The changes to the G train are full speed ahead.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced Monday that it has come up with the $700,000 needed to increase G train service on weekday afternoons and evenings.
Starting in mid-2014, on weekdays between 3 pm and 9 pm the the beloved Brooklyn Local will come every eight minutes, instead of the every 10 to 11 minutes they creep along at now.
These changes will be a huge relief to riders who say they never know how long they will be left waiting for the only train that doesn’t got into Manhattan.
“My neighbors in Bedford-Stuyvesant were skeptical that we could actually win improvements in service, and I’m happy to be able to report back to them that because of our efforts, G train service is getting better for everyone,” said Tolani Adeboye, a member of the Riders Alliance who acted in the “G Train Workout” video released in May.
Last week, the MTA released its full line review of the G. At that time it said the following changes were assured:
• Create a more streamlined timetable that will better interact with the F line schedule, allowing G trains to be better spaced at all 20 stations.
• Pick a standardized place on the platform where the four-car train will stop every time, so riders don’t have to guess where to wait for the four-car trains.
• Rearrange benches and trash cans on the platforms, so that they are near where trains stop.
• Add public announcement systems to the 12 G train stations that currently do not have them.
• Make changes to the way it ushers riders into the trains at the ends of the line at Church Avenue in Kensington and Court Square in Queens.
• Add additional signage to point riders in the right directions.
In other big MTA news, the agency plans to run the M shuttle train from Metropolitan Avenue in Queens all the way to Delancey Street in Manhattan on weekends, meaning that it will go all the way through Williamsburg. This change will also happen in mid-2014.
These changes will not be final until the full MTA board votes on Wednesday.
Reach reporter Danielle Furfaro at dfurfaro@cnglocal.com or by calling (718) 260-2511. Follow her at twitter.com/DanielleFurfaro.
