Plenty of subway service changes are in store for New Yorkers this weekend amid one of the busiest shopping periods of the holiday season and the return of the drunken SantaCon spectacle.
Here’s a rundown of scheduled changes from the MTA for between Dec. 9-10, weather-permitting:
4 train in the Bronx
The 4 line will be out of service in the Bronx between Woodlawn and Bedford Park Boulevard-Lehman College in both directions between 6:45 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 9, and 8 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 10, for signal maintenance. Shuttle buses will operate in its place, making stops at Mosholu Parkway and the Bedford Park Boulevard D train station.
6 train track maintenance
Track maintenance will split up the 6 train in two sections between midnight Saturday and 5 a.m. Monday, Dec. 11. Passengers will have to transfer between the sections at 125th Street to continue their trip.
One section will operate between 125th Street and Pelham Bay Park every 12 minutes. The other section will run between Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall and 125th Street every 8 minutes; this section will run on the 4 line to and from 149th Street-Grand Concourse, and the northbound trains will skip the 138th Street-Grand Concourse stop.
A train and Rockaway Shuttle in Queens
A train service will be suspended in Queens between Rockaway Boulevard and Far Rockaway-Mott Avenue in both directions between 5:30 a.m. Saturday and 10 p.m. Sunday for track maintenance. Additionally, the Rockaway Park Shuttle will skip the Broad Channel station and are rerouted on the A line to Far Rockaway-Mott Avenue.
The MTA will operate three shuttle bus routes in place of the suspended trains as follows:
- A nonstop shuttle bus will run between Rockaway Boulevard and Far Rockaway-Mott Avenue.
- A second shuttle bus will run from Rockaway Boulevard to Rockaway Park-Beach 116th Street, and will stop at the shuttle’s stations: Broad Channel, Beach 90th Street, Beach 98th Street and Beach 105th Street.
- A third shuttle bus will run between Rockaway Boulevard and Howard Beach-JFK Airport, stopping at Aqueduct-North Conduit Avenue and Aqueduct Racetrack along the way.
The A train will run throughout the weekend between Ozone Park-Lefferts Boulevard and Inwood-207th Street.
Travelers heading to/from JFK Airport are advised to take the E train to Sutphin Boulevard-Archer Avenue/JFK for service to the JFK AirTrain.
C train express in Manhattan
Brooklyn-bound C trains will run on the express line from 125th Street to 59th Street-Columbus Circle, then shift to the D line to 34th Street-Herald Square and the F line to Jay Street-MetroTech in Brooklyn, from 9:45 p.m. Friday night, Dec. 8, until 5 a.m. Monday, Dec. 11, due to structural maintenance. C trains, as normal, do not run during overnight hours.
F train modernization in Brooklyn
The ongoing signal modernization project on the F line in Brooklyn will again result in service suspensions between Church Avenue and Coney Island-Stillwell AVenue this weekend, from 9:45 p.m. Friday until 5 a.m. Monday.
Shuttle buses will replace the F trains and make all local stops. Take the D, N or Q trains for direct service to and from Coney Island.
J train shut in Queens
Ongoing station accessibility improvements will force a suspension of J train service between Crescent Street in Brooklyn and Jamaica Center-Parsons/Archer in Queens from 11:45 p.m. Friday until 5 a.m. Monday.
J trains will be replaced by J90 shuttle buses running between Crescent Street and 121st Street, where passengers can transfer to/from the E train at Jamaica-Van Wyck station.
N/Q/R impacted by equipment installation
Manhattan-bound R trains and all overnight N local trains will run on the Q line between Atlantic Avenue-Barclays Center and Canal Street this weekend. The R changes will be in effect on Saturday and Sunday from 5:45 a.m. to 11:45 p.m.
During this period, Bay Ridge-bound R trains and Coney Island-bound N trains will skip the DeKalb Avenue station. Take the Q train or a Manhattan-bound N or R train to reach this stop.
Take the 1, 4 or 5 trains to access the Whitehall Street, Rector Street, Cortlandt Street and City Hall stops.
For service to Jay Street-MetroTech and Court Street, use the Borough Hall station on the 2 and 4 lines.
Additionally, R trains will not run during overnight hours this weekend between Whitehall Street and 59th Street due to equipment installation.
More service changes at mta.info.
SantaCon
Saturday marks the return of SantaCon, the annual barrage of boozy Santas on pub crawls through Manhattan. Most of the establishments participating in SantaCon are between Midtown and the East Village.
If you plan on participating in SantaCon, the MTA has barred alcohol consumption on the Long Island Rail Road and Metro-North Railroad from 4 a.m. Saturday until noon Sunday.
Holiday nostalgia trains
The MTA is bringing back its special Holiday Nostalgia Trains each Saturday this December for the holiday season. The trains feature the classic restored R1/9 cars from the 1930s, which include rattan seats, paddle ceiling fans, incandescent light bulbs, roll signs and period advertisements.
The nostalgia trains run in two directions — on the F line uptown and the D line downtown — between Lower East Side-2nd Avenue and 145th Street. Trains depart Lower East Side-2nd Avenue at 10 a.m., noon, 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.; trains depart 145th Street at 11 a.m., 1 p.m., 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. There’s no special fare for this; your standard subway fare is all you need.
Accessible stations along the nostalgia route are at Broadway-Lafayette Street, West 4th Street-Washington Square, 34th Street-Herald Square, 59th Street-Columbus Circle, and 125th Street (A/C/D).
Editor’s note: An earlier version contained an error regarding the day in which the Holiday Nostalgia Trains are running. We regret any confusion which may have resulted.
