No joke: Subway riders (OK, 149,000 of them, roughly) have a reason to smile this morning.
The F and M trains return to full service Monday for the first time since August, when a major track replacement impacted service on both lines between Manhattan and Queens. The project wrapped on time and on budget.
Track replacement along the F line between 47-50 Streets-Rockefeller Center in Manhattan and 36 Street in Queens ended March 31, with trains along the F and M lines once again scheduled to start making regular stops in the two boroughs by 5 a.m. on April 1. That shuttle running between Lexington Ave and 21st Street is gone, too.
According to the MTA, some 149,000 people, on average, use the impacted part of the subway system daily and many live on Roosevelt Island.
The agency noted that the project was intended to improve reliability, mitigate leaks, prevent future corrosion and deterioration, and extend the life of existing infrastructure.
Crews removed existing direct-attach tracks and constructed new concrete tracks and new direct-attach tracks; they installed new contact rails, kickboards, brackets and insulators, removed and replaced cables, supplied and installed new signaling equipment, repaired flaking concrete and cracks and sealed leaks.
Crews also installed 25,643 feet of new third rail with kicker boards and cables, the MTA has said.
