The BMT Jamaica Line, also known as the Broadway - Brooklyn Line is an elevated
rapid transit
Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be ...
line of the
B Division B Division, Division B, or variant may refer to:
* ''B Division'' (New York City Subway)
* ''B Division'' (Irish League), association football
* ''Division B'' (Scottish Football League)
* ''Divizia B'' (Romanian Football League)
* Moldovan "B ...
of the
New York City Subway, in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
and
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
. It runs from the
Williamsburg Bridge
The Williamsburg Bridge is a suspension bridge in New York City across the East River connecting the Lower East Side of Manhattan at Delancey Street with the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn at Broadway near the Brooklyn-Queens Expressw ...
southeast over Broadway to
East New York, Brooklyn, and then east over
Fulton Street and
Jamaica Avenue
Jamaica Avenue is a major avenue in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, New York, in the United States. Jamaica Avenue's western end is at Broadway and Fulton Street, as a continuation of East New York Avenue, in Brooklyn's ...
to
Jamaica, Queens. In western Jamaica, the line goes into a tunnel, becoming the lower level of the
Archer Avenue lines in central Jamaica. The and trains serve the entire length of the Jamaica Line, and the serves the line west of
Myrtle Avenue
Myrtle Avenue is a street that runs from Duffield Street in Downtown Brooklyn to Jamaica Avenue in Richmond Hill, Queens, in New York City, United States.
Route description Queens
Myrtle Avenue has been a major thoroughfare since the early ...
.
The longest elevated line in the system, the Jamaica Line includes the oldest existing elevated structure in the system – the original 1885 line of the
Brooklyn Elevated Railroad The Brooklyn Elevated Railroad was an elevated railroad company in Brooklyn, New York City, United States, operated from 1885 until 1899, when it was merged into the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company-controlled Brooklyn Union Elevated Railroad.
Lines
...
, the former
BMT Lexington Avenue Line
The BMT Lexington Avenue Line (also called the Lexington Avenue elevated) was the first standard elevated railway in Brooklyn, New York, operated in its later days by the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corpor ...
between
Gates Avenue and
Van Siclen Avenue – as well as the newest elevated structure, the 1988 ramp into the Archer Avenue subway.
The
Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation
The Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT) was an urban transit holding company, based in Brooklyn, New York City, United States, and incorporated in 1923. The system was sold to the city in 1940. Today, together with the IND subway ...
(BMT) originally operated the line with "westbound" trains heading toward Manhattan and "eastbound" trains heading toward Canarsie, Middle Village, or Jamaica, generally in agreement with compass direction. However, NYCT's
railroad directions
Railroad directions are used to describe train directions on rail systems. The terms used may be derived from such sources as compass directions, altitude directions, or other directions. However, the railroad directions frequently vary from the ac ...
, which are north and south, replaced the BMT's west and east railroad directions, respectively. This reclassification resulted in services which ran through the
BMT Nassau Street Line
The BMT Nassau Street Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway system in Manhattan. It is a continuation of the BMT Jamaica Line in Brooklyn after crossing the Williamsburg Bridge into Manhattan; it continues to ...
to
Downtown Brooklyn
Downtown Brooklyn is the third largest central business district in New York City after Midtown Manhattan and Lower Manhattan), and is located in the northwestern section of the borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is known for its office and r ...
having two south ends. To eliminate any confusion, the directions of train services in the eastern division were switched, with trains running towards Jamaica being considered Northbound.
The (later
K) and current services were an exception to this, with Jamaica, Broadway Junction, or Metropolitan Avenue remaining the south terminal, since they used the
Chrystie Street Connection from the Jamaica Line to the
IND Sixth Avenue Line.
Description
![Jamaica BMT descending over 130 St jeh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/18/Jamaica_BMT_descending_over_130_St_jeh.jpg)
The Jamaica Line includes a variety of structures. The original BMT Jamaica Line started from
Broadway Ferry, Brooklyn. The line was two tracks, and connected with
Marcy Avenue, from the west. This section, which was called the "Broadway Spur", has a short, but easily seen remnant (about one-half of a block in length, no tracks, just maintenance buildings) west and south of where the line curves toward the Williamsburg Bridge.
