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MTA to Work on Queens Boulevard Line Upgrades During Holidays, Affecting E and M Service

Dec 8, 2020 By Allie Griffin

Queens straphangers will face service disruptions to their commute over the holidays due to track work along the Queens Boulevard line.

Service on the E and M lines will be rerouted between Christmas and New Year’s Day, as Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) crews modernize the signaling system and perform track maintenance work, the agency announced last week.

During the track work, E trains will run along the F line in both directions between Roosevelt Avenue and West 4th Street from 5 a.m. on Saturday, Dec. 26 to 5 a.m. on Monday., Jan. 4.

There will also be no weekday M service between Forest Hills-71st Avenue in Queens and Essex Street in Manhattan. Instead, M trains will run between Chambers Street in Manhattan and Metropolitan Avenue in Queens from Monday, Dec. 28 through Thursday Dec. 31, from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. each day.

The MTA must shut down the 53rd Street Tunnel that is used both lines between Queens and Manhattan while the crews work.

The agency is taking advantage of the traditionally low ridership during the holiday season to perform the track work — as to minimize the impact on riders.

“Despite the COVID-19 pandemic, the MTA remains committed to installing modern signaling throughout the system,” said Janno Lieber, President of MTA Construction & Development. “We are taking advantage of the low ridership over the holiday period and during COVID to get more work done, and to complete it faster. ”

The modern signaling system will allow the MTA to run more trains closer together, which would provide straphangers with more reliable on-time service and less crowded stations and train cars.

“The work to install modern signaling throughout our system may impact riders for a short time, but will lead to more trains, fewer delays and the improved accuracy of real-time information for decades to come,” said Sarah Feinberg, Interim President of NYC Transit.

For additional information on the service interruptions and alternative routes, visit the MTA website or the MYmta app.