Last Stop: New York City To Close Subway System Overnight For Disinfection

It’s about to get even more complicated in . Officials have announced that their famed iconic iron horses are going to shut down at designated hours.

As spotted on The New York Times New York City has formally announced a rather large change to their public transportation systems. On Thursday, April 30 Governor Andrew M. Cuomo announced that subways will no longer be accessible 24 hours a day. The trains will be shut down from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. seven days a week; the pivot is due to a severe decrease in ridership due to . The downtime will allow staffers to sanitize the vehicles and to service the respective equipment.

“We’ve never been here before,” explained Mr. Cuomo. “This is going to be one of the most aggressive, creative, challenging undertakings that the M.T.A. has done.” The Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s chairman Patrick J. Foye went on to detail the need for closures. “This is an unprecedented time and that calls for unprecedented action to protect the safety, security and health of our system for customers and employees,” he said. “This closure will enable us to more aggressively and efficiently disinfect and clean our trains and buses than we have ever done before and do it every single day.”

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Hello, everyone. The subway is here to facilitate New York's essential travel. If you don't have to travel, stay home. If you embark on non-essential travel, you are putting yourself, our employees, and your fellow New Yorkers in harm's way. If your travel is essential, keep reading. If you're still reading this, your travel is truly essential. We are here to help you get where you're going. Here's the deal: Our ability to run frequent subway service is significantly constrained by crew availability. That means subway service is far less frequent than usual—on some lines, every 20-30 minutes. That means some subway lines are running modified service patterns, and you may need to make an additional transfer. That means you need to plan ahead. We're running as many trains as we possibly can, but we’re also insisting that any MTA employee who feels sick or has been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19 must stay home. That is non-negotiable, and it's part of how we're keeping you safe. As soon as there are any service changes, we'll let you know on mta.info / MYmta. We'll post updates on current service frequencies (headways) as often as we can. Please: do your part. If you don't need to travel, stay home. That is non-negotiable, too. We know this has been challenging for everyone. We are working around the clock to keep all of you, and our employees, safe. We are grateful for your patience. Stay well and take care.??#flattenthecurve

A post shared by MTA New York City Transit (@mtanyctransit) on Mar 26, 2020 at 6:40pm PDT

A program has been put in place for locals who have essential travel during these dark hours which include buses and shuttle vans. Commuters can read more specifics here.

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