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7 Train 'Survival Guide' Launches to Help Stranded Straphangers

 The 7 train in Queens.
The 7 train in Queens.
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DNAinfo/Jeanmarie Evelly

SUNNYSIDE — Stranded along the 7 line? Now there's help.

Transit advocacy group Access Queens launched its "7 Train Survival Guide" this week, a station-by-station handbook that offers tips about each stop on the line, from how to avoid crowds to lists of nearby bus routes that riders can take if the train isn't running.

The online guide is intended to offer straphangers a "centralized" place to get information relating to the 7 train — answering the most common questions the group gets from the public — and also help identify the biggest problems at each of the line's 22 stations.

"There's a disconnect between what the MTA thinks the riders experience, and what the riders are actually experiencing," said Brandon W. Mosley, creative director for Access Queens, which runs the popular 7 Train Blues Facebook page.

"We can not only help people navigate around the 7 train, but also try to get the MTA the think about the customer experience," he said.

The guide, available on the group's website, includes a page for each station, from Flushing to Hudson Yards. It says when the station was built, if there are any construction plans for the stop and whether or not the station is handicap accessible.

It also lists what people's most common complaints about the station are, tips from frequent users and alternate transit options — nearby bus lines or LIRR stations — that people can take when the train isn't running.

The entry for the 40th Street station in Sunnyside, for example, warns that you should arrive early during rush hour, that the back of the train tends to be the least crowded, and that the Q32 bus is a good alternative to Manhattan.

Riders at the 61st Street station in Woodside complained about service delays and broken escalators, according to the guide.

Information for each stop was compiled by Access Queens' own members as well as the answers the group received from a public survey, which riders can still fill out to offer feedback about their local station.

The group plans to continually update the guide and add more information based on the responses they get from the public, Mosley said.

"Obviously, Access Queens can't make change alone — we need people to say publicly what they need from the MTA and the government," he said.