From Marcy Avenue to a point just before
Alabama Avenue the line operates on the structure of old
elevated railway
An elevated railway or elevated train (also known as an el train for short) is a rapid transit railway with the tracks above street level on a viaduct or other elevated structure (usually constructed from steel, cast iron, concrete, or bricks ...
s, but substantially rebuilt and upgraded to a three-track line around 1916 under the
Dual Contracts
The Dual Contracts, also known as the Dual Subway System, were contracts for the construction and/or rehabilitation and operation of rapid transit lines in the City of New York. The contracts were signed on March 19, 1913, by the Interborough Ra ...
of 1913. The section between Gates Avenue and Van Siclen Avenue was completed in 1885 as part of the
BMT Lexington Avenue Line
The BMT Lexington Avenue Line (also called the Lexington Avenue elevated) was the first standard elevated railway in Brooklyn, New York, operated in its later days by the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corpor ...
. From Alabama Avenue to just before the current
Cypress Hills station, the Jamaica Line operates on the oldest elevated structure in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, a
steel-reinforced
cast iron
Cast iron is a class of iron– carbon alloys with a carbon content more than 2%. Its usefulness derives from its relatively low melting temperature. The alloy constituents affect its color when fractured: white cast iron has carbide impur ...
line opened in 1893. East of
Broadway Junction, a third middle trackway exists and elevates over the other two tracks, ending just west of the Alabama Avenue station. This track was intended to be an express track, but engineering studies completed after the work started indicated that the vibration of trains passing over the stations would be too severe and would literally shake the stations apart.
Between Crescent Street station and Cypress Hills, the line runs on an "S-curve", turning north from
Fulton Street onto Crescent Street, then east onto
Jamaica Avenue
Jamaica Avenue is a major avenue in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, New York, in the United States. Jamaica Avenue's western end is at Broadway and Fulton Street, as a continuation of East New York Avenue, in Brooklyn's ...
. The curves are at nearly 90-degree angles, forcing trains to drastically reduce speed to 15 miles per hour in order to traverse them.
The line east of Cypress Hills is known as the Jamaica Avenue Line, the newest section of the line which was built under the Dual Contracts. This structure has provisions on its entire length for three tracks,
but a center track was never built (see below), with the exception of a layup track at 111th Street and another between 160th Street and 168th Street on the now-demolished original end of the line.
Four curves on the line, including the two on the Jamaica Avenue "S-curve", are among the 30 sharpest curves in the subway system. The curve west of Marcy Avenue has radii of for Manhattan- and Queens-bound trains, respectively. The curve from Broadway Junction to Alabama Avenue has a radius of . The curve east of Crescent Street has radii of and the curve west of Cypress Hills has radii of , both respectively for Manhattan- and Queens-bound trains.[ As with other BMT Eastern Division lines, the Jamaica Line can only accommodate trains with eight or eight cars. Due to the narrow turning radiuses of the lines, cars ( R44, ]R46 R46 or R-46 may refer to:
Roads
* R46 expressway (Czech Republic), now the D46 motorway
* R46 (South Africa)
Other uses
* R-46 (missile), a Soviet intercontinental ballistic missile
* R46 (New York City Subway car)
The R46 is a New York ...
, R68, R68A) could not be used on the Eastern Division.[
]
History
The Union Elevated Railroad, leased to the Brooklyn Elevated Railroad The Brooklyn Elevated Railroad was an elevated railroad company in Brooklyn, New York City, United States, operated from 1885 until 1899, when it was merged into the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company-controlled Brooklyn Union Elevated Railroad.
Lines
...
, opened an elevated line above Broadway from Gates Avenue northwest to Driggs Avenue in Williamsburg on June 25, 1888. This was a branch of the existing Lexington Avenue Elevated
The BMT Lexington Avenue Line (also called the Lexington Avenue elevated) was the first standard elevated railway in Brooklyn, New York, operated in its later days by the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporat ...
