Photo Courtesy of Google
The 121st Street J and Z station in Richmond Hill.
By Forum Staff
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Sunday announced that normal J and Z service was restored a 5 a.m. Monday, Sept. 19, between the 121 St and Jamaica Center-Parsons/Archer stations in Queens following completion of approximately 2.4 miles of track replacement. This work on the J and Z lines replaced 12,500 feet of track and third rail, about double the length of track replaced for the E track reconstruction work in 2020, also in Southeast Queens. The 40-year-old-track was replaced with a successfully proven updated design to increase durability and improve quality of service.
Photo Courtesy of Google
The Jamaica Center-Parsons/Archer hub.
With this final segment of a multi-phase project complete, the total amount of track replaced in this area of Queens is 18,800 feet, about 3.6 miles, the length of about 64 football fields. The first part, completed in December 2020, involved the reconstruction of the E track between Jamaica-Van Wyck and Jamaica Center-Parsons/Archer and replaced 6,300 feet of track in 10 weeks.
This track replacement project, which began earlier this year on July 1, required a full temporary suspension of service to accommodate the work due to the replacement of direct fixation track. Unlike conventional tracks, which are most common in the subway and easier to replace in shorter time periods during low ridership such as overnight hours, direct fixation track requires the concrete roadbed to be entirely reconstructed. This project replaced 12,500 feet of direct fixation track, with the exception of 3,000 feet, which was replaced in kind.
For information on upcoming service changes and trip planning, customers are encouraged to check Planned Service Changes on the MTA website or sign up for the MTA Weekender, a new newsletter intended to inform customers about major weekend service changes throughout the transit system.
