Hi! I’ve been taking the Q from 86th down to Times Square for about three weeks now. Every morning around 8, the train feels fine at 86th, then somewhere after 72nd it drops to a walking pace. Like, I can watch pedestrians on Second Ave keeping up with us. It stays like that until just before 57th, then suddenly takes off. Is this a known thing? I thought the Second Ave line was new and supposed to be faster? I’m not complaining too much, I just want to know if I should get used to it or if there’s a morning where it doesn’t happen.

Welcome, city_kitty_new. Yes, it’s known. What you’re feeling is mostly the interlocking and signal timers around the 63rd Street curve. The Q doesn’t run straight down Second Avenue from 72nd to 57th; it bends west into the 63rd Street tunnel, crosses a set of switches just north of Lexington/63rd, and then curves again before descending into the station.

Those timers aren’t like a car speed limit sign. They’re tied to block occupancy, switch alignment, and safe braking distance. If the train ahead hasn’t fully cleared the next signal section, the Q will get a restrictive aspect and crawl. In my experience, the crawl is worse southbound in the morning because headways are tighter: the lead train often hasn’t cleared 57th when yours is already approaching the timer. Sometimes the operator can maintain 15 mph; other times it drops to 8 mph.

You’ll also notice the cab signal bell or buzzer when the aspect changes. It’s not operator laziness, though there is slight variation between operators and train loads. A full Q is heavier and may need a longer braking envelope. One caveat: if it ever feels like an emergency brake, not just a slow roll, that’s more likely a tripped stop arm. That’s rare but does happen at interlockings when a train gets too close too fast. For your morning commute, plan for an extra 90 seconds between 72nd and 57th compared with the weekend.

Okay so it’s not just my imagination. I started taking the Q from 96th to 34th recently. Some days the crawl starts even before 72nd, like right after 86th. Is that the same timer thing or just train traffic? Also, can the MTA not just fix it? They built this line not that long ago and it already feels like the F train at Bergen.

Same timers, plus that dip after 86th. The line isn’t straight there either. Honestly I’ve never seen them move fast through 63rd since the Q started. It’s one of those spots where you learn to not hold a full coffee. If it’s raining, add a minute. Best move is sit in the first or second car and watch the signals, then you stop wondering.

Unpopular opinion, but I think we’re too quick to excuse everything as ‘signal timers.’ I ride the Q twice a week from 86th to 57th, and I’ve timed it. Same weekday, same general time, no service change, and yet one run took 4 minutes and another took 2 minutes 10 seconds. If the timer were purely the issue, you’d expect nearly identical runs because signal spacing doesn’t change day to day.

Yes, there are timers and a curve, but operators have different braking patterns. Some come into the approach hot, get the restrictive indication, and have to scrub speed hard. Others back off earlier and basically coast past the timer. Also dispatchers sometimes hold Q trains at 57th because of merging with N/R/W at 57th Street. That causes a queue back through the tunnel, which is traffic, not track geometry.

So the slow crawl isn’t one thing. If we keep saying it’s only the timers, we let the MTA off the hook for scheduling and operator consistency. But I get it—blaming signals is easier.

StatenNotSorry, that actually matches what I saw this morning. I timed it from leaving 72nd to the doors opening at 57th: 3:45. Yesterday it felt faster, maybe around 2:10. I thought I just zoned out. Also, question for astoria_arch: I sat in the first car and saw a small yellow light over a green one? What does that mean? It didn’t look like a regular traffic light. Is that the ‘restricting’ thing? Sorry if this is a dumb question.

Good observation, city_kitty_new. That could be a yellow-over-green, which is one of the speed-controlled aspects. You’ll see it in areas with timers or interlockings. It means proceed under the posted speed for that signal—usually because the block ahead isn’t clear or switches are lined. The signal system is designed so that if you pass too fast, the trip arm will still stop you. Operators know which aspects they can carry speed through and which they can’t because they learn the road.

Even with that, StatenNotSorry isn’t wrong about operator variation. Yellow-over-green still gives some leeway. A cautious operator may take the curve at 8 mph; another may take it at 12 mph. Both are legal, but it adds up over time. Weight matters too: a crush-loaded Q needs more distance to stop than an empty train. Weather, rail condition, and track circuit occupancy all change the aspect sequence. So two runs can look identical on paper but differ by a minute or more.

The bigger issue is that the line is constrained by the 57th St merge and the Manhattan Bridge between 57th and Canal. If something is late there, the delay backs up through 63rd. You’re not just waiting on the curve; you’re waiting on the train ahead to clear a platform. In a perfect system, they’d hold at stations, not in tunnels, but real-world operation doesn’t work that way.

This is why I stopped taking the Q to midtown. It’s not the crawl itself, it’s the crawl plus getting to 57th and then being packed because the previous Q got held. You watch people on the sidewalk beat you. My old building was at 88th and 1st, so it was either Q or the M15. I’d do M15 SBS if I saw two Q trains back-to-back on the app. At least above ground you can see why you’re stuck.

Once you start watching those signals, you can’t stop. Green over red, red over yellow, yellow over green—half the time I mix them up. Three buzzes in the cab means the operator just acknowledged a restrictive signal. But wait until you’re on a train that gets tripped. You’ll definitely know. The whole car lunges and then you sit for two minutes while they reset. Happens more at 57th than people think.

astoria_arch, I hear you on the merge. But here’s another angle: the 63rd Street tunnel itself has multiple speed points that didn’t exist when the Q was pure Broadway. The transition from the new concrete tunnel to the older one may have settling or water issues that made them lay temporary restrictions. If the MTA won’t say which speed restrictions are permanent, we’re just guessing from the cab signals. I’d love to see trip reports from the operators. They know exactly where the train will crawl. Until then, my point stands: the crawl is partly operational, partly infrastructure, and not just the sacred signal timer.

Thanks everyone. I tried the M15 SBS from 96th today because I was over it. The bus left on time, then sat at 61st for construction. Took almost 35 minutes to reach 34th. The Q crawl suddenly felt fine. I’ll keep taking the Q and just expect the slow roll. Maybe I’ll see one of you staring at the cab signals.