Brooklyn has the least — and most — reliable subway routes: MTA

The most delayed subway line in the city and the most on-time line both go through Brooklyn, according to analyses of recent MTA data.

Figures made public by both the New York Post and Eyewitness News say that only 71 percent of F trains, which travel between Coney Island and 179th Street in Jamaica, Queens, are on time. However, 93 percent of L trains, which ride between Canarsie and 14th Street-8th Avenue in Manhattan, are on time.

One reason that the F train often runs late might be found in how many other lines it shares tracks with. The F train has its tracks all to itself from Coney Island to Church Avenue, where it is joined briefly by the G train. Once it gets to Manhattan, however, it goes onto the Sixth Avenue Line, which is also used by the M, B and D lines.

In addition, according to Riders Alliance, a grassroots organization, the frequency of F service was cut back during COVID, but wasn’t returned to full strength. “C and F service were reduced nearly a year ago during the time we were running [only] essential service, and we never brought them back to full service due to low ridership,” and MTA spokesperson told the alliance in 2021. Later the same year, the lines were finally brought back to pre-pandemic frequency.

On the other hand, the L train, over its entire route, doesn’t share the tracks with any other line. This means that it doesn’t have to deal with a situation in which it has to wait until a train entering from another direction merges onto the tracks. 

The L, informally known as the “hipster’s express” due to heavy ridership at its stops within Williamsburg and Bushwick, has also has benefited from modernization. In the early 2000s, it was converted to communications-based train control (CBTC), in which a computer on board helps control the trains. 

In addition, the L’s tunnels between Manhattan and Brooklyn were rebuilt in 2019-20 to repair damage wrought by…