Transportation has been a hot-button issue in Greenpoint as of late, but one thing that everyone can agree on is that service on the G-train could use some improvements (AKA I’m sick of taking the damn shuttle bus to and from the Bedford-Nostrand station!)
Luckily, the MTA recently announced a new rollout of subway service enhancements, starting this month. Weekend service will be enhanced starting with the G, J, and M lines. The MTA aims for midday 8-minute service on the G-train starting in December.
Hey G Train lovers! Trains are coming more frequently!
— Lincoln Restler (@LincolnRestler) July 7, 2023July 2023: Weekend Service arrives every 8-9 minutes instead of every 10-11 minutes December 2023: Midday Service will arrive every 8 minutes
This is thanks to $35M for enhanced @mta service in NYS Budget. pic.twitter.com/zFNVxLze1J
According to a press release,“[w]ith the passage of the FY 2024 New York State Budget, the MTA will receive an additional $35 million for subway service enhancements.”
Increased weekend service means that trains should arrive every 8-9 minutes instead of 10-11 minutes. The MTA estimates that 2.9 million riders will benefit from the improvements.
Aside from speeding up service, the MTA announced last year their intention to modernize the G-train’s signaling system, awarding a $368 million contract to implement CBTC (communications-based train control), bringing the train from the literal Great Depression-era into 2023 (although to be fair, most lines still operate with that decades-old technology).
For more ideas on the ways that the MTA can make the G-train better, check out this recent op-ed from a community member.