The F and M lines between Manhattan and Queens will permanently swap on Monday, a change that MTA Chair and CEO Janno Lieber said on Wednesday will benefit all straphangers who frequent the affected stations.
Lieber, speaking to reporters at the 21st St.-Queensbridge station on the F line on Wednesday, insisted that there is no downside to the major service shakeup on the F and M lines between Manhattan and the World’s Borough.
Instead, he said the switch would speed up service on the Queens Boulevard line (E, F, M and R trains) and reduce crowding on trains that go through two stations currently served by the F line — 21st St.-Queensbridge and Roosevelt Island.
“There are real benefits that everybody is going to see,” Lieber said. “I don’t think that it’s fair to say that there are people who are being hurt. Their … commute is being changed a little bit. But I think that everybody benefits when we can carry more people on the Queens Boulevard line.”
Why the switch is being made
The MTA is switching the two lines to clear a merge at the Queens Plaza station, which Lieber referred to as a “choke-point.” He said the merge snarls trains and causes delays on all of the Queens Boulevard lines.
Bill Amarosa Jr., NYC Transit executive vice president of Subways, said swapping the lines reduces the chance of trains that start out on different tracks but have to merge onto the same one having to wait for one another.
He gave the example of being on an E train at “Queens Plaza, going to Manhattan, and you see the M across the platform moving first, you’re waiting for that train to go ahead of you before you can proceed.”
Amarosa Jr. said another scenario the change would address is “If you’re heading towards Queens on an F train, you can leave this station at Queensbridge and be stopped ahead, waiting for an E train to cross in front of you. With the service change that starts on Monday, that type of delay is a thing of the past.”
The change, which begins on Dec. 8, will see the F replace the M at Queens Plaza, Court Square-23rd St., Lexington Ave./53rd St., and Fifth Avenue/53rd St. The M will replace the F at 21st St.-Queensbridge, Roosevelt Island, Lexington Ave./63rd St. and 57th St.
The switch will be in effect during peak weekday hours — between 6 a.m. and 9:30 p.m. However, the lines will operate as they have previously done on weekends and late at night.
When discussing the potential benefits of the change, Lieber noted that typical F train riders at 21st St.-Queensbridge and Roosevelt Island would have a better chance of getting a seat with the M train rolling through their stations instead of the F.
“It really is going to end up being, I think, a better deal for folks to get that M train, more chance of getting a seat, less crowded train, and more chance of keeping the schedule,” Lieber said. “Because realistically, a crowded train means more schedule challenges.”
When asked about how the MTA is accounting for the M line running less service than the F, Lieber said they would be adding more trains during the morning rush hour, so he believes straphangers will not notice much of a difference.
