The IND Sixth Avenue Line is a
rapid transit 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
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...
in the United States. It runs mainly under
Sixth Avenue
Sixth Avenue – also known as Avenue of the Americas, although this name is seldom used by New Yorkers, p.24 – is a major thoroughfare in New York City's borough of Manhattan, on which traffic runs northbound, or "uptown". It is commercial ...
in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
, and continues south to
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 ...
. The
B,
D,
F, and
M trains, which use the Sixth Avenue Line through
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...
, are colored . The B and D trains use the express tracks, while the F, <F> and M trains use the local tracks.
The Sixth Avenue Line, constructed in stages during the 1930s, was the last trunk line built by 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 ...
(IND) before it was incorporated into the modern-day New York City Subway. It was more difficult to build than other subway trunk lines in New York City because construction had to proceed around, over, and under existing tunnels and elevated structures. The Sixth Avenue Line replaced the
Interborough Rapid Transit Company
The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) was the private operator of New York City's original underground subway line that opened in 1904, as well as earlier elevated railways and additional rapid transit lines in New York City. The IRT w ...
(IRT)'s
Sixth Avenue elevated, which closed in 1939. The first section of the line opened in 1936 from
West Fourth Street to
East Broadway with service provided by
Eighth Avenue Line trains. This section was initially referred to as the Houston-Essex Street Route. The Sixth Avenue subway was completed in 1940, providing service north of West Fourth Street, connecting to the
Queens Boulevard Line and the Eighth Avenue Line.
Initially, the Sixth Avenue Line carried only local service, since there were no express tracks between
34th Street and West 4th Street. In 1967 and 1968, the
Chrystie Street Connection
The Chrystie Street Connection is a set of New York City Subway tunnels running the length of Chrystie Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It is one of the few track connections between lines of the former Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit ...
was completed, connecting the line with former BMT lines in Brooklyn via the Manhattan Bridge and with the
BMT Jamaica Line
The BMT Jamaica Line, also known as the Broadway - Brooklyn Line is an elevated rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway, in Brooklyn and Queens, New York City, United States. It runs from the Williamsburg Bridge southeas ...
over the Williamsburg Bridge. Two new stations at 57th Street and Grand Street, as well as a pair of express tracks between 34th and West 4th Streets, were built to provide the necessary capacity for the new service to Brooklyn.
There are branches on both ends of the line. On the south end, the express tracks used by the diverge to
Grand Street and the
Manhattan Bridge
The Manhattan Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the East River in New York City, connecting Lower Manhattan at Canal Street with Downtown Brooklyn at the Flatbush Avenue Extension. The main span is long, with the suspension cables be ...
. The local tracks continue through the Rutgers Street Tunnel and to
York Street
York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a m ...
in Brooklyn (used by the ) or via the Chrystie Street Connection and the Williamsburg Bridge to the BMT Jamaica Line in Brooklyn (used by the ). On the north end, north of
47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center, the express tracks diverge to
Seventh Avenue–53rd Street and the IND Eighth Avenue Line, while a spur used by the continues under Sixth Avenue to
57th Street and the
63rd Street Lines; the local tracks, used by the , merge with the IND Queens Boulevard Line and continue to
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 ...
.
Extent and service
The following services currently use part or all of the Sixth Avenue Line, whose services' bullets are colored :
The majority of the Sixth Avenue Line has four tracks, two local and two express. At each end, these pairs of tracks split, giving the line two north and two south ends. One of the north ends is at
57th Street, where two tracks lead south under
Sixth Avenue
Sixth Avenue – also known as Avenue of the Americas, although this name is seldom used by New Yorkers, p.24 – is a major thoroughfare in New York City's borough of Manhattan, on which traffic runs northbound, or "uptown". It is commercial ...
from the
IND 63rd Street Line (used by the
F local train at all times). The other is just south of
59th Street–Columbus Circle, where a two-track line splits from the
IND Eighth Avenue Line
The IND Eighth Avenue Line is a rapid transit line in New York City, United States, and is part of the B Division of the New York City Subway. Opened in 1932, it was the first line of the Independent Subway System (IND), and the ''Eighth Avenu ...
at a
flying junction
A flying junction or flyover is a railway junction at which one or more diverging or converging tracks in a multiple-track route cross other tracks on the route by bridge to avoid conflict with other train movements. A more technical term is "gr ...
