⁴ᴷ Swapped F and M Train Service Action (12/11/25)

On December 8th, the swap between F and M trains was placed into full effect, which means all F trains now operate under normal weekday service on the 53rd Street Line with the E train, making stops at 5th Avenue-53rd Street, Lexington Avenue-53rd Street and Court Square-23rd Street, which also connects the F line to begin making stops on the Queens Boulevard Line at Queens Plaza instead of Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue. This only applies to weekdays however, as on weekends and late nights due to the M train not running, the F provides direct service onto the 63rd Street Line again while the M is cut back to Essex Street as a shuttle. However, on weekdays the M instead provides service on the 63rd Street Line, making stops at 57th Street, Lexington Avenue-63rd Street, Roosevelt Island and 21st Street-Queensbridge, and its first stop on Queens Boulevard being 36th Street with the R. This swap brings back an old service pattern of the F that used to be common place prior to multiple different service changes that caused the F to be rerouted via 63rd Street instead of remaining on 53rd Street, as it was replaced by the V line there in 2001 (which was then replaced by the M). This means that the swap being put into normal operations effectively discontinued the last remaining service patterns that were inherited by the M from the V since 2010, and instead gives the F it’s original pre-2001 service pattern back permanently, with some changes that match it to other modern service patterns. This change for the M is the lines biggest change since it was recolored from Nassau Street/Jamaica brown to 6th Avenue’s orange to be the V’s merged replacement on 6th Avenue. Fleet wise, this means riders on the 53rd Street line can have capacity of 10 car trains for both the E and F, though both provided with R160A/B’s from Jamaica Yard, rotated at any time. Meanwhile the M is operated by East New York Yard out of Fresh Pond Yard’s service pool, meaning 8 car set R160A’s and newer 8 car set R179’s provide 63rd Street Line customers that service, instead. The swap brings riders more convenience if they wish to ride the E and transfer to the F, as the lines follow each other for a longer period of time and thus are more convenient to ride, most of the time being one or the other needed, whichever comes first depending on the distance and stop needed. This also gives the F an extra G train connection (the only one in Queens), and an extra 7 train connection that previously there had only been 2 of, and another 6 train connection. For the M, this gives the M a chance to connect to the Q trains Second Avenue Subway directly, providing easy access to Broadway and for the future may benefit Phase 2 of the Second Avenue Subway. The lower capacity despite being a burden in most perspectives is serviceable regardless due to the lack of transfers between Roosevelt Island and 21st Street-Queensbridge, which are independently served by the M and should only need high frequency. Thanks to this swap, interlocking problems should ease and gaps between the two lines should be better for overall Queens Boulevard service for the foreseeable future. #mtasubway

0:00 - M train via 63rd Street
15:11 - F train via 53rd Street

Video Clips Taken: December 11th, 2025.

Instagram:   / emperor_of_nyc  

Enjoy!