G (New York City Subway service)

Brooklyn–Queens Crosstown Local
Note: dashed line shows off-peak service
Forest Hills–71st Avenue or Long Island City–Court Square to Smith–Ninth Streets
Rolling stock	R160 (Rolling stock assignments subject to change)

The G Brooklyn–Queens Crosstown Local is a rapid transit service of the New York City Subway. It is the only full-time non-shuttle service that does not enter Manhattan. It is colored light green on route signs, station signs, and the official subway map, since it runs on the IND Crosstown Line.

The G operates between Court Square in Long Island City, Queens and Smith–Ninth Streets in Gowanus, Brooklyn, at all times. During evenings, weekends and late nights, the G is extended north along the IND Queens Boulevard Line local tracks to 71st Avenue in Forest Hills, Queens.

The MTA has announced a three-year rehabilitation of the Culver Viaduct from 2009–2012. As part of that project, the G service, which currently terminates at Smith–Ninth Streets, will be permanently extended to Church Avenue.

The following lines are used by the G:

Line	Tracks	When
IND Queens Boulevard Line from Forest Hills–71st Avenue to Queens Plaza	local	evenings, late nights & weekends
IND Crosstown Line north of Court Square	N/A
IND Crosstown Line south of Court Square	N/A	always
IND Culver Line from Bergen Street to Smith–Ninth Streets	local

History

A G train at the Bedford-Nostrand Avenues station, bound for Smith-9 Sts..

The original portion of the Brooklyn–Queens Crosstown Local service officially began on August 19, 1933 as a shuttle between Queens Plaza and Nassau Avenue using the rollsign GG. The entire IND Crosstown Line was completed on July 1, 1937 and GG service ran at all times between Forest Hills–71st Avenue and Smith–Ninth Streets.

In July 1968, service was extended to Church Avenue, and the F train operated as an express service on the IND Culver Line. This service pattern ended in August 1976 because many customers at local stations on the Culver Line wanted direct access to Manhattan.

In 1986, use of double letters to indicate local service was discontinued, so the GG was relabeled G.

On May 24, 1987, the N and R lines switched terminals in Queens. As part of the reroute plan, Queens Plaza became the northern terminal for the G train on evenings, nights, and weekends.

Beginning on September 30, 1990, G service was extended to 179th Street during late nights to replace the F, which terminated at 21st Street–Queensbridge.

In May 1997, due to construction on the connector between the IND 63rd Street Line and the Queens Boulevard Line, G trains terminated at Court Square on evenings, nights, and weekends.

On December 16, 2001, the 63rd Street Connector opened, and Court Square became the permanent northern terminal during midday and rush hours, being replaced along Queens Boulevard by the V train. Service is extended to Forest Hills–71st Avenue other times.

Controversy

When the connector to the IND 63rd Street Line from the IND Queens Boulevard Line was completed in December 2001, it not only introduced the new V service, but allowed up to nine additional trains on the Queens Boulevard Line during peak hours. However, to make room for the V train on Queens Boulevard, the G had to terminate Court Square on weekdays.

The service plan was designed to redistribute Queens-bound passenger loads in the heavily-used IND 53rd Street Line and better service and transfer opportunities as the V allows direct access to the 53rd Street and IND Sixth Avenue Line for Queens Boulevard local customers. The New York Times described the service plan as "complex and heavily criticized;" several years experience with the service running, however, has shown its value. V trains, while by no means consistently full, have taken some load off the F train, though many riders have complained that the passenger load on the E train has worsened as it is now the only express train that runs along 53rd Street. In response to complaints from G riders at public hearings about losing a major transfer point to Manhattan-bound trains at Queens Plaza, the MTA agreed to a number of compromises, including installing an horizontal escalator in the passageway between Court Square and 23rd Street–Ely Avenue (E and ​M) on the Queens Boulevard Line. In addition, a free out-of-system MetroCard transfer to 45th Road–Court House Square on the IRT Flushing Line was created at those two stations—one of only two such transfers in the system.

The MTA also agreed to extend the G to 71st Avenue during evenings and weekends (when the V is not running), and run more trains on that route at a time. Although, the V stops running at 10:00 and, the G is extended to 71st Continental at 8:00. During this time, there is a two hour period where the G, R, and V are all supposedly running at once. The authority "had spent several hundred thousand dollars on tests, trying to figure out a way to keep the G train running past the Court Square Station and farther into Queens on weekdays. But because of the addition of the V train, which will share space along the Queens Boulevard lines with the trains already there—the E, F, G, and R trains could not fit during the daytime, when service is heaviest."

To increase service and reduce waiting time, the G would need more trains, but there were not enough, so the solution was to reduce the length of trains from six R46 cars to four, sticking all the leftover cars together to make the extra trains. This, however, means there would be more riders packed into smaller trains. Some passengers also missed trains because they were standing at the wrong part of the platform as the trains are only about half their length, although there are signs indicated where the train stops at some stations such as the 4 and 6 markers on the tracks.