, which then ended at Van Siclen Avenue; Broadway trains ran between Driggs and Van Siclen Avenues. A popular free transfer was available at Gates Avenue to Lexington Avenue trains towards Downtown Brooklyn
Downtown Brooklyn is the third largest central business district in New York City after Midtown Manhattan and Lower Manhattan), and is located in the northwestern section of the borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is known for its office and r ...
. The Broadway Elevated was extended to Broadway Ferry on July 14, 1888.
An extension of the Broadway Elevated east to Cypress Hills, over Fulton Street and Crescent Street, opened on May 30, 1893, and the company extended both Lexington Avenue and Broadway trains to the new terminal. This extension incorporated portions of the recently demolished Park Avenue Elevated. On May 30, 1903, a connection between the Broadway Elevated and trolley tracks was completed south of the Cypress Hills terminal. Known as the Cypress Hills Incline, it allowed trains to run to 168th Street in Jamaica via Jamaica Avenue. This service was discontinued on December 30, 1903, due to traffic congestion in Jamaica.
A connection to the Williamsburg Bridge
The Williamsburg Bridge is a suspension bridge in New York City across the East River connecting the Lower East Side of Manhattan at Delancey Street with the Williamsburg neighborhood of Brooklyn at Broadway near the Brooklyn-Queens Expressw ...
was established in 1908, rendering the two westernmost stations on the Broadway Ferry Branch obsolete. These two stations were closed on July 3, 1916. The eastern extension along Jamaica Avenue
Jamaica Avenue is a major avenue in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, New York, in the United States. Jamaica Avenue's western end is at Broadway and Fulton Street, as a continuation of East New York Avenue, in Brooklyn's ...
to 168th Street was opened on July 3, 1918.
Joint service with the Long Island Rail Road's Atlantic Branch
The Atlantic Branch is an electrified rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. It is the only LIRR line with revenue passenger service in the borough of Brooklyn.
The line consists of two sectio ...
existed between Norwood Avenue and Crescent Street
Crescent Street (officially in french: rue Crescent) is a southbound street in downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Running perpendicular to Saint Catherine Street, Crescent Street descends from Sherbrooke Street south to René Lévesque Boulevard.
...
stations with a connection built at Chestnut Street in Brooklyn. This allowed BRT trains to access the Rockaways and Manhattan Beach, while affording the LIRR a connection into Manhattan to the BRT terminal located at Park Row over the Brooklyn Bridge (this service predated the opening of the East River Tunnels
The East River Tunnels are four single-track railroad passenger service tunnels that extend from the eastern end of Pennsylvania Station under 32nd and 33rd Streets in Manhattan and cross the East River to Long Island City in Queens. The tracks ...
to Penn Station Pennsylvania Station is a name applied by the Pennsylvania Railroad to several of its grand passenger terminals.
Pennsylvania Station or Penn Station may also refer to
Current train stations
* Baltimore Penn Station
* Pennsylvania Station (Cinc ...
). This service ended in 1917 when the United States Railroad Administration
The United States Railroad Administration (USRA) was the name of the nationalized railroad system of the United States between December 28, 1917, and March 1, 1920. It was the largest American experiment with nationalization, and was undertaken a ...
took over the LIRR, and classified different operating standards between rapid transit trains and regular heavy rail railroads such as the LIRR.
By the time the Independent Subway System
The Independent Subway System (IND or ISS), formerly known as the Independent City-Owned Subway System (ICOSS) or the Independent City-Owned Rapid Transit Railroad (ICORTR), was a rapid transit rail system in New York City that is now part of th ...
extended the Queens Boulevard Line along Hillside Avenue in Jamaica in 1937, residents became dissatisfied with the Jamaica Elevated. Construction of the Archer Avenue subway lines began in 1973. However, the city was hit by a major financial crisis during the mid-1970s delaying the completion and opening of the new line. Regardless of these circumstances and despite opposition from some area residents, the three easternmost stations ( Sutphin Boulevard, 160th Street, and 168th Street) were closed on September 10, 1977, with most of that segment of the line being demolished by 1979. The two other stations west of that point (Metropolitan Avenue
Metropolitan Avenue is a major east-west street in Queens and northern Brooklyn, New York City. Its western end is at the East River in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, and the eastern end at Jamaica Avenue in Jamaica, Queens. The avenue was constructe ...
and Queens Boulevard
Queens Boulevard is a major thoroughfare in the New York City borough of Queens connecting Midtown Manhattan, via the Queensboro Bridge, to Jamaica. It is long and forms part of New York State Route 25.
