MTA moves up a.m. fixes

RIDERS BEWARE: The graveyard shift for subway repair crews will be starting earlier than usual from now on, the Daily News has learned.

Crews that repair tracks, signals and electrical equipment and sweep up trash will have to start their work orders at 10 p.m. as of Monday, instead of midnight.

It’s an effort by MTA management to get as much work done before the morning rush hour begins at 5 a.m. As a result, midnight work orders will be rare.

“The relatively low productivity that the MTA has historically gotten out of general orders and diversions has been an intractable problem here,” MTA president Pat Foye told The News.

Precious time gets squandered while transit workers wait around to actually begin the night’s work, as power is turned off, equipment and supplies are readied and safety flaggers are put in place.

But even though Foye vows to give late-night travelers plenty of alternatives and warnings, straphangers are annoyed.

“It’s definitely a bother,” said Malik Cummings, 25, who works at an Oakley sunglasses store in Midtown. “It’s not like I can leave work earlier.”

Cummings said he gets out around 9 p.m. and has to trek to Far Rockaway in Queens on the A train.

He was dismissive about the benefits of the earlier start time.

“There’s always ‘repair work,’ ” he said.

David Perry, a fashion designer, said steady service is crucial for him, whether he’s going for a latenight jog or heading to a party.

“It’s key to being a youthful 25-year-old New Yorker,” Perry, a Chinatown resident, said.

MTA management got the directive Wednesday from David Knights, NYC Transit’s chief track officer.

“There will be logistical challenges at times, however, we need to make it happen,” Knights wrote.

Knights wrote that getting work orders started earlier “will be closely monitored.”

That’s going to be possible because the MTA has added 10 employees at the Rail Control Center.

The work order process, “it’s fair to say, has been undermanaged in the past,” Foye said.