June 15th Weekend

Good evening folks. I apologize for the lack of an update last weekend, but I wasn’t near a computer for most of the weekend. Moving on from that, let’s get to this weekend’s service disruptions. But before that, there is a bit of bad news coming in the short term. For those unaware, the Montague Street (R-line) tubes will shut down for at least a year starting this August. The Greenpoint tube that connects the G-line between Queens and Brooklyn will also close down, but only on weekends, starting next month. This is all due to the affects of Hurricane Sandy.

Getting back to this weekend’s service, the biggest disruptions, ranking from worst, are on the 1-line (no service south of 14 St), the M-line (service is replaced by shuttles), the R-line (all service via the Manhattan Bridge), the E-line (Manhattan-bound trains run via 63rd Street/6th Avenue) and the A & C-lines (northbound trains via Rutgers).  There are also local runs on the uptown A & D-lines north of 59 St-Columbus Circle and the 4 & 5-lines in both directions north of Grand Central. Uptown E and F trains run express in Manhattan and uptown Q trains skip Neck Rd and Avenue U. Though, in a bit of good news, after weeks of no 5 train service, 5 trains are running to Bowling Green all weekend, including late nights. They are running local through the entirety of the line, so, give and take I suppose. The map as always has the details and anything I may have missed. Enjoy the weekend. At least it’s going to be dry.

Map

June 1st-3rd

Good evening folks. It’s a scorcher out there isn’t it? And it will be one for most of the weekend. So you’re waiting on a hot platform for a train that won’t show up, here are the weekend’s service changes. Once again, the 5 is not running all weekend; the 2 is running from Manhattan to Dyre Av (a shuttle is running between 241 and E 180 Sts). There is no J train service east of Crescent St; shuttle buses are running from Crescent St to Jamaica-Van Wyck Expwy on the E-line. Speaking of the E trains, both the E and F lines are affected by weekend construction. Manhattan-bound trains are all running via 63rd Street while Queens-bound trains are running via 53rd Street. Manhattan-bound E trains are also running via the F-line from Roosevelt Av and 2 Av, the last stop. By the way, both Manhattan-bound E and F trains will bypass Lexington Av-63 St Saturday evening through early Sunday morning. Rounding out this weekend’s service changes are the rerouting of the N and Q trains through the Montague/Whitehall tunnels in both directions and express runs on the 7 in Queens along the entire stretch of the Flushing line, the C in Manhattan south of 59 St, the F in Brooklyn along the Culver Viaduct and the N in Queens on the Astoria line. The map shows all of this. Enjoy the weekend and try to stay cool.

Map

Memorial Day Weekend (5/25)

Good evening folks. As the title of this post states, this is the Memorial Day weekend and the unofficial start of the summer. As of this post however, it doesn’t look or feel much like summer. But since this is a post on the service changes and not a weather report, let’s get to it, shall we? You’d think it’d be a relatively light weekend since it’s a major holiday and you’d be right. In a way. There aren’t that many service disruptions in place this weekend, but the few that are scheduled will likely affect your travel plans, especially if you’re traveling between Manhattan and Brooklyn. The L line is suspended between Lorimer St and 8 Av, Manhattan all weekend. The M is extended to 57 St to compensate. The only other major changes in place are on the D in the Bronx (uptown express between 145 St and Tremont Av) and the F (Queens-bound trains run via 53rd Street again). You’ve also got express runs on the downtown 8th Avenue line trains between 59 St-Columbus Circle & Canal St and a one-day run on the uptown 4 in the Bronx. The map has all of this illustrated. Enjoy the long weekend and keep in mind that most of the service changes run through Tuesday morning, not Monday. Also, once again, during the overnight hours tonight (Saturday), MetroCard Vending Machines will only take cash due to system upgrades.

Map

Weekend of May 18th

Hello folks and once again, happy Friday. I’d say it’s been a pretty good week. Hopefully it’s been good for you as well. Since it is Friday, you know what that means: weekend service disruptions. First off, FASTRACK hits the Coney Island approaches on the D and N lines. Since it’s FASTRACK and not a general shutdown, you’ll need to hop on local buses and nearby subway lines to get from either Bay Pkwy on the D or 86 St on the N if you’re headed to Coney Island.

Besides that, we have the usual slew of service changes. In order of most important:

• both the M and H-Rockaways shuttles are completely suspended (buses replace both lines)
• E and F are running into Manhattan via 63rd Street; back to Queens via 53rd Street

downtown E trains are also running down 6th Avenue to 2 Av (Queens-bound trains start at 2 Av)

There are also express runs on the 1 in Manhattan, the C in both Manhattan and Brooklyn and the F & G along the Viaduct Also watch out for longer wait times on the G north of Bedford-Nostrand Avs. As always, the map has all the details. Enjoy the weekend. Also before I forget, if you aren’t already aware, full A-line service will resume at the end of the month according to the MTA.

Map

 

Weekend of May 11th

Good evening folks. Let’s get the usual suspects out of the way first. The G is still truncated to Hoyt-Schermerhorn. The 5 isn’t running at all. The 4 is running local in most of Manhattan. With that out of the way, let’s get down to what’s new. First off, one of the biggest service changes is on the A line in Queens. And I’m not talking about the Rockaways section. For most of Saturday into Sunday morning, service on the A line is split with a shuttle running from Rockaway Blvd to Howard Beach. On Sunday, there will be no train service from Euclid Av onwards. Shutle buses will make all stops from Euclid Av to Lefferts Blvd then continue to Howard Beach, stopping at the Racetrack and North Conduit Av. There will be an express bus running non-stop from Euclid Av to JFK Airport, but it will likely be slow going either way.

