The old Low-V cars, shown here in 1963, will return to Yankee Stadium today as part of the Opening Day celebration. (Photo via NYC Subway)
As the suggestion of a few readers, I’m trying something a little new this Friday. I’m going to post the weekend service advisories now so that they wind up in people’s inboxes in the morning. This will allow the SAS faithful to better plan their weekend trips. (You can get SAS posts emailed to you once a day via this link.) I’ll have regular content later in the morning, and then, I’ll bump this post to the top for Friday evening and the remainder of the weekend.
Before we jump into the service advisories, though, some trainspotting news to address: As the Yankees gear up to open their home schedule later today, Transit is celebrating with a Nostalgia Train. The Low-Vs that ran to Yankee Stadium from 1917-1969 will make a trip on Friday from Grand Central to Yankee Stadium along the express tracks. The train leaves at noon, and Stadium-bound straphangers will have plenty of time to revel in subway history before the game’s 1:05 p.m. start time. Were I heading to the Stadium today, I’d hop this train, but alas, I am not Bronx-bound for Opening Day.
And now the weekend’ changes. It’s a busy one.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 14 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 16, there is no 1 service between 242nd Street and 168th Street due to station and structural rehabilitation at Dyckman Street, platform edge and canopy work at stations from 207th Street to 242nd Street and track panel installation north of 215th Street.
- For 181st Street and 191 Street, take the uptown 1 to 168th Street and transfer to the M3 or free shuttle bus.
- For Dyckman Street and 207th Street, take the uptown 1 to 168th Street and transfer to the A.
- For stations from 215th Street to 242nd Street, take the uptown 1 to 168th Street and transfer to the A to 207th Street, then take the free shuttle bus along Broadway.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 14 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 16, there are no 2 trains between Franklin and Flatbush Avenues due to electrical work near Church Avenue. 2 trains operate between 241st Street and the Utica Avenue (3, 4) station. Free shuttle buses will provide alternate service.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 14 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 16, 3 service is extended to New Lots Avenue due to platform edge, mechanical and electrical work at Fulton Street and renewal of switches north of Borough Hall.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 14 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 16, there are no 4 trains between Brooklyn Bridge and New Lots Avenue due to platform edge, mechanical and electrical work at Fulton Street and renewal of switches north of Borough Hall. Customers should take the 3, N, Q or R instead. Note: 4 trains operate local in both directions between 125th Street and Brooklyn Bridge.
From 6 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., Saturday, April 14 and from 8 a.m. to 11:30 p.m., Sunday, April 15, there are no 5 trains between Grand Central-42nd Street and Bowling Green due to platform edge, mechanical and electrical work at Fulton Street and renewal of switches north of Borough Hall. Customers should take the 4 (operating between Woodlawn and Brooklyn Bridge), Q or R instead. Note: 5 trains run every 20 minutes between Grand Central-42nd Street and Dyre Avenue.
From 6 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday, April 14 and Sunday, April 15, Flushing-bound 7 trains skip 82nd, 90th, 103rd, and 111th Streets due to conduit and signal work for Flushing CBTC.
From 12:15 a.m. Saturday, April 14 to 4:45 a.m. Monday, April 16, shuttle trains and buses replace A trains between Howard Beach and Far Rockaway due to the rebuilding of existing piers and bearings on the South Channel Bridge and replacement of drain pipes between South Channel Bridge and Hammels Wye.
- Rockaway Park (S) shuttle trains operate between Far Rockaway and Rockaway Park
- Free shuttle buses operate between:
- Howard Beach and Far Rockaway, non-stop
- Howard Beach and Rockaway Park, making one stop at Broad Channel.
From 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday, April 14 and Sunday, April 15, uptown C trains skip Spring, 23rd, and 50th Streets due to work on the Broadway/Lafayette-to-Bleecker Street transfer connection.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 14 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 16, Bronx-bound D trains run via the N line from Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue to 36th Street due to station and line structure rehabilitation near 9th Avenue. Note: Out-of-system transfer with MetroCard at 62nd Street-New Utrecht Avenue.
From 11 p.m. Friday, April 13 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 16, Brooklyn-bound D trains skip 182nd-183rd Sts. due to track maintenance.
