A very overdue note: When regarding terminals, all QBL terminals (including Forest Hills) are good. In fact, they are the gold standard terminals to the point where other world class systems such as Moscow and Beijing copied that design and used it in their system. But over time, with fumigation rules (or inspecting trains at the last stop), that destroyed the efficiency of terminals such as Forest Hills. So, on top of Queenslink, fumigation reform, or not inspecting trains at the last stop during rush hours, is a solution.

for all non-NYC people, QBL is the Queens Boulevard Line that has the E, F, M, and R trains and runs under (you guessed it) Queens Boulevard.

It kind of piss me off that Jamaica 179th Street was well used back then but people made it downfall now

I've seen trains fly on Queens Blvd, but also experienced a terrible delay hold in the tunnel for 10-20 mins a few weeks back. For the 7, only experience some waiting before entering the tunnel to Main St.

One note on load distribution is that while QBL doesn't have any transfers to faster routes into Manhattan, QBL does provide multiple routes into Manhattan, all of which have far more stations in the CBD than the 7. Lots of people for example transfer from E trains to R trains at Queens Plaza, which does help with load balancing a bit.

I use the 53rd Street line every day now, and I gotta say when they swapped the F and M on the line, this line massively improved. I think there's a need to continue deinterlining and max out capacity at 179th St, but I have never had a bad time taking the current service alignment (but in Queens at midday going to Manhattan is a nightmare because of the midday 63 St work)

I just thought it interesting seeing a video talking about why the 7 is so good without mentioning at all about how culturally and ethnically diverse it is. I love cultural and ethnic diversity but it was interesting seeing this purely from a transit perspective.

I love the 7 so much! Lots of people love this line. After all, Mets fans even call themselves the 7 Line Army! The best part about the 7 is all the diverse neighborhoods it connects like you mentioned. To put things into perspective, approximately 800 languages are spoken in NYC, with 300 spoken along Roosevelt Ave! Really shows that NYC is truly the international city! To me, learning another language is to have another perspective, another window from which to look at the world! That all these people, that speak so many different languages, from all walks of life, all take the train, it's a beautiful thing. The NYC Subway really is a fine example of a system built for the people, one that unifies the different social classes. The train is the universal language. It's what a transit system is meant to be. It is truly the backbone of the city.

Besides the diverse neighborhoods it serves, there are other reasons why it's called the International Express. It served the 1964–65 New York World's Fair, as well as serving the UN! Before moving to their current HQ, the UN once met at two locations on Long Island. One of those was within Flushing Meadows for the General Assembly at the NYC Building (now the Queens Museum) from 1946 to 1950. The other was Lake Success which was its temporary headquarters from 1947 to 1952. From the station, there were shuttle buses taking tourists and diplomats alike to Lake Success. The 7 was actually designated a Millennium Trail (which reflects important aspects of American history and culture) in 1999 by Hillary Clinton, acknowledging its role in redistributing immigrants in the early 1900s.

It’s sad how 179th street isn’t being used to the fullest. A lot can probably be done if M/R could go there instead of just the F.

Tech Transit Association, you are my guy and my friend from now on because you are the very first person in the transit community to echo my sentiments about sending all of the local services to Jamaica-179th Street. You are indeed the real future of our transit system and with your ideas, you are going to take us into a brighter future. I am indeed so grateful and proud of you because you can clearly see what’s going on here and you are not an idiot like the other transit enthusiasts. You are my brother and I would love to share my thoughts and ideas with you in the future because you have a very huge platform and I am proud to be a part of it.

The 7 train provides easy access from Manhattan to Queens, which is why it's the train I've been taking for most of my life. I really only take QBL if the 7 train is suspended in Manhattan, and the service is not the best. Great video!

179th Street is the model last stop station to be honest. It was made to replace the mis-terminal 169th Street, which is good as a standard LCL station. Hopefully there are actual yards at Main Street like there should be in 34th Street-HY.
Also, I never got and still don't get, the universal favor for the 7 above the QBL.
The F train gets the most R160 train cars, search R160 NYC for Wikipedia.

A friend described their daily commute from Flushing to the City as being a constant stream of thinking "Bad touch! Bad touch! Bad touch!"  (They were referring to the severe overcrowding with people literally packed in like sardines.)

I'm a bigtime train guy and the NYC subway is the largest in the world by far. I appreciate this type of content. Subbed.

Did you forget that the 7 has no merges and switches with other lines? Let's not forget the whole line is automated. All they do is push a button for ATO. The Echo Fox and Romeo only have between Union Tpke and 7 Ave - 53 St enabled so you can't use ATO. Let's not even mention the Queens Plaza Junction.

QBL has improved so much ever since the F and M swap. I only wish the MTA would keep this permanent. Now I don’t randomly see those 18 minute gaps in F trains.

Wonderful how CLEAN the Tracks and Stations have become...

NYC has been Caring for its Transportation System, Too!

It's been a WHILE since I traveled on your Network, but it's LOOKIN'  AWESOME ! ! !

😂

Finish the F line past 179th to Springfield Blvd as originally designed. E Train has tracks close to 1/2 mile past Jamaica Center and was intended to go from underground to Elevated in original plan.

Cool video, thank you! I do think your web search is a little tenuous as evidence, as most people don't know what QBL is, so it's not going to be in web results. Otherwise, I find your analysis really sound as usual! Looking forward to part two.

7 train should have 4 tracks instead of 3. The imbalance of tracks for two directions usually causes train cars to stay at Willets Point for long time (more trains going into Flushing than coming out for the evening shift, and vice versa).