By Jonathan Sperling

In the nine years since the V train made its final run from Manhattan to Forest Hills, Queens’ subway landscape has remained relatively unchanged. The No. 7 train still chugs along to Flushing, the J still takes riders to Jamaica and the N still calls Astoria home.

But when the V train first debuted in December 2001 it created such a subway shakeup in Queens that the borough has yet to recover from it, even after the line was eliminated completely in March 2010.

The V, a local train that made 24 stops on weekdays between Manhattan’s 2nd Avenue Station to the Forest Hills–71st Avenue station, was originally meant to reduce overcrowding on the E and F trains, which both also ran to Forest Hills. At the same time, the G train ran differently than it does today. Instead of its current route, the G would head from Smith–Ninth Streets station in Brooklyn to the Forest Hills–71st Avenue station.

Thus, the MTA faced a problem: the V train route could not be implemented with so many trains already running along Queens Boulevard. This led the MTA to cut service on the G train; instead of the G running all the way to Forest Hills, it would make its final stop at the Court Square–23rd Street Station in Long Island City.

This cutback in G train service launched a domino effect of subway changes, both permanent and temporary. As G train riders protested the loss of 13 stops, the MTA promised to implement full, extended G service on weekends and weekday nights. That didn’t last for long though — by 2010 the G had been permanently cut to Court Square.

What did last, however, was the promise of an easier connection between the G and the E line. Citing the loss of a major transfer point at Queens Plaza, the MTA agreed to install a moving walkway for G train straphangers to transfer from Court Square to the E, which at that time stopped at the nearby, but separate station of 23rd Street–Ely Avenue. This literally paved the way for an easier transfer between the G and E trains, one that remains massively popular today. (In 2011, the complex was connected to the nearby No. 7 line, allowing for free transfers between the 7, G, E and M).

As if it hadn't already been through enough, the G’s service cutback ended up turning into a literal cutback, as the MTA decided to reduce the length of G trains to just four cars, accounting for the increased train traffic and terminal congestion that the V would bring to the Queens Boulevard line. This would allow for trains to be run every 6.5 minutes, while also reducing platform and stairwell crowding at major transfer points.