After six years, the MTA plans to bring back the W train.
According to a press release Friday, the MTA is proposing that the W train return this fall to replace the Q train service in Queens and add another service in Manhattan. It was previously eliminated because of budget cuts in 2010.
The W train would run locally from Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria to Whitehall Street in Manhattan. The proposed service is in preparation for the Q train to begin running on the Second Avenue Subway line, which is expected to open later this year.
When the W train service begins, the Q train would temporarily terminate at 57th Street-Seventh Avenue until the Second Avenue line opens. The Q train will then run from 96th Street in Manhattan to Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue in Brooklyn, stopping at 86th Street, 72nd Street, Lexington Avenue-63rd Street, 57th Street-Seventh Avenue and all express stops on the Broadway Line in Manhattan.
On weekends, however, there would be no W train service and Q trains would run to Astoria.
Additionally, the N train would be express between 34th Street-Herald Square and Canal Street.
The proposed changes would cost nearly $14 million annually. The MTA is planning to hold a public hearing to discuss these proposed changes sometime in the spring.