(with connections to the local and express tracks), immediately turns east under
53rd Street
53rd Street is a Midtown Manhattan, midtown cross street in the New York City borough (New York City), borough of Manhattan, that runs adjacent to buildings such as the Citigroup Center, Citigroup building. It is 1.83 miles (2.94 km) ...
, and crosses the
IND Queens Boulevard Line, which parallels it just to the north. At
Seventh Avenue, the southbound track is above the northbound track (the same is true on the Queens Boulevard Line, though north is the opposite direction from the Sixth Avenue Line). These tracks are used by the
B and
D express trains.
The express tracks from Columbus Circle then turn south to go under Sixth Avenue, merging with the branch from 57th Street and the local tracks' split from the IND Queens Boulevard Line (used by the
M local train). The branch from 57th Street merges into both the local and express track pairs; there are no direct track connections between the local and express tracks.
South of this point, the Sixth Avenue Line consists of four tracks from west to east: the southbound express track, the southbound local track, the northbound express track, and the northbound local track. After passing through
47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center, the two southbound tracks cross each other; the tracks from Columbus Circle become the two center express tracks, and the tracks from the Queens Boulevard Line are the two outside local tracks.
South of
42nd Street–Bryant Park is a large
interlocking
In railway signalling, an interlocking is an arrangement of signal apparatus that prevents conflicting movements through an arrangement of tracks such as junction (rail), junctions or crossings. The signalling appliances and Track (rail transpor ...
with six crossovers and switches. The original express tracks ended just to the south at
34th Street–Herald Square and some services switched to the local tracks at the interlocking.
This was done because the
PATH
A path is a route for physical travel – see Trail.
Path or PATH may also refer to:
Physical paths of different types
* Bicycle path
* Bridle path, used by people on horseback
* Course (navigation), the intended path of a vehicle
* Desire p ...
's
Uptown Hudson Tubes
The Uptown Hudson Tubes are a pair of tunnels that carry PATH trains between Manhattan, New York City, to the east and Jersey City, New Jersey, to the west. The tubes originate at a junction of two PATH lines on the New Jersey shore and cross ...
already existed under Sixth Avenue south of
33rd Street, and so the Sixth Avenue Line local tracks were built on each side of PATH. The section between
West Fourth Street–Washington Square
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
and 34th Street–Herald Square, the only express section of this line, was originally built as a two-track subway with the provision to expand to four tracks later.
The express tracks were added in the 1960s during the
Chrystie Street Connection
The Chrystie Street Connection is a set of New York City Subway tunnels running the length of Chrystie Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It is one of the few track connections between lines of the former Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit ...
projects.
As a result, they are placed under the local tracks and PATH using the deep-bore tunneling method.
At West Fourth Street–Washington Square, the express tracks return to the same level as the local tracks, and the two pairs of tracks in each direction are connected with diamond crossovers. A flying junction just to the south connects the local tracks of the Sixth and Eighth Avenue Lines. The Sixth Avenue Line then turns east under
Houston Street
Houston Street ( ) is a major east–west thoroughfare in Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs the full width of the island of Manhattan, from FDR Drive along the East River in the east to the West Side Highway along the Hudson River i ...
with an express station at
Broadway–Lafayette Street.
East of Broadway–Lafayette Street, the express tracks turn south and use the Chrystie Street Connection to
Grand Street before crossing the north side of the
Manhattan Bridge
The Manhattan Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the East River in New York City, connecting Lower Manhattan at Canal Street with Downtown Brooklyn at the Flatbush Avenue Extension. The main span is long, with the suspension cables be ...
into Brooklyn. The express tracks used to continue on to the express tracks at
Second Avenue before the tracks were rerouted to the Chrystie Street Connection. The local tracks split at this point. One pair continues east to Second Avenue (used by the F train) while the other pair merges with 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 ...
at
Essex Street
Essex Street is a north-south street on the Lower East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. North of Houston Street, the street becomes Avenue A, which goes north to 14th Street. South of Canal Street it becomes Rutgers Street, the ...
(used by the M train).
