How reliable is the Q?

September 13, 2007 7:34 PM

How reliable is the Q?

I am looking into moving to the Ditmas Park area for November 1. It's off the Q train. I currently ride the ACE because I'm living in Bed-Stuy with some friends and I've only been living in NY a week, so I don't know very much about which trains are reliable and which aren't (though I have heard negative things about the L).

I would be coming home at various hours due to freelancing as a scenic artist.

I was also looking at Astoria. How reliable are the N & W?

Thanks!

posted by PaintMeRed9 to Travel & Transportation (8 answers total)

I live off the R, and in general I've found that the yellow line is good during the day, very bad at night. (Bad as in slow, having odd route changes, etc.) But my friends in Astoria don't seem to have the same complaint.
posted by Bookhouse at 7:46 PM on September 13, 2007

I don't know about the NRW, but I've been living on the Q for a year now, to great success. It's my favorite train, though, like all of them, it comes much more rarely at night. Much better than the ACE, anyway.

Unfortunately, nowadays (until about October, afaict) it does this thing late at night where, going downtown, it runs only to Atlantic/Pacific and you have to transfer all the way across the station to another Coney Island-bound Q. It's a hassle, especially if you're wasted.
posted by nasreddin at 7:50 PM on September 13, 2007

I forgot to mention that it only does that for some weekdays, not all week.
posted by nasreddin at 7:51 PM on September 13, 2007

I live off the Q line, and it's very reliable. There are sometimes a few hiccups, like that construction thing nasreddin mentioned, but for the most part, it runs well, frequently, and 24 hours with no route changes.

It does come less frequently at night, but still at least every 15-20 minutes or so, I've found (and I've been riding it regularly for 14 years now). I haven't really had any major problems, except for trains being stuck once or twice, and one police investigation where some suspect crawled under a train and they had to shut down the power to the entire line.

The N, I've found, tends to be slow, especially at night. I'm not a regular rider there anymore, so I'm not sure if it's improved recently. I ride the R more often (on frequent trips to Queens I make) and that is slow, doesn't run late at night, and experiences more detours and stoppages. I do know people that live in Astoria though, and they
posted by cmgonzalez at 8:15 PM on September 13, 2007

Oops, hit submit instead of preview.

That last line should end with - they seem to find the N works for them.
posted by cmgonzalez at 8:18 PM on September 13, 2007

Ah, the ACE. At night the E seems to show up twice as quickly as the A or C. When the A finally shows up, it pokes along at a snail's pace or goes local!

NRW are the "Never, Rarely, and Whenever" trains. They show up...sometimes it just takes a while.

Most trains in NYC come eventually, but the waits can be long and painful, especially if there's nowhere to sit. But don't confuse reliability with "being in service when you want it to be" as construction woes often plague weekend, evening, and after-hours service.

The Straphangers recently award the C and W as the worst subway lines, by the way.

Here's the Straphangers ratings for 2007 for all of those trains (PDF):
N
R
Q
W

Good luck, and bring a book.
posted by kathryn at 8:49 PM on September 13, 2007

I ride the L and often transfer to the Q. I'd rather ride the L, personally, but the Q is not so rotten.
posted by dame at 6:50 AM on September 14, 2007

I used to live in Astoria and take the NW. Now I live in Sunnyside and take the 7.

Know what I miss about the NW? Even when the train is late, it's much less likely than it is on the 7 that when it finally arrives, you won't fit on.

Meaning that even if you live at 39th Avenue, the last stop before Queensborough Plaza, only five other platforms worth of people will have crammed themselves onto the train before you. Now that I live in Sunnyside, I'm the 11th stop on my train. In Astoria, I was the 3rd.

Also, they have good pastries in Astoria.
posted by lampoil at 7:12 AM on September 14, 2007