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G Train To Get Full-Length Train Cars During L Shutdown, MTA Says

By Gwynne Hogan | May 6, 2016 5:37pm | Updated on May 9, 2016 8:53am
 The G train in NYC on August 1, 2013.
The G train in NYC on August 1, 2013.
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DNA/Stephanie Keith

GREENPOINT — There's a light at the end of the tunnel...for G train riders, that is. 

Straphangers on the notoriously unpredictable G train could see 160 percent bump in capacity, when L train service between Manhattan and Brooklyn shuts down in 2019 according to MTA officials at the first public meeting called to discuss the looming repair work. 

G trains will double in length, from four to eight cars, snagging additional ones left out of use from the L train line, according to Veronique "Ronnie" Hakim, the NYC Transit President.

Riders have been calling for full-length train cars for years, according to 2013 MTA report, though the agency said then it wasn't feasible because the increased length would cause trains to run less frequently, would decrease train frequency and would often run under capacity.

Though since 2013, G train ridership has continued to swell, outpacing the citywide rate, with an average of 8.2 percent more riders at stops in North Brooklyn in 2015 than the year before, according to data from the MTA. Ridership across that city increased by an average of 2.6 percent during that time.

In addition to full-length train cars, the MTA will run three more train cars per hour, according to Hakim, two measures that will more than nearly triple the trains capacity.

Repair work on the L will take between 18 months to three years depending on which timeline the MTA chooses for reconstruction.

Once the construction is over, it's still not clear if the L train will snag back the surplus cars, said MTA spokesman Kevin Ortiz.