NORTH BROOKLYN — The MTA plans to add 50 more L train trips a week starting in next June in response to booming ridership and as a way to improve service to Bushwick, Ridgewood, Middle Village and Fresh Pond when a section of the M train shuts down for repairs.
On weekdays the agency will add 11 more round trips between 9 a.m. and 7 p.m., according to a letter sent to North Brooklyn State Assemblyman Joseph Lentol on Monday.
There will be 12 more trips on Saturdays between 7 a.m. and 3 p.m., and there will be 27 more trips on Sundays between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m., New York City Transit Authority President Veronique Hakim wrote in the letter.
The additional trains should end up saving commuters around one to two minutes, Hakim said in her letter.
"These service increases will not only reduce headway times they will also reduce the number of riders per car allowing for a more comfortable commute," Lentol said.
The number of commuters on the L has reached more than 300,000 on weekdays — more than double 1990 ridership — though it dipped slightly at certain stations last year.
The increased service proposed by the MTA will cost about $1.7 million a year, and will be discussed at a public MTA board meeting coming up on Nov. 14.
The agency has to shut down the M train line north of the Myrtle/Broadway stop so it can tear down and rebuild two sections of the line — a bridge between the Middle Village and Fresh Pond stop and a a curved section of track just north of Broadway.
During the 10-month project, the MTA will provide shuttle buses to stations not serviced by the M train, though after the first two months, the bridge will be finished and they'll start up a shuttle train service Myrtle-Wyckoff and Middle Village.
J, Z and M trains will run local to Broadway Junction during the construction and around 60 Bushwick residents will have to leave their homes during the repairs.
The agency estimated the repairs will cost $3.2 million, according to the letter.
