The G Train Is Back, So We Can All Resume Complaining About It

After five weeks of beauty sleep and Sandy repairs, the G train is back in service between Nassau Avenue in Brooklyn and Court Square in Queens. Time to resume your awkward jogs to the middle of the platform, as well as your ceaseless complaints about the train’s unpredictable schedule, long wait times, and overall suck.

The G was out between Brooklyn and Queens for a good chunk of the summer as part of the Metropolitan Transit Authority’s post-Sandy Fix and Fortify program. The MTA announced its return with a jubilant tweet at the crack of dawn this morning:

The G is back! pic.twitter.com/mJHC9phGJM

— NYCT Subway Service (@NYCTSubway) September 2, 2014

For a time, especially very early in the day, everything was beautiful and perfect and nothing hurt in G commuter-land:

People on the Queens-bound Nassau Ave platform clapped when the G train pulled up this morning. #mta

— Caitlin Tremblay (@ctrembz) September 2, 2014

All is right in the world. G Train is back and so is the guy with the tote bag of cats wearing roller skates.

— beth kushner (@bekushner) September 2, 2014

I don’t even live in New York anymore, and I’m excited that the G train is running again.

— Abigail O’Keefe (@DaRiveter) September 2, 2014

One gentleman even composed an exuberant one-act play about the G’s safe return, which we’ll just leave here:

to commeorate the return of the G train, i’ve written this dramatic screenplay @greenpointers
@mta “G is Back” http://t.co/FOpnIWiQdo

— Kevin D’Angelo (@kevdangelo) September 2, 2014

But soon enough, the complaints resumed.

I thought that after working on the G train for 3 months it would have looked a little nicer. I guess not.

— Melissa Ann Sharkey (@sharksterrr) September 2, 2014

I love how it’s simply impossible to definitively figure out whether the G train is running on a normal schedule today. @MTA

— joe mueller (@JosephPMueller) September 2, 2014

A common refrain over the past five weeks has been that the shuttle buses that took the G’s place for the hiatus were better than the actual trains, as in faster, more frequent, and just all-around less irritating:

Very upset that the G train is coming back. The G shuttle was a lot more reliable

— Saffia Rahimtoola (@srahimtoola) September 2, 2014

Look I’m just going to say it. I am sad the G train is back. I loved the shuttle. I’M SORRY!!!!!!

— Geoff Garlock (@GGARLOCK) September 2, 2014

Happy G Train day, commuters who have to go back to the train instead of the faster and more frequent replacement busses.

— erin mccann (@mccanner) September 2, 2014

But MTA spokesman Adam Lisberg says regular shuttle buses aren’t an option.

“Shuttle buses are far more expensive to operate than subway trains,” he explains. “They get stuck in traffic, they clog the streets near subway stations and they force customers to transfer. But if you like shuttle buses, download our ‘Weekender’ app so you can find out whether any shuttles are running because of weekend construction work.”

With that in mind, we’ll note that the G is out between Bedford-Nostrand and Church all week long between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. for more repairs.