Since the IND typically installed express–local crossovers beyond the fronts of the station platforms, an anomaly in the track layout was created when the Chrystie Street Connection was built. A crossover exists west of Broadway–Lafayette Street only on the northbound side, allowing trains from the Manhattan Bridge to reach the Eighth Avenue local tracks at West Fourth Street but not vice versa.
As a result, unusual routings are required whenever a train on the Eighth Avenue Line needs to access the Manhattan Bridge.
![York tower Rutgers tunnel jeh](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fc/York_tower_Rutgers_tunnel_jeh.JPG)
Just before approaching Second Avenue, the local tracks split into four tracks again. The two center tracks, which are not used in revenue service, dead-end just east of the Second Avenue station. They were built as part of the
IND's proposed expansion in the 1930s, and would have merged with the never-built
IND Worth Street Line
The IND Eighth Avenue Line is a rapid transit line in New York City, United States, and is part of the B Division of the New York City Subway. Opened in 1932, it was the first line of the Independent Subway System (IND), and the ''Eighth Aven ...
and then entered Brooklyn. The line would have run to
Utica Avenue
Utica Avenue is a major avenue in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States. It is one of several named for the city of Utica in Upstate New York. It runs north–south and occupies the position of East 50th Street in the Brooklyn street ...
in Brooklyn if it had been completed.
Other provisions for unbuilt lines exist at the mezzanine levels of the Second Avenue and
East Broadway stations, where unfinished open spaces indicate where stations for the
Second Avenue Subway
The Second Avenue Subway (internally referred to as the IND Second Avenue Line by the MTA and abbreviated to SAS) is a New York City Subway line that runs under Second Avenue on the East Side of Manhattan. The first phase of this new line, ...
and IND Worth Street Line, respectively, would have been built.
The local tracks in Manhattan turn south under
Essex Street
Essex Street is a north-south street on the Lower East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. North of Houston Street, the street becomes Avenue A, which goes north to 14th Street. South of Canal Street it becomes Rutgers Street, the ...
and Rutgers Street before crossing under the
East River
The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Queens ...
via the Rutgers Street Tunnel. The tracks then become
IND Culver Line
The IND Culver Line (formerly BMT Culver Line) is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway, extending from Downtown Brooklyn south to Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, United States. The local tracks of the C ...
in Brooklyn, stopping at the outer tracks of
Jay Street–MetroTech.
History
Planning
New York City mayor
John Francis Hylan
John Francis Hylan (April 20, 1868January 12, 1936) was the 96th Mayor of New York City (the seventh since the consolidation of the five boroughs), from 1918 to 1925. From rural beginnings in the Catskills, Hylan eventually obtained work in Broo ...
's original plans for 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 ...
(IND), proposed in 1922, included building over of new lines and taking over nearly of existing lines. The lines were designed to compete with the existing underground, surface, and elevated lines operated by the
Interborough Rapid Transit Company
The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) was the private operator of New York City's original underground subway line that opened in 1904, as well as earlier elevated railways and additional rapid transit lines in New York City. The IRT w ...
(IRT) and
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 s ...
(BMT). The IND Sixth Avenue Line was designed to replace the elevated
IRT Sixth Avenue Line
The IRT Sixth Avenue Line, often called the Sixth Avenue Elevated or Sixth Avenue El, was the second elevated railway in Manhattan in New York City, following the Ninth Avenue Elevated.
The line ran south of Central Park, mainly along Sixth A ...
.
However, since the Sixth Avenue corridor was such an important subway link, the elevated remained open while construction on the Sixth Avenue subway proceeded.
In 1924, the IND submitted its list of proposed subway routes to the
New York City Board of Transportation
The New York City Board of Transportation or the Board of Transportation of the City of New York (NYCBOT or BOT) was a city transit commission and operator in New York City, consisting of three members appointed by the mayor. It was created in ...
(NYCBOT), which approved the program. The IND's program consisted of two lines underneath Sixth Avenue in Manhattan. The first line would be a section in Lower Manhattan between Lispenard Street to the south and Eighth Street to the north, comprising part of the present-day Eighth Avenue Line. The second line would be a section running between Carmine Street to the south and 53rd Street to the north, comprising much of the present-day Sixth Avenue Line. South of Carmine Street, the Sixth Avenue Line would curve east under
Houston Street
Houston Street ( ) is a major east–west thoroughfare in Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs the full width of the island of Manhattan, from FDR Drive along the East River in the east to the West Side Highway along the Hudson River i ...
