Today (Monday June 27,2010) is the first day for the new orange (M) and the reactivated Chrystie Street Connector.

It should be a fun first day:
*Eight car trains on Sixth Avenue, 53d Street, Broadway and Queens Boulevard;

*Midday service through the Chrystie Street Connector;

*New (M) (F) transfer at Essex Street and at Broadway-Lafayette Street (the stop on each side of Second Avenue);

*New (M) (6) transfer at Lexington Avenue and at Broadway-Lafayette Street (Downtown only);


*Direct Sixth Avenue service from Forest Hills to Middle Village

Yeah I've railfanned the new orange M earlier today. Most of the R160 announcements were not working, C/O had to make the announcements instead. Its interesting having the M on Queens Blvd.

I heard the J had was SRO until canal , the Q soothed the departure of the W

Well with the Q going up there weekdays, there's no change of service in Astoria except for those trying to get below Canal St, and that's a minority of the overall ridership. They still have one local service, one express service, that part remains unchanged. There's also other options for lower Manhattan from Astoria, which includes 4/5 service at 59th, and R service probably at 14th, where it emptied out a lil bit with Midtown off the train by then.

TA did predict that the J was going to be the most affected by the service change. Let's also remember the 6 is SRO from Parkchester all the way to 125th, then again from 96th all the way down to Astorish.

So how was the M in Queensblvd line? What was it finally SRO!!!!!!???

I can't wait to ride this during the rush hour

I took it today from 47-50 Rock. to queens...It seems like the 6ave line has taken a hit on the headways...long waits for the F and I guess it's just normal wait time for the M...
When the M entering the station I looked around to see any strange faces...and sure enough I found one lady looking at the M and me and she said what is this? I told her It's the new local...no more V she was like WOW...I got on the next to last car just so I could see if anyone would be running for the train due to most station the 8car line up leaves some space for people to run for but It seems not as bad as I thought it would be. At that time of evening It's less people so i don't know how rush hour handles 8cars! The M cars looked not so clean but not as dirty as I thought they would be!+the FIND was working on the R160 85++ that i was on. So the M maybe a good move for the MTA riders so far but wish it ran weekends too!

The M is now the Jamaica Lcl (on the eastbound/southbound displays)!

My rush hour M's seemed both behind schedule and were crowded the entire length (from B'way-Bklyn to Rock Ctr), and it got slammed at 34 St from the transferring PATH riders. Agree with marcmail's headway comment. The V must have been more frequent and also on the afternoon trip out, there seemed to be less F service.

The afternoon M that seemed delayed and was followed immediately and in order: a second M, a Z (R42) and another M.

The Chrystie St connector's tunnel walls were much newer looking, but the M ran through the connector are very slow speeds.

FIND was out and conductor announcements were back. (So much for technology!!)

Lastly, it occurred to me that this would have been the perfect opportunity to use the video monitors to broadcast the changes, but all that was there was same old, same old. Again, MTA paid for something they are not using...

Nice to here that the M was crowded from Brooklyn-Queens, now we know that it was smart decision. Im surprised though that it would be crowded all the way Rockafeller Center. Let's see how crowding plays on the M in Queens.

It should be slightly more crowded with fewer cars, but the amount of people essentially is the same unless it is true that there were more V's running during the same period. However, one day does not make a case for a service change or update's success. The F always have delays and is prone to bunching, unless its service frequency was cut altogether (which i dont remember them doing) its probably just another bad day on the F.

The M headways are much better now than before the changes. The new M was indeed behind schedule but they're running well. The end cars on the trains I rode were packed and there were a few foamers playing conductor with glee.

As for the the M being shorter, we're really spoiled today. Every line had 8-car consists until a few decades ago with the exception of the A, D, E, and F. Every other line had 8 cars.

With all of the advanced notice, posters, announcements, station personnel, media blitz, I find it amazing that so many people are caught by surprise.

Overall, the new M is a very pleasant ride and will be a very successful line.

100% agree with sam on this i too have Ridden the Old M service and new M service the trips from Metropolitan are now 3x more frequent then before.

The new (M) also teams with (R) via Queens Plaza, like were in 4Av Brooklyn.

The 6th ave (M) train ROCKS!!!

I took that bad boy of killer R160s all the way from 23rd ely and back around to west fourth street. and I caught a R46 (F) which was a rerouted (R) on short notice that day too!

It was wicked!

Remind me again...why did everyone hate the V train...I mean...its the same friggnin route?!

The problem with the V is that it ended nowhere. Second Avenue is just not an adequate terminal. That the new M is viable in both directions makes the route an improvement.

The guy rode the train from 23rd Ely to West 4th...that would have worked on the V too.

How many people would ride from Queens to stops beyond Second Avenue?

From a previous message: "The problem with the V is that it ended nowhere. Second Avenue is just not an adequate terminal. That the new M is viable in both directions makes the route an improvement."

It is not that the terminal is not "adequate" - the Second Avenue station is a fine station in terms of its structure, engineering and capabilities. It is simply that the "Second Avenue station" as a terminal was never really DESIGNED to be a terminal, but rather an extension of the IND into a new tunnel to Brooklyn as part of the IND Second System that was never built. The planners of the IND system (First and the non-built Second) included many features that were either over-engineered, several features not ultimately built, designed to meet needs that did not materialize, or not-designed to meet needs that did materialize. The Great Depression, the lack of funding, piecemeal expansion, World-War II, the TA's expansion plans and failures, and the MTA's expansion plans and failures - all contribute to the situation that we have today.

In essence, the IND system as it exists today has only two good downtown Manhattan terminals - the WTC or Second Avenue - take your pick. The IND system is famous in several cases of not actually going to where the people today want to go.

There is another reason why many transit fans (at least as they expressed themselves on the online forums) seemed to dislike (or hate) the V-train - the number 1 reason - it replaced the F-train on 53rd Street. Many transit fans have a nostalgia for the "famed IND lines", and a fetish about the notion of an "express train" (I'm not kidding). In their view how could a "lowly local train" displace the "mighty F-train" and banish it to the no-where's-vile of 63rd Street, an affront akin to blasphemy. In the first few months and years of the V-train, these folks railed on and on and on about the "injustice".

Recent transit budget cuts, the rise of the online transit community, and the offering of an idea - connecting the V and M train routes together - sparked the dreams and interests of many transit fans. The arguments ranged for six + months, both pro and con, names were called, prisoners were taken, and major online-ink was spilled. Right now, among the online transit fans - it seems as if a workable peace has been declared. However an outbreak of mayhem could erupt at any moment.

Mike