Say goodbye to the G train shuffle!
Long-suffering riders in Brooklyn and Queens will get some relief from running along subway platforms to get into the line’s short four-car trains.
The MTA yesterday announced a series of improvements to the often-neglected line, including a plan to have the train stop at a fixed place on the platform and service increases.
The changes are a result of recommendations from a study the MTA just finished on the line.
“The G train sprint is going to end,” said state Sen. Daniel Squadron, who had asked the MTA to review the subway line.
The MTA will put up signs by the end of this year that will show straphangers where the G train will arrive — and they’ll rearrange benches so that they line up with its cars.
Lawyer Alexis Saba, 29, of Clinton Hill, Brooklyn, was relieved — and said she almost lost a shoe running to catch a train.
“It will make it a lot easier to plan,” said Saba, who is a member of the Riders Alliance, a commuters-advocacy group, and lives off of the Clinton-Washington Avenue stop. “You hear the train coming, and you run as fast as you can. You get exhausted and hot.”
The MTA also believes that better communication with passengers about where the train will stop will prevent people from crowding the rear cars.
“Right now, the train stops in different places at different times, and sometimes at inconvenient places,” said John Raskin, executive director of the Riders Alliance. “People don’t know where it’s going to stop. These changes will fix all that.”
The line’s 125,000 commuters — who live in rapidly growing neighborhoods like Greenpoint and Williamsburg — will also see service increased by 25 percent in afternoons and evenings by mid-2014 if the MTA can secure the funding.
There will be an average of 7.5 cars an hour, versus the current six.
Wait times are expected to drop from an average of 10 minutes to eight minutes.
There will also be public announcements about service changes at 12 G train stations that don’t have them now.
“I’ll be able to rely on it to visit friends and family,” said Brian Zumba, 16, who lives in Corona, Queens, but often uses the Court Square stop to travel to Brooklyn. “I have a lot of friends in Williamsburg and Greenpoint. I can get home on time.”
The MTA is also revising the subway’s timetables to make the G run more evenly — rather than having trains bunched together, creating long waits.
Tolani Abedoye, a 36-year-old data manager for the Department of Education and also a member of the Rider’s Alliance, was thrilled that there would be more trains at night and greater service overall.
“It’s been incredibly frustrating,” said Abedoye. “I take the G train everyday to work.”
An MTA spokesman said it would cost $700,000 to increase the number of G trains, and the agency is seeking more funding to boost service.