NEW YORK — The weekend commute could soon get easier for straphangers on the 2 train.
The MTA plans to add 49 trips to the 2 train on weekends starting in the fall, with riders set to enjoy an extra 31 round trips on Saturdays and an extra 18 on Sundays, according to the agency.
The MTA cited multiple reasons why the 2 train stood out as a line that could benefit from extra service, including the fact that the 5 train, which shares multiple stops with the 2 train in Brooklyn and The Bronx, does not operate on weekends in Brooklyn and that several stations along the 2 line saw an increase in ridership in 2015.
The E. 180th Street station saw a huge spike in 2014, when ridership increased by about 13.6 percent, although it dropped by about 3 percent between 2014 and 2015, according to the MTA.
The additional round trips will take place on Saturdays between roughly 7 a.m. and 8 p.m. and on Sundays between roughly 10 a.m. and 7 p.m.
The extra rides will start to be implemented in the fall and, along with a planned increase in 7 train service, will cost $2.5 million per year. They depend on schedule and crew changes that will be finalized in the next few months, and service may need to be reduced occasionally due to maintenance and capital work, the MTA said.
In June, 2 train service will also increase during peak and evening hours by five additional round trips in total, a service addition approved in fall 2015, according to the MTA.
“We always want to better serve our customers by strengthening service whenever we have sustainable resources to do so," MTA NYC Transit President Veronique “Ronnie” Hakim said in a statement, "but we also must balance providing that service with the critical maintenance work we need to run trains safely."
