A local line connecting Astoria to the Financial District will soon be resurrected after a six-year shutdown.
The MTA announced on Friday that the W line would come back on weekdays and ultimately replace the Q train, which will be rerouted at 57th Street as part of the Second Avenue Subway plan.
The W train, which ran from Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria to Whitehall Street in Lower Manhattan, was introduced in 2001 after the Manhattan Bridge north tracks were closed for reconstruction. The MTA ended the W line in 2010 due to budget cuts and Astoria commuters relied on N and Q trains instead.
Commuters will be able to hop on the W train on weekdays at seven different locations including Astoria Boulevard, Ditmars Boulevard, 30th Avenue, Broadway, 36th Avenue, 39th Avenue and Queensboro Plaza.
In addition to the W line, the MTA also announced that N trains will operate express in Manhattan from the 34th St-Herald Square stop to Canal Street. These proposals cost $13.7 million annually and have already been approved in the MTA’s budget.
The Second Avenue Subway, a plan first proposed in 1919, will be the city’s first major expansion in more than 50 years. The line will stretch 8.5 miles from East Harlem to Hanover Square and a total of 16 new stops will be built.
The MTA will hold a public hearing on the proposal in spring and implement it this fall.
