By Philip Newman
Trains of the new V subway line will start rolling next month, increasing service by 20 percent and bringing conditions that Gov. George Pataki said would be “dramatically better for Queens commuters.”
Pataki and Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chairman Peter Kalikow said the V line would begin Dec. 16 using the $645 million 63rd Street Connector tunnel that allows Queens Boulevard subway trains to travel through the East River tunnel at 63rd Street.
“With the opening of the 63rd Street Connector and the new V train, things will get dramatically better for Queens commuters,” Pataki said. “Better means more trains. Better means less crowded trains. Better also means a broader range of travel options.
“Queens riders deserve nothing less,” Pataki said. “I’m happy that we were able to make this wonderful project happen.”
New York City Transit Authority President Lawrence Reuter said the new service would bring an increase in subway trains from 41 to 50 per hour during the morning rush hour.
The F line will continue to provide express service along the Queens Boulevard line but will be rerouted through the 63rd Street Connector to the Sixth Avenue Line and will make some different stops in Queens and Manhattan. The F train will stop at the 21st Street-Queensbridge station in Queens and the Roosevelt Island, Lexington Avenue-63rd street and 57th Street stations.
The old F line stops at Queens Plaza, 23rd Street-Ely Avenue, Lexington Avenue-53rd Street and Fifth Avenue-53rd Street stations will now be serviced by the E train and the new V train. The rest of the F line remains the same, as does E and R line services.
“This 7 1/2-year-long project represents the culmination of an extraordinarily complex construction,” Kalikow said. “The 63rd Street Connector was built under a living and breathing community in Queens and required tunneling beneath buildings, major thoroughfares and even existing subway lines, all of which remaining in operation during the project.”
The V line will provide local service between Forest Hills-71st Avenue in Queens and the Second Avenue station on the Lower East Side of Manhattan via the Queens Boulevard line, 53rd Street tunnel and Sixth Avenue Line. It will operate weekdays from 6 a.m. and midnight.
The G line will run between Court Square in Long Island City and Smith-9th Street in Brooklyn on weekdays from 5 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. G line customers traveling beyond Long Island City can transfer to a Manhattan or Queens Boulevard-bound E or V train at Court Square-23rd-Ely Avenue during these hours by using the subway's first moving sidewalk to make the connection between stations.
G customers at Court Square may also take a new free subway-to-subway MetroCard transfer to and from the No. 7 line at 45th Road-Court House Square station.
The G line service will be extended to Forest Hills-71st Avenue from 8:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. week nights and all day weekends.
Reach contributing writer Philip Newman by e-mail at Timesledgr@aol.com or call 229-0300, Ext. 136.