From 12:01 a.m. to 6:30 a.m., Saturday, April 14 and Sunday, April 15, and from 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m. Monday, April 16, Bronx-bound D trains run express from 36th Street to Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street, skipping DeKalb Avenue due to track replacement north of Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 14, to 5 a.m. Monday, April 16, E trains operate via the F in both directions after 36th Street in Queens to West 4th Street in Manhattan due to work on the 5th Avenue Interlocking Signal System Modernization project.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 14 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 16, Queens-bound F trains run via the A line from Jay Street-MetroTech to West 4th Street due to work on the Broadway/Lafayette-to-Bleecker Street transfer connection.
From 11 p.m. Friday, April 13 to 5 a.m. Monday, April, 16, there are no G trains between Court Square and Bedford-Nostrand Avs due to the installation of fiber optic, communication and control cables from Bedford-Nostrand to Flushing Avenue.
From 6 a.m. Saturday, April 14 to 10 p.m., Sunday, April 15, there are no J trains between Jamaica Center and Crescent Street due to structural steel repair, painting and track panel work north of Cypress Hills. J Trains operate between Crescent Street and Chambers Street. Free shuttle buses and E train service provide alternate service.
From 12:01 a.m. to 6:30 a.m., Saturday, April 14 and Sunday, April 15 and from 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m. Monday, April 16, Queens-bound N trains run express from 36th Street to Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street, then via the Manhattan Bridge, skipping DeKalb Avenue due to track replacement north of Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street.
From 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., Saturday, April 14 and Sunday, April 15, Brooklyn-bound N trains skip 30th Avenue, Broadway, 36th Avenue and 39th Avenue in Queens due to rail and tie renewal north of 39th Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, April 14 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 16, Manhattan-bound Q trains run via the R line from DeKalb Avenue to Canal Street due to track replacement north of Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street. Note: Q trains stop at Jay Street-MetroTech, Court Street, Whitehall Street, Rector Street, Cortlandt Street and City Hall.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, April 13 to 5 a.m. Monday, April 16, Coney Island-bound Q trains skip Avenue U and Neck Road due to track panel work south of Kings Highway.
From 6:30 a.m. to 12 midnight, Saturday, April 14 and Sunday, April 15, Manhattan-bound R trains run express from 36th Street to Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street, then via the Manhattan Bridge, skipping DeKalb Avenue due to track replacement north of Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street.
From 12:01 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. Saturday, April 14 and Sunday, April 15 and from 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m., Monday, April 16, there is no R service between 59th Street and 36th Street in Brooklyn due to track replacement north of Atlantic Avenue-Pacific Street. Customers should take the N instead. R trains will operate between 95th Street and 59th Street in Brooklyn.
From 12:15 a.m. Saturday, April 14 to 4:45 a.m. Monday, April 16, the Rockaway Park shuttle (S) trains operate between Far Rockaway and Rockaway Park due to due to the rebuilding of existing piers and bearings on the South Channel Bridge and replacement of drain pipes between South Channel Bridge and Hammels Wye. See A entry for details.
21 comments
Gee what a mess! Looks like the 6 and Times Square shuttle and Franklin Ave shuttle are the only lines not FUBAR’d this weekend. I don’t remember that many lines being simultaneously bustituted either. It’s going to be an adventure getting around this weekend!
Does anybody really decide how to get around based on how many different lines are affected by service changes?
Some of the changes are pretty minor and affect only a small subset of the line’s riders or add a few minutes to their travel time. And some of them only apply after midnight.
Skim through the list and see how the changes affect your travel plans before switching modes entirely.
Sounds like it might be a ZipCar weekend…
Boerum, how about people who can’t AFFORD to drive, don’t KNOW how to drive, or can’t SEE well enough to drive? It’s even possible that some people could be in ALL THREE of those categories. Like ME, for example. Seriously, in many places around this country you’re totally screwed if you can’t drive. Despite all the (completely true) complaints that we have about the NYC mass transit system, at least it EXISTS.
I noticed that there is no J shuttle. Usually when there is no 4 running they would send out the J shuttle to Prospect Park. I guess it turned out too costly for the MTA.
Also I noticed that the 42nd st shuttle is not going to operate overnight they should do that. Remember when the 2/3 was not running to brooklyn they extended the 5 and ran the shuttle overnight almost every weeknight.
