Yes, The R Train Will Connect Brooklyn and Manhattan Once Again

The R train will once again connect Brooklyn and Manhattan. For a year the train has run in two sections, as transit staff worked around the clock to repair damage caused by storm Sandy.  One section ran only in Brooklyn; one ran from South Ferry to Queens. The R train tunnel was the most badly damaged by the salt water that flooded into nine subway tunnels during the historic storm.  

A little over a year ago the MTA concluded the tunnel's condition was worsening, and that only a continuous shutdown would allow transit workers the necessary time to repair and fortify the tunnel against future storms.  

The MTA has been tight-lipped, refusing to confirm reports of the tunnel's imminent opening, first noted by the New York Post and the New York Daily News.  The New York Times went so far as to try and confirm the re-opening using the MTA's trip planner website.  The paper did, indeed, find the trip planner showed the re-connected boroughs beginning Monday, but by Saturday morning, that feature had been taken down.

Transit workers on the R line, however, confirmed plans to re-open the tunnel, reconnecting Court Street in Brooklyn and South Ferry in Manhattan, as of 5 am Monday. The three transit workers spoke on condition of anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media.

In the past, Governor Andrew Cuomo, who oversees the MTA, has controlled the press for post-Sandy recovery announcements.  His press office did not immediately respond to inquiries.