L (New York City Subway service)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

East New York Yard
Started serviceJune 30, 1924; 100 years ago (1924-06-30)
Route map

Legend
 Down arrow  L 
Eighth Avenue
Sixth Avenue Port Authority Trans-Hudson
Union Square
Third Avenue
First Avenue
Manhattan
Brooklyn
 Bedford Avenue
Lorimer Street
Graham Avenue
Grand Street
Montrose Avenue
Morgan Avenue
Jefferson Street
DeKalb Avenue
Myrtle–Wyckoff Avenues
Halsey Street
Wilson Avenue
(Disabled access northbound)
 Bushwick Avenue–Aberdeen Street
Broadway Junction
no regular service via Jamaica
 Atlantic Avenue
Sutter Avenue
Livonia Avenue
to
LIRR Bay Ridge Branch
 New Lots Avenue
East 105th Street
Canarsie–Rockaway Parkway
Up arrow  L 
Legend
 Lines used by the "L" train
Other services sharing tracks with the "L" train
Unused lines, connections, or service patterns
 L 
 Termini of services
Cross-platform interchange
Platforms on different levels
This diagram:

The L 14th Street–Canarsie Local[3] is a rapid transit service in the B Division of the New York City Subway. Its route emblem, or "bullet", is colored medium gray since it serves the BMT Canarsie Line.[4]

The L operates 24 hours daily between

to be automated using communications-based train control
.

The L commenced its current route and service pattern upon completion of the Canarsie Line in 1928. Express trains formerly ran along the L's trackage in central Brooklyn, running along the

BMT Fulton Street Line
in eastern Brooklyn, but were discontinued in 1956. Since then, the L has been entirely local.

The L was originally the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation's 16 service. The 16 became the LL in 1967 and then the L in 1985. In the early 2000s, the L saw a dramatic increase in ridership since many neighborhoods along the route have experienced gentrification. From April 2019 to April 2020, late-night and weekend L service between Manhattan and Brooklyn was temporarily reduced as part of the 14th Street Tunnel shutdown, which sought to repair damage to the 14th Street Tunnel incurred by Hurricane Sandy in 2012.[6]

History

Early history

1924–1967

  • November 26, 1967 – June 1979 bullet
    November 26, 1967 – June 1979 bullet
  • June 1979 – May 6, 1985 bullet
    June 1979 – May 6, 1985 bullet
  • Original 16 designation for the BMT Canarsie Line service
    Original 16 designation for the BMT Canarsie Line service

The L was originally given the LL designation when letters were assigned to the BMT division. From 1928 to 1967, the same service was assigned the BMT number 16.

In 1924, part of the eventual

Atlantic Avenue at these times.)[7]

Before the 14th Street–Eastern and Canarsie Lines were connected, the Canarsie part of the line already had a number,

Broadway Elevated and called the Canarsie Line.[8] When the 14th Street–Eastern Line was connected in 1928, this was renamed the Broadway (Brooklyn) Line, but continued to operate to Rockaway Parkway.[9]

Starting on September 23, 1936, express trains ran to Lefferts Boulevard via the connection with the Fulton Street Elevated at

Atlantic Avenue.[10]
This connection was severed on April 30, 1956, then the service ran to Rockaway Parkway again, but was discontinued on August 23. The R27 to R38's roll signs had both L and LL for express and local service, even though the express never ran thereafter.

1967–1985

On November 26, 1967, with the opening of the

Broadway Junction towards Jamaica). On the other hand, the 16 became the LL.[11] Canarsie service to Lower Manhattan was discontinued in 1968.[12] When double letters were dropped on May 5, 1985, the LL became the L, and it still has that designation.[13]

Skip-stop service proposal

In January 1991, skip-stop service was proposed to speed service during the height of rush hours in the peak direction which would have reduced the running time from 41 minutes to 37 minutes. Under this plan, the K designation, which was previously used as the

Third Avenue. This change was proposed as a service improvement alongside other changes that would have either reduced or eliminated service to balance the MTA's operational budget and would have been implemented in October 1991, pending approval from the MTA board.[14]

Modernization and rehabilitation

Ridership and CBTC

R160 L train leaving Broadway Junction for Canarsie-Rockaway Parkway bound
Ridership

Annual ridership for the L service:[15]

  • 1994 . . . 16,968,025
  • 1996 . . . 18,107,243
  • 1998 . . . 21,196,693
  • 2000 . . . 26,155,806
  • 2005 . . . 30,452,319

Headways:[15]

  • Morning and evening rush hours: 4 minutes
  • Midday: 6–8 minutes
  • Overnight: 20 minutes

The 5 busiest stations in 2005:[15]

  1. First Avenue
    , Manhattan
  2. Bedford Avenue
    , Williamsburg, Brooklyn
  3. Canarsie–Rockaway Parkway
    , Canarsie, Brooklyn
  4. DeKalb Avenue
    , Bushwick, Brooklyn
  5. Graham Avenue
    , Williamsburg, Brooklyn

The stations with greatest ridership increases in 2014:[16]

  • Bushwick Avenue–Aberdeen Street
    , Bushwick, Brooklyn
  • Wilson Avenue
    , Bushwick, Brooklyn
  • Jefferson Street
    , Bushwick, Brooklyn

Ridership on the L has increased dramatically since 2000 since many neighborhoods along the route have experienced gentrification. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority's $443 million fleets of subway cars on the L was introduced in 2002, but by 2006 was already too small to handle growing ridership. The Transit Authority had projected that 212 Kawasaki-made R143 subway cars would be enough to accommodate ridership demands for years to come, but ridership has risen higher than expected. Therefore, sixty-four new R160A cars manufactured by Alstom were equipped with CBTC so they could run on the L.

