I cut the G train a lot of slack because during the week, it's behaved very well. Particularly in the mornings, it's been running like clockwork. I can get from door to door in about 25-30 minutes. I can't complain about that. What I can complain about is the weirdness that overcomes the line on the weekends. Like a drunken hobo, it's unpredictable, sloppy, and smells of piss. This past Friday night, for my money, takes the cake.
Exhibit A in this case of temporary insanity was the service notice posted by the MTA: for the weekend, the F was replacing the C. The G was replacing the F. Left incomprehensively unsaid, however, was the fate of the G.
The uncertain fate of the G line proper came into play, as it must, right when I was least prepared to deal with it: at 11:30 on my way back home from Savalas in Williamsburg.
The platform was fairly crowded and only got more so as minutes began to drag by without sign from the G train. I kept reading the posted service notice over and over again and the one thing I kept thinking was: if the F is the C and the G is the F, what the hell is the G?
At one point, three G trains in a row came through the other side of the tracks. Also, at one point, a dark G train bolted through the station without slowing or stopping. People began to leave. In the pit of my stomach, a gnawing feeling surfaced: there would be no train tonight. But then why would they let us down here? Was this all a cruel joke? What the hell was going on?
By this time I was hot, I was tired, I was salty. It was 12:30. I'd been down in the bowels for an hour. I made a pact: if nothing showed up by 1, I would get out, even if that meant walking home. At 12:45 an F train trotted into the station. Less than fifteen minutes later I was home.
The rest of the weekend bore out the theory that nothing replaced the G, at least not on this side of Hoyt-Schermerhorn. The problem was that the service notice doesn't say on which side of that station the route switches. Since traffic runs through there in both directions, how is anyone supposed to know which side of that traffic has been shunted off?
Saturday, I did find this diagram of the action that concretized the idea that the MTA was gunning for:
Wouldn't this have made a handy addition to the rest of the service change signage at all the stations on the effected route? Yes, it would have. But the MTA didn't do it. Don't ask me why.
I don't know how many people Friday night gave up on the G and opted for a taxi or car service out of boredom, frustration, or whatever. I bet it was a good night for the car services. I was ready to walk. Thankfully, the whole thing didn't quite boil over that far. Not yet, anyway. Give it a few more weekends.
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