MTA targets 1 train again with nighttime, weekend shutdowns

For anyone who thought the 2019 overnight and weekend shutdowns of the 1 train were something of the past, think again. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority is back, and its latest round of work could affect 1 train travel on the line's most northern points well into the spring.

It's part of a series of track and switch replacements beginning by the end of the month that will replace about a mile of track and switches between 137th Street-City College in Upper Manhattan and Van Cortlandt Park-242nd Street here in the Bronx. 

Both the tracks and switches have "reached the end of their useful life," and replacing them could reduce track-related delays in the future.

The work, however, could take as many as 15 weeks, however. 

Those line closures will begin Monday, Dec. 28 at 9:30 p.m., continuing until 5 a.m., until Wednesday, Dec. 30. That three-day schedule will continue beginning every Monday through April 5. 

Anyone looking to get in and out of the Bronx over the weekends won't be spared either. Shut downs are scheduled between Friday and Monday beginning Jan. 1 until the end of March, providing no trains for the entire weekend. That essentially means 1 trains will run a normal schedule on Thursdays, although the MTA continues to shut down all subways between 1 and 5 a.m., for cleaning during the pandemic.

That doesn't mean there will be no trains beginning at 9:30 nearly every night. But it could complicate commutes.

1 trains will run between South Ferry and 137th Street, and a shuttle train will run between West 242nd and Dyckman streets. Buses will then connect travelers between Dyckman and 137th.

On some nights where additional switch work is needed, 1 trains will continue between 148th Street and South Ferry, but will use the express tracks for the 3 train. There will be no 1 trains between 96th Street and Dyckman. 

On weekends, Bronx travelers will have to depend on free shuttle buses traveling from West 242nd Street to the A train station at 207th Street.