BMT Broadway Line

BMT Broadway Line
600V DC third rail
Route map Legend Astoria Line 60th Street Tunnel (East River) Tunnel Connection to Queens Blvd Line Lexington Avenue Line Lexington Avenue–59th Street 63rd Street Lines Fifth Avenue–59th Street 57th Street–Seventh Avenue (57th Street) Seventh Avenue (Queens Boulevard Line) 49th Street 42nd Street Shuttle Times Square–42nd Street (Flushing Line) 34th Street–Herald Square (Sixth Av Line) 28th Street 23rd Street 14th Street–Union Square (Canarsie Line) Eighth Street–New York University Sixth Avenue Line Prince Street Lexington Avenue Line Nassau Street Line express ) Manhattan Bridge (East River) Fourth Avenue & Brighton Lines City Hall (lower level storage tracks) Brooklyn Branch Eighth Avenue Line Cortlandt Street Rector Street Lexington Avenue Line Whitehall Street–South Ferry Broad Street Montague Street Tunnel (East River) Fourth Avenue Line Legend Express station Local station This diagram: view talk edit

The BMT Broadway Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway in Manhattan. As of November 2016^[update], it is served by four services, all colored yellow: the N and ​Q trains on the express tracks and the R and ​W trains on the local tracks during weekdays (the N and Q trains make local stops during late nights, as do the N and R trains on weekends). The line is often referred to as the "N and R",^[2][3] since those were the only services on the line from 1988 to 2001, when the Manhattan Bridge's southern tracks were closed for rebuilding. The Broadway Line was built to give the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (later the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation, or BMT) access to Midtown Manhattan.

The line is named for its location under

The following services use the Broadway Line[4] and are colored yellow:

Route		Services
	Time period	South of Whitehall St	Between Whitehall St and Canal St	Canal St via Bridge	Between Canal St and 42 St	57 St	Between 57 St and Lexington Ave
	Weekdays	no service		express		local
	Weekends	no service		local
	Nights	local		no service	local
	All times except nights	no service		express			no service (diverges north of 57 St)
	Nights	no service		local			no service (diverges north of 57 St)
	All times except nights	local		no service	local
	Nights	local	no service
	Weekdays	local rush hours	local	no service	local

The BMT Broadway Line begins at the 60th Street Tunnel from Queens. The N and W trains from the BMT Astoria Line and the R service from the

The BMT Broadway Line then curves east carrying the R train to a trailing non-revenue connection with the BMT Nassau Street Line (no regular service) and enters the Montague Street Tunnel to Brooklyn.^[5]

Because of the complicated history, the Broadway Line includes several remnants of earlier plans. The line was built as four tracks south to City Hall, where the local tracks were to terminate on the upper level, and the express tracks were to use the lower level, curving through Vesey Street into Church Street. However, the final plan had the express tracks splitting at Canal Street and passing under the northbound local track to the Manhattan Bridge. The tracks via Canal Street and the Manhattan Bridge were not intended to be connected to the Broadway Line. Instead, they were supposed to be a crosstown line continuing further west. The tracks were connected to the Broadway Line as it allowed through operation between the Broadway Line and the Fourth Avenue Line in Brooklyn to go into operation more than a year earlier than would otherwise have been possible.^[10] From the Canal Street Bridge station, it is possible to see where the line would have continued further west to a terminal near the Hudson River. At the Canal Street local station, the express tracks terminate part of the way into the station, more evidence of the change of plans. The tunnel south of City Hall was rebuilt to bring the upper local tracks down to the lower level north of Vesey Street, and the lower level at City Hall was never used for passenger service. The lower level is currently used for train storage.^{[7][11][12][13]}

Unused construction is also present near the west end of the Queensboro Bridge. The original plan there was to build two one-track tunnels under 59th and 60th Streets east of Fifth Avenue, rising onto the bridge to Queens.