, then south under
Essex Street
Essex Street is a north-south street on the Lower East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. North of Houston Street, the street becomes Avenue A, which goes north to 14th Street. South of Canal Street it becomes Rutgers Street, the ...
and Rutgers Street before continuing south into Brooklyn.
Work on the core section of the IND Sixth Avenue Line, located between Fourth and 53rd Streets, was not to begin for several years. The section of Sixth Avenue from Ninth to 33rd Streets was already occupied by the
Hudson & Manhattan Railroad
Port Authority Trans-Hudson (PATH) is a rapid transit system in the northeastern New Jersey cities of Newark, Harrison, Jersey City, and Hoboken, as well as Lower and Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is operated as a wholly owned sub ...
(H&M)'s Uptown Hudson Tubes. At first, the city intended to take over the portion of the Uptown Tubes under Sixth Avenue for IND use, then build a pair of new tubes for the H&M directly underneath it. The IND had committed to building the Sixth Avenue line, and the H&M's
33rd Street terminal was located both above and below preexisting railroad tunnels, hence the IND's plan to convert part of the H&M tubes. However, the H&M objected, and so negotiations between the city and IND and the H&M continued for several years.
The IND and H&M finally came to an agreement in 1930. The city had decided to build the IND Sixth Avenue Line's local tracks around the pre-existing H&M tubes, and add express tracks for the IND underneath the H&M tubes at a later date.
However, the city still planned to eventually take over the H&M tracks, convert them to express tracks for the IND line, then build a lower level for the H&M.
The IND started advertising bids for the section of the Sixth Avenue Line between 43rd and 53rd Streets in April 1931. However, that May, construction was postponed because of fears that it would disrupt the
Catskill Aqueduct, one of the
New York City water supply system
A combination of aqueducts, reservoirs, and tunnels supplies fresh water to New York City. With three major water systems ( Croton, Catskill, and Delaware) stretching up to away from the city, its water supply system is one of the most exte ...
's crucial
water main
A water distribution system is a part of water supply network with components that carry potable water from a centralized treatment plant or wells to consumers to satisfy residential, commercial, industrial and fire fighting requirements.
Definit ...
s to Brooklyn and Queens. The NYCBOT wanted to start work on the section between 33rd and 39th Streets first so that the engineering issues with the H&M tubes and water main could be resolved. In January 1932, the city announced an agreement with the
New York City Water Supply Board
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
. The IND wanted to start construction on the Sixth Avenue line by June so that some of the projected train traffic on the Eighth Avenue line, which was slated to open that year, could be rerouted through Sixth Avenue instead. In 1933, the
New York City Board of Estimate
The New York City Board of Estimate was a governmental body in New York City responsible for numerous areas of municipal policy and decisions, including the city budget, land-use, contracts, franchises, and water rates. Under the amendments effec ...
requested a $25.5 million federal loan for the construction of the Sixth Avenue line.
Opening of southern section
The first portion of the line to be constructed was then known as the Houston–Essex Street Line, which ran under Houston, Essex, and Rutgers Streets. The contract for the line was awarded to Corson Construction in January 1929, at which time the city began evicting 10,000 residents within the line's route. Construction of this section officially started in May 1929. The contract for the
Rutgers Street Tunnel
Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...
, connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn, was awarded in May 1930. In May 1933, the city started widening Essex and Rutgers Streets to accommodate the future subway line underneath.
The Houston and Essex Street Line began operations at noon on January 1, 1936 with two local tracks from a junction with the Eighth Avenue Line south of West Fourth Street–Washington Square east under Houston Street and south under Essex Street to a temporary terminal at
East Broadway.
E trains, which ran from
Jackson Heights, Queens
Jackson Heights is a neighborhood in the northwestern portion of the borough of Queens in New York City. Jackson Heights is neighbored by North Corona to the east, Elmhurst to the south, Woodside to the west, northern Astoria ( Ditmars-Steinw ...
to
Hudson Terminal
Hudson Terminal was a rapid transit station and office-tower complex in the Radio Row neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. Opened during 1908 and 1909, it was composed of a terminal station for the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad (H&M), ...