Queens Boulevard runs northwest to s ...
) were closed in 1985, with the line there being demolished in 1990. The Archer Avenue subway was opened in 1988. Two remnants of the former Jamaica El in Jamaica itself still exist today: the 144th Place power substation, which is now used for the Archer Avenue subway, and the station house and tower for 168th Street, which can be found on the southeast corner of Jamaica Avenue and 165th Street and is now used as a Boston Market restaurant.
In Fiscal Year 1930, the platforms at Kosciuszko Street were lengthened to accommodate an eight-car train of Standard Standard may refer to:
Symbols
* Colours, standards and guidons, kinds of military signs
* Standard (emblem), a type of a large symbol or emblem used for identification
Norms, conventions or requirements
* Standard (metrology), an object th ...
subway cars.
Eastern Jamaica Line third track proposals
On July 7, 1934, the Transit Commission ordered that the BMT construct a transformer in Woodhaven at 77th Street, which would provide more power, and therefore it would allow the construction of a third track on the Jamaica El.
In 1958, the New York City Transit Authority
The New York City Transit Authority (also known as NYCTA, the TA, or simply Transit, and branded as MTA New York City Transit) is a New York state public-benefit corporations, public-benefit corporation in the U.S. state of New York (state), New ...
first proposed the installation of a third track on the Jamaica El to provide peak-direction express service. The 1958 plan would have eliminated two tight right-angle curves of the Crescent Street "S-curve" between the Jamaica Avenue and Fulton Street portions of the route, by building a new elevated structure that would run diagonally from 80th Street to about Grant or Nichols Avenues, just east of Crescent Street. A 50- to 75-foot-wide right-of-way would have been needed, and since the line would have cut diagonally across several streets, 75 homes were slated to be torn down. Since the new elevated structure would take a more direct route, some local stations would be eliminated. The stops at Cypress Hills and Elderts Lane would have been eliminated, and a new stop replacing them would have been built around 75th Street and either Rockaway Boulevard
Rockaway Boulevard is a major road in the New York City borough of Queens. Unlike the similarly named Rockaway Beach Boulevard and Rockaway Freeway, it serves mainland Queens and does not enter the Rockaways.
Route description
It begins as an u ...
or 91st Avenue. As part of the 1959 capital budget of the Transit Authority, $25.25 million was allocated for the construction of a third track on the Jamaica Elevated from 160th Street to Alabama Avenue. The stations from Alabama Avenue to and including Crescent Street
Crescent Street (officially in french: rue Crescent) is a southbound street in downtown Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Running perpendicular to Saint Catherine Street, Crescent Street descends from Sherbrooke Street south to René Lévesque Boulevard.
...
are: Alabama Avenue, Van Siclen Avenue, Cleveland Street, Norwood Avenue and Crescent Street. All of these stations have center island platforms; to allow for the construction of a third track, the current platforms would have been demolished and replaced with side platforms. The Alabama Avenue and Van Siclen Avenue stops would be replaced by one stop in between the two stations to allow for better spacing, , between stations. The Cleveland Street station would have been replaced with a new station west of the existing station. The Norwood Avenue and Crescent Street stations would have been replaced by a single station between the two stations. One alternative that would not have required the demolition of homes would have entailed replacing the elevated structure between Eastern Parkway
Eastern Parkway is a major road that runs through a portion of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. Designed by Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, it was the world's first parkway, having been built between 1870 and 1874. At the time o ...
and Cypress Hills with a new structure above Jamaica Avenue, with new stops built.