59th Street station.^[12][16]

South of the Whitehall Street station, provisions were built to allow for two tunnels to Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn.[17]^: 284

The

Before construction started, the plans for the Broadway Line's stations in midtown were changed several times. Originally, there was going to be an express station at 47th Street, and there would have been local stations at 42nd and 57th Streets.[40] In December 1913, the plans were changed so that both 47th and 57th Streets were express stations, and the local stop at 42nd Street was relocated to 38th Street.^[41] Opponents of the plan said it would cause large amounts of confusion, as Times Square was a "natural" transfer point.^[42] In February 1914, the PSC ordered the BRT to make the Broadway Line's 42nd Street station an express station.^[43][44] In addition, 57th Street became an express station, while there was to be a local station at 49th Street.^[7] The change was made at the insistence of Brooklynites who wanted an express station in the Theater District of Manhattan.^[45]

The first part of the Broadway Line to be built was the section south of 14th Street, which was initially known as the Broadway–Lexington Avenue Line.^[46] In January 1912, the Underpinning & Foundation Company received a $2.295 million contract to construct section 3 of the line, from Howard Street to Houston Street, which included the Prince Street station.^[47][48] The same month, the Degnon Construction Company submitted a low bid for the construction of section 2 of the Broadway–Lexington Avenue Line, from Park Place to Walker Street (two blocks south of Howard Street), for $2.356 million; this segment included the City Hall station.^[49] The Canal Street station was to be built as part of section 2A, between Walker and Howard Streets, which was placed for bid in March 1912. The O'Rourke Engineering Construction Company submitted a low bid of about $910,000 for section 2A.^[50][51]

In September 1912, F. L. Cranford received about $2 million in construction contracts for sections 1 and 1A in Lower Manhattan. By then, the Public Service Commission had decided to divide the Broadway–Lexington Avenue Line between the BRT and the IRT; as such, the commission canceled plans for sections 5 and 6 of the Broadway–Lexington Avenue Line, which paralleled the existing IRT line.^[52] During construction, workers discovered the remnants of a tunnel for the Beach Pneumatic Transit near City Hall,^[46] as well as the remains of a 17th-century colonial prison near Dey Street.^[53]

In May 1913, the Public Service Commission began receiving bids for section 4 of the Broadway–Lexington Avenue Line, between Houston Street and Union Square, which was to include the

By February 1914, the Public Service Commission was soliciting bids for a tunnel extending east under Canal Street to the Manhattan Bridge. Due to the swampy character of the area (which used to contain a drainage canal from Collect Pond), the commission considered building the line using either the cut-and-cover method or using deep-bore tunneling.^[63] The Underpinning and Foundation Company submitted a low bid of $1.822 million for a cut-and-cover tunnel.^[64][65] The Canal Street tunnel was originally supposed to be a separate line passing under the Broadway Line station and extend further westward.^[65][66] At the time, the Public Service Commission did not plan to build a track connection between the Canal Street and Broadway lines, saying that such a connection would cause severe train congestion. The BRT wanted to connect the lines, citing the fact that it would be difficult for passengers to transfer at the Canal Street station or to reroute trains in case of emergency.^[66] East of Centre Street, the Canal Street line had four tracks, although the southern two tracks turned south onto the Centre Street Loop.^[67]

Work on the Canal Street line proceeded slowly,^[68] in part because of the high water table of the area, which required the contractor to pump out millions of gallons of groundwater every day.^[65][69] Plans for the Canal Street line west of Broadway were abandoned midway during construction, and the Canal Street line was connected to the Broadway Line instead.^[65] The Canal Street spur was less than half completed by January 1916 and was not planned to be opened for another fourteen months.^[70] By then, the sections of the mainline Broadway Line south of 26th Street were between 88 and 99.7 percent finished.^[70][71] Real-estate figures wanted the completion of the Canal Street spur to be expedited so the Broadway Line could be opened,^[72] and they claimed that the city's failure to open the Broadway Line would result in a loss of profit for the BRT.^[71][73]

The route north of 14th Street was originally considered a separate line, the Broadway Line, which tied into the Broadway–Lexington Avenue Line south of 14th Street.

A short portion of the line, coming off the north side of the Manhattan Bridge through Canal Street to

The line was extended two stops northward to 57th Street on July 10, 1919.[107]^[108] Express service between Times Square and Union Square was inaugurated on this date. Previously, express service terminated at Union Square, with local service terminating at Times Square. Express service then began to terminate at Times Square, with local service terminating at the new 57th Street station. Express service between Manhattan and Pacific Street began to run at all times except late nights.^[108] The line was extended to Lexington Avenue/59th Street on September 1, 1919.^[107][109]

On August 1, 1920, the Broadway Line was extended on either end, with the opening of two tunnels under the East River. On the north end the line was extended through the 60th Street Tunnel to

Platforms at stations on the Broadway Line originally could only fit six 67-foot-long (20 m) cars. The State Transit Commission first directed the BMT to lengthen platforms at these stations in September 1923, but the BMT declined to do so, citing workforce shortages.[112] In 1926, the New York City Board of Transportation (BOT) received bids for the lengthening of platforms at nine stations on the Broadway Line, from Whitehall Street to 23rd Street, to accommodate eight-car trains. Edwards & Flood submitted a low bid of $101,750 for the project.^[113] The platform-lengthening project was completed in 1927, bringing the length of these stations' platforms to 535 feet (163 m).^[114][112]