Also I noticed that the G service change states that installation of fiber optic, communication and control cables from Bedford-Nostrand to Flushing Avenue. This might be a sign of CBTC on the crosstown.
…Or at least a PA system. Most Crosstown Line stations don’t have access to announcements.
Maybe with the increase in ridership they’ve decided to do it (and within a week’s time of the ridership reports being released!) lol
But in all seriousness, besides the IRT Flushing Line and the BMT Canarsie Line, which both have but one service using their tracks, the G has the next greatest amount of non-shared stations. With the increase in ridership, and exclusivity of service, one would think the IND Crosstown Line would be the next logical choice.
However, I’d still think the testing of CBTC for both A Division and B Division lines would have already been accomplished with these two, and that any money spent on CBTC be used for lines which need desperate increases in capacity. (The G Train could simply add more cars, you know. It ran 6 car sets for quite a while, and the R179’s should be arriving any day now. That should free up some trains; save some R42’s for the G train instead of sending them to the scrappers and we’ll be all set.) Perhaps quicker implementation of CBTC on the IND Queens Boulevard Line would be in order?
These points have intrigued me. Any way to find out what exactly the MTA is doing and for what reasons?
Flushing is under construction. Queens Blvd. comes next. I’m not sure what comes after that.
The signals on the Crosstown line are old, so they’ll be up for replacement pretty soon. The line won’t benefit from the capacity improvements that come with CBTC, though (the capacity constraint is south of Bergen, where the F and G share trackage), and CBTC requires equipment to be installed on all of the cars running on the G, so the old signals may be replaced with new wayside signals instead of CBTC.
Since all of the E, F, M, and R cars will have CBTC equipment installed by the time Queens Blvd. is done, my bet is on one of the two Manhattan IND trunks for the next CBTC installation after Queens. Like the Crosstown, they also have original IND-vintage signals, but they could benefit from the increased capacity.
For those of us that live along the 2 and 5 this is going be no fun. Perhaps I’ll be walking the extra walk to the Q.
Just curious about the C changes.
“From 6:30 a.m. to 11 p.m., Saturday, April 14 and Sunday, April 15, uptown C trains skip Spring, 23rd, and 50th Streets due to work on the Broadway/Lafayette-to-Bleecker Street transfer connection.”
Why would the Broadway/Lafayette-to-Bleecker Street transfer cause the C to skip Spring, 23rd and 50th streets uptown?
Probably because the C is staying on the express track at Canal and not switching over to the local.
Which in turn is probably because the F is running on the 8th Avenue line through lower Manhattan—this seems to be a recurring pattern, though I’m not sure what the operational benefit is. Possibly it just reduces the number of places they have to branch and merge services, so it reduces the risk of impact on E service?
But can THAT be true on this weekend, when the E will be running along the 6th Ave. line from West 4th St. to Queens?Or am I just confused? Can someone explain?
I also noticed something else: In my weekly E-mails yesterday from the MTA it said “E trains run via the F in both directions after 36 St, Queens to W 4 St.” They say both directions and the changes printed here say Manhattan-bound. Who is right?
The C is running express so the F can run via the C line through W 4 St without too many delays for either line. Also, with the E running local from the World Trade Ctr and not 2 Av-LES, it’s not a good idea to run three locals on the same tracks.
The non-stop shuttle bus from Howard Beach to Far Rockaway seems a little odd — you’d think they’d allow one in-between stop at Beach 67th St., so passengers not going to Far Rockaway don’t have to go all the way to Mott Ave. and then take the shuttle A train back west again.
And just as a historical baseball note, if the Low Vs were going to run to the Yanks’ games from 1918-22, they were going to have to do it heading down the ramp south of 167th Street onto the Ninth Avenue el (and through what’s now left field at the new ballpark), since they were playing at the Polo Grounds until the Stadium opened in 1923.
It’s a much more direct trip to Mott Av via Rockaway Blvd.
You know, this weekend is the only weekend I can remember where there’s actually work being done in Staten Island as well. St. George station is closed.
“Were I heading to the Stadium today, I’d hop this train, but alas, I am not Bronx-bound for Opening Day.”
Every time I’ve ridden one of the Lo-V Yankees Baseball Nostalgia Specials, I was not heading to the stadium. I just went along for the ride. It’s well worth it.