This just added a lot of time to my commute.

As for running local, I can't speak for what's going on below 59th St., but the A is running local above 145th and probably will be for some time since the C is the only line that services those stations. Then the A runs express from 145th to West 4th, and then it goes wonky again. I suspect this means local A trains on the weekends, which was already more common than it should have been.

Jimmie, I'm thinking the same thing.

The MTA will use this fire to justify another fare hike -- for repairs, for security, for expanded service, you name it.

I'm expecting an announcement b/w now and when the latest fare hike goes into effect (March, IIRC).

i guess those "if you see something, say something" ads were a bust. oh well.

The F is running everywhere, Jen--but it was a long wait between trains this morning.

Does this mean the loss of express service on the A? Or will they continue to make southbound travelers take the A to Columbus Circle and double back on the D as they did today?

Is it just me or does anyone smell conspiracy? How easy is it to justify the March fare hike with 5 years of repair and millions of dollars worth of damage? What's the homeless person's name? Am I not getting enough sleep?

More photos of the scene. Mine are above ground however.

check out my xanga (not really blog-category worthy though...) for three shots (at the end of monday's post) of the smoke at chambers maybe a few mins after it all happened...

www.xanga.com/ntwrkguy

It's all gone a bit British Rail

My gf took it at around 2 pm and it was still screwy. Took her 2.5 hours from Midtown to Church Ave.

NY1 says F is back to normal, G is still screwy.

So--did anyone take the F train to Brooklyn this evening? And if so, how'd it go?

I just recently moved here and have to say that the MTA is my favorite thing. Thank god that you guys have stops close together and trains that come in less time than the 8-12 minutes that the A is now supposedly running in. In Chicago all the trains are elevated which means waiting in the freezing snow and wind and rain and heat, they take at least 10 minutes to come, and you always have to walk or take the bus because the stops are at least a mile apart. Public transit only gets worse everywhere else in this country.

What I don't get is why the C problem this morning so royally effed-up the B train. I got to the 81st/CPW station this morning at about 8:55 AM and the platform was packed. Suddenly there's an announcement stating that C service was suspended and a local B train was 8-10 minutes away. Then about 5 minutes later, another announcement said the B was approaching 96th Street. About 5 minutes after that, a jam-packed A train (which usually doesn't stop at 81st but was obviously already going local) pulls into the station. At least at my section of the platform, nobody got off, and noone could get on. Finally the A pulls out, and a couple minutes later, another announcement states that the B train was at least 8 to 10 minutes away. What the hell happened to all the B trains? I didn't stick around to find out, instead choosing to hike over to 79th and B'Way to catch a 1, but why were the announcements so screwy? Was anyone else around the CPW stations at that time, and did you wait it out and ever get on a B or A?

to keith s' point: the MTA is a fiasco (your words) in part because they do not charge enough for it. at basically $1.80 per ride, it rediculously cheap per mile traveled. this despite the fact that non NYC residents, despite benfitting from it, subsidize no more than their fare since the commuter tax was done away with. add to that probably the oldest infrastructure of any US transit system and definitely the most miles served gives you and idea.

the MTA is one of the selling points for NYC. it's one of the best transit systems in the country and the only city in the US where you truly don't need a car.

toyochin: probably because tens of thousands of riders daily were not trying to use it at the same time they were digging and laying track. if you want them to completely shut down the entire 8th avenue line while they do this, then i bet they could do it faster...

What's sad is that the entire A train took about 5 years to build. How come it takes 5 years to fix a signal room? They suck.

Can anyone give an update on the current service, specifically F and V?

MTA site says "V service is operating normally" (normally as in terminating at 2nd Ave?) and "G service is operating between Courthouse Square and Bedford - Nostrand Ave", but no mention of the F.

I'm going to be fine whatever happens, but my girlfriend lives by Church Ave on the F so she would have to do the shuttle bus from Jay to Church if the F is still WIA.

TIA

If the V runs to Jay (then runs on the C) that would be totally sweet--it'll reduce the overcrowding on the F during rush hours (where V usually has plenty of room). I thought extending the V was a good idea ages ago; I didn't mean for another line to get fucked up for that to happen though.

If they would just ban photography then homeless people and terrorists wouldn't be able to bring shopping carts of wood into the subways.

Empty threat or not, it just shows how antiquated the subway system is. It's shocking that the busiest transit system in the country is still using a pre-WWII technology to control traffic.

It says a lot that the MTA received such a negative reaction when it announced it will boldly tiptoe into the late 20th Century by introducing an automated signal system in the L-line.