In the 1960s, the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) started a project to lengthen station platforms on the Broadway Line to 615 feet (187 m) to accommodate 10-car trains.^[115] All stations on the Broadway Line had their platforms lengthened during this time.^[116] The NYCTA also covered elaborate mosaic tile walls with 8-by-16-inch (20 by 41 cm) white cinderblock tiles at 16 local stations on the Broadway and Fourth Avenue lines. The latter project was criticized for being dehumanizing.^[117] An NYCTA spokesman stated that the old tiles were in poor condition and that the change was made to improve the appearance of stations and provide uniformity. Furthermore, it did not consider the old mosaics to have "any great artistic merit".^[117]

The

At most times, the Broadway Line has had four services — two local and two express — during the day, with a third express service until the 1967 opening of the Chrystie Street Connection.

• EE was introduced, becoming part of the N in 1976; the N became express and the W
  became local in 2004.
• 1/
  QB, later the Q again. During the Manhattan Bridge reconstruction, from the 1980s until 2001, the Q mostly used the IND Sixth Avenue Line. When restored in 2001, the Q became full-time, replacing the D
  on the Brighton Line.
• RR (BMT Fourth Avenue Line) trains (later R
  ) have run local over the Broadway Line since 1920.
• 3/T (BMT West End Line) trains ran express on the Broadway Line until 1967, when the T became part of the realigned B
  via the IND Sixth Avenue Line.
• EE was merged into the N in 1976.) When the Manhattan Bridge south tracks reopened in 2001, the W
  was introduced, at first running express; it became local in 2004, and the N moved back to the express tracks.

On May 6, 1985, double letters were eliminated, and the QB was relabeled the Q, and the RR was relabeled the R.[120]^[121]

On April 26, 1986, the north side tracks on the Manhattan Bridge leading to the IND Sixth Avenue Line were closed for rehabilitation, and services that had used the north side were moved to the south side, running via the BMT Broadway Line. Because of the large amount of train traffic now running on the bridge's south side tracks, rush hour and midday N service stopped using the bridge, and began running via the Montague Street Tunnel and Lower Manhattan making local stops. However, evening, night and weekend trains continued to use the bridge and express tracks, terminating at 57th Street–Seventh Avenue. B and D services were split. Their service from the Bronx and Upper Manhattan continued to run via the Sixth Avenue Line, terminating at 34th Street. Their service to Brooklyn, however, was rerouted via the Broadway Line express tracks. D service terminated at 57th Street, while B service terminated at Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard during rush hours, and at Queensboro Plaza during middays, evenings, and weekends.^[122]

Between April 26, 1986 and May 24, 1987, the N ran express via the Bridge to 57th Street during evenings, nights, and weekends. Afterwards, N service began running local via the Broadway Line during evenings, nights, and weekends, but they still operated over the Manhattan Bridge. On May 24, 1987, when the N and R swapped routes in Queens, there were additional changes in Broadway service. Evening and weekend B service stopped switching to the local track north of 34th Street to serve the Astoria Line. Instead, it skipped 49th Street and terminated at 57th Street.^[123][124]

When the north side of the Manhattan Bridge reopened on December 11, 1988, the south side of the bridge was closed. B, D, and Q trains were rerouted from the Broadway Line to the Sixth Avenue Line using the north side of the bridge. The N began running local in Manhattan and via the Montague Tunnel at all times. In order to replace B service to Ditmars Boulevard, additional N service was provided during rush hours.^[125][126]

On September 30, 1990, express service on the Broadway Line was restored when repair work on the Manhattan Bridge was temporarily suspended. The N then began making express stops from 34th Street to Canal Street at all times except late nights. R service between Manhattan and Brooklyn was increased during rush hours. During late nights, R trains no longer ran via the Broadway Line; instead, they operated as a shuttle in Brooklyn, terminating at 36th Street.^[124][127] The brief Broadway service via the Manhattan Bridge was stopped on December 27 because of a cracked beam on the bridge.^{[128][129][130]}

