MTA New York City Transit’s FASTRACK program returns with the first FASTRACK of the year along the  lines between Midtown Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn for two weeks. 

For four consecutive weeknights from Monday, January 23, to early Friday morning, January 27, and for four weeknights from Monday, January 30 to Friday, February 3,  trains will not run between Grand Central-42 St and Atlantic Av-Barclays Ctr.   trains will run local between Woodlawn and Grand Central-42 St.  Overnight  service is extended to Brooklyn, and makes all  line station stops between Borough Hall and New Lots Av.   service in Manhattan will end early each night.   service will operate between Pelham Bay Park and Grand Central-42 St.

Travel alternatives:

• For service to/from Lower Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn, use the  and  before 11:30 p.m. and the  and  after 11:30 p.m.
• Transfer between  and  trains at Lexington Av-59 St.
• Transfer between  and  and  trains at Times Sq-42 St. The 42 St S Shuttle will operate overnight.
• Transfer between  and  trains at Atlantic Av-Barclays Ctr.

FASTRACK has been designed around the careful determination that there is adequate alternate means of transportation, including enhanced services along some bus lines during work periods.  Alternative transportation options will be detailed in announcements and posters on trains, in stations and on selected buses; brochures will be available in both English and Spanish.  Information on this FASTRACK is available on the web at http://web.mta.info/nyct/service/fastrack_456.htm

Wynton Habersham, Senior Vice President for the Department of Subways said "FASTRACK has proven to have a significant impact on decreasing delays, both in terms of consolidating maintenance forces in a concentrated area and in terms of proactive maintenance that improves service delivery.”

FASTRACK was introduced in January 2012, devoting four straight weeknights to perform maintenance work in tunnels, stations and on tracks, completely suspending service within a given line segment for a seven-hour period between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m..  This gives free access to the system, allowing an army of maintenance workers to perform dozens of tasks repairing and replacing components that are vital to providing safe and reliable train service without the concern of having to "clear up" to allow trains to pass.  FASTRACK efforts have been highly successful in providing a safer work environment for employees and improved station conditions for customers. 

During our previous FASTRACK along this portion of the  in February 2016, subway service was suspended along the Lexington Avenue Line between Grand Central-42 St and Atlantic Av-Barclays Ctr each night while NYC Transit employees performed a range of cleaning and maintenance tasks of station and tunnel infrastructure, signal equipment, and track and third rail components. 

Track workers scraped and cleaned 27,120 feet of track.  Replaced 55 rails, 1,717 track plates, 10 tie blocks, 1,773 friction pads, and cleaned 7,010 feet of track under and around the third rail.  Infrastructure crews cleaned 2,050 feet of "No Clearance" signs, removed 229 gallons of silt, cleaned 1,473 feet of drains, performed pump plant maintenance, changed 232 tunnel light bulbs, and replaced 130 handrails.

At stations, workers repaired 228 feet of rubbing board at the platform’s edge, scraped 36,170 square feet of paintable station surfaces and painted 102,625 square feet of station surfaces, including 86 columns, and 58 stairway safety features.   Station lighting improvements included changing 501 station light bulbs and cleaning 195 fixtures.  Signal crews serviced 11 switches and 87 signals.   In the area of electronic maintenance, workers serviced 66 CCTV cameras and 62 CCTV monitors including 3 CCTV lenses.  This only represents a portion of the work that is completed during FASTRACK. 

During the first quarter of 2017, FASTRACK projects are scheduled for:

• January 23 to 27, and January 30 to February 3 on the  Lines between Manhattan and Brooklyn.  No  trains between Grand Central-42 St and Atlantic Av-Barclays Ctr in both directions.
• February 6 to 10, and February 13 to 17 on the  Lines in Manhattan.  trains will not stop at 14 St, 23 St, 34 St, 42 St, 47-50 Sts, and 57 St.
• February 27 to March 3, and March 6 to March 10 on the  lines in the Bronx.  No  trains between Norwood-205 St and 161 St-Yankee Stadium in both directions.   service will end early each weeknight. 
• April 3 to 7, and April 10 to 14 on the .  No  trains between Lorimer St and Broadway Junction. 

The most up-to-date information on MTA service status is always available at http://www.mta.info.  For immediate notice of service changes, sign up for email or text alerts at www.mymtaalerts.com. For weekend subway service changes, visit www.mta.info/weekender.