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If you live along the G train route, your life probably resembled some version of a living hell for the past several weeks. Since June 28, the MTA shut down different sections of the G line and it was us, humble civilians, who had to pay the price of it all.
But at long last, regular service resumed on the G train on Tuesday. Here's everything you need to know about why the G train was shut down to begin with—and what upgrades we can finally expect.
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Why did the G train shut down?
The city shut down the G train in order to upgrade old signal systems that were nearly a century old. The MTA claimed that shutting down entire portions of the line would allow the changes to be made much faster than if they suspended service overnight or on weekends.
The latest and final portion of the line to reopen was the segment between Bedford-Nostrand Avs and Church Avs.
What did they upgrade on the G train?
The old technology—which would break down frequently, causing delays—was replaced with a modern communications-based train control (CBTC) technology, which will hopefully make the G line run faster and more smoothly in the future.
All in all, 100 miles of new cable, 17 switches and 6 relay rooms were replaced, according to AMNY. You might also notice that some of the stations along the G line are cleaner than usual: during the line's maintenance work, ten stations were deep cleaned.
This was all part of a larger $368 million project to modernize the G line, which won't be fully completed until 2027. The good news is that the MTA doesn't anticipate any more 24/7 shutdowns during the project's duration, although overnight and weekend shutdowns will still occur. The project will include equipping tunnels with cell service, per ABC 7.
For the sake of the more than 160,000 New Yorkers who rely on the G train, we hope that's true.