MTA to swap F, M subway routes between Manhattan and Queens

It’s a subway switcheroo that aims to shave a minute off daily commutes for nearly 50,000 riders.

The F and M trains will swap East River tunnels between Manhattan and Queens starting Dec. 8, MTA officials announced Monday. The change means M trains will stop at 21st Street-Queensbridge, Roosevelt Island and run under East 63rd Street towards Sixth Avenue instead of F trains. And F trains would cross the river in the 53rd Street tunnel that also carries the E line.

Both the F and E trains run express in Queens, so officials said running them through the same tunnel eliminates a minor subway bottleneck that delays riders on both of the lines, as well as the local M and R trains.

“This will completely isolate local service from express service, so this will be much less prone to delays,” Alan Foster, the MTA’s Director of Rail Network Planning Alan Foster, said during a committee meeting on Monday. MTA documents estimated the change would shave at least a minute off commutes for roughly 47,000 weekday morning riders.

The MTA said 15% to 20% of all rush-hour trains on the E, M and R routes are delayed at Queens Plaza station because of the current setup.

The F line will switch back to its old 63rd Street tunnel during nights and weekends because the M train doesn’t run down Queens Boulevard during those periods, MTA officials said.

Signage at the eight stations affected by the change will be updated in the weeks leading up to the swap, said MTA spokesperson Joana Flores. She said the agency is also planning to give riders plenty of notice about the route swap

The MTA estimated the new alignment will cost the agency $1 million a year.

Several Queens commuters on Monday said the swap won’t substantively change their lives.

“We always figure it out, it’s always a way,” said 44-year-old Lou Rodriguez at the Queens Plaza station. “There’s got to be at least three ways to get to where you’re going.”