V (New York City Subway service)

Last updated

NYCS-bull-trans-V-Std.svg
Sixth Avenue Local
34th Street IND 007.JPG
NYCS map V.svg
Western end Lower East Side–Second Avenue
Eastern end Forest Hills–71st Avenue
Stations24
Started serviceDecember 17, 2001;23 years ago (2001-12-17)
DiscontinuedJune 25, 2010;14 years ago (2010-06-25)
Route map

Contents

BSicon vCONTg.svg
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  G    R    V  Arrow Blue Down 001.svg
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Forest Hills–71st Avenue
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BSicon dSTR.svg
67th Avenue
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63rd Drive–Rego Park
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BSicon dSTR.svg
Woodhaven Boulevard
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BSicon dSTR.svg
Grand Avenue–Newtown
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BSicon dSTR.svg
Elmhurst Avenue
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BSicon udBHF-L.svg
BSicon dBHF-R.svg
Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue
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BSicon dSTR2.svg
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65th Street
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BSicon dSTR+4.svg
Northern Boulevard
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BSicon dSTR.svg
46th Street
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BSicon dSTRc2.svg
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Steinway Street
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36th Street
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Queens Plaza
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BSicon uSTR~R.svg
NYCS-bull-trans-G-Std.svg via Crosstown
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BSicon STRr.svg
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Court Square–23rd Street
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BSicon udHSTACC.svg
Lexington Avenue–53rd Street
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Fifth Avenue/53rd Street
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BSicon udSTR.svg
BSicon STR~L.svg
BSicon CONTgq.svg
BSicon STRr.svg
BSicon uSTR.svg
BSicon STR~R.svg
BSicon d-CONTgq.svg
BSicon vSTR+rf-.svg
BSicon uv-STR.svg
BSicon xvSHI2gl-.svg
BSicon lACC white.svg
BSicon dBHF-L.svg
BSicon udBHF-R.svg
47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center
BSicon dBHF-L.svg
BSicon udBHF-R.svg
42nd Street–Bryant Park
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BSicon dBHF-L.svg
BSicon udBHF-R.svg
34th Street–Herald Square
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BSicon udHST.svg
23rd Street
BSicon dSTR.svg
BSicon udHST.svg
14th Street
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BSicon dBHF-L.svg
BSicon udBHF-R.svg
West Fourth Street–Washington Square
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BSicon dBHF-L.svg
BSicon udBHF-R.svg
Broadway–Lafayette Street
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BSicon STRr.svg
BSicon exdSHI2+l.svg
BSicon dSTR2.svg
BSicon udSTR.svg
BSicon exdSHI2r.svg
BSicon dSTRc3.svg
  V  Arrow Blue Up 001.svg
BSicon exdSTR.svg
BSicon dSTRc1.svg
BSicon udKBHFe-L.svg
BSicon dSTR+4.svg
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Second Avenue
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BSicon exdCONTf.svg
no regular service trains continue south
Legend

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Lines used by the NYCS-bull-trans-V-Std.svg
BSicon STRq.svg
Other services sharingtracks with the NYCS-bull-trans-V-Std.svg
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Unused lines, connections,or service patterns
  V  
Termini of services

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Cross-platform interchange

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Platforms on different levels

The V Sixth Avenue Local was a rapid transit service in the B Division of the New York City Subway. Its route emblem, or "bullet", was colored orange since it used the IND Sixth Avenue Line in Manhattan.

The V operated weekdays only from approximately 6:30 a.m. to midnight between 71st Avenue in Forest Hills, Queens and Second Avenue, near the border of the East Village and the Lower East Side, Manhattan.

The V debuted on December 17, 2001, when the connection from the IND 63rd Street Line to the IND Queens Boulevard Line opened as a replacement for the F, which was rerouted via this new connection, on the IND 53rd Street Line. Except for a brief period in early 2005, the V had the same service pattern during its eight-and-a-half-year history. As part of a series of service reductions to close a budget gap, the V train was eliminated on June 25, 2010. With the exception of service at Second Avenue, it was combined with the M train, which was rerouted from Lower Manhattan and South Brooklyn via the Chrystie Street Connection.