, were shifted to the new line to East Broadway.
Two express tracks were built on the portion under Houston Street until Essex Street-Avenue A; the tracks were intended to travel under the East River and connect with the never-built IND Worth Street Line in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
[
Just after midnight on April 9, 1936, trains began running under the East River via the Rutgers Street Tunnel, which connected the Houston-Essex Street Line with the north end of the Culver Line at a junction with the Eighth Avenue Line north of ]Jay Street–Borough Hall
A jay is a member of a number of species of medium-sized, usually colorful and noisy, passerine birds in the Crow family (biology), family, Corvidae. The evolutionary relationships between the jays and the magpies are rather complex. For examp ...
. E trains were sent through the connection to Church Avenue. Simultaneously, the Fulton Street Line was opened to Rockaway Avenue and the A and C trains, which had used Smith Street, were rerouted to Fulton Street.
Construction and opening of Midtown section
In April 1935, engineers started planning in earnest for the Midtown section of the Sixth Avenue Line. The first contract, for the section between 40th and 47th Streets, was awarded to Rosoff-Brader Construction in October 1935. Mayor Fiorello H. La Guardia
Fiorello Henry LaGuardia (; born Fiorello Enrico LaGuardia, ; December 11, 1882September 20, 1947) was an American attorney and politician who represented New York in the House of Representatives and served as the 99th Mayor of New York City fro ...
broke ground for the Sixth Avenue subway at Bryant Park
Bryant Park is a public park located in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Privately managed, it is located between Fifth Avenue and Avenue of the Americas ( Sixth Avenue) and between 40th and 42nd Streets in Midtown Manhattan. The e ...
on March 23, 1936. The Carleton Company was hired in September 1936 to construct the section from 27th to 33rd Streets, and Rosoff-Brader was hired that October to build the segment from 33rd to 40th Streets. The next month, the George A. Flynn Corporation received a contract for the construction of the section between 47th and 53rd Streets. The Arthur A. Johnson Corp. and Necaro Co. received the contract to build the segment between 18th and 27th Streets in January 1937. The final contract, between 9th and 18th Streets, was contracted to Spencer White & Prentis in June 1937.
The construction of the Sixth Avenue line was very difficult because of the various utilities and tunnels above, below, and beside the line. At the time, it was considered the costliest subway line in the city. The line was built as a four-track tunnel north of 33rd Street, but there were only two tracks south of that street. The work largely involved cut-and-cover
A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube constr ...
excavations, although portions of the subway had to be tunneled through solid rock. Builders had to use very small charges of dynamite so that they would not disrupt the H&M tunnels alongside the route, the street and elevated line above, and the water main below. The Sixth Avenue Elevated had to be underpinned during construction, adding another $4 to $5 million to construction costs. The Catskill Aqueduct was located around below the avenue's surface, and workers on the new subway had to be careful to not cause any cracks in the aqueduct. As part of the construction of the IND line, the H&M's 14th Street and 23rd Street stations had to be rebuilt to provide space for the IND's 14th Street and 23rd Street stations, which would be located at a similar elevation. The 19th Street station was not affected because the IND tracks were located below the H&M tracks at that point. However, the 33rd Street station had to be relocated to the south of its existing location, above the new IND line. The IND platforms were to be located at the same elevation as the present H&M station, and there was no room to build a new subway station either above or below the level of the existing H&M station.
The H&M's 33rd Street terminal closed on December 26, 1937 and service on the H&M was cut back to 28th Street to allow for construction on the subway to take place. The 33rd Street terminal was moved south to 32nd Street and reopened on September 24, 1939. The city had to pay $800,000 to build the new 33rd Street station and reimbursed H&M another $300,000 to the H&M for the loss of revenue. The 28th Street station was closed at this time because the southern entrances to the 33rd Street terminal were located only two blocks away, rendering the 28th Street stop unnecessary. It was demolished to make room for the IND tracks below. The IRT's Sixth Avenue elevated ultimately closed in December 1938, just before the Sixth Avenue subway was completed.
