The Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT) was an
urban transit holding company
A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the Security (finance), securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own Share ...
, based in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
,
United States
The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...
, and incorporated in 1923. The system was sold to the city in 1940. Today, together with the
IND subway system, it forms the
B Division of the modern
New York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system in New York City serving the New York City boroughs, boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx. It is owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Tr ...
.
The original BMT routes form the , , , , , and trains, as well as the
Franklin Avenue Shuttle, with the
IND
Ind or IND may refer to:
General
* Independent (politician), a politician not affiliated to any political party
* Independent station, used within television program listings and the television industry for a station that is not affiliated with ...
and using BMT trackage in Brooklyn. The train enters the IND via the
Chrystie Street Connection after crossing the
Williamsburg Bridge. The , along with some rush-hour trains enter the IND from the
BMT 63rd Street Line. The train enters the IND via the
60th Street Tunnel Connection.
The train supplements the in the peak direction during rush hours only. Prior to city ownership, the BMT services were designed with numbers, and the current letter scheme was developed as a continuation of the
IND nomenclature as the IND and BMT systems were integrated.
History
Company years
The Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation took over the assets of the
Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company on June 15, 1923, following the previous company's bankruptcy.
Like its predecessor, it controlled subsidiaries which operated the great majority of the
rapid transit
Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separation, grade separated rapid transit line below ground su ...
and
streetcar
A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include s ...
lines in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...
with extensions into
Queens
Queens is the largest by area of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Located near the western end of Long Island, it is bordered by the ...
and
Manhattan
Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
. One of these,
New York Rapid Transit Corporation operated the elevated and subway lines.
In 1923, their president,
Gerhard Melvin Dahl, published a document called "Transit Truths" to explain the issues the company faced. In it, he complained that the company had "met with the bitter, personal and unfair opposition of
Mayor Hylan." In a separate letter to Hylan he said: "For seven years, you have been misleading and fooling the people in this community… For seven years, you have blocked every effort at transit relief. You, and only you, are to blame for the present…deplorable condition of the whole transit situation. You have used the transit situation as a political escalator".
In the late 1930s, the BMT was pressed by the City administration of Mayor
Fiorello H. La Guardia to sell its operations to the City, which wanted to have all subway and elevated lines municipally owned and operated. The City had two powerful incentives to coerce the sale:
* the BMT was forced by provisions of the
Dual Contracts to charge no more than a five-cent fare, an amount set in 1913, before the
inflation
In economics, inflation is an increase in the average price of goods and services in terms of money. This increase is measured using a price index, typically a consumer price index (CPI). When the general price level rises, each unit of curre ...
of
World War I
World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...
.
* the City had the right of “recapture” of those lines that had been built or improved with City participation under those ''Dual Contracts''. This meant that, if the City forced the issue, the BMT could have been left with a fragmented system and City competition in many of its market areas.
The BMT sold all of its transit operations to the City on June 1, 1940.
Afterward
After World War II, the city-built
IND subway took over parts of the former BMT, starting in 1954 with the extension of the
D train from its terminal at
Church Avenue via a new connection with the former BMT
Culver line at
Ditmas Avenue. From 1954, the three remaining Culver stations between Ninth Avenue and Ditmas Avenue were used by the
Culver Shuttle. The service was discontinued in 1975 because of budget cuts and was later demolished.
The
60th Street Tunnel Connection between the
IND Queens Boulevard Line and
BMT Broadway Line
The BMT Broadway Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division (New York City Subway), 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 ...
opened in December 1955. This new route was used by the BMT Brighton local, which formerly ran to Astoria, for service to Forest Hills along with the IND GG local. The next year saw the new extension of the
IND Fulton Street Line ( train) in Brooklyn connected to the rebuilt section of the former
BMT Fulton Street elevated at 80th Street in Queens in April 1956.
The portion of the BMT Fulton Street El running west of 80th Street to Rockaway Avenue was demolished afterwards.
