Updated at 10:30 am for paragraphs 3,4, and 5:
If any residents of Roosevelt Island have noticed less frequent F Trains during the morning rush hours, resulting in more crowded trains as they do arrive, you are not imagining things. The MTA has announced just that "less frequent trains during....rush hours".
For a stations like Roosevelt Island that is the last stop before entering Manhattan proper that is like a kiss of death or at least a guarantee of greater heartache and delays. And did I mention this is to run through DECEMBER 31, 2009.
According to a story posted yesterday by amNew York:
The MTA is replacing an 800-feet stretch of track between Queens’ Roosevelt Avenue and Forest Hills-71st Avenue stations as part of ongoing subway maintenance, said NYC Transit spokeswoman Deirdre Parker.
The work is being done on the weekends, but trains must constantly travel at slower speeds because they are running over temporary track, she explained.
Ben Kabak over at Second Avenue Sagas further explained in his post yesterday that because the trains are running over the temporary track they still must, during rush hours, run at slower speeds.
We can certainly appreciate the need for track improvements. We have had less weekend service disruptions this year and while we have been promised that during the Tram outage the MTA would be considerate of our unique transportation needs this is still going to hurt a lot.
For the record this service change is NOT listed anywhere on the MTA webpage that lists such service changes for today's date.
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Note, the above photo is my own and I have not altered the MTA's poster in any way. I believe my posting this image is not violating any rule or copyright as it is being posted here to expand the rider base that is aware of these service changes.
Posts
I don't get it. They're doing track improvements specifically during rush hours? Haven't they been doing track improvements for years now? What's the longest period without service disruptions within the last five years?
ReplyDeleteMaybe it is MTA's way of showing everybody what's going to happen when the state keeps refusing to throw more coin at them. More expensive and less service.
ReplyDeleteA runs the trains at 5 minutes interval the slowdown for 800 feet on 24 trains should not mean more than 1 or 2 "lost" runs. Does MTA elaborate ?
ReplyDeleteOutside rush hours there should be enough margin for the delays in the regular schedule.
above comment should start "MTA"
ReplyDelete