[Editor's Note, 9:12pm: The original story has been changed to (1) correct the timeframe which trains will be replaced with buses (just this weekend for now, not during rush hour) and (2) to clarify that some stations are closed only in one direction at all times through the spring.]
The commute from Coney Island to Manhattan and beyond can be very painfully nerve challenging by way of the local F train. The MTA will begin a construction project, history proves these to be over budget and behind schedule that will force riders to take a local train to a bus and then back to a local train even during rush hour commute this weekend! Some [Manhattan-bound] stations along the route will be closed [until May] and riders are not happy with the MTA…surprised?
[Further update from WNYC: The below changes will start next weekend - Friday, January 14 - instead of the weekend coming up, due to a potential snow event forecast this weekend and the MTA not wanting to get caught with their snowpants down again. Via FIPS.]
5 Responses to “F Train changes”
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Northies… I don’t care about them. Their blogs and the North Brooklyn paper of record have been whining their fair share of whining and then some. No one seemed to care when it was every Q-train rider south of Prospect getting the shaft for years and counting.
Besides, it doesn’t make it harder for us to get to Manhattan or even DUMBO or Greenpoint. It just makes it harder for us to get to the overrated nabe of Park Slope. Good. Riddance.
Its harder to get to Manhattan cause need to take local F to a shuttle bus then back to local F to contunue to Manhattan or Queens. Whats so overrated about Park Slope.. is it all the redhecks, hicks, ghosts, ufo’s, aliens, zoombies, hookers and flying squirrels.
I was thinking about the work week. No shuttle buses then. Not for us, anyway.
You’re right though. That does suck for this coming weekend. And we know it will happen again on random weekends for the next rest-of-our-lives with little or no notice.
Do you guys think that the G may become local and the F express sometime in the future? Some of my coworkers are worried this may happen.
Hey Lauren – as far as the construction project, the only difference between F- and G-service will be at Smith Street. There’s going to be a temporary platform there, but it will only be long enough to accommodate the G-train. F- and G-riders get screwed equally at all the other stations.
A scenario that geeky train geeks were pushing a few years ago was extending the V-train south of Second Avenue and into Brooklyn on the express tracks between Church Avenue and Jay Street. Since it would have taken advantage of unused tracks, it would have left F- and G-train service unaffected, while still adding a second Manhattan-bound train to alleviate the ridership strain on the F. It really would have been a perfect plan, but with this Culver Viaduct Clusterfuck on the horizon, the MTA didn’t take it seriously.
Of course, even when the rehab is complete (and the whole thing is probably a three-year project), there is the extra problem that there is no V-train anymore. It’s route was combined with the Middle Village/Williamsburg spur of the M-train. It’s the cheap option. I actually think the express V-train to Brooklyn is worth fighting for when the Culver rehab is done, but it will take an enormous amount of political capital to get the MTA to pony up the cash to run it.
Don’t worry about an express-F/local-G becoming a permanent fixture without a third line like the V being added to pick up the local slack.