the F line from Jay Street-MetroTech to West 4th Street, then local to 59th Street due to cable, platform edge, tile and stair work at the Fulton Street Transit Center. Manhattan-bound trains skip High Street, Chambers Street, Canal Street and Spring Street. Customers traveling to these stations should take the A or C to West 4th Street and transfer to a downtown A or C. Customers traveling from these stations may take the A or C to Jay Street-MetroTech and transfer to the Manhattan-bound A or C.


From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, February 12 and Sunday, February 13, there are no C trains at Fulton Street in either direction due to work on the Fulton Street Transit Center.


From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, February 12 and Sunday, February 13, Manhattan-bound C trains run on the F line from Jay Street-MetroTech to West 4th Street due to cable, platform edge, tile and stair work at the Fulton Street Transit Center. Manhattan-bound trains skip High Street, Chambers Street, Canal Street and Spring Street.


From 4 a.m. Saturday, February 12 to 10 p.m. Sunday, February 13, Brooklyn-bound trains run on the N line from 36th Street to Stillwell Avenue due to track panel installation between 50th Street and 55th Street. There are no Brooklyn-bound D trains stopping at 9th Avenue, Ft. Hamilton Parkway, 50th, 55th, 71st, 79th Streets, 18th and 20th Avenues, Bay Parkway, 25th Avenue and Bay 50th Street stations.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 12 to 5 a.m. Monday. February 14, Manhattan-bound D trains run express from 36th Street to Pacific Street, then skips DeKalb Avenue due to repair of pumping equipment.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 12 to 5 a.m. Monday, February 14, D trains run local between 34th Street and West 4th Street due to work on the 5th Avenue Interlocking Signal System.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 12 to 5 a.m. Monday, February 14, E trains run on the F line between Roosevelt Avenue and 34th Street-6th Avenue due to work on the 5th Avenue Interlocking Signal System. The platforms at 5th Avenue-53rd Street, Lexington Avenue-53rd Street and 23rd Street-Ely Avenue are closed. Customers may take the R, G or shuttle bus. Free shuttle buses connect Court Square (G)/23rd Street-Ely Avenue (E), Queens Plaza (R) and the 21st Street-Queensbridge (F) stations. Note: There are no E trains at or between Queens Plaza and World Trade Center stations.


Overnight, from 11 p.m. Friday, February 11 to 6 a.m. Saturday, February 12, G trains run in two sections due to cable replacements:

  • Between Court Square and Bedford-Nostrand Avs and
  • Between Bedford-Nostrand Avs and Hoyt-Schermerhorn Sts.

There are no G trains at Bergen St, Carroll St, Smith-9th Sts, 4th Av-9th St, 7th Av, 15th St-Prospect Park, Ft. Hamilton Parkway, and Church Av. Customers may take the A and F instead.


From 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday. February 12 and Sunday, February 13, M trains skip Fresh Pond Road in both directions due to platform edge repair. Customers should use the Forest Avenue station instead. Free connections are available to the Q58, B13 and B20 buses.


During the overnight hours from 12:01 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. (to 5 a.m. on Monday), N trains run over the Manhattan Bridge between Canal Street and DeKalb Avenue due to repair of pumping equipment south of DeKalb Av. and installation of platform tiles at Cortlandt Street.


From 4 a.m. Saturday, February 12 to 10 p.m. Sunday, February 13, Manhattan-bound N trains skip 30th Av, Broadway, 36th Av and 39th Av due to track panel installation from Astoria Blvd to 36th Avenue.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 12 to 5 a.m. Monday, February 14, Manhattan-bound Q trains run on the R line from DeKalb Av. to Canal Street making station stops at Jay Street-MetroTech, Court Street, Whitehall Street, Rector Street, Cortlandt Street and City Hall due to the repair of pumping equipment south of DeKalb Av.


From 6:30 a.m. to midnight, Saturday, February 12 and Sunday, February 13, R trains run over the Manhattan Bridge between Canal Street and DeKalb Avenue due to repair of pumping equipment south of DeKalb Av. and installation of platform tiles at Cortlandt Street. There are no N or R trains at City Hall, Rector Street, Whitehall Street, Court Street, and Jay Street-MetroTech stations. For Brooklyn-bound service, customers should use the 4 at nearby stations. For Manhattan-bound service, customers should use the Q instead. Note: Manhattan-bound N and R trains run express from 36th Street to Pacific Street, then skip DeKalb Avenue.


