MTA Announces Additional Service Plans (And A Few Cuts) for L Train Shutdown

The L Train Shutdown will mean no service to Manhattan and fewer L train trips overall—but nearby lines are getting a boost in service, the MTA announced (Paul Stremple/BKLYNER)

This week, the MTA announced service changes for the upcoming L Train Shutdown, which add up to more than 1,000 additional trips on adjacent lines, while cutting service on the Brooklyn portion L that will remain in service.

For the G train, this means 66 additional round trips each weekday, with some trains continuing past Church Avenue on the F line to 18th Avenue due to capacity restrictions. Peak service will also include trains running limited routes between Court Square and Bedford-Nostrand. These changes have been tested during morning rush hours recently, though they have usually led to crowding on Bedford-Nostrand platforms from commuters taking the limited service train, then waiting for the following train to continue.

The G train, which currently runs only 4 cars, will be extended to an 8-car train during the shutdown, as the MTA expects 80% of current L train riders to be absorbed by neighboring lines.

M trains will see a boost of 62 additional weekday trips, with increases in peak service. The JZ, which has been running nearly at capacity, will add just 16 more trips each day, with trains making all stops between Broadway Junction and Marcy Avenue.

The already aggravating R train will actually cut a few trips to allow for the increase in M service, but the MTA has said that Brooklyn residents commuting to and from Manhattan on the R will not see a drop in peak-hour service.

“The L 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 in a statement.

“We will be adding more than a thousand roundtrips each week and pushing our resources to capacity, which is also why you’re seeing so much preventative maintenance and repair work on all these lines already—we are making these lines as reliable as possible for these new service levels starting in 2019.”

The current weekend closures of the L train are part of this preventative maintenance and will continue until the Canarsie Tunnel repair project starts in April 2019. The repairs are expected to take 15 months.