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MTA says full-length G trains could be possible someday thanks to line's summer shutdown
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
and
Stephen Nessen
Published Jun 12, 2024
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Gary Hershorn/Getty Images
By
Ramsey Khalifeh
and
Stephen Nessen
Published Jun 12, 2024
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A summer of inconvenience could one day lead to longer trains for G train riders, MTA Chair Janno Lieber said on Wednesday.
Transit officials plan to shut down three segments of what's known as the Crosstown Line from June 28 through Sept. 3 to modernize the route’s aging infrastructure. The work will replace tracks, clean up stations and modernize the 90-year-old signal systems that direct trains on the line.
During a news conference at the Greenpoint Avenue station, Lieber said that once the work is complete, full-sized trains could eventually run on the G line. It's currently serviced by half-length, five-car sets that often force riders to sprint down platforms to catch an arriving train.
But the line needs more riders to justify longer trains, said Lieber.
“We have actually designed this new signaling system so that it could accommodate longer trains,” he said. “While today, we haven’t reached the point where the ridership warrants that change, we’re going to keep looking at it.”
For months, city and state lawmakers have urged the MTA to increase the length of G trains and restore G train service to Forest Hills. The line ran to the eastern Queens terminal until 2010, when officials truncated the line due to budget cuts.
Lieber said the work on the line is moving forward despite Gov. Kathy Hochul’s move last week to pause planned congestion pricing tolls, which were required by state law to finance $15 billion in upgrades to the MTA's transit system. The agency now intends to shrink its capital plan, meaning that new subway cars that could be used to run longer G trains may not be purchased for some time.
Signal upgrades on the A, C, E and F lines that would have been funded by congestion pricing are also up in the air. But Lieber pledged that the G train work will proceed despite Hochul's last-minute shelving of the tolling plan.
“We don't have the option of not dealing with it,” he said.
The six-week closure of the G train will come in three stages. The first phase is between June 28 to July 5, the second between July 5 and Aug. 12 and the third between Aug. 12 and Sept. 3.
Demetrius Crichlow, who is slated to become interim president of NYC Transit this week after Richard Davey's departure, said the work will benefit riders even if trains on the G line aren’t extended.
“These signals are ancient,” he said.
Tagged
Kathy Hochul
infrastructure
new york city
Janno Lieber
brooklyn
queens
transportation
g train
Ramsey Khalifeh
Ramsey Khalifeh is a transportation reporter on the NYC Accountability desk covering the largest transit system in the country. He was previously a general assignment reporter at Gothamist and worked on the Boston Globe's metro and copy desk. Got a tip? Email [email protected]
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Stephen Nessen
Stephen Nessen covers transportation. Since 2008 he has reported on everything from Occupy Wall Street, the rebuilding of the World Trade Center site, Hurricane Sandy, to Trump’s campaign for president. His transportation reporting has taken him everywhere from the MTA’s secret Rail Control Center to the gleaming subways of Seoul. Got a tip? Email [email protected].
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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