Second Ave. Sagas

The G train returns, with eight cars and a longer wait

Written by

Benjamin Kabak

in

,

A few days after more subway service settled into some pattern of normalcy, the G train has finally returned, Transit announced this morning. The IND Crosstown, often referred to as the Ghost Train and considered by many of its loyal riders to be the forgotten stepchild of the system, will run from Church Ave. to Court Square, and due to damage from the flooding, the train sets will consist of eight cars. There is, however, a twist. As Transit said via Twitter, trains will run “with extended waits due to ongoing signal repairs.”

In a subsequent press release, Transit offered up a bit more info: Due to severe damage in the Greenpoint tube under Newtown Creek, G trains will run at no more than 10 mph through just that tube, and trains will operate every 12 minutes instead of every eight. Transit is warning on delays and “possible crowding.”

“We are working day and night to restore service as quickly as possible to give customers more travel options after the storm each day,” MTA Chairman and CEO Joseph J. Lhota said in the statement. “We will continue to add service incrementally, only when it is absolutely safe to do so and doesn’t overcharge the system. Given the strain on the system, we still encourage our customers to allow extra time for their commutes.”

Comments

28 responses to “The G train returns, with eight cars and a longer wait”

  1. Kai B

    Checked mta.info an hour ago, still said “Suspended”. Now I’m stuck on a slow-moving bus!

    Reply
    1. Benjamin Kabak

      The first trains rolled off the line at 8:55 a.m., Transit said. You and most other rush hour commuters just missed it.

      Reply
    2. Eric

      just checked again and says limited service. could we get a confirmation on the 8 cars? this is the only place i saw that info (well and the tweet)

      Reply
      1. Kai B

        An official NYCT Twitter account tweet is a pretty decent source.

        Reply
      2. Bolwerk

        8-car G Trains aren’t exactly Ripley’s Believe It or Not material. They do it when the F is rerouted sometimes.

        Reply
        1. al

          They used to run a 10 car R32 trainset for the G back in the 90’s and early 2000’s

          Reply
  2. Kai B

    Still “pink taped off” at Court Square w/ agent saying to take the bus (9:27am). Not sure when it will actually be restored.

    Reply
  3. Kai B

    Ok, stuck around, got a (bad) photo of agent carrying removed pink tape. She said first train to leave Court Square will be 9:45!

    Reply
  4. Andrew

    The 8 car trains have nothing to do with “growing ridership levels” and everything to do with the 12 minute headway.

    Reply
    1. Benjamin Kabak

      Oh, I know. I didn’t mean to imply otherwise.

      Reply
  5. Phantom

    Good job MTA employees

    You rock.

    Reply
  6. Frank B

    Quick question. That short Tunnel connecting Brooklyn and Queens below Newtown Creek on the IND Crosstown Line; is it called the Newtown Tunnel? I’m seeing references on the MTA website to a “Greenpoint Tube”. While I take the G everyday, and know the names of the other tunnels by heart; I’ve never come across an official name for the Crosstown Line Tunnel.

    Any thoughts? Is it “Newtown Tunnel” or “Greenpoint Tube”?

    Reply
    1. Ron

      Greenpoint Tubes. Also sometimes referenced as Jackson Ave Tubes.

      Reply
      1. Kai B

        I was incorrectly calling it “Newtown Creek Tunnel” but it looks like the MTA prefers “Greenpoint Tube” (singular). Since they run the show, I’ll defer to them.

        Reply
      2. RealName

        Running, as they do, under Manhattan Avenue for the last 1.25 miles before diving under Newtown Creek, why aren’t they called the Manhattan Avenue Tubes?

        Reply
        1. Nathanael

          Dunno. Why are most of the tubes from Brooklyn to Manhattan named after the Brooklyn streets they run under? While one of them, along with most of the Queens-Manhattan tunnels, are named after the Manhattan street it runs under? And then the #7 tunnel is the “Steinway Tube”?!?

          Why are the tunnels under the Hudson the “Upper Tubes”, “Lower Tubes”, and “North River Tubes”? Why is it the “Outerbridge Crossing” instead of the “Outerbridge Bridge”?

          History, I assume.

          Reply
          1. Researcher

            The F line runs through the Rutgers Street and 63rd Street Tunnels. The E and M run through the 53rd Street Tunnel. The N, R and Q run through the 60th Street Tunnel. All are named after Manhattan Streets.

            Reply
          2. geoffc

            I asked about the lower tunnels, and the Manhattan side does not have clear street approaches, whereas as Brooklyn does for all but Rutgers (F).

            Steinway is named after the piano folk who payed for them initially to run trolleys.

            Outerbridge was a persons name and Outerbridge Bridge is kind of redundant sounding.

            Reply
  7. RealName

    The ‘F’ has just been extended from Avenue X to Stillwell. That’s one more line that’s resumed its full pre-Sandy route…albeit with continuing intermittent delays.

    Reply
    1. RealName

      …and now the ‘Q’ has reached Stillwell. The return of the ‘B’ to Brighton Beach is probably not far off, although it has not been officially announced.

      Reply
  8. llqbtt

    they stated that the G has 125k riders compared to the Lex’ million plus in justifying the order in which services are being restored, but hang on a sec..how does this logic apply to the L?

    Reply
    1. SomeGuy32

      Restoring L doesn’t really help any other line (and they can get a chunk of the L line people transferred at Broadway Junction)

      Lex line serves downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn and helps more when other lines are down (even though of course it’s already crowded, but that’s another story).

      (Also the L tunnel seems to have extensive damage)

      Reply
    2. Nathanael

      The L appears to be the worst-damaged.

      Reply
  9. HF James

    Just a side note…terrible damage to South Ferry, some images of stairs and platform now

    http://www.flickr.com/photos/m…..hotostream
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/m…..hotostream
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/m…..hotostream
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/m…..hotostream
    http://www.flickr.com/photos/m…..hotostream

    Reply
  10. Someone

    So are they using 8 cars of R160As or 8 cars of R68/As? You know, a train of 8 cars of R68/As can hold more people than a train of 8 cars of R160As.

    Reply
  11. Wecollie

    I am so tired of the MTA mistreating G train riders. We were left to fend for ourselves without them providing a shuttle bus service to substitute for the loss of the G train. They would never act in this manner in regard to the manhattan lines,

    Reply
    1. Andrew

      Nobody in Manhattan had shuttle buses when all the trains were terminating at 34th – anybody who needed to go further south within Manhattan had to walk or use regular local buses.

      In fact, the only shuttle buses that the MTA has provided since Sandy were the three routes between Brooklyn and Manhattan, when Brooklyn was completely cut off from Manhattan. If you think the B62 was crowded when the G was out, you have no idea what the shuttle buses were like.

      Reply
      1. Kirby

        G Train riders are treated more unfairly than any other line in the system. They are short, they take a long time, almost never on time, etc.Even the Rockaway Shuttle runs 8 cars and it only goes like 6 stops, while the G Train runs 4 cars, and has 21 stops. Just be cause the G Line doesn’t go to Manhattan, doesn’t mean it can be forgotten about. When this line was gone and I had to leave school, I had to take the F Train to the B38, and they were crowded, especially the bus. So if anyone thinks the Manhattan lines have it bad, then go check the G Line out, because us G Line riders have it a lot worst than you guys (and girls).

        Reply

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