Queens and Brooklyn subway riders can let out a sigh of relief — G train service came back in full on Tuesday after a summer of interruptions while the MTA modernized the line.
The agency executed the project in three phases starting on June 28, suspending a different section of the G line each time in order to upgrade the signal systems, which were more than 90 years old. In the last stage of the project, trains didn’t run between Bedford-Nostrand avenues and Church Avenue from Aug. 12 through early on Tuesday.
The work on the Crosstown Line also replaced the tracks, and cleaned up the stations.
According to an MTA announcement, the agency suspended service in sections for weeks at a time to allow for work to get done “much more quickly than working only overnight or on weekends.” Officials plan to fully upgrade the signal system to the latest technology, known as communications-based train control, or CBTC, by 2027.
Service disruptions caused additional headaches for riders of the G train, which had already gained a reputation for infrequent service. But transit officials said the project could eventually allow for full-sized trains to run on the G line, which is currently serviced by half-length five-car ones that often have straphangers breaking out into sprints to catch a train arriving at the station.
The MTA estimates roughly 160,000 riders take the G train every day.