MTA Announces Increased Service For 2, 7, L, M Subway Lines
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – Prompted by a surge in subway ridership in New York City, the MTA has announced increased service will be coming to four subway lines.
The 2, 7, L and M trains will all see extra service come December, the MTA said in a statement.
"We constantly look at ridership trends and make necessary changes along routes when we see an increased demand along particular corridors in the city," MTA spokesperson Kevin Ortiz told 1010 WINS.
MTA Announces Increased Service For 2, 7, L, M Subway Lines
Commuters were thrilled by the news.
"Rush hour time is always crowded, it's dirty, it's just full of people," one rider said.
"It's about time, for years now we've been sardined, horrible," another rider said.
On the L line, seven new weekday trips will be scheduled between 10:30 a.m. and 2 p.m. The MTA said the increase will reduce an average of 5 minutes between morning and evening rush hours.
With exploding neighborhoods like Long Island City and Woodside, Queens, two new weeknight round trips will be added on the 7 line between 8 p.m. and 10:20 p.m.
An extra two weeknight round trips will be added to the 2 line from 8:30-9:30 p.m.
An extra weekday trip will also be added on the M line to reduce average train times by approximately 7.5 minutes between 9 a.m. and 9:30 a.m.
"By making these scheduled changes, New York City Transit is making the most of its resources to deliver service that accurately reflects ridership in growing areas," NYC Transit President Carmen Bianco said in a statement.
The MTA said the changes will cost around $1.6 million.
According to the Metropolitan Transportation
Authority, ridership grew 2.6 percent to 1.75 billion customers in 2014, the highest it has been in more than 65 years.
On 29 days during the last four months of the year, the system carried more than 6 million riders — a level not seen since the boom years following World War II.
