By Joseph Morales

The L Train is one of the busiest and most critical lines in the NYC Subway system. The route connects some of Brooklyn’s rapidly growing neighborhoods such as Williamsburg, Bushwick and East New York to each other and Manhattan. Additionally, key transfer points at Myrtle-Wyckoff Av and Broadway Junction provide riders with a plethora of connections to areas of Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island via other subway routes and the LIRR. In Brooklyn, only 45% of households have a car according to data from the New York City Department of City Planning. Hence, many people rely on the L Train and mass transit as a whole as their primary mode of transportation.

                      Due to low reliability and crowding on the route, the MTA upgraded the signal system on the L to Communications Based Train Control or CBTC in 2009. This helped the MTA to increase frequencies dramatically and increase on-time performance to over 90%. You can find more details on CBTC and its benefits in this MTA Youtube video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZjWu2WYjdw However, this does not change the fact that service is often slowed due to the close proximity of stations, some of which are mere blocks apart. On most subway lines such as the 7 in Queens and 6 in The Bronx, there is at least peak-directional express service to get riders to Manhattan quickly. Unfortunately, this is not the case with the L, resulting in more crowding and slower travel times than for riders of other lines.

              So why doesn’t the L have express service despite having a higher population density around it than other lines? Well, the line did have express service between 1936 and April 1956 when the line ran to Ozone Park-Lefferts Blvd(A) as part of a connection to the now demolished Fulton Street Elevated. Ozone Park-Lefferts Blvd is now served by A trains connected to the IND Fulton Street Line. Once this connection was severed, the L ran express along its current line for four short months until that service was discontinued in August 1956. There is little readily accessible information as to why express service stopped. However, there is a chance that the NYC government who operated the line at the time did not see the need for separate express services when many riders got on and off the train within Brooklyn. Also given the high population densities along the line, the NYCTA likely didn’t see a need for trains to skip stops. 

                When the state-run MTA eventually took control of all city run subway lines in 1965(known from 1965-1968 as the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Authority), it seemed like they thought the same way for over twenty more years. Even today, most express services either exist in the most densely populated areas such as Manhattan, or in places where more riders are traveling a longer distance such as on the 6 in The Bronx. However, the MTA did feel that the L could accommodate a service adjustment known as skip-stop service in 1991. The adjustments were part of a series of subway changes meant to help the MTA more efficiently utilize resources in the midst of a fiscal crisis. Skip-stop service is when different trains stop at an alternate set of stops with all trains stopping at key stations. This is the service that exists on the Jamaica Line(J,Z) during rush hours and was run on the 1 and 9 trains in Upper Manhattan and The Bronx between 1989 and 2005. The skip-stop variant of the L would have been known as the K Train.

                  This skip-stop service would have likely not been popular with riders. Two years prior in 1989, a similar service pattern was adopted on what is now the 1 line between Van Cortlandt Park-242nd St and 125th St. Initially, there were implementation delays as community members were concerned of whether or not the plan would speed their commutes and if trains skipping certain stops was worth it. Eventually, it wound up being discontinued in 2005 when fewer riders were satisfied with skip-stop service due to longer wait times at most stations. 

                Whether or not the L can have express service today is mostly dependent on how the MTA feels service could benefit riders now and in the future. As stated earlier, most express services exist where density is extremely high across the line(Ex:Lexington Avenue Line(4,5,6) or where most riders are traveling a certain distance between certain stops(Ex: Pelham Line(6). Given the tremendous growth around the L in recent years, many riders board and disembark the train within Brooklyn, making local service essential during peak times. Additionally, many stops along the L have very high ridership and reduced service would lead to less trains where ridership warrants it and hence more crowding on local trains. This is what happened when the MTA added express service to the Astoria Line(N,W) in Queens in 2001 and as a result, it was discontinued after only four months.

               The most similar line to the L that has any form of express service is the Flushing Line(7). The Flushing Line has a peak-direction express between Flushing-Main St and Queensboro Plaza where some trains run express during AM rush hours toward Manhattan and PM rush hours toward Flushing. The Flushing Line is also the only line besides the L to have CBTC, which allows it to run more total trains per hour than most NYC Subway Lines.       

                 However, unlike the L, the 7 has several stations with substantially higher ridership than its other other stations. This is because these stations such as 61st St-Woodside and Flushing-Main St have very high population densities and are connected to a plethora of LIRR/bus lines. These LIRR/bus lines serve many areas where the subway does not run. Also, Flushing-Main St also serves as the nearest subway station for all of Northeast Queens in addition to its immediate bustling surroundings. The L on the other hand, has almost no stations that riders rely on from such a wide geographic area due to the prevalence of other subway lines in Brooklyn. Hence, express service on the L Train could lead to another situation like with the Astoria Line. Except here, there would be more crowding on trains and more passengers waiting longer given how the express service would only speed up trips from the L’s least used stations.

                  Also, since many riders transfer at stations like Livonia Av, Myrtle-Wyckoff Av, and Broadway Junction adding express service would likely add substantial hassle to non-Manhattan trips that are not as common amongst Flushing Line riders. This could lead to increased crowding at already crowded transfer hubs as well as less dependence on the subway for interborough trips. As 45% of Brooklyn households do have vehicles, more people ditching the subway for cars could be horrible given how bad congestion and parking is in Brooklyn already. This is an issue that would likely not be as significnt along the Flushing Line, given how ridership is already allocated to fit ridership needs based off numbers.

                     As Brooklyn and NYC continue to grow, many people will likely question if our transit system is keeping up and the MTA will do its best to make the necessary changes. This principle has been seen in the MTA’s bus network redesigns as well as off-peak service additions on subway lines when ridership warrants it. Hopefully, the MTA can work to have the transit system it needs so that the city can continue to thrive and prosper.

Works Cited

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New York City Department of City Planning. Tableau, 24 November 2022, https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/dcptransportation/viz/ACSProfiles/Dashboard1. Accessed 18 February 2024.

New York City Department of City Planning. “Bushwick Neighborhood Plan Update.” nyc.gov, 24 April 2019, https://www.nyc.gov/assets/planning/download/pdf/plans-studies/bushwick-neighborhood-plan/plan/bushwick-neighborhood-plan.pdf?r=1. Accessed 18 February 2024.

“RPA | A New L Train for New Yorkers.” Regional Plan Association, April 2016, https://rpa.org/work/reports/a-new-l-train-for-new-yorkers. Accessed 18 February 2024.

Thomas, Steven. “History of the New York City Subway | TopView.” New York Bus Tours, https://www.topviewnyc.com/packages/history-of-the-new-york-city-subway. Accessed 18 February 2024.