Bronx straphangers lose express service for 18 months - NYPOST.com

And here we go again....why must we 5 train riders be tortured like this? The funny thing about this is NO AT MY JOB thinks that I go through drama getting to work and i always have to take crap when I'm five or so minutes late. Why they don't understand it's because of things like this, I will never know. So instead of having to get up at the butt crack of dawn to get to work relatively on time. I now have to get up at the butt butt crack of dawn. Cue allt he rapists and robbers, tons of potential victims leaving their house extra early to catch the 5. EXTRA 5 MINUTES MY ASS!!!! Read the full bullshit story below coutesy of the NY Post

Bronx straphangers lose express service for 18 months - NYPOST.com

Updated: Thu., Mar. 11, 2010, 7:38 AM
Bx. faces a brutal re'train'ing
By SHARI LOGAN and TOM NAMAKO

Last Updated: 7:38 AM, March 11, 2010

Posted: 2:52 AM, March 11, 2010

Slow it down, Bronx straphangers.

The MTA is shutting down express service on the 5 train in The Bronx for 18 months due to repairs.

Starting at the end of March, riders will have to stop at seven more stations between 180th Street near the Bronx Zoo and Third Avenue-149th Street in Melrose, similar to the 2 train's current route.

"This line is already overcrowded, and this will make it even more jammed," said Jesse Vann, 64, who frequently uses the line to visit his sister.

The MTA insists the extra stops will add only five minutes to the overall commute, although Vann says the agency is way off.

The MTA isn't factoring in for time spent waiting in the station as people hold the doors and cram into the cars, he said.

Riders expect to wait as much as an additional half-hour.

"I'll be adding another 30 minutes on to my commute," said college student Karina Abila, 22.

"People on the 5 are using the line to get to work or school in a hurry," she fumed. "Eighteen months is too long of a change."

The express service runs during weekday morning and evening rush hours. The shutdown will last until August 2011. The MTA said riders will get a rehabbed 180th Street station and new signals on the line.

"I'm going to factor in another 15 minutes for my commute," said nurse Riuvelle Soto, 48.

"I ride the line regularly and they are always stopping between stations, sometimes for minutes, because they say there's train traffic ahead of us. That's going to get worse now."

tom.namako@nypost.com