Service Enhancements and Changes to LJMZ Lines Prepare Customers for M Viaduct Repairs

Customers taking the Canarsie  Line are going to see increased service as ridership continues to grow in Brooklyn.

The addition of 50 roundtrips on the  line is part of a package of service changes planned for June 2017. Other service changes slated for the summer will be implemented in preparation for the partial closure of the  line to repair two century-old structures.

The  Line will see increased service on weekdays and weekends as more customers use the line along 14th Street in Manhattan and growing neighborhoods in Brooklyn. NYC Transit plans to add 11 roundtrips during weekdays, and 12 roundtrips during Saturday mornings and afternoons. A total of 27 roundtrips will be added to service on Sundays from morning to evening. Weekday service will be added in preparation for an expected increase in customers who will use the  when the partial closure of the  line begins later in 2017.

"Our subway system turned 112 this year, and it never gets a break. In order to keep up with demand, we must work now to shore up our infrastructure so trains can keep running for another hundred years,” NYC Transit President Ronnie Hakim said. “Adding more trips helps get our customers where they need to be faster, but we also must balance that extra strain on our equipment and fleet with a robust maintenance program and an eye on investing in our future." 

Starting in summer 2017, NYC Transit plans to demolish and rebuild the Myrtle Viaduct, which was built in 1913, and the Atlantic Railway Bridge at Fresh Pond Rd. The reconstruction of these two structures is critical to the repair plans for the Canarsie  Tunnel, which was flooded during Superstorm Sandy in 2012. When work on the Canarsie Tunnel begins in 2019, many  customers are expected to use the  lines between Brooklyn and Manhattan, which will require adding service to those lines. Repairs to  line infrastructure are required to increase service safely.

To accommodate the closure of the  line during this work, temporary long-term service changes on the  lines will be implemented in July 2017. These changes include:

• On weekdays,  trains will operate between the Forest Hills-71 Av ®station and the Broadway Junction  station. Some trains will operate between Forest Hills-71 Av and the 2 Av  station during afternoon peak hours.  Alternate bus service will be provided to  stations that are closed during the reconstruction projects.
•  trains will make all stops between Broadway Junction and Marcy Av.