A community group, Save the G!, has regularly lobbied the MTA for more G train service since the original cutbacks when the V train was introduced in 2001. They made the restoration of service to the Queens Boulevard Line at all times an issue in the 2002 New York gubernatorial race, but the transit authority said, "Unfortunately, putting the G back to full service is just not an option, given our track capacity—and that's not likely to change." And due to the G train not having access to the queens blvd line it will no longer have r46s instead it will be using r68/68a based off the coney island yard

They have also lobbied for the creation of another free out-of-system transfer between the Broadway station and Hewes Street on the BMT Jamaica Line, which is only two blocks away. However, the MTA said, "We have no intention of making that a permanent free transfer."

Most of the stations along the G train's route were built with multiple exits to the street. Over the years, many of the lower-use exits were closed (as they were in other parts of the subway system), as the city was concerned that they were a magnet for criminals, and there was insufficient traffic to justify staffing them full-time. But in July 2005, in response to community pressure, the MTA agreed to re-open the South Portland Avenue exit of the Fulton Street station. The New York Times described it as a "minor victory" for "a maligned line." This minor win is truly minor as one must still use the underpass at Fulton St in order to exit one the other side nearby Brooklyn Technical High School.

During construction on the Queens Boulevard Line, the G train frequently terminates at Court Square, even at times when the published timetable says that it runs to 71st Avenue. Some riders "are suspicious that the service disruptions are simply a de facto way to implement the original plan of halving G train service." The original plans called for the G terminate at Court Square at all times. The plan was shelved in 2001 in the face of community opposition, but could possibly be implemented in 2008. However, an MTA spokesman says that "It's not personal…. If you want to keep the system up to date, you need to make sure the track and switching are all in good repair.". Since Spring 2007, weekend G service has been cut back to Court Square on weekends "until further notice". This is most likely because the G is being tested for OPTO, since the L train testing has stopped. This is unofficial because testing is only on weekends when service is greater than on weekdays. The G, at this time appears shorter than those four R46 because the one operator cannot stop in the middle of the station. The cut back of "until further notice" was lifted during the 2007 Thanksgiving weekend and Christmas week, when weekend & holiday G service returned to 71st Avenue, as part of a system-wide service increase for the holiday season. However, after the end of the holiday season, the cut back resumed.

The MTA announce that the G may no longer run to 71st Avenue and cut back to Court Sq all times and it is know that the cut would be permanent[2].

Stations

For a more detailed station listing, see the articles on the lines listed above.

Station service legend
	Stops all times
	Stops all times except late nights
	Stops late nights only
	Stops late nights and weekends only
	Stops weekdays during the day
	Stops rush hours in the peak direction only
Time period details
	Station is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act
↑	Station is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act in the indicated direction only
↓
	Elevator access to mezzanine only

	Station		Subway transfers	Connections
Queens
	Forest Hills–71st Avenue		E  ​F  <F> ​M  ​R	LIRR Main Line at Forest Hills
	67th Avenue		E  ​F  ​M  ​R
	63rd Drive–Rego Park		E  ​F  ​M  ​R	Q72 to LaGuardia Airport
	Woodhaven Boulevard		E  ​F  ​M  ​R
	Grand Avenue–Newtown		E  ​F  ​M  ​R
	Elmhurst Avenue		E  ​F  ​M  ​R
	Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue		E  ​F  <F> ​M  ​R  7  (IRT Flushing Line at 74th Street–Broadway)	Q33 bus to LaGuardia Airport Q47 bus to LaGuardia Marine Air Terminal
	65th Street		E  ​F  ​M  ​R
	Northern Boulevard		E  ​F  ​M  ​R
	46th Street		E  ​F  ​M  ​R
	Steinway Street		E  ​F  ​M  ​R
	36th Street		E  ​F  ​M  ​R
	Queens Plaza		E  ​M  ​R
	Long Island City–Court Square		E  ​M  (IND Queens Boulevard Line at 23rd Street–Ely Avenue) 7  <7> ​ (IRT Flushing Line at 45th Road–Court House Square; out-of-system transfer with MetroCard)
	21st Street
Brooklyn
	Greenpoint Avenue
	Nassau Avenue
	Metropolitan Avenue		L  (BMT Canarsie Line at Lorimer Street)
	Broadway
	Flushing Avenue
	Myrtle–Willoughby Avenues
	Bedford–Nostrand Avenues
	Classon Avenue
	Clinton–Washington Avenues
	Fulton Street			LIRR Atlantic Branch at Flatbush Avenue
	Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets		A  ​C  (IND Fulton Street Line)
	Bergen Street		F  <F>
	Carroll Street		F
	Smith–Ninth Streets		F

External links

• MTA NYC Transit — G Brooklyn-Queens Crosstown Local
• Template:PDFlink
• Line By Line History