ELMHURST — Queens subway service was back on track in time for the Friday evening rush hour after a massive water main break near the Queens Place Mall, the MTA said.
The E, F, M and R lines were expected to run on normal schedules after being delayed for hours on Friday by a 20-inch city water main broken by construction crews at 51-35 Reeder St., officials said.
The closed-down streets forced the Q53 and Q60 bus lines to be re-routed following the 8:03 a.m. break, which flooded streets and caused multiple buildings to be evacuated.
Commuters said Friday afternoon that they were glad the trains were back on track — but that much of the damage to their work schedules had already been done.
"We had a meeting this morning and everyone missed it," said Jacqueline Joseph, 23, who runs a youth program in Elmhurst and was waiting for the R train. "There were supposed to be 20 people there and like four came. It's a bit frustrating."
Asfaqui Shamir, 13, of Flushing, was waiting for the Q58 on Broadway to get home from school. Shamir watched several buses go by and saw drivers waving at commuters to catch it at a different stop.
"There's still a lot of traffic to go home," he said. "It's annoying. I need to go home as soon as possible."
Department of Environmental Protection workers finally shut the water off at 1 p.m., officials said, adding that they expected Queens Boulevard to be re-opened for traffic shortly afterwards.
A spokesman for the MTA said that some water did get into the stations because of the break, but officials said the agency's pumps prevented any flooding.