Service history

Context

The V was originally devised as an extra Sixth Avenue service designation that first appeared on rollsign curtains ordered in 1984 for the R10 through R38 B Division subway car classes to replace outdated rollsigns. It would also appear on rollsign curtains ordered for the then-new R68, R68A and R110B subway cars which entered service between 1986 and 1993, as well as on replacement rollsign curtains ordered for the R30 through R46 B Division subway cars overhauled between 1985 and 1992.

Debut

In December 2000, the MTA announced plans for a new subway route to operate between 71st Avenue in Queens and Second Avenue in Manhattan. This new route would would be designated as the V and would operate along the Queens Boulevard Line, the 53rd Street Tunnel, and the Sixth Avenue Line, making all stops along the full route. This new route would supplement the E via 53rd Street and the F via Sixth Avenue. [1] [2]

The introduction of the V was expected to increase the number of Queens Boulevard trains entering Manhattan by nine trains per hour. [1] [3] To make room for the V on Queens Boulevard, F trains were rerouted full-time via the 63rd Street Connector, and G trains were cut back to a new weekday rush hour and midday terminal at Long Island City–Court Square. In Manhattan, F and V trains made identical stops between 47th–50th Streets and the V train's Lower East Side–Second Avenue terminal. To prepare for this service, weekday rush hour service was simulated on Saturday, April 14, 2001 from 9:45 to 11:30 AM. V trains operated on a six-minute frequency between 71st Avenue and 57th Street–Seventh Avenue via 63rd Street and made all stops. This test took place to determine if existing G service along Queens Boulevard could be maintained along with V trains simultaneously; G trains operated on a ten-minute frequency, terminated at 179th Street in the northbound direction and originated at 71st Avenue in the southbound direction. [4] [5] The MTA board's transit committee voted on May 25 to recommend that the entirety of the board vote on the proposed V train. [6] On May 31, the MTA board approved the operating plan for the opening of the 63rd Street Connector, including the beginning of V service, which was to begin on November 11. Another weekday simulation took place during the daytime hours on Saturday, September 8, adapting the service pattern that would be implemented when the V would debut, but without the G operating along Queens Boulevard during weekday rush hours and middays. [7] Due to the September 11 attacks, the V did not debut until December 17. [8] [9] [3] Service ran every six minutes during rush hours and ten minutes other times, running southbound from 71st Avenue between 5:38 a.m. and 10:57 p.m., and northbound from Second Avenue between 5:54 a.m. and 11:33 p.m.. [10]

Controversy

The new service plan was designed to redistribute Queens-bound passenger loads along the heavily used IND Sixth Avenue Line by encouraging use of the additional local trains provided for shorter trips, and to improve service and transfer opportunities for passengers using local stations along Queens Boulevard. The New York Times described the service plan as "complex and heavily criticized." New York Times columnist Randy Kennedy wrote that four months after it opened, the service was operating at only 49% of capacity. However, ridership had "increased 30 percent since it began, and every new V rider, as lonely as he or she might be, relieves crowding on the E." [11] The Straphangers Campaign and Queens Civic Congress organized protests in 2002 to request the V train be rerouted to the 63rd Street Tunnel. [12]

The overcrowding on the E train was, in part, due to riders' propensity to board an express even in situations where it offers no real advantage in travel time over the local. Conductors were asked to make scripted announcements to urge riders to use the V, noting that they had a better chance of getting a seat on the train. [13] By May 2002, ridership started picking up on the V, and crowding on the E was reduced from 115% of capacity during rush hours to 96%. [14]

Kennedy sought out and interviewed some passengers who were not happy with the V's debut:

Last week, there were two express trains (the E and the F) running along Queens Boulevard to 53rd Street and Lexington Avenue, the station where many people catch the Lexington line. Now, there is only one express (the E) and a local (the V) going to that popular station. And the other express (the F) detours to a less popular station, 63rd and Lexington, where you cannot transfer to the Lexington Avenue Line without walking outside for a few blocks. So the questions being asked privately, and sometimes very publicly, in Queens stations yesterday were: Do I take a train not going where I'm going and — God forbid — transfer? Do I take a relatively uncrowded train that goes where I'm going but that gives me the scenic tour of subterranean Queens? [15]

On January 23, 2005, a fire destroyed the signal room of Chambers Street on the IND Eighth Avenue Line. V service was temporarily extended to Euclid Avenue until C service was restored on February 2. [16] [17] [18] [19] [20]

Merger of V and M trains

In late 2009, the MTA confronted a financial crisis, and many of the same service cuts threatened just months earlier during a previous budget crisis were revisited. One of the proposals included completely phasing out M service and using the V as its replacement. Under this proposal, the V would no longer serve its southern terminus at Lower East Side–Second Avenue. Instead, after leaving Broadway–Lafayette Street, it would take the Chrystie Street Connection to join the BMT Nassau Street Line, and stop at Essex Street in Manhattan before crossing the Williamsburg Bridge and serving all M stations to Middle Village-Metropolitan Avenue in Queens.

