Forsaken no more: Express F train might be in the works

Some people are already partying over the new. Via flickr user joe holmes

If you live in Brooklyn (or Manhattan, or Queens, really) you’ve likely had the misfortune of taking the F train. Which means you’ve suffered from spending long stretches staring into the subway tunnel praying to see the light of an oncoming train, overcrowding on rush hour and weekends, an inexplicable snail crawl from Jay Street to Carroll when you really need to be somewhere on time, and the occasional unexpected sidetrip to Church Ave. But at least some of those problems might be eased soon: the MTA says they’re considering adding an express F in Brooklyn.

Don’t expect this train to come in handy on the weekends, though. The proposed train is aimed at weekday commuters from southernmost Brooklyn, like Gravesend and Bensonhurst, and would go toward Manhattan in mornings and toward Coney Island in evenings. Stops will likely include Jay Street-MetroTech, Seventh Avenue-Ninth Street, Church Avenue, 18th Avenue and Kings Highway. And this wouldn’t be the first time the F’s gone express — there used to be a speedier F train until the 1980s, before MTA officials realized all the babies born that decade would discover Smith Street and take over from York to 4th Ave.

MTA officials say they’ll start assessing the line to see if it can handle an express train in a few weeks, so it’ll probably be a while before you can start zipping all the way to Coney Island. But there’s more good news to tide you over until then: the MTA says Culver Aquaduct project is finally almost done, so you can soon expect the return of the Smith-9th Street stop at long last. Maybe.

[h/t Brooklyn Paper]