Subway stations across the city will only be closed for two hours starting today.

The subways had been closed from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. as the MTA disinfected the stations, but they say they can do the same amount of cleaning in less time. Stations will now only be closed from 2 a.m. to 4 a.m.

New York City Transit Authority interim president Sarah Feinberg says the decision is part of the city’s effort to begin the process of getting back to normal in the boroughs.  “The city is starting to reopen restaurants and bars are staying open later,” Feinberg says. “People are starting to reenter the city, so we want to make sure the subway is there to meet the city as they come back." 

She says ridership on transit is starting to increase with about 33% ridership on subways and more than 50% on buses.

The Tri-State Transportation Campaign says it is happy with the MTA’s decision and is looking forward to a return to 24-hour service.

“It’s a little bit early, we’ve only had this small overnight shutdown for one night so we’ll see how it goes,” Feinberg says. “But look, as the city comes back, we want to make sure that we’re here.” 

The increased hours also come following the NYPD’s deployment of hundreds of officers into the subway system due to a number of stabbings.