Feb. 9, 2016 By Christian Murray
Several Queens-based council members are calling on the MTA to conduct a top-to-bottom study of the 7 line, claiming that weekday service is unreliable and riders are often left waiting on overcrowded platforms as they try to make their way into work.
Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer, who held a press conference this morning at the 40th Street station with the transit advocacy group Access Queens, said that 7 train riders deserve better. He said the delays are almost daily and many residents get to work late.
“Many people are often left waiting on the platform in the cold just watching the [packed] trains pass by them,” Van Bramer said, adding that his social media feed erupts whenever there are problems.
Van Bramer, who was joined by about 20 people at the rally, said that he wrote a letter to the head of the MTA Thomas Prendergast calling for a “Full Line Review.”
He said that such reviews have been conducted on the lettered lines and have resulted in improvements such as better customer communication, greater reliability and higher service frequency. He said that he wanted the MTA to examine the 7 line as soon as possible.
Van Bramer said that his Queens council colleagues who represent 7-train riders have all signed onto the letter, including Danny Dromm (Jackson Heights), Julissa Ferreras-Copeland (Elmhurst, Corona) and Peter Koo (Flushing).
Kevin Ortiz, a spokesman for the MTA, said in a statement that the agency has “enhanced inspections and added additional personnel to improve response times” when 7-train problems occur. However, he added, “There have been a couple of major incidents on the line over the past several weeks, a broken rail for example, that have negatively impacted service.”
Ortiz said that the MTA is committed to conducting line reviews but would not put a timeline as to when one would take place involving the 7 line. He said that the agency is turning its attention to doing reviews of the numbered lines.
Melissa Orlando, who founded #7TrainBlues and Access Queens, said that service has gotten worse in the past 12 months, with service last week being particularly poor.
“We want the MTA do the full line review,” she said, adding that “we need to know why the trains break down so often and what improvements are going to be made.”
She said that she wanted the MTA to put in place an objective measure to analyze the effectiveness of Communications-Based Train Control (CBTC), an upgraded system that allows for more frequent and reliable trains, once it goes into effect. The MTA has been working on that system upgrade for some time.
The letter sent by the Queens council members calls on the MTA to examine how CBTC is being implemented, charging that the track work has caused years of closures and delays.
Meanwhile, Sunnyside resident Ty Sullivan just wants more accountability: “People’s jobs are in jeopardy every day there are train delays. We need that to change.”
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27 Comments
If you look at a much, bigger picture, the NYC public transportation infrastructure is well behind other major cities across the world such as London, Paris, Moscow, Tokyo, Beijing, Madrid, Berlin, Seoul, the list goes on and on.
The 7 train gets progressively worse, I actually have found alternative ways to commute. Taking a bus for 5 minutes to Briadway to access the R/M line. I’m at Union Square in 30 minutes, but I don’t have to stand, be squished, or wait in the cold/ rain/snow. The solution of more trains for more people doesn’t seem likely to solve the problem, perhaps due to ….there’s only so much track this extra trains can go on.
A PRESS CONFERENCE??????? Is that was that is? It looks like he put his little podium up, offered to buy coffee and bagels for some commuters from the cart behind them ,and cut out for a continental breakfast. Do something about the food carts,they cut into the pockets of the businesses that pay rent.
I’ve met many 7 train riders and overall I think we deserve much worse. But if we repent of our sins perhaps we’ll have better service. G-d bless all of my little Sumnysiderd out there. Amen.
I was on my way to the rally, but I got stranded on the #7 train platform watching packed trains pass me by as I tried to get there.
Maybe next rally they’ll run more trains.
Oh boo hoo hoo
Headway during morning rush is in excess of 10 minutes at times, that’s quite excessive. Daily ridership is over 817,000 people. You can fit 1,000 people per 10 train car set, which means the trains can’t keep up with the influx of people when things go wrong.
I go 8 stops to work in Queens on the 7, and it takes me almost 25 minutes, when it used to take me 15 minutes.
Great informative post Sean. Especially the mathematical simplicity. What is wrong with this fool posting under the tag Luvu2? Does he understand the seriousness of the issue at hand? How the failure of the transit system (the life blood) hurts the citizens, businesses, property owners etc. of the neighborhood? Poster Mac is right on the money about this person..
Great analysis and commentary, Angela, especially the rhetorical questioning. We’ve needed a post evaluator for quite some time; glad you’ve stepped up to the plate!
Who is Angela? Who is she? Who is Mac? #blamefoxnews
#blamefoxnews for Rocky’s lack of knowledge of the issues and stupidity in general. Go check out Rocky’s racist comment in the Burglary article above this article.
Hey, Mac and Angela who died and made you experts on anything? I heard a rumor one of you used to work and pay taxes but I doubt it. Rocky makes great comments. You voted for the silly Jimmy and now you see the result.
-Rock Hunter You’re hot for Rocky? I noticed the Freudian “closeted” suggestion in your screen name.
Jimmys mom loves Mac
Rachel looks so unhappy in the photo.
As a firmer motor man on the Bogota Colombia subway system I know how difficult it can be to drive a subway. I feel for the transit workers who give it their all to get us around this great city of ours.
LIC development is only part of it. The trains are packed by the time they get from Flushing to 46th Street. They simply need to run more.
LIC development is certainly not going to help it.
“Several Queens-based council members are calling on the MTA to conduct a top-to-bottom study of the 7 line, claiming that weekday service is unreliable and riders are often left waiting on overcrowded platforms” Yes, let’s waste more money on a study to find out that the 7 train has problems because of all the developing going on in LIC before anyone gave a thought to transportation. Geniuses.
The 7 stops working long before it gets anywhere near LIC due to signal malfunctions, after they’ve spent 8 years closing it down for “signal upgrades.”
The best way to make yourself heard is for everyone got together on the 4th of July and jumped the turnstile until further notice. Hit them in their heafty pockets up in Albany. NYPD can not arrest 8 million people either!
Also these event’s on a weekday at 8:00AM are ridiculous. HAVE THESE EVENTS ON THE WEEKEND AT 10:00AM or 3:00PM! Or would that be a successful turn out, something Van Brammer doesn’t want!
It’s at 8 am so he can hand pick some people to stand there with signs that JVB cronies made. Did you see the Motley Crue he assembled for his photo op?
Since Jimmy and the other city council members do not work full time (do they punch a time clock) I guess they show up sometime before Happy Hour at the City Council. The rest of us who actually WORK need to be at a certain place at a certain time.
@Rocky Do your family doctors, accountants or lawyers punch a time clock? Now we find out you’re an hourly employee working at McDonalds. Do you ever get tired of making a complete fool of yourself? You have got to be the most uninformed person posting to this stream. You need a lot more information and a lot less opinion. You’re a total self absorbed blowhard. Yeah you work. hahahaha You’re a joke.
Craic Dealer, That’s some bad advice.
I agree100%. The rush by tax-abatement hungry builders before the expiration of 421-a resulted in a glut of rental behemoth skyscrapers in Long Island City. No one talks about the elephant in the room – the lack of urban planning in building infrastructure without transportation to support it. And DeBlasio talks about developing Sunnyside Yards. No way!!!!