In addition to threading around the H&M tunnel, the line had to pass over the BMT 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 ...
along 14th Street, over the tunnels leading to Penn Station, under the four-track BMT Broadway Line
The BMT Broadway Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway in Manhattan. , it is served by four services, all colored : the on the express tracks and the on the local tracks during weekdays (the N and Q train ...
at Herald Square, over the IRT Flushing Line
The IRT Flushing Line is a rapid transit route of the New York City Subway system, named for its eastern terminal in Flushing, Queens. It is operated as part of the A Division. The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), a private operator, ...
at 41st Street, and under the 42nd Street Shuttle. Even though the line had to pass around multiple transit lines, the grades were kept to a minimum. The line included four-track stations at West Fourth, 34th, 42nd, and 47th–50th Streets. There were four sets of crossovers between 34th and 42nd Streets, and the southbound express track crossed over the southbound local track at a grade-separated flyover between 42nd and 47th–50th Streets. Bellmouth tunnels north of 47th–50th Streets were built to allow for a future extension under Central Park and along Morningside Avenue to 145th Street.[ This extension was part of the Board of Transportation's long-range program, and was estimated to cost $34.914 million as of August 1940. Construction was expected to start some time after 1946.]
On December 15, 1940, local subway service began on Sixth Avenue from the West Fourth Street subway station to the 47th–50th Streets station with track connections to the IND 53rd Street Line. The construction of the Sixth Avenue Line cost $59.5 million. The opening of the Sixth Avenue Line relieved train traffic on the Eighth Avenue Line, which was used by all services except for the G Brooklyn–Queens Crosstown service. The additional capacity allowed for the reintroduction of the AA for off-peak service between 168th Street and Hudson Terminal
Hudson Terminal was a rapid transit station and office-tower complex in the Radio Row neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City. Opened during 1908 and 1909, it was composed of a terminal station for the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad (H&M), ...
via the Eighth Avenue Line, and the creation of the rush-hour BB between 168th Street and 34th Street-Herald Square via Sixth Avenue. In addition, the D train, which ran between Norwood–205th Street and Hudson Terminal via Sixth Avenue, was introduced to provide service between Sixth Avenue and the Concourse Line. The F train, running between Parsons Boulevard
Parsons Boulevard is a road in Queens, New York. Its northern end is at Malba Drive in the Malba neighborhood and its southern end is at Archer Avenue in downtown Jamaica.
Route
The road stretches for nearly six miles, divided into four segmen ...
and Church Avenue via Sixth Avenue, was created to provide express service between Sixth Avenue and Queens. Finally, the E train was cut back from Church Avenue to Broadway–Lafayette Street, running to Queens via the Eighth Avenue Line.
Sixth Avenue express tracks and the Chrystie Street Connection
On April 19, 1961, ground was broken for a $22 million project to build two express tracks between the West Fourth Street and 34th Street–Herald Square stations. The express tracks were built beneath the surface. The construction was done in two portions. The first section was between West 9th and 19th Streets, and the second section was between West 19th and 31st Streets. The express tracks were part of an $80 million subway improvement program that began with the reconstruction of the DeKalb Avenue
At Fort Greene Park
DeKalb Avenue is a thoroughfare in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, with the majority of its length in Brooklyn.
It runs from Woodward Avenue (Linden Hill Cemetery) in Ridgewood, Queens to Downtown Brookly ...
station in Brooklyn. The second phase of construction was the Chrystie Street Connection
The Chrystie Street Connection is a set of New York City Subway tunnels running the length of Chrystie Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It is one of the few track connections between lines of the former Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit ...
, which would connect the BMT lines coming over the Manhattan Bridge
The Manhattan Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the East River in New York City, connecting Lower Manhattan at Canal Street with Downtown Brooklyn at the Flatbush Avenue Extension. The main span is long, with the suspension cables be ...
and 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 ...
with the IND Houston Street Line. There was also to be a new two-track spur line between West 52nd and 58th Streets with a terminal at 57th Street. The two projects would allow 45 additional trains per hour, carrying a combined 90,000 passengers, to enter Manhattan during rush hours.
However, the section between 9th and 19th Streets soon experienced various delays: although it had started in April 1961, work was halted by a water main break in 1962, and by July 1963, the work was only 20 percent complete. Construction on the section between West 19th and 31st Streets was further along: it had started in the middle of 1961, and was 60 percent complete in July 1963. The first section was 88 percent complete on June 30, 1965, and the second section was 99 percent complete on that date. Between West 55th and 58th Street, a third of the structural work was done by this date. No stations were constructed along the new express tracks, but provisions were incorporated into the design of the tunnel to permit the addition of future lower level stations at 14th Street and 23rd Street without disturbances to train operation.
