MTA to swap F, M subway routes between Manhattan and Queens

It’s a subway switcheroo that aims to shave a minute off daily commutes for nearly 50,000 riders.

The F and M trains will swap East River tunnels between Manhattan and Queens starting Dec. 8, MTA officials announced Monday. The change means M trains will stop at 21st Street-Queensbridge, Roosevelt Island and run under East 63rd Street towards Sixth Avenue instead of F trains. And F trains would cross the river in the 53rd Street tunnel that also carries the E line.

Both the F and E trains run express in Queens, so officials said running them through the same tunnel eliminates a minor subway bottleneck that delays riders on both of the lines, as well as the local M and R trains.

“This will completely isolate local service from express service, so this will be much less prone to delays,”