MTA New York City Transit is performing critical work each weekend this month to upgrade the 500,000-rider-a-day line with modern Communications Based Train Control (CBTC) signaling, and has developed robust alternate service and customer outreach plans to help New Yorkers get around, including to two events in Manhattan and Queens this weekend.

Once installed on the line by the end of this year, CBTC will allow for more frequent and more reliable service for all users of the line, which currently serves approximately 500,000 customers per weekday between Queens and Manhattan.

The recently announced addition of more daily service to the line for next year, for example, is incumbent upon the successful installation of CBTC on the line.

Due to the 24/7 nature of the New York City subway system and patterns of high ridership during peak weekday hours, work such as this must be done at times of lower than average ridership, such as weekends. All efforts are taken to avoid work during major travel holidays and events for which ridership may approach weekday levels. While this weekend’s ridership is not expected to reach typical weekday levels, special accommodations are being made with alternate service options and customer outreach efforts for attendees of this weekend’s Comic Con at the Javits Center (which started Thursday Oct. 4 and ends Sunday Oct. 7) and Saturday’s BTS concert at Citi Field.

“Getting on with the work to complete the CBTC signal upgrades to the line will bring more frequent and reliable service to half a million daily riders – including future Javits and Citi Field attendees – for years to come,” said NYC Transit Andy Byford. “We thank our customers for their patience; working this weekend is critical to keeping the implementation of CBTC on track, and we’ve developed extensive plans for alternate service to help people get around, including extra subway and bus services to help get people to Javits, special LIRR service to Citi Field, signage in multiple languages, and extra personnel to help guide everyone.”

Byford added: “We’re thrilled that so many people have come to rely upon the new Hudson Yards station with its easy access to the Javits Center; pushing on with CBTC without further delay delivers benefits for everyone sooner.”

This weekend from 12:15 am on Saturday to 4:30 a.m. on Monday, in support of critical CBTC installation work to keep the project on track for completion by the end of this year, the train will run as follows:

The will run between Queensboro Plaza and Flushing-Main St, with Flushing-Main St bound trains running express from Queensboro Plaza to 74 St-Broadway, and regular service between 74 St-Broadway and Flushing Main St. The train will not run in Manhattan or Long Island City.

will run between Queensboro Plaza and Flushing-Main St, with Flushing-Main St bound trains running express from Queensboro Plaza to 74 St-Broadway, and regular service between 74 St-Broadway and Flushing Main St. The train will not run in Manhattan or Long Island City. Flushing-bound trains will skip 33 St, 40 St, 46 St, 52 St and 69 St. For service to those stations from Manhattan, take the train to 61 St-Woodside Av or 74 St-Roosevelt Av and transfer to a Queensboro Plaza-bound For service from those stations to Flushing, take the train to 61 St-Woodside Av or Queensboro Plaza and transfer to a Flushing-bound train.

Regular and special travel alternatives for this weekend include:

, , and trains provide subway service between Manhattan and Queens, with train customers able to transfer at Queensboro Plaza or 74 St-Roosevelt Av.

, , and trains provide subway service between Manhattan and Queens, with train customers able to transfer at Queensboro Plaza or 74 St-Roosevelt Av. Additional train service is being scheduled to further help customers: The 42 St Shuttle will operate overnight (it normally does not), and trains will run from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, between Whitehall St and Ditmars Blvd (the does not normally run on weekends).

Shuttle will operate overnight (it normally does not), and trains will run from 7 a.m. to 9 p.m. Saturday and from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Sunday, between Whitehall St and Ditmars Blvd (the does not normally run on weekends). Shuttle buses will run frequently – every five minutes during times of peak ridership – in two sections: In Manhattan between Times Square-42 St and 34 St-Hudson Yards, and in Queens between Queensboro Plaza and Vernon Blvd-Jackson Av. For details on shuttle bus stops, check the MTA Weekender’s train entry here.

train entry here. In Manhattan, there will be additional service on the M34 SBS bus, which serves the Javits Center directly.

Standby buses will be available to supplement planned shuttle and M34 service if needed.

The M12 bus between Columbus Circle and Chelsea also serves the Javits Center directly.

The Javits Center is also served by 34 St-Penn Station, three blocks east of the Center, with the and subway lines, as well as the Long Island Rail Road.

and subway lines, as well as the Long Island Rail Road. For service between Manhattan and Citi Field for the BTS concert on Saturday, Oct. 6, customers are encouraged to take special Long Island Rail Road service on the Port Washington Branch to the Mets-Willets Pt station. Click here for the special LIRR timetable. Customers may also transfer to a Mets-Willets Pt-bound train from the , , and trains at 74 St-Roosevelt Av or Queensboro Plaza.

train from the , , and trains at 74 St-Roosevelt Av or Queensboro Plaza. Tickets to Mets-Willets Pt from Penn Station on Saturday will be at the special CityTicket fare of $4.25. LIRR service to Mets-Willets Pt from Long Island will be on regular off-peak fares. Fans can purchase CityTicket at Penn Station or Woodside ticket windows or ticket machines with cash or credit/debit/ATM cards, or anywhere, anytime on Oct. 6, using the MTA eTix app. CityTicket cannot be purchased onboard a train; LIRR tickets purchased onboard the train will be the full on-board off-peak fare, which is $6.25 one-way or $12 round trip between Penn Station and Mets-Willets Pt.

Service alternative details for upcoming weekends of train CBTC work will be available next week.

Extensive customer service and outreach plans are in effect for this weekend’s events. Special graphics and instructions are being developed to guide customers on social media, announcements will be made in stations and on buses, and wayfinders and other customer service personnel will be deployed at strategic locations to help customers complete their trips.

NYC Transit personnel are also reaching out to the NYPD to assist with traffic enforcement to ensure the smooth operation of both shuttle and regular buses, including the enforcement of dedicated bus lanes.

Customers with questions may reach out to NYC Transit or LIRR personnel by calling 511 for multilingual assistance between 6 a.m. and 10 p.m. on any day, or by tweeting in English to @NYCTSubway, @NYCTBus or @LIRR.

As always, latest service information is available at https://new.mta.info or via the MYmta smartphone app, and customers can receive customized subway, bus and commuter rail status emails or texts by signing up at http://www.MyMTAalerts.com. Additionally, TripPlanner+ is an online tool that provides customized travel guidance based on available service and takes weekend service changes into account.