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If you’ve ever clung to a pole on a packed L train at 8:30 am or waited too long on the A train's Far Rockaway branch, you’ll want to circle November on your calendar.
The MTA just announced plans to boost service on both the A and L subway lines this fall, Gothamist reported, in a long-overdue move that reflects post-pandemic commuting patterns—and might actually make your daily ride a bit more bearable. The proposal, which heads to the MTA board for approval this week, includes four additional round trips on the L train during peak morning hours and midday service increases on the A train’s Lefferts Boulevard and Far Rockaway branches.
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That means the L line will soon be able to handle 22 trains per hour between 8 and 9 am, up from 20. This boost is possible thanks to recent upgrades to the line’s electrical power systems.
Weekend L riders will also see a shift, with more service moving from sleepy mornings to lively evenings, which is a subtle but major win for late-night partygoers heading to or from Brooklyn.
The A line, meanwhile, gets a quieter (but no less impactful) midday improvement: two more round trips during weekdays on its outer branches, helping close frustrating gaps in service for riders in southeast Queens and the Rockaways.
"At a time when subway service is the best it’s been in a dozen years, this makes it even better," NYC Transit President Demetrius Crichlow said in a statement.
The upgrades come at a cost of $600,000 annually, and they’re part of the MTA’s larger effort to meet riders where they are—literally. With average weekday ridership still hovering around 4 million (down from 5.5 million in 2019), the agency is adjusting service patterns to better align with hybrid work schedules.
While these specific service boosts are relatively modest, they arrive amid a sweeping $68.4 billion capital plan, the largest in MTA history, aimed at modernizing aging infrastructure, buying new trains and making stations more accessible.
So, no, the Summer of Hell isn’t making a comeback. And if the MTA stays on track, your fall commute might just feel a little less infernal.