The MTA determined that this move, while still a service cut, would actually benefit M passengers, as approximately 17,000 of them traveled to its stations in Lower Manhattan, whereas 22,000 transferred to other lines to reach destinations in Midtown Manhattan. [21] Additionally, this merger would open up new travel options for northern Brooklyn and Queens J/Z riders, in that it would allow direct and more convenient access to areas that were not served by those routes before such as Midtown Manhattan.

On March 19, 2010, it was decided that the V designation would be discontinued and the new service would retain the M's designation instead, which would now be designated with an orange symbol representing an IND Sixth Avenue Line train. Many MTA board members had opposed the elimination of the M designation, saying that passengers would be more comfortable with an M designation rather than a V designation, and because the M had been around longer than the V. [22] [23]

The V ceased operation on Friday, June 25, 2010, with the last train bound for Forest Hills–71st Avenue leaving Lower East Side–Second Avenue at 11:33 p.m. [24] Official M service via the Chrystie Street Connection began on Monday, June 28, 2010. [25] [26]

From July 3, 2017, until April 27, 2018, reconstruction work on the BMT Myrtle Avenue Line resulted in a limited number of M trains operating between 71st Avenue in Queens and Second Avenue in Manhattan, during rush hours, replicating the V's original routing prior to its discontinuation. [27]

Final route

Lines used

The following lines were used by the V from December 2001 to June 2010:

LineFromToTracks
IND Queens Boulevard Line 71st Avenue Queens Plaza local
Queens Plaza Fifth Avenue/53rd Street all
IND Sixth Avenue Line 47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center Lower East Side–Second Avenue local

Stations

For a more detailed station listing, see the articles on the lines listed above.