The late 1950s and early 1960s saw the biggest project of that era with the building of the
Chrystie Street Connection, and the
IND Sixth Avenue express tracks. This project connected the IND Sixth Avenue services to the BMT services that ran over the
Manhattan
Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...
and
Williamsburg Bridges. Express services were directly connected to the Manhattan Bridge, and local services could use either the Williamsburg Bridge or the existing
Rutgers Street Tunnel. Both connections opened in November 1967 and created the largest re-routing of train services in the history of the NYCTA. The BMT West End and Brighton Lines became served primarily by IND services as a result.
From 1967, some IND Sixth Avenue trains called and later K, used the Chrystie Street Connection to the
BMT Jamaica Line over the Williamsburg Bridge. That connection was discontinued due to budget cuts in 1976.
In 1988, the
BMT Archer Avenue Line was opened, connecting to what was then the east end of the BMT Jamaica Line. Two stations —
Sutphin Boulevard–Archer Avenue–JFK Airport and
Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer — were added.
In 1989, the
BMT 63rd Street Line opened as an extension of the express tracks of the BMT Broadway Line, connecting to the IND 63rd Street Line at
Lexington Avenue–63rd Street station. A connection from the Broadway/63rd Street Lines to the
IND Second Avenue Line opened in 2017.
In June 2010, as a result of more budget cuts, the
Chrystie Street Connection was put back into revenue service for use by the train, which was rerouted up the
IND Sixth Avenue Line to replace the discontinued train.
Operation
The BMT operated
rapid transit
Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT) or heavy rail, commonly referred to as metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport that is generally built in urban areas. A grade separation, grade separated rapid transit line below ground su ...
(subway and elevated lines) through the
New York Rapid Transit Corporation and
surface transit (
streetcar
A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include s ...
s and
buses) through the
Brooklyn and Queens Transit Corporation.
The BMT was a national leader in the transit industry, and was a proponent of advanced urban railways, participating in development of advanced streetcar designs, including the
PCC car, whose design and advanced components influenced railcar design worldwide for decades. The company also sought to extend the art of rapid transit car design with such innovations as ''articulated (multi-jointed-body) cars'', lightweight equipment, advanced control systems, and shared components with streetcar fleets.
Unlike 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 ...
(IRT), the other private operator of subways in New York City, the BMT remained solvent throughout the
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe global economic downturn from 1929 to 1939. The period was characterized by high rates of unemployment and poverty, drastic reductions in industrial production and international trade, and widespread bank and ...
and showed a profit, albeit small in its last year, until the very end of its transit operations.
Surviving BMT Equipment
Several pre-unification BMT equipment have been preserved in various museums. While some of the equipment are operational, others are in need of restoration or are used simply as static displays.
*
BU cars 197, 659, 1227, 1273, 1349, 1362, 1365, 1404 and 1407 have been preserved. Cars 197, 659, 1227, 1349 and 1362 are located at the
Shore Line Trolley Museum. Car 1365 is on static display at the
St. Louis Museum of Transportation. Cars 1273, 1404 and 1407 are operational at the
New York Transit Museum.
* BMT Elevated Instruction car 999 is preserved at the
Shore Line Trolley Museum.
*
Q-type cars 1602A and 1612C have been preserved. Car 1602A survives at the Trolley Museum of New York, while car 1612C survives at the New York Transit Museum.
*
AB Standards 2204, 2390, 2391, 2392 and 2775 have been preserved. Car 2204 is located at the New York Transit Museum; cars 2390, 2391 and 2392 are preserved by the Railway Preservation Corp; and car 2775 is preserved at the Shore Line Trolley Museum.
*
D-type Triplex sets 6019, 6095, and 6112 have been preserved by the New York Transit Museum.
References
External links
Article about BMT rapid transit car designsin ''The Third Rail'' by ''Paul Matus''
History site including articles about the BMTSite dedicated to the history of the BMTEarly Rapid Transit in Brooklyn, 1878–1913 nycsubway.org
BMT map
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brooklyn Manhattan Transit Corporation
Defunct public transport operators in the United States
Defunct New York (state) railroads
History of the New York City Subway
1923 establishments in New York City
1940 disestablishments in New York (state)
Railway companies established in 1923
Railway companies disestablished in 1940
Transportation in Queens, New York
Transportation in Manhattan
Transportation in Brooklyn
American companies disestablished in 1940
American companies established in 1923