From April 30, 1995 to November 12, 1995, the Manhattan Bridge services were supposed to go back to the 1986–1988 service pattern with only the south side Broadway Line tracks in service. However, the Broadway side was not yet ready. As a result, during middays and weekends, the north side of the bridge was also closed. As a result, Q trains began serving the Broadway Line again. They ran via the Montague Street Tunnel, before switching to the express tracks after Canal Street. This service continued past 57th Street via the BMT 63rd Street Line to 21st Street–Queensbridge, being the first scheduled service to use this connection.^[131]

On February 22, 1998, construction on the IND 63rd Street Line cut B and Q service to 57th Street–Sixth Avenue. Service on the 63rd Street Line was replaced by a

On June 25, 2010, because of a budget shortfall, service on the Broadway Line was reduced. The W train was discontinued and was replaced by N and Q service in Manhattan and Queens, respectively. The N train, which replaced the W, began running local north of Canal Street at all times, and the Q train was extended to/from Astoria, Queens via the 60th Street Tunnel in place of the W on weekdays, stopping on the local tracks starting at Times Square–42nd Street.^[137] In December 2014, the Q began running local on the line between Canal Street and 57th Street–Seventh Avenue during late nights, to supplement late-night N service.^[138]

In early 2016, as part of the upcoming opening of the

In 2024, as part of a program to upgrade the signaling of the New York City Subway, the MTA proposed installing communications-based train control (CBTC) on the Broadway Line and Manhattan Bridge spur as part of its 2025–2029 Capital Program.^[143][144]

Station service legend
	Stops 24 hours a day
	Stops every day during daytime hours only
	Stops every day during overnight hours only
	Stops everyday during overnight hours and weekends during daytime hours only
	Stops during weekday daytime hours only
	Stops during weekday rush hours only
	Stops during weekday rush hours in the peak direction only
Time period details
	Station is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act
↑	Station is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act in the indicated direction only
↓
	Elevator access to mezzanine only

Neighborhood (approximate)		Station	Tracks	Services	Opened	Transfers and notes
begins as a merge of the BMT Astoria Line (N  ​W ) and the 60th Street Tunnel Connection (R ) and passes through the 60th Street Tunnel
Midtown Manhattan		Lexington Avenue–59th Street	local	N  ​R  ​W	September 1, 1919[107][109]	<F> ​ N  ​Q  ​R ) at Lexington Avenue–63rd Street Roosevelt Island Tramway
		Fifth Avenue/59th Street	local	N  ​R  ​W	September 1, 1919[107][109]
	express tracks begin from the BMT 63rd Street Line (N  ​Q  ​R  )
		57th Street–Seventh Avenue	all	N  ​Q  ​R  ​W	July 10, 1919[107][108]
	↑	49th Street	local	N  ​Q  ​R  ​W	July 10, 1919[107][108]	Accessible northbound only
		Times Square–42nd Street	all	N  ​Q  ​R  ​W	January 5, 1918[101]	<F> ​M ) at 42nd Street–Bryant Park, daytime only Port Authority Bus Terminal
		34th Street–Herald Square	all	N  ​Q  ​R  ​W	January 5, 1918[101]	PATH at 33rd Street
NoMad		28th Street	local	N  ​Q  ​R  ​W	January 5, 1918[101]
Flatiron District		23rd Street	local	N  ​Q  ​R  ​W	January 5, 1918[101]	M23 Select Bus Service
Union Square		14th Street–Union Square	all	N  ​Q  ​R  ​W	September 4, 1917[98]	<6> ) BMT Canarsie Line (L ) M14A / M14D Select Bus Service
Greenwich Village		Eighth Street–New York University	local	N  ​Q  ​R  ​W	September 4, 1917[101]
SoHo		Prince Street	local	N  ​Q  ​R  ​W	September 4, 1917[101]
Chinatown		Canal Street	express (lower level)	N  ​Q	September 4, 1917[101]	Z  ) Express station originally known as Broadway
			local (upper level)	N  ​R  ​W	January 5, 1918[101]
express tracks continue into Brooklyn via Manhattan Bridge south tracks (N  ​Q  )
Civic Center		City Hall	local	N  ​R  ​W	January 5, 1918[101]
Financial District		Cortlandt Street	local	N  ​R  ​W	January 5, 1918[101]	PATH at World Trade Center
		Rector Street	local	N  ​R  ​W	January 5, 1918[101]
		Whitehall Street–South Ferry	all	N  ​R  ​W	September 20, 1918[107]	M15 Select Bus Service Staten Island Ferry at South Ferry Southern terminal for W  service
merges with BMT Nassau Street Line (no regular service)
continues into Brooklyn via the Montague Street Tunnel and becomes the BMT Fourth Avenue Line (N  R  ​W )