The other service changes include the following: Manhattan-bound E trains are running via the F line after 36 St in Queens to 2 Av. Queens-bound trains are running normally, but are starting from 2 Av. Downtown N trains run express in Queens, uptown R trains run via the bridge. Downtown 1 trains run express south of 34 St-Penn Station. All of the service changes are illustrated in map form below. Enjoy the weekend, even though it’s supposed to be a wet one for the most part.

Map

Weekend of May 4th

Good evening folks. Yes it’s still evening here, so it’s still Friday. And that means another weekend of construction-related service changes. The biggest ones this weekend involve the 1 and 5 lines. The 1 is truncated to 168 St, while the latter is not running at all. The 2 is running from Flatbush to Dyre Av with a shuttle running between Wakefield and East 180 St.

Eighth Avenue service is also messed up this weekend. Downtown A and C trains are running via the Rutgers (F) tubes between W 4 St and Jay St; downtown E trains are running express in Manhattan. It’s also slow going if you’re traveling on the Broadway line as everything is running via Lower Manhattan. Though if you’re heading up along Astoria, you’ll have to double back as downtown N trains are running express in Queens.

The map has all of the service changes in effect this weekend. Map

P.S. Starting this Monday, FASTRACK hits the 4th Avenue line in Brooklyn. There will be no service between 36 St/4 Av and Bay Ridge-95 St. N trains to/from Manhattan run via the West End (D) line in both directions. Shuttle train service runs from 8 Av to Coney Island to provide service along Sea Beach. R trains also run via the D during the evening hours, but terminate at 9 Av. Shuttle buses run along 4th Avenue only. Just keep that in mind. Enjoy the weekend.

Weekend of April 27th

Good evening folks. Hope you had a good week. First off, let’s start with the good news. After many delays, Smith-9 Sts has finally reopened this morning as of this post. The bad news: due to construction work unrelated to the Culver Viaduct project, G service is truncated to Hoyt-Schermerhorn (and split at Bedford-Nostrand Avs). Also, as will probably be the norm for the foreseeable future, the 1 line is cut back to 14 St with shuttle buses running between Chambers St and South Ferry. Downtown F trains are running via the Cranberry Tubes, which means the C trains are not stopping at 50th, 23rd or Spring Sts so as to not create a conga line on the 8th Avenue local tracks. Finally, this is the last weekend of the Fort Washington shutdown of the A line between 168 St and 207 St.

The map as usual has all the details. Enjoy the weekend. It looks like it’s shaping up to be a good one.

Map

PS. If anyone is planning on being out late tonight, the MetroCard machines will only take cash between 2 and 5 AM, so you might want to plan ahead on that one.

SUNDAY EDIT: G train service is running to Church Av. Northbound, alternating trains are turning at Bedford-Nostrand Avs. New map below.

New Map

Weekend of April 20…

Aka, “My Return to Weekly Posting”.

First off, I sincerely apologize for not updating for the past few weeks. I’ve been dealing with technical problems concerning my internet provider. Those have been, for the most part, taken care of earlier this week. Hopefully, that signals the end of my so-called hiatus.

With that out of the way, let’s jump right into this weekend’s service disruptions, shall we? The biggest one is the first weekend FASTRACK for the D and N lines out of Coney Island. D trains are truncated to Bay Pkwy; N trains to 86 St-Gravesend. As is the case during the normal weeknight FASTRACK line closures, there will be no direct shuttle bus service provided for the closed stations. Local buses will have to be used in order to get to the nearest open subway station. Besides that, we also have the ongoing line closure of the 8th Avenue line north of 168 St as well as the complete shutdown of the Myrtle Avenue line and the Franklin Avenue shuttle. Both lines’ service will be replaced by shuttle buses. Along with the big stuff, we also have express runs on the 6, C, F & G in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan and local runs on the E & F on Queens Blvd.

The full list of service changes is presented in map form below. Enjoy the weekend.

Map

Weekend of March 16

Hey, what do you know? I actually got this out on Friday this time. Hooray for me.

This weekend is a relatively light one because of the St. Patrick’s Day parade tomorrow. Only the 7, F and Q service changes in Manhattan go into effect either late this evening or early tomorrow. The express runs on the downtown 4 & 6 and N & R start late Saturday night. The only other major service change is on the J line in Brooklyn and Queens, where buses replace trains between Crescent St and Jamaica-Van Wyck Expwy on the E line. The map has everything plotted out. Reminder: if there is no start/end time on the service change boxes, they begin at midnight tonight and end at 5 AM Monday.

Map

Weekend of March 9

Late again. Let’s just jump right into this. It’s the last weekend for the Lenox Avenue shutdown, the short turns of the northbound 1 trains and the express runs of the downtown 6 trains in Manhattan. The 7 is still truncated to Queensboro Plaza (as it will be through the end of the month). Also, Central Av on the M line will be closed starting this weekend through August. Use the B54 bus for alternate service. Downtown N and R trains run express in Manhattan; downtown 4 and 5 trains run local south of Grand Central. For more service changes in place this weekend, consult the map below. Enjoy the weekend; it’s supposed to be nice weather-wise.

Map