MTA makes ‘rogue’ F train offi cial
Transit agency to implement limited express service, skipping six stops in brownstone Brooklyn
BY AIDAN GRAHAM
They F’n did it!
After allegedly running
a so-called “rogue” express
F train for months through
brownstone Brooklyn, transit
honchos made the controversial
service change offi -
cial on July 10, instituting
limited express service along
the Manhattan- and Coney Island
bound line that will skip
six stops from Cobble Hill to
Windsor Terrace in an effort
to shorten commutes for transit
starved southern Brooklynites.
Beginning in September,
four rush hour F trains — two
Manhattan-bound trains in
the morning, and two Coney
Island-bound trains in the
evening — would run daily
between Jay Street-Metrotech
and Church Avenue stations,
stopping only at the Seventh
Avenue station in between.
Six Brooklyn stops — Bergen
Street, Carroll Street,
Smith-Ninth Street, Fourth
Avenue-Ninth Street, 15th
Street-Prospect Park, and Fort
Hamilton Parkway — will be
skipped.
No new trains would be
added under the current proposal
— rather, four existing
local trains would be recommissioned
to run express.
Councilman Brad Lander
(D–Park Slope), whose district
encompasses all six stations
slated to be skipped, blasted
the Transit Authority for playing
up a service cut as an enhancement.
“This plan adds no service
whatsoever, it simply eliminates
service at six local stations
that are already experiencing
over-crowding,” he
said. “Despite the effort to
dress this up as an improvement
for some commuters,
bypassing these stations
amounts to cutting service for
thousands of other riders.”
Lander — along with multiple
other elected leaders, including
state Sen. Brian Kavanagh
(D–Cobble Hill) and
Assemblyman Robert Carroll
(D–Windsor Terrace) —
signed a letter sent to the MTA
in March, demanding answers
to reports of F trains routinely
skipping stops with no forewarning.
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“We write to express the
frustration of our constituents
about ‘Rogue F Express’
trains, the increasingly frequent
practice of F trains bypassing
local stations,” read
the letter. “Our constituents
report missing their stops,
waiting as trains pass them
by, being late to work or home,
and feeling immensely frustrated
with erratic service.”
Kavanagh slammed the
MTA’s decision to formalize
the ‘rouge’ F and demanded
guarantees that the new express
service would not impose
delays at skipped stops.
“It’s disappointing that the
MTA has decided to reduce
service to stations that thousands
of New Yorkers use during
peak hours,” he said in a
statement. “We will be seeking
assurances from the MTA that
the scheduled reduction in frequency
of local trains will not
be compounded by routine disruptions
in local service at stations
on our communities.”
And after chastising the
MTA for failing to consult local
elected offi cials ahead of
its decision, Carroll accused
the Transit Authority of
throwing his constituents under
the rug.
“An F express train that
creates winners and losers
throughout my district, is not
the kind of transit system that
NYC deserves or needs,” he
said.
The head of the MTA
brushed off the criticisms,
arguing that limited express
service would provide overdue
relief to southern Brooklyn
F train riders who currently
commute to Midtown
Manhattan on the longest of
stretch exclusively local service
— 26 uninterrupted stops
between Coney Island-Stillwell
Avenue and Broadway-
Lafayette Street stations — in
the city.
The express trains will
be marked with a diamond
shaped logo, similar to other
express-versions of local lines,
when they go into service this
fall, according to the MTA.
F OUTTA HERE: Four F trains will run express each day, skipping six
stops between the Jay Street Metrotech and Church Avenue stations.
Photo by Tom Callan