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Rail News Home Communication and Signal

10/19/2007



Rail News: Communication and Signal

MTA New York City Transit to increase service on two busy lines


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MTA New York City Transit (NYCT) plans to increase service on the 7 Flushing Line in Queens, and the Canarsie L Line in Brooklyn and Manhattan.

Beginning in mid-December, service will be increased during weekdays on both lines — and in the case of the L, on weekends, as well.

On the 7 line, there'll be more service during the morning rush-hour period between Flushing-Main Street and Times Square-42nd Street. Rush-hour service, when both local and express trains run every two to two-and-a-half minutes, will begin at 7:10 a.m. and end at 9:05 a.m. Previously, rush hour service began at 7:20 a.m. and ended at 8:50 a.m. And between 8:30 p.m. and 10:30 p.m., Main Street-bound 7 local and 7 express service will operate every four to five minutes, instead of the current five to six minutes. In all, 10 round-trips will be added to the 7's weekday schedule.

On the L line, service is being added "across the board" on weekdays and weekends, NYCT said. During the weekday morning rush hour, L trains will run about three-and-one-half minutes apart, instead of every four minutes. Manhattan-bound train trips will increase from 15 train trips to 17. In addition, two trains will be added during the "shoulder hour" between 9:30 a.m. and 10:30 a.m. Between 10:30 a.m. and 3 p.m., L trains will run every six minutes instead of every eight. And between 8 p.m. and midnight, L trains will run every five to 10 minutes instead of every six to 12 minutes.

Since 1998, L line ridership has increased 48 percent; 7 line ridership, 26 percent.

"The old signal system prevented us from adding the amount of service necessary to meet demand," said NYCT President Howard Roberts Jr. in a prepared statement. "With the addition of more equipment on the line in the form of new R160 cars, and the completion of a communications-based train control signal installation, we can finally provide relief for our riders — especially in Williamsburg and Greenpoint, where ridership has grown the most."

The service enhancements will cost $2.6 million per year, NYCT said.