Station service legend
NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg Stops 24 hours a day
NYCS-SSI-allexceptnights.svg Stops every day during daytime hours only
NYCS-SSI-nightsweekends.svg Stops everyday during overnight hours and weekends during daytime hours only
NYCS-SSI-weekdaysonly.svg Stops during weekday daytime hours only
NYCS-SSI-rushpeak.svg Stops weekdays in the peak direction only
Time period details
Wheelchair symbol.svg Station is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act
Wheelchair symbol.svg  Station is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act
in the indicated direction only
Wheelchair symbol.svg  
Aiga elevator.svg Elevator access to mezzanine only
NYCS-bull-trans-V.svg Stations Wheelchair symbol.svg Subway transfersConnections and notes
Queens
Queens Boulevard Line
NYCS-SSI-weekdaysonly.svg Forest Hills–71st Avenue [a] E NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg F NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg G NYCS-SSI-nightsweekends.svg R NYCS-SSI-allexceptnights.svg LIRR Main Line at Forest Hills
NYCS-SSI-weekdaysonly.svg 67th Avenue G NYCS-SSI-nightsweekends.svg R NYCS-SSI-allexceptnights.svg
NYCS-SSI-weekdaysonly.svg 63rd Drive–Rego Park G NYCS-SSI-nightsweekends.svg R NYCS-SSI-allexceptnights.svg Q72 to LaGuardia Airport
NYCS-SSI-weekdaysonly.svg Woodhaven Boulevard G NYCS-SSI-nightsweekends.svg R NYCS-SSI-allexceptnights.svg
NYCS-SSI-weekdaysonly.svg Grand Avenue–Newtown G NYCS-SSI-nightsweekends.svg R NYCS-SSI-allexceptnights.svg
NYCS-SSI-weekdaysonly.svg Elmhurst Avenue G NYCS-SSI-nightsweekends.svg R NYCS-SSI-allexceptnights.svg
NYCS-SSI-weekdaysonly.svg Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue Wheelchair symbol.svg E NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg F NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg G NYCS-SSI-nightsweekends.svg R NYCS-SSI-allexceptnights.svg
7   NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg (IRT Flushing Line) at 74th Street–Broadway
Q33 bus to LaGuardia Airport
Q47 bus to LaGuardia Marine Air Terminal
NYCS-SSI-weekdaysonly.svg 65th Street G NYCS-SSI-nightsweekends.svg R NYCS-SSI-allexceptnights.svg
NYCS-SSI-weekdaysonly.svg Northern Boulevard G NYCS-SSI-nightsweekends.svg R NYCS-SSI-allexceptnights.svg
NYCS-SSI-weekdaysonly.svg 46th Street G NYCS-SSI-nightsweekends.svg R NYCS-SSI-allexceptnights.svg
NYCS-SSI-weekdaysonly.svg Steinway Street G NYCS-SSI-nightsweekends.svg R NYCS-SSI-allexceptnights.svg
NYCS-SSI-weekdaysonly.svg 36th Street G NYCS-SSI-nightsweekends.svg R NYCS-SSI-allexceptnights.svg
NYCS-SSI-weekdaysonly.svg Queens Plaza Wheelchair symbol.svg E NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg G NYCS-SSI-nightsweekends.svg R NYCS-SSI-allexceptnights.svg
NYCS-SSI-weekdaysonly.svg 23rd Street–Ely Avenue [a] E   NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg
G   NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg (IND Crosstown Line at Long Island City–Court Square)
7   NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg <7> NYCS-SSI-rushpeak.svg (IRT Flushing Line at 45th Road–Court House Square; MetroCard-only transfer)
Manhattan
NYCS-SSI-weekdaysonly.svg Lexington Avenue–53rd Street Wheelchair symbol.svg E   NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg
6   NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg <6> NYCS-SSI-rushpeak.svg (IRT Lexington Avenue Line at 51st Street)
NYCS-SSI-weekdaysonly.svg Fifth Avenue/53rd Street E   NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg
Sixth Avenue Line
NYCS-SSI-weekdaysonly.svg 47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center Wheelchair symbol.svg B NYCS-SSI-weekdaysonly.svg D NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg F NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg
NYCS-SSI-weekdaysonly.svg 42nd Street–Bryant Park B NYCS-SSI-weekdaysonly.svg D NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg F NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg
7   NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg <7> NYCS-SSI-rushpeak.svg (IRT Flushing Line at Fifth Avenue)
NYCS-SSI-weekdaysonly.svg 34th Street–Herald Square Wheelchair symbol.svg B NYCS-SSI-weekdaysonly.svg D NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg F NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg
N   NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg Q   NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg R   NYCS-SSI-allexceptnights.svg W   NYCS-SSI-weekdaysonly.svg (BMT Broadway Line)
PATH at 33rd Street
NYCS-SSI-weekdaysonly.svg 23rd Street F NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg PATH at 23rd Street
NYCS-SSI-weekdaysonly.svg 14th Street F NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg
1   NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg 2   NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg 3   NYCS-SSI-allexceptnights.svg (IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line at 14th Street)
L   NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg (BMT Canarsie Line at Sixth Avenue)
PATH at 14th Street
NYCS-SSI-weekdaysonly.svg West Fourth Street–Washington Square Wheelchair symbol.svg B NYCS-SSI-weekdaysonly.svg D NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg F NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg
A   NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg C   NYCS-SSI-allexceptnights.svg E   NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg (IND Eighth Avenue Line)
PATH at Ninth Street
NYCS-SSI-weekdaysonly.svg Broadway–Lafayette Street [a] B NYCS-SSI-weekdaysonly.svg D NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg F NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg
6   NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg <6> NYCS-SSI-rushpeak.svg (IRT Lexington Avenue Line at Bleecker Street; transfer to downtown trains only)
NYCS-SSI-weekdaysonly.svg Lower East Side–Second Avenue F NYCS-SSI-alltimes.svg

Notes

  1. 1 2 3 This station was made accessible after the V was discontinued.

