Worker cleans subway car to prevent the spread of COVID-19 (MTA)
Feb. 15, 2021 By Allie Griffin
The MTA is reducing the subway’s overnight shutdown period and expanding its hours of operation, state officials announced today.
The four-hour overnight subway shutdown that has been in place for roughly 10 months will be reduced beginning Monday, Feb. 22.
Starting Monday, the system will be closed for just two hours, from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m. each night — a decrease from the current four-hour nightly shutdown, from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m., MTA Chairman and CEO Patrick Foye said.
The MTA decided to suspend 24/7 service across the whole system in an unprecedented move last May in order for crews to deep clean and disinfect subway cars and stations on a daily basis.
The reduced, two-hour period will still provide crews with enough time to disinfect the system, Interim NYC Transit Authority President Sarah Feinberg said.
Feinberg indicated that the MTA would gradually return the subway to 24-hour service as New York City reopens.
“One year into the pandemic and 10 months into our overnight closure, New York is starting to look at a return to normalcy…,” she said. “We have determined that a shortened overnight closure is an appropriate step forward towards the return of around-the-clock service.”
