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G Train Sees Largest Increase In Riders, Study Shows

 The G Train saw the largest increase in riders in 2012.
The G Train saw the largest increase in riders in 2012.
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DNAinfo/Theodore Parisienne

NEW YORK CITY — The G line may be the butt of jokes in Brooklyn and Queens, but the notorious train may have gotten the last laugh in 2012.

The crosstown line had the largest increase in average weekday ridership last year, according to a new study by the MTA.

The G saw almost 2,000 more riders a day in 2012 than in 2011, an increase of 4.2 percent, the study says. The changes were due to increased housing along the line, and more travel between Northern Brooklyn and Downtown Brooklyn, according to the MTA.

Advocates for the line argue that this proves that the G deserves a serious upgrade.

“The MTA’s new numbers show what G train riders already know," John Raskin, executive director of public transportation advocates the Riders Alliance, said in a statement. "These trains are overcrowded, and we need to run more of them.”

The news comes a little more than a month after the MTA agreed to do a full service review of G line service, which supporers say has lagged behind the growth of the areas supported by the line.

"[D]emand has outpaced service in North Brooklyn," read a statement from State Sen. Martin Dilan. "It’s time that G Line service to Williamsburg and Downtown Brooklyn reflect the upward growth that both areas have seen, and every indication shows it will only continue."

The study also found that the Barclays Center helped lead to an uptick in ridership for some Brooklyn trains. The Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center station itself had a 7.6 percent increase, with an additional 2,500 riders a day, while the nearby Fulton Street G station increased 6.9 percent.

The transportation hub at Atlantic Avenue was also the busiest train station in Brooklyn, according to the study.

The 14th Street A/C/E and Eighth Avenue L station had a 5.6 percent increase while Harlem also saw big numbers: a 3.4 percent weekday increase on the 2 and 3 lines.

"The eight stations from 116th Street to 145th Street on the Lenox and Eighth Avenue/Central Park West lines had a combined increase of 3.7 percent or about 3,600 riders," the study said.

The busiest station in the Bronx was the 161st Street-Yankee Stadium stop, and the busiest station in Queens was Flushing-Main Street, according to the study.