The

July 2005 London tube bombings, heavy lobbying by the Transport Workers Union of America (TWU), as well as an arbitration ruling that MTA had breached its contract with TWU caused the Metropolitan Transportation Authority to end OPTO the following September. However, the MTA's successful implementation of countdown clocks on the L was the first in the system.[18]

On April 27, 2003, midday L service was reduced to run every 8 minutes instead of every 6 minutes.[19]

14th Street Tunnel shutdown

Further information: 14th Street Tunnel shutdown

Starting April 27, 2019,

Bedford Avenue on late nights and weekends to allow for repairs on the Canarsie Line tunnels under the East River, which were badly damaged by Hurricane Sandy in 2012. Trains in both directions operated on one tube between Third and Bedford Avenues while late night and weekend work was done on the other tube.[21] The original plan was for a full 15-month closure with both tubes closed simultaneously west of Bedford Avenue,[22][23] but the plans were revised in January 2019.[21] On April 26, 2020, New York governor Andrew Cuomo announced the completion of the project, months ahead of schedule.[24][25]

Route

Service pattern

The L uses the following lines with the same service pattern at all times.[26]

Line From To Tracks
BMT Canarsie Line
Eighth Avenue
Canarsie–Rockaway Parkway
 all

Stations

The L runs on the BMT Canarsie Line in its entirety.[3]

Station service legend
Stops all times Stops 24 hours a day
Stops all times except late nights Stops every day during daytime hours only
Stops late nights only Stops every day during overnight hours only
Stops weekdays during the day Stops during weekday daytime hours only
Station closed Station closed
Stops rush hours in the peak direction only Stops rush hours/weekdays in the peak direction only
Time period details
Disabled access Station is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act
Disabled access ↑ Station is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act
in the indicated direction only
Disabled access ↓
Elevator access to mezzanine only
L service Stations Disabled access Subway transfers Connections
Manhattan
Canarsie Line
Stops all times Eighth Avenue Disabled access A all times ​C all except late nights ​E all times (IND Eighth Avenue Line at 14th Street) M14A / M14D Select Bus Service
Stops all times Sixth Avenue Disabled access
<F> two rush hour trains, peak direction ​M weekdays during the day (IND Sixth Avenue Line at 14th Street)
1 all times ​2 all times ​3 all except late nights (IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line at 14th Street
)
M14A / M14D Select Bus Service
Stops all times Union Square Disabled access
<6> weekdays until 8:45 p.m., peak direction (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)
N all times ​Q all times ​R all except late nights ​W weekdays only (BMT Broadway Line
) 		M14A / M14D Select Bus Service
Stops all times Third Avenue M14A / M14D Select Bus Service
Stops all times First Avenue Disabled access
M15 Select Bus Service
Brooklyn
Stops all times Bedford Avenue Disabled access Ferry transport NYC Ferry: East River Route (at North Sixth Street west of Kent Avenue)
Stops all times Lorimer Street Disabled access G all times (IND Crosstown Line at Metropolitan Avenue)
Stops all times Graham Avenue
Stops all times Grand Street Disabled access
Stops all times Montrose Avenue
Stops all times Morgan Avenue
Stops all times Jefferson Street
Stops all times DeKalb Avenue
Stops all times Myrtle–Wyckoff Avenues Disabled access M all times (BMT Myrtle Avenue Line) Some a.m. rush hour trips begin or end their runs to/from Eighth Avenue at this station
Stops all times Halsey Street
Stops all times Wilson Avenue Disabled access ↑ Station is ADA-accessible in the northbound direction only.
Stops all times Bushwick Avenue–Aberdeen Street
Stops all times Broadway Junction
Z rush hours, peak direction (BMT Jamaica Line
)
Stops all times Atlantic Avenue LIRR Atlantic Branch at East New York
Stops all times Sutter Avenue
Stops all times Livonia Avenue Disabled access Out-of-system transfer with MetroCard/OMNY:
2 limited rush hour service in the reverse-peak direction ​3 all except late nights ​4 late nights, and limited rush hour service in the peak direction ​5 limited a.m. rush hour service in the northbound direction only (IRT New Lots Line at Junius Street)
Stops all times New Lots Avenue B15 bus to JFK Int'l Airport
Stops all times East 105th Street Some northbound rush hour trips begin at this station
Stops all times Canarsie–Rockaway Parkway Disabled access
B6 and B82
buses.

Notes

References

  1. ^ 'Subdivision 'B' Car Assignment Effective December 19, 2021'. New York City Transit, Operations Planning. December 17, 2021.
  2. ^ "Subdivision 'B' Car Assignments: Cars Required November 1, 2021" (PDF). The Bulletin. 64 (12). Electric Railroaders' Association: 3. December 2021. Retrieved December 3, 2021.
  3. ^ a b "L Subway Timetable, Effective December 4, 2022". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved December 16, 2024.
  4. ^ "MTA Colors". MTA.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved June 7, 2017.
  5. ^ "Queens Bus Map" (PDF). MTA.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. January 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 16, 2008. Retrieved June 7, 2017.
  6. ^ "Coronavirus Update: Hospitalizations Down, Deaths up Slightly to 437 in NY". ABC7 New York. March 6, 2020. Retrieved April 26, 2020.
  7. ^ Line by line history L train
  8. ^ "CELEBRATE OPENING OF SUBWAY LINK; Civic and City Officials Ride in First Train Over 14th St. Line to Brooklyn". The New York Times. June 1, 1924. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  9. ^ "EXPECT GAIN ON B.M.T. LINE; Officials Say Old Habits of Patrons Hold Down