References

  1. 1 2 Kershaw, Sarah (December 2, 2000). "Proposed Line Would Lighten Subway Crush". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved May 31, 2023.
  2. Donohue, Pete (December 1, 2000). "Queens Commuters May Take the V Train". New York Daily News. p. 7. ISSN   2692-1251. ProQuest   305559611.
  3. 1 2 Donohue, Pete (December 16, 2001). "V Day for Straphangers New Line Hits Track Tomorrow". New York Daily News. p. 10. ISSN   2692-1251. ProQuest   305671298.
  4. "Around New York's Transit System -- E/F/G/R/V Service Tested on Queens Boulevard" (PDF). The Bulletin. 44 (5). Electric Railroaders' Association, Incorporated: 14. May 2001. Retrieved March 12, 2025.
  5. "Around New York's Transit System -- E/F/G/R/V Service Tested on Queens Queens Boulevard—Additional Information" (PDF). The Bulletin. 44 (6). Electric Railroaders' Association, Incorporated: 18. June 2001. Retrieved March 12, 2025.
  6. Kennedy, Randy (May 25, 2001). "Panel Approves New V Train but Shortens G Line to Make Room". The New York Times . Retrieved March 20, 2010.
  7. Chan, Joseph (December 2001). "On Queens Boulevard, V Is For Velocity: Planning & Rehearsing 63rd Street Connector Service -- Rehearsing the Service Plan" (PDF). The Bulletin. 44 (12). Electric Railroaders' Association, Incorporated: 6, 19. Retrieved March 12, 2025.
  8. Donohue, Pete (June 1, 2001). "V Train Approved to Cut Crush on E, F & R". New York Daily News. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
  9. Kershaw, Sarah (December 17, 2001). "V Train Begins Service Today, Giving Queens Commuters Another Option". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved October 14, 2016.
  10. "63rd Street Connector In Service – New Schedules in Effect" (PDF). New York Division Bulletin. 45 (1). Electric Railroaders' Association: 13. January 2002.
  11. Kennedy, Randy (July 9, 2002). "When One New Train Equals One Less Express". The New York Times . Retrieved March 20, 2010.
  12. Bowles, Pete (June 25, 2002). "Groups to Protest Subway Line / Want to Switch F with Unpopular V". Newsday. p. A15. ISSN   2574-5298. ProQuest   279540524.
  13. Donohue, Pete (April 26, 2002). "TA Pushes for Riders on V Train. Hard Sell by Conductors". New York Daily News. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
  14. Donohue, Pete (May 1, 2002). "V Train Will Get There, TA Insists". New York Daily News. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
  15. Kennedy, Randy (December 18, 2001). "Lonesome Newcomer, Taking It Slowly, Seeks Riders". The New York Times . Retrieved March 20, 2010.
  16. Chan, Sewell (January 25, 2005). "2 Subway Lines Crippled by Fire; Long Repair Seen". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved September 23, 2016.
  17. "Remembering a Fire at Chambers St". Second Ave. Sagas. August 24, 2010.
  18. "MTA NYC Transit Subway Line Information". February 5, 2005. Archived from the original on February 5, 2005. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
  19. "Service Update – A C V Subway Lines". February 4, 2005. Archived from the original on February 4, 2005. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
  20. "Service Update – A C V Subway Lines". January 29, 2005. Archived from the original on January 29, 2005. Retrieved September 23, 2016.
  21. "2010 NYC Transit Service Reductions" (PDF). MTA New York City Transit. January 27, 2010. p. 9. Archived from the original (PDF) on November 25, 2010. Retrieved March 20, 2010.
  22. Grynbaum, Michael M. (March 19, 2010). "On the Subway, V Is for Vanished". The New York Times . Retrieved March 20, 2010.
  23. "Modifications to 2010 NYC Transit Service Reductions" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on June 1, 2010. Retrieved March 22, 2010.
  24. DeJesus, Juan (June 25, 2010). "Last Stop: New Yorkers Bid Adieu to V and W". WNBC . Retrieved June 25, 2010.
  25. "Evaluation of 2010 Service Reductions" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. September 23, 2011. Archived (PDF) from the original on December 8, 2015. Retrieved October 20, 2016.
  26. Barron, James (June 28, 2010). "City Commuters Press On Despite Transit Cuts". The New York Times. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved June 1, 2023.
  27. "M Subway Timetable, Effective June 25, 2017" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Archived from the original on June 25, 2017. Retrieved June 25, 2017.