On November 26, 1967, the first part of the Chrystie Street Connection opened and Sixth Avenue Line express tracks opened from 34th Street–Herald Square to West Fourth Street–Washington Square
West or Occident is one of the four cardinal directions or points of the compass. It is the opposite direction from east and is the direction in which the Sun sets on the Earth.
Etymology
The word "west" is a Germanic word passed into some ...
. With the opening of the connection to the Manhattan Bridge, BB service was renamed B and it was extended via the new express tracks and the connection to the BMT West End Line in Brooklyn. D service was routed via the connection and onto the BMT Brighton Line
The BMT Brighton Line, also known as the Brighton Beach Line, is a rapid transit line in the B Division of the New York City Subway in Brooklyn, New York City, United States. Local service is provided at all times by the Q train, but is joined ...
instead of via the Culver Line. It only ran express during rush hours. F service was extended from Broadway–Lafayette Street during rush hours, and from 34th Street during other times to Coney Island via the Culver Line. On July 1, 1968, the 57th Street station and the portion of the Chrystie Street Connection connecting the line with the Williamsburg Bridge opened. Service on the KK was inaugurated, running from 57th Street to 168th Street on the BMT Jamaica Line
The BMT Jamaica Line, also known as the Broadway - Brooklyn Line is an elevated rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway, in Brooklyn and Queens, New York City, United States. It runs from the Williamsburg Bridge southeas ...
. B service was extended during non-rush hours from West Fourth Street to 57th Street. D trains began running express via the Sixth Avenue Line at all times.
Later improvements
The Program for Action
Metropolitan Transportation: A Program for Action, also known as simply the Program for Action, the Grand Design, or the New Routes Program, was a proposal in the mid-1960s for a large expansion of mass transit in New York City, created under t ...
, a series of subway and commuter rail expansions proposed by the MTA to then-Governor Nelson Rockefeller
Nelson Aldrich Rockefeller (July 8, 1908 – January 26, 1979), sometimes referred to by his nickname Rocky, was an American businessman and politician who served as the 41st vice president of the United States from 1974 to 1977. A member of t ...
, included a spur of the line to the underserved Alphabet City
Alphabet City is a neighborhood located within the East Village in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Its name comes from Avenues A, B, C, and D, the only avenues in Manhattan to have single-letter names. It is bounded by Houston St ...
neighborhood on the Lower East Side. The spur would run under Houston Street
Houston Street ( ) is a major east–west thoroughfare in Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs the full width of the island of Manhattan, from FDR Drive along the East River in the east to the West Side Highway along the Hudson River i ...
, Avenue C, and 14th Street. The branch's construction was delayed in 1971 after voters blocked a bond issue, then cancelled along with most of the Program's new projects after the 1975-76 New York City fiscal crisis
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
and extreme MTA fare revenue fluctuations.
The tracks at 57th Street were originally built for a proposed extension under Central Park
Central Park is an urban park in New York City located between the Upper West Side, Upper West and Upper East Sides of Manhattan. It is the List of New York City parks, fifth-largest park in the city, covering . It is the most visited urban par ...
to Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street (Manhattan), 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and 110th Street (Manhattan), ...
. The stub-end tracks were eventually connected to the IND 63rd Street Line when the latter opened in October 1989. The 63rd Street line only extended to the 21st Street–Queensbridge station in Queens, and did not connect to any other lines in that borough. The Q train served the 63rd Street extension on weekdays and the train stopped there on the weekends; both services used the Sixth Avenue Line. The Q train, a part-time express within Brooklyn via the BMT Brighton Line, ran along the Sixth Avenue Line between 1988 and 2001, when the Manhattan Bridge south tracks were closed for reconstruction.
