Subway fix a tough hit for night riders

EXPECT MORE overnight shutdowns of subway lines amid a push to fix the beleaguered system, MTA Chairman Joe Lhota said Sunday.

“You are going to see more of that going on. New Yorkers have gotten used to it,” Lhota said on the John Catsimatidis AM 970 radio show.

“And that’s when we can get a lot of intense work done, just take all the resources and plow it into one area, and then move down to the next station.”

Still, Lhota (photo inset) ruled out a systemwide shutdown of service in the wee hours.

“I know for a fact we’re not going to see a permanent shutdown every night of the entire system,” he said.

“The last thing I want to do is take away from New Yorkers something they’ve enjoyed, which is 24-hour-a-day service. We may have some temporary disruptions, but we’re not going to have anything permanent.”

For the past five years, the MTA has periodically shut down chunks of certain lines between 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. to make way for faster repairs, a program Lhota said is likely to expand.

Last week, Lhota rolled out a $836 million plan to stabilize the delay-plagued subways. He and Gov. Cuomo want the city to pick up half the cost, which Mayor de Blasio has refused.

Lhota reiterated Sunday that riders would not be forced to pay the tab through additional fare hikes.

“I don’t want to see a fare and toll increase,” he said. “I don’t want this problem to be on the back of customers, on the back of riders. That’s not the fair way to do it.”

He said the MTA would explore dedicated revenue streams and look for ways to cut waste “so that we can self-fund some of what we need to do.”