From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 12 to 5 a.m. Monday, February 14, the 42nd Street S Shuttle is suspended due to switch renewal north of Times Square. Customers should use the 7 instead.

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16 comments

pea-jay February 11, 2011 - 10:33 pm

A brown M bullet?

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Benjamin Kabak February 12, 2011 - 10:21 am

Service advisories for the M are so rare that I keep forgetting to move the orange bullet into the right folder. Whoops!

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Kevin February 11, 2011 - 11:42 pm

The C advisories make no sense…it can’t be both suspended and running on the F between Jay and W4.

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nycpat February 12, 2011 - 12:08 am

It’s running on the F. You can’t get it at FULTON.

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Rick February 12, 2011 - 7:24 am

The N & R run via the Manhattan Bridge, while the Manhattan bound Q runs via the tunnel??? So I guess the Q will still be the express and the N & R will remain the local on Broadway?? The MTA continues to ruin the Broadway line.

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pete February 12, 2011 - 10:27 pm

I feel the R train through Lower Manhattan will be getting cut permanently on weekends in the next few years because of budget cuts.

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Andrew February 13, 2011 - 9:09 pm

I doubt that.

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Andrew February 13, 2011 - 9:14 pm

The Q still terminates at 57th, so it has to cross back to the express somewhere. I don’t know if everything is swapping at Prince or if the Q is staying on the local to 34th.

Presumably the work near DeKalb cuts off access from the 4th Ave local track, so everything has to run express and through the bypass onto the bridge. That leaves the Q as the only train that can access the station at DeKalb, and it’s running through the tunnel so those stations at least get some service.

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Peter February 12, 2011 - 8:50 am

Ben,
As you point out, that is one of the more useful places for a countdown clock.

However, at a station like Park Place, (which doesn’t have clocks yet), I’d like to see information about the A/C on the 2/3 platform (and vice-versa).

I might very well choose to take the other, if its arrival is imminent. As it is now, you really have to ‘commit’ to one or the other.

Peter
inklake

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Benjamin Kabak February 12, 2011 - 10:23 am

The problem is compatibility. The B division and the A division are operating on different technologies, and the system just isn’t in place to provide the right information about A/C arrivals. That info is also really only useful if you’re going uptown or to Brooklyn Heights since the A/C and 2/3 diverge pretty significantly after the Heights area.

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Peter February 12, 2011 - 1:10 pm

Well I live in Brooklyn Heights, so I plead guilty to that, but if I’m heading to the UWS it would be handy, too.

Still, a person could dream. Likewise at Delancey/Essex it would be useful too.

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Andrew February 13, 2011 - 9:17 pm

There are a lot of people going uptown – probably roughly half of the people boarding at the station!

I do think it would be useful to have signs for the 2/3 posted on the A/C platform (but they’d have to be clearly labeled, so people don’t expect them to show A/C information). The same goes at Fulton, along with the 2/3 vs. 4/5, which are interchangeable for many people going to Brooklyn or the Bronx.

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Bruce M February 12, 2011 - 3:02 pm

The electronic signs that used to be on the platforms used to display the current sign. I wish the countdown clocks would occasionally flash the current time as well.

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Joe Steindam February 12, 2011 - 4:06 pm

The addition of displaying the time would be a big addition to the current countdown clocks. At stations with just a single service, it’s not really necessary to show the next 2 trains. Alternating between the time, the second train and service alerts would be a good thing.

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BBnet3000 February 12, 2011 - 6:06 pm

Indeed, as long as they dont overdo it.

I hate going into a BART station and having it take a ridiculous amount of time to see when the next trains are coming due to a stupidly long service announcement or worse, an ad (“Take BART to the Oakland Museum for XXXX new exhibit there!”) being shown on the display.

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Andrew February 13, 2011 - 9:19 pm

I strongly disagree. If a train pulls in crowded, it’s very helpful to know how far off the next train is. Seeing two or three trains is also useful if you’re getting off the train to run a quick errand before hopping back on. If you want to figure out what time it is, look at your watch.

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