B Division (New York City Subway)

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "B Division" New York City Subway – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (October 2016) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

The

The B Division is broken down into two subdivisions, B1 (BMT) and B2 (IND), for chaining purposes. The two former systems are still sometimes referred to as the BMT Division and IND Division.^[3]

List of lines

The following lines are part of the B Division (services shown in parentheses; lines with colors next to them are trunk lines):

Station service legend
	Stops all times
	Stops all times except late nights
	Stops late nights only
	Stops weekdays during the day
	Stops rush hours only
	Stops 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

•   IND Second Avenue Line (N  ​Q  ​R  trains)
• BMT Fourth Avenue Line (D  ​N  ​R  ​W  trains)
•  
  <F> ​M 
  trains)
•   IND Eighth Avenue Line (A  ​B  ​C  ​D  ​E  trains)
• 60th Street Tunnel Connection (R  train)
• BMT 63rd Street Line (N  ​Q  ​R 
  trains)
• <F>
  train)
• Z 
  trains)
• IND Archer Avenue Line (E 
  train)
• BMT Astoria Line (N  ​W  trains)
• BMT Brighton Line (B  ​Q  trains)
•   BMT Broadway Line (N  ​Q  ​R  ​W  trains)
•   BMT Canarsie Line (L  train)
• Chrystie Street Connection (B  ​D  ​​M  trains)
• IND Concourse Line (B  ​D  trains)
•   IND Crosstown Line (G  train)
• <F> ​G 
  trains)
•  
  BMT Franklin Avenue Shuttle (S 
  train)
• IND Fulton Street Line (A  ​C  trains)
• Z 
  ​ trains)
• BMT Myrtle Avenue Line (M  train)
•  
  Z 
  ​ trains)
• <F> ​M  ​R 
  trains)
• IND Rockaway Line (A  ​S  trains)
• BMT Sea Beach Line (N  ​W  trains)
• BMT West End Line (D  train)

History

Early history

The oldest line to become part of the B Division was the BMT Lexington Avenue Line, opened in 1885. A large system of elevated railways in Brooklyn was formed by 1908 by the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT), crossing the Brooklyn Bridge and Williamsburg Bridge to Manhattan terminals. With the Dual Contracts, signed in 1913, the BRT acquired extensions outward into Queens, as well as through Lower and Midtown Manhattan. The BRT became the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation in 1923 after a bankruptcy.

The Independent Subway System (IND) was created by the city in the 1920s and 1930s as a third system, operated by the city, competing with the BMT and Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT). The city took over operations of the BMT and IRT in 1940, consolidating ownership of the three systems into one. Since the original IRT tunnels were smaller, it has remained a separate division to this day.

IND before 1967

IND services were labeled on maps and signs starting with the opening of the first line in 1932. Six letters—A to F—were assigned to the major services, sorted by the north terminal and midtown line, and express services had single letters, while local services had double letters. G and H were assigned to lesser services, which did not enter Manhattan. The following labels were used from 1940 to 1967:

Consolidation of operations

Until 1954 and 1955, when the

Beginning in 1924, BMT services were designated by number.[4] The city assigned letters (J and up)—generally following the IND pattern of double letters for local services—in the early 1960s to prepare for the 1967 Chrystie Street Connection. Only Southern Division routes (1–4 or N–T) were labeled on maps, but all services except remnants of the old els were assigned letters:^[5][6]

* Unofficially signed as "M", or sometimes "S".

In 1967, the Culver and Franklin Shuttles became

After 1967

The 1967 opening of the Chrystie Street Connection resulted in a number of changes. The following services have been operated since then:

• A Eighth Avenue Express, 1967–present
• B Sixth Avenue Express, 1967–present
• CC
  until 1985)
• D Sixth Avenue Express, 1967–present
• E Eighth Avenue Local, 1967–present
• EE
  Broadway Local, 1967–1976
• F Sixth Avenue Local, 1967–present
• GG
  until 1985)
• QJ
  until 1973)
• KK
  from 1968 to 1973)
• K Eighth Avenue Local, 1967 – 1988 (AA until 1985)
• LL
  until 1985)
• M Nassau Street Local, 1967–2010; Sixth Ave Local, 2010–present
• MJ
  Myrtle Avenue Local, 1967–1969
• N Broadway Express, 1967–present
• NX
  Broadway Express, 1967–1968
• QB
  until 1985)
• RR
  until 1985)
• RJ
  Nassau Street Local, 1967–1968
• S Franklin Avenue Shuttle, 1967–present (SS until 1985)
• S
  CC
  in between)
• SS Culver Shuttle, 1967–1975
• TT
  West End Shuttle, 1967–1968
• V Sixth Avenue Local, 2001–2010
• W Broadway Local, 2001–2010, 2016–present
• Z
  Nassau Street Express, 1988–present

See also

• A Division
• Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation
• Independent Subway System
• Interborough Rapid Transit Company

References