Why must the 7 train make so much modifications to their service in one weekend?
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
There's no reason they're still working on the 7 line, it's been YEARS since they finished the signal update
What really is annoying is the complete cutting off of service to Manhattan? Do they not realize the inconvenience this causes for many of those that travel from Queens to Manhattan on weekends?
What really is annoying is the complete cutting off of service to Manhattan? Do they not realize the inconvenience this causes for many of those that travel from Queens to Manhattan on weekends?
In the Bronx, I have to take my train to a shuttle bus into Manhattan then get back on my train in Manhattan and then usually switch trains to get to wear I need to go.
There's no reason they're still working on the 7 line, it's been YEARS since they finished the signal update
MTA is doing work on Queensboro Plaza station including installing new elevators and additional accessibility work. Certain people moaned that MTA wasn't making NYC subway stations easy for disabled to access so now they are doing that work.
As for why total weekend shut down for several that goes back decades to when MTA began investing billions in a busted NYC subway system.
Under "fast track" program it was deemed best to shut things down on weekends totally or maybe some weeknights in order to get things done quickly. Weekends are preferred because most lines seen reduced ridership. Whereas even shutting things down on weeknights can affect large numbers.
What really is annoying is the complete cutting off of service to Manhattan? Do they not realize the inconvenience this causes for many of those that travel from Queens to Manhattan on weekends?
Since there are other options (like the Queens Blvd lines which connect to the 7 in Queens), I assume that is the MTA's solution as there is much lower ridership on the weekends.
MTA is doing work on Queensboro Plaza station including installing new elevators and additional accessibility work. Certain people moaned that MTA wasn't making NYC subway stations easy for disabled to access so now they are doing that work.
As for why total weekend shut down for several that goes back decades to when MTA began investing billions in a busted NYC subway system.
Under "fast track" program it was deemed best to shut things down on weekends totally or maybe some weeknights in order to get things done quickly. Weekends are preferred because most lines seen reduced ridership. Whereas even shutting things down on weeknights can affect large numbers.
A New York Times editorial from June 1983, Mass Transit Includes the Mass, stated (excerpt, link):
Quote:
Originally Posted by New York Times
After years of dirt and decay, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority finally has the money and the management to start remodeling New York City's subway stations - but can't. There's a wheelchair on the tracks.
The state's public buildings law requires any public building undergoing remodeling to be made usable by people in wheelchairs. Though Governor Cuomo recognizes the tremendous cost of installing elevators or escalators in subway stations, he refuses to recommend a change in the law. His noble stance leaves everyone immobilized.
This, before the NY Times went all-in politically correct, got it right.
Since there are other options (like the Queens Blvd lines which connect to the 7 in Queens), I assume that is the MTA's solution as there is much lower ridership on the weekends.
Yup.... no one takes the subway on weekends; just me.
IIRC early on Queensboro Plaza serviced Astoria, Flushing and Second avenue elevated subway lines. When Els were taken down or otherwise service changed there wasn't a need for eight tracks so things were scaled down.
Best answer can find to date comes from a post on Railroad.net
"The sources I have read say 1949 was the year of the final transition."
"The platforms on the Astoria line were trimmed back to clear the wider newer BMT subway cars, which now could run through all the way to Ditmars Blvd on the Astoria line. The Ditmars Blvd - Queensboro Plaza - Main Street shuttle trains with older BMT el cars were discontinued. The two northernmost BMT tracks at Queensboro Plaza, both upper and lower level, were no longer used. The connection to/from the BMT 60th Street subway tunnel was shifted south by one track to the northernmost of the two remaining tracks, both upper and lower level, on the former IRT side of the station; these were the tracks that previously connected to the branch of the IRT Second Avenue elevated line across the upper level of Queensboro Bridge. The flying junctions east of the station that the BMT shuttle trains formerly used to reverse direction between the Astoria line and the Flushing line were no longer in use; this included the two BMT tracks in my question. The layup track (formerly used by the BMT subway trains that reversed direction at Queensboro Plaza) on the west side of the Flushing line atop the Queens Blvd bridge over Sunnyside Yard and the LIRR was no longer used. The tracks that were in service at the end of 1949 are basically what we have in service today in 2013. Nothing new was added back then.
The dis-used northern half of the station, most of the dis-used trackage and its support structure was demolished circa 1963, in time for the 1964-1965 New York World's Fair. Some remnants of the disused trackways remain both east and west of the station, allowing the knowing eye to partially visualize the ways trains used to operate many years ago."
Speaking of Queensboro Plaza anyone remember scene from "The Planet of the Apes" where they find old "Queensboro Plaza" sign buried beneath rubble. That and finding top bit of Statue of Liberty (the head/crown) was so scary to me as a kid.
"Like BMT "Q" Types replacing the older gate cars that rode on the line for the opening of the 1939/40 World's Fair, the procedure would be repeated again when, in 1964, the picture window (World's Fair) R-36s replaced the (by then) older R-15s for the 1964/65 World's Fair. In 1942, when Second Avenue El service ended, major overhauls for the Corona fleet were transferred to the Coney Island shop. In addition, free transfers to the 3rd Avenue El were offered at 42nd St from June 13th, 1942 (when 2nd Ave El service ended) until May 12th, 1955 (when 3rd Ave El service ended). In the fall of 1949, the joint BMT/IRT service arrangement ended. The Flushing Line became the responsibility of the IRT, and the Astoria Line had its platforms shaved back, and became an extension of the BMT. Because of this, routes through the (then) 8 track Queensborough Plaza station were consolidated and the northern half of the structure was torn down. Evidence of where the torn-down platforms were, as well as the trackways which approached this area, can still be seen in the ironwork at the station.
The Main St. Flushing station was never meant to be the terminal of the line. The Public Service Commission, in June of 1913, was actively engaged in considering extensions of the line beyond Main St., but it never came to pass."
There were plans to extend 7 train out past College Point to Whitestone using all or part of LIRR's Whitestone Branch ROW.
It never happened for a host of reasons, then LIRR abandoned Whitestone Brach and subsequently over years nearly all of it has been torn down or otherwise replaced. There are still bits left here and there, but would be impossible to rebuild the line.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