Planning for the 63rd Street Line's $645 million connection from the 21st Street–Queensbridge station to the IND Queens Boulevard Line in Queens began in December 1990, and construction began on September 22, 1994. The Connector came into regular use on December 16, 2001. A new Sixth Avenue local service, the V, was introduced operating local via Sixth Avenue and terminating in the center tracks of the Sixth Avenue Line's Second Avenue station. The V ran local on the Queens Boulevard Line, and it only operated during weekdays. At this time, the F, which ran express along the Queens Boulevard Line, was rerouted to operate via the 57th Street station and the 63rd Street line north of the 47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center station, rather than via the 53rd Street tunnel. Both the 63rd Street and the 53rd Street lines merge into the Queens Boulevard Line in Queens. On June 28, 2010, the V was replaced by the M, which began using the Chrystie Street Connection to the Williamsburg Bridge. Regular M trains make all former V stops except for Second Avenue.
In 2004, full Manhattan Bridge service was restored. This resulted in full B and D express service being restored from 34th Street–Herald Square to the Manhattan Bridge, where the services continued to Brooklyn. However, the terminals of the B and D were reversed from prior to the Manhattan Bridge service suspensions. B service operates weekdays only via the Brighton Line express tracks to Brighton Beach, replacing the <Q> express on the Brighton Line. D service operates 24/7 along the West End Line because residents of Bensonhurst
Bensonhurst is a residential neighborhood in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bordered on the northwest by 14th Avenue, on the northeast by 60th Street, on the southeast by Avenue P and 22n ...
, a neighborhood located near the West End Line, wanted full-time direct subway service to Manhattan.
The 2015–2019 Metropolitan Transportation Authority
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) is a public benefit corporation responsible for public transportation in the New York City metropolitan area of the U.S. state of New York. The MTA is the largest public transit authority in th ...
Capital Plan called for the Sixth Avenue Line's 23rd Street and 57th Street stations, along with 31 others, to undergo a complete overhaul as part of the Enhanced Station Initiative
Since the late 20th century, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has started several projects to maintain and improve the New York City Subway. Some of these projects, such as subway line automation, proposed platform screen doors, the FA ...
. Updates would include cellular service, Wi-Fi, USB charging stations, interactive service advisories and maps, improved signage, and improved station lighting. The renovations at both stations were supposed to last from July to December 2018. The renovations were conducted under a $124.9 million contract that also included the renovation of the 28th Street station on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line
The IRT Lexington Avenue Line (also known as the IRT East Side Line and the IRT Lexington–Fourth Avenue Line) is one of the lines of the A Division of the New York City Subway, stretching from Lower Manhattan north to 125th Street in Eas ...
. 23rd Street reopened ahead of schedule on November 29, 2018, while 57th Street reopened on December 19, 2018.
As part of the 2015–2019 Capital Program, the 34th Street and West Fourth Street interlockings on the IND Sixth Avenue Line were completed at a cost of $356.5 million. The interlocking upgrades would support communications-based train control
Communications-based train control (CBTC) is a railway signaling system that uses telecommunications between the train and track equipment for traffic management and infrastructure control. CBTC allows a train's position to be known more accurat ...
(CBTC) installation on the Queens Boulevard, Culver, and Eighth Avenue lines.
Station listing
Notes
References
External links
nycsubway.org – IND 6th Ave./63rd St. Line
*
{{Crossings navbox
, structure = Crossings
, place = East River
The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Queens ...
, bridge = Rutgers Street Tunnel
, bridge signs = {{NYCS Sixth Rutgers, time=bullets
, upstream = 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 ...
, upstream signs = {{NYCS Williamsburg, time=bullets
, downstream = Manhattan Bridge
The Manhattan Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the East River in New York City, connecting Lower Manhattan at Canal Street with Downtown Brooklyn at the Flatbush Avenue Extension. The main span is long, with the suspension cables be ...
, downstream signs = {{NYCS Manhattan Bridge, time=bullets
6th Avenue Line
6th Avenue
Sixth Avenue – also known as Avenue of the Americas, although this name is seldom used by New Yorkers, p.24 – is a major thoroughfare in New York City's borough of Manhattan, on which traffic runs northbound, or "uptown". It is commercial ...
6th Avenue
Sixth Avenue – also known as Avenue of the Americas, although this name is seldom used by New Yorkers, p.24 – is a major thoroughfare in New York City's borough of Manhattan, on which traffic runs northbound, or "uptown". It is commercial ...
1936 establishments in New York City