The MTA May Revive the W Train Line
Rumor has it that the W train may be returning from the dead.
According to AM NY, the MTA is in talks with both public officials and rider advocates to bring the train back to service once the Q train is diverged to the Upper East Side to the new Second Avenue line in December 2016. Restoring the old line would prevent disrupting subway service in Astoria, an area with thousands of daily strap-hangers and only a few subways to choose from. The MTA hasn’t made any official announcements on the matter thus far, but with the opening of the Second Avenue Subway line rapidly approaching, they are said to be seriously mulling it over.
Back in its heyday, the W wasn’t a popular line. Still, riders were disappointed when the train, along with the V, was cut out of the MTA’s budget in 2010, saving the agency about $3.4M a year. Mourners for the W line held a funeral service for the train the day it was put out of commission. Undoubtedly, they will be overjoyed to hear of the W’s supposed return, though some people, including Assemblywoman Aravella Simotas, uphold that it should have never been gone to begin with.
Reviving the old line shouldn’t be too much of a headache for the MTA, especially since the old W stations are still in use. The hardest part of all this may be spreading the word. AM NY reports that it would take the MTA’s station signage department about four months to prep the entire transit system for the change. The process would involve designing and printing signs to inform riders of the change, not to mention plastering them at all 468 stations. Luckily for the MTA, the word is already spreading about the (rumored) good news.
[Via AM New York]
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