G Line Will See 66 Additional Roundtrips on Weekdays During L Train Shutdown

G train at Court Square (via Wikimedia Commons)

Oct. 22, 2018 By Nathaly Pesantez

The G line will be among seven subway lines to see a major hike in service when the L train tunnel shuts down for repairs in April, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced today.

The line, which runs from Court Square in Long Island City to Kensington in Brooklyn, will get an additional 66 roundtrips on weekdays during the 15 months the Canarsie tunnel connecting Brooklyn to Manhattan closes for repairs.

Some peak period trips, however, will only operate between Court Sq – 23 St and Bedford-Nostrand Ave, with up to 15 trains traveling per hour between the two stations. Additionally, some peak trips will end at 18 Av because of terminal capacity constraints at Church Av.

Every time period, ranging from the pre-AM peak to evening hours on the line, will see additional trips. The largest boosts come during the AM and PM peak, with 17 additional trips proposed for each category.

On weekends, the line will be getting a total of 24 additional round trips, with 16 on Saturdays and 8 on Sundays.

In addition to increased service, train cars will be added to G trains.

Other lines that will see a major boost in service include the E, with 26 additional roundtrips on weekdays and 2 on weekends, and several Queens routes like the E, F, M, and 7. The J and Z will also get additional roundtrips.

The L line, meanwhile, which will continue to operate in Brooklyn, will see a significant drop in service. There will be 88 fewer roundtrips on weekdays, and a combined drop of 143 roundtrips on weekends.

The changes translate to more than a thousand roundtrips each week.

New York City Transit said it is making the service changes to respond to displaced riders and subsequent increased ridership in other train lines.

“The tunnel reconstruction project will be the most impactful Superstorm Sandy-repair work we will undertake and as such, we must ensure we have viable, reliable alternatives particularly on the subways where we can accommodate the largest number of riders,” said NYCT President Andy Byford.

The schedule and route changes come at a cost of around $27.2 million annually, according to MTA New York City Transit documents. The cost has already been factored into the L Tunnel Reconstruction Project’s budget.