On October 9, 1958, because of a lack of funds and because of community opposition, the City Planning Commission removed the project from the capital outlay budget. On July 14, 1959, the third-track project was put into the New York City Transit Authority's 1960 budget. On August 18, 1959, the New York City Transit Authority through an appeal made by the Authority's chairman, Patterson, tried to obtain approval from the City Planning Commission for a $27 million project to construct a third track on the BMT Jamaica Line. The installation of the third track would have attracted passengers from the overcrowded IND Queens Boulevard Line, as there would be significant time savings between 168th Street and Marcy Avenue. The Planning Commission killed the plan in the prior year, because of insufficient evidence that there was a need for such a project.
On June 18, 1959, skip-stop service was implemented on the Jamaica El, with trains stopping at alternate stations between 168th Street and Eastern Parkway with the hope of enticing riders from the IND Queens Boulevard Line to use the new skip-stop service. If skip-stop service was a success, the Transit Authority would have shelved the triple-tracking project.
The project, as it was planned in 1962, would have necessitated the condemnation of about 200 homes and would have cost $35 million. The only express stop between 168th Street and Eastern Parkway would have been Woodhaven Boulevard
Woodhaven Boulevard and Cross Bay Boulevard (formerly Jamaica Bay Boulevard) are two parts of a major boulevard in the New York City borough of Queens. Woodhaven Boulevard runs roughly north–south in the central portion of Queens. South o ...
, which would have needed to be reconstructed to allow for express platforms to be built. The project had serious community opposition, with the district leader of the 13th Assembly District, Arthur A. Gray, saying that the project was "an unnecessary and unwarranted renovation of an antiquated elevated structure in which the transportation needs of our community are sacrificed for the convenience of the many Nassau residents who board the line at its Jamaica terminus." The project was thought as becoming worthless in a few years, as Jamaica was planned to become a big shopping center, and therefore, the el would have had to come down. Suggestions were made to raze the elevated in this section to allow for a shopping mall in Woodhaven. The City Planning Commission continued to oppose the project on the grounds of the "inadequacies of the project".
The NYCTA once again requested for funds for the third-tracking of the Jamaica Line for its 1965–1966 fiscal year. This time the projected cost would have been reduced to $16.45 million. In November 1967, William Ronan
William John Ronan (November 8, 1912 – October 15, 2014) was an American public servant and academic who founded and served as the first chairman of New York City's Metropolitan Transportation Authority, from 1968 to 1974. He subsequently s ...
, chairman of the Metropolitan Commuter Transportation Authority, and later the chairman of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, suggested that money from a transportation bond issue could have paid for the installment of the third track on the line.
Service patterns
The following services use part or all of the BMT Jamaica Line:
The line has had two major service patterns: the 14 Broadway (Brooklyn) Line (earlier called the Canarsie Line
The BMT Canarsie Line (sometimes referred to as the 14th Street–Eastern Line) is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway system, named after its terminus in the Canarsie neighborhood of Brooklyn. It is served by the ...
, before that line was connected to the 14th Street Line) and the 15 Jamaica Line. Eventually, the 14 became the KK (which became the K in 1974) and the 15 the J; the K was eliminated in 1976. The Z was introduced in 1988 to provide skip-stop
Skip-stop is a public transit service pattern which reduces travel times and increases capacity by having vehicles ''skip'' certain ''stops'' along a route. Originating in rapid transit systems, skip-stop may be also used in light rail and bus ...
service with the J, using the same pattern that the 14/K and 15/J formerly used in multiple instances throughout their history.
Nomenclature
From its acquisition by the BRT to and beyond city ownership in 1940, the portion of the line from its western terminus to Cypress Hills was known as the Broadway El or the Broadway-Brooklyn Line, to distinguish from the underground Broadway-Manhattan Line. Beyond that point it was known as the Jamaica Avenue El or the Jamaica Line. Subsequent to city takeover, the dividing line between the Broadway and Jamaica Avenue Lines was often considered to be the more westerly station at Eastern Parkway, now known as Broadway Junction.
Since the discontinuance of separate Broadway-Brooklyn services, the entire line is now known as the Jamaica Line.
Station listing
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jamaica
Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation
New York City Subway lines