Passengers are back by 30-40%.
Photo: Andrés Correa Guatarasma / Courtesy
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New York Subway lines C and F, which have been running reduced since the onset of COVID-19, will soon resume “full” pre-pandemic service levels, yesterday announced the interim president of Transit, Sarah Feinberg, during a videoconference.
“We’re bringing back full service,” Feinberg said of the two routes, after The Transit Workers Union (TWU) will file a lawsuit to reverse the cuts that have been going on for a year.
“That’s the right thing to do to make sure all of our C and F passengers receive the greatest possible service and the greatest possible social distance,” added Feinberg.
Currently, the number of Metro passengers is only 30 to 40% of pre-COVID levels, according to statistics from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Feinberg said officials contemplated the “right-sized” service to better meet demand, but ultimately decided to provide as many trains as possible.
“We have somehow removed that debate from the table for now,” he said, and promised the resumption of higher service levels in the next “several weeks”. The frequencies in the line F, covering Queens, Manhattan and Brooklyn, will increase to Begginings of may, every eight to every four minutes during peak hours.
But the resumption of the full service of the line C, that travels between Brooklyn to Upper Manhattan, “It may take longer”, a representative of the agency acknowledged. A similar measure recently took MTA to reverse cuts to Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) trains.
The TWU Local 100 union had sued the agency for its decision to lower the frequencies, claiming they constituted a “long-term reduction in service.”
Union leaders are “very satisfied” with the decision, Local 100 President Tony Utano said. “New York needs more Metro service, not less”, he commented in a statement.
The MTA has secured $ 15 billion in three federal aid bills approved since the pandemic began, he recalled New York Post.
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