Congested No. 7 Line:

Thousands of No. 7 train riders now have to leave home much earlier every morning to make it to work on time.
The repair job in progress since January 2003 has altered service schedules on the No. 7 lineboth in terms of the number of trains running and the number of stations available for stops during the ride from Main Street to Times Square.
And the No. 7 lines problems do not end with train service frequency and scheduled stops. Commuters say the No. 7 line is not cleaned sufficiently, creates excessive noise, and that paint and rust residues from the construction work are falling on vehicles parked under the metal railroad structures.
Thats why, for No. 7 commuters, in-progress line renovations and a service upgrade cannot be completed soon enough. The stop at 74th Street and Roosevelt Avenue is the one getting the most repairs. Further, commuters and transit officials both hope that the enlargement and modernization project at this station will lead to substantially better service for the 110,000 passengers who use the 74th Street station daily to connect with the G, R, V, F and E lines. The hope is that the improved transit hub also will address many of the concerns expressed by commuters.
Critical Junction
The 74th Street station is a critical junction in the citys transit system. Here, passengers
rom densely populated areas such as Jackson Heights, Elmhurst, Corona and East Elmhurst converge intermittently.
"I use the No. 7 train every day from Junction Boulevard to 42nd Street in Woodside. The service is slow. Sometimes I have a long wait," said Juan Carlos Flores, a 32-year-old who works for a private business.
Between the hours of 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., the No. 7 train runs express from Main Street, making a stop at Junction Boulevard and running nonstop to 61st Street in Woodside. Therefore, passengers going to 90th, 82nd, 74th and 69th Street stops have to come back on a local train to reach these stations.
"The service on the No. 7 train keeps deteriorating; the cars are filthy. Train drivers do not announce the stops on time, except when they announce the one at Willets Point or Shea Stadium," claims rider Antonio Paulino, a 34-year-old resident of Flushing.
"You never know when the doors are going to be closed; and the loudspeakers inside the cars are not clear enough," Paulino added.
Busy 74th
Street Station
At the 74th Street station the necessity of the No. 7 service is perhaps most evident: this station serves as the vital link/transfer point for thousands of passengers going to work in the various boroughs of New York City.
"I take the No. 7 train from 46th Street to Queensboro Plaza, and the service is always delayed," said Nancy Snchez, a 46-year-old who works for a private business.
Still, not everyone agrees with the complaints in reference to the No. 7 train, which is one of the most congested lines in the city. "I only take the No. 7 train for two stops, so I don’t have major problems with the service," said Luis Prez, who works as a cleaning service operator at Roosevelt Avenue.
One of the most frequent complaints is the mandatory stop that the outbound No. 7 train running from Manhattan to Main Street, makes at 111th Street. At this station, congestion is created when the first train stops, then discharges passengers, because it is taken out of service at the time. The discharged passengers join an already crowded station, creating heavy congestion.
"Nobody explains the reason for this stupid stop," complained a passenger who wished not to be identified.
"This is a routine stop, and it is done to clean up the wagons," responded one of the employees of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.