and the intensity of the request. The change increased travel time along the F by minutes, and reduced travel time for passengers at local stations by one to two minutes. On October 29, 1989, the IND 63rd Street Line opened. Since Q trains did not run during late nights, a special daily late night F– service ran during these hours; in the northbound direction, F trains would operate along its normal route from Coney Island to 47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center, then turn into a Q and operate to 21st Street–Queensbridge; in the southbound direction, Q trains would operate from 21st Street to 47th–50th Streets, then turn into an F train and operate along its normal route to Coney Island. The special F/Q service was eventually designated as F in April 1993. In March 1997, late night service was cut back to 57th Street due to work to reconstruct the trackbed in the 63rd Street Tunnel. A single-track shuttle provided service between 57th Street and 21st Street. On August 30, 1997, late night F service was restored to 179th Street as a Queens Boulevard local, replacing G service, which was cut back to Court Square. Service on the 63rd Street Line was provided by a shuttle. On that date, E service began running local in Queens during late nights. These changes were made to accommodate construction work for the 63rd Street Connection. On May 7, 2001, the F service started being rerouted via the new 63rd Street connector during some nights and weekends. On December 16, 2001, the 63rd Street Connector officially opened, connecting the IND 63rd Street Line with the IND Queens Boulevard Line. In a controversial move, the new local service replaced the express F service in the heavily trafficked 53rd Street Tunnel between Manhattan and Queens, while F service was rerouted to the 63rd Street Tunnel and ran express in Queens between 71st Avenue and 21st Street–Queensbridge at all times. As part of the change, rush hour service was decreased from 18 trains per hour to 15 trains per hour, allowing E service to increase from 12 to 15 trains per hour. In addition, the frequency of weekday evening service was increased, with trains running every ten minutes instead of every 12 minutes. On September 8, 2002, Stillwell Avenue was closed for reconstruction. F service was cut back to Avenue X, and service to Stillwell Avenue was replaced by