Metro: MTA to add more weekend L trains
By Alison Bowen
Riders on the L train may not have to battle — as much — for elbow room next year.
State senator Daniel Squadron announced yesterday that the MTA will improve service on the crowded line. The MTA will add one more train on weekdays between 9 a.m. and 9:30 a.m. beginning in December, according to the transit authority.
The MTA also promised to begin adding more L trains on the weekends starting in mid-2012, probably sometime next summer.
“Improving weekend L service is a step toward a subway system that keeps up with its riders,” said Squadron, who did a study of the line.
The MTA admitted that service did not match a “meteoric” rise in riders: Ridership has increased by 141 percent since 1998, but service increased by only about 50 percent on Saturdays and Sundays.
The agency also promised to evaluate overall L train service and denied a request for more weekend service on the F train, which Squadron had also evaluated.
