Dec. 13, 2017 By Christian Murray
The MTA is shutting down the 53rd Street tunnel that connects the E and M trains between Queens and Manhattan from Tuesday, Dec 26. to Sunday, Dec. 31.
The complete closure of the tunnel–which goes below the East River–will have a significant impact on riders who depend on the E and M trains at the Court Square and Queens Plaza stations. Service on both lines will be down.
The MTA announced yesterday that the E train will not be operating between Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue and West 4 Street during the 5-day period as it repairs the tunnel. The M train will be closed in Queens altogether.
With the closure, the MTA will only be operating the G and the 7 trains at the Court Square station during that period, while it will only be providing R service at Queens Plaza.
The MTA is using the 5-day period to bring in more than 500 workers to work on the tunnel. The workers will be installing cables for signal improvements, replacing track and clearing debris, the MTA said.
The agency said it is doing the work during a week when ridership is low. The MTA said that it will achieve the equivalent of a month’s worth of weekend work over the five day period.
The E train at the Forest Hills-71st Avenue station is being re-routed to the F train, which also services that station. The E train at the Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue will also be re-routed to the F train at that station.
However, in Long Island City there is no one station where the E and the F trains meet. The closest F train to Court Square and Queens Plaza is 21st Street–Queensbridge.
There will be shuttle buses between 21st Street-Queensbridge, Queens Plaza and Court Square late at night but not during the day. The MTA has yet to release those times.
The E and M closures start at 5 a.m., Dec. 26 and go through to 8 a.m., Dec. 31.
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5 Comments
Maybe the work is necessary. It is just that normally the MTA is such a Daily mess that frustrates everyone.
The G needs to be extended or the 7 platform will be dangerously overcrowded.
Exactly…the reason the G terminates at Court Square is because Queens Plaza did not have the capacity for more trains. Without the E/M, why not temporarily terminate the G at Queens Plaza for a transfer to the R?
To clarify, the ‘E’ will operate on the ‘F’ line from Jackson Heights – Roosevelt Ave to West 4th St, in both directions.
I can take the 7 and connect to the red line to get to work or I can take the E train straight to my building. Yesterday I decided to try the E again. It was 10:40 am, I waited 45 minutes for an E. All the announcements say is that a local Manhattan bound train is coming into the station but that could be an E or an M. What good is that? Basically they are just saying… “