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'FASTRACK' Repairs Mean Service Disruptions On 4, 5 And 6 Subway

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Thousands of late-night subway riders will have to find a different way to get around this week.

Service at more than a dozen stations on the Lexington Avenue line will be suspended for the next four nights, and into the early morning.

As of Monday, from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., 15 stations along the 4, 5 and 6 line will be shut down for track work and station repairs.

1010 WINS' Terry Sheridan with straphangers

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The work will span stations from Grand Central/42nd Street and run to Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority said the inconvenience will be worth it in the long run because the "FASTRACK" repairs will take what could have been multiple weeks of inconvenience and turn it into just a few days.

It will also be safer for the workers and will save the MTA $10-15 million.

"All of this is work that must be done to maintain the safe, smooth and efficient operation of a subway system that runs around the clock, seven days a week," NYC Transit President Thomas F. Prendergast said in a statement. "However, by suspending service along line segments, workers can work on and near the tracks without having to interrupt that work every few minutes while a train moves through the area."

According to CBS 2's Kristen Thorne, workers will repair tracks, perform signal inspections and fix some platform edges, wall tiles and lighting. They even will power wash some stations.

The MTA said with no trains running it will be safer for workers and will avoid what could be weeks of work.

The transit agency will have station conductors in some of the major hubs like Union Square giving directions to people -- possibly very confused people -- on how to get to their final destinations. The MTA said riders should budget an extra 20 minutes to take an alternate line.

The FASTRACK repair regime will come next to the 1, 2 and 3 line in February.

For more information about the service disruptions, click here.

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