Yesterday's (and Today's?) F Train Headache

Yesterday morning, a vaccuum train was derailed near the Smith and 9th Street stops in Brooklyn, causing a huge problem for commuters who take the F and G trains yesterday. The train was being returned to Brooklyn after cleaning up various subway tracks, but it ended up getting derailed in the early morning, causing grief for commmuters and possibly more damage to the train tracks. The NY Times notes the extent of the derailment:

It took more than 60 track and car maintainers and other workers until 3:22 p.m. to get the train moving again. It was removed to a rail yard near Coney Island for repairs. Transit officials rented two large cranes, one to deliver materials to the site and the other to lift up the middle car so it could be placed back on the tracks.

The derailment seemed to have caused extensive damage, according to Lawrence G. Reuter, the president of New York City Transit. A 13-foot section of rail that is normally bolted to the tracks pierced the undercarriage of one of the five cars, Mr. Reuter said. In addition, the derailment damaged several track ties and dislodged about 150 feet of rail, including the electrified third rail.

Yikes! F train service is supposed to be back to normal, though shuttle trains served most of Carroll Gardens and Smith Street, but G train service is suspended south of Hoyt.

Reuter told the media last night, "I think we’re going to have a very close to normal rush tonight because we’re going to be using the express tracks going into Manhattan. They’re getting ready to start what we call polishing those tracks now, which is getting all the rust off of them, and start to restore service." But, readers, you tell us how your commute was last night and this morning - were things okay? Crowded as usual or so crowded you need a little something extra?

Gothamist on other F train problems, and keep in mind the the MTA's service advisory e-mail program would like to send e-mail alerts about breaking service problems at some point, but they are just getting the hang of the basic e-mail thing to start.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on June 1, 2005 8:38 AM

Comments [rss]

AG

MTA email program? Why not setup a 'MTA breaking news' blog?

dc

my experience with the shuttle bus was watching people get off it, then it driving away without letting people on.

meg

I didn't see a single shuttle bus and I was up and down Smith all day yesterday. I waited at least 30 min. and no sign of even the B71. The mta sucks so bad.

Jack

The worst thing about the shuttle buses is the fact that they use those "commuter" buses that are usually used on the X-line express routes. Like the Manhattan to Staten Island routes.

The problem with those buses are the seats are arranged like a charter bus or airline; two deep on each side with a narrow aisle.

That's ridiculous for shuttle buses. For a shuttle bus some people do want to sit, but the vast majority want to stand since they will be getting off in one or two stops.

The MTA should be auditted to hell at this point. They clearly can't do what they are charged to do and this needs to be taken to task.

h8

"though shuttle trains served most of Carroll Gardens and Smith Street"

They were shuttle buses, not trains.

Meredith

Yesterday morning: Awful. Got to work over a half hour late; my normally

Last night: More confusion about the G line. Took a little extra time to get home, but nothing like that morning.

This morning: No problems with the F or G, but rather signal problems at Canal that kept us in the tunnel for many long minutes.

toyochin

I normally take the F from East Broadway and the C ran on the F to W 4th yesterday morning (and it seemed like they were running the V on the C to make up for it). When the F screws up in Brooklyn, it affects us in Manhattan too. I gave Brooklyn a dirty look.

Dave H.

I normally catch the F at 7th Ave., but when I saw the milling crowds yesterday and heard someone say "shuttle bus" I walked down to 4th Ave. and caught the R instead. Strangely, the R train was nearly empty, which suprrised me since the F and the R kind of have parallel stops up through midtown. Service seemed unaffected around 7:30 last night and this morning.

The existence of multiple lines in the neighborhood was a nice change. I used to live on the UES and when the overcrowded 4,5,6 line went down commuters had no choice but to do some serious hiking.

Flor

Another reason not to commute to Manhattan.

JP

I didn't even bother with the F yesterday or today. I walked over to the 2/3, about a 15 min. walk from where I live. Got me to work on time, much less crowding than the F on a regular day.

Chaostrophy

Another reason not to live in Brooklyn.

tien

i like how the ad for neighborhoodies (which was right next to this entry as i was reading) is a woman with greenpoint across her ass as the G runs through greenpoint.

L

i don't know what this "3:22pm" business is about. the derailed train was still sitting on the tracks last night at 7pm, with at least 40 mta workers trying to heave-ho something with the tracks.

d

and let me tell you something else. i'm ambivalent about the mta

d

smith & 9 is my stop and i got home last night w/o a problem. was bracing for the worst this morning, but no worries, the f came on time and sadly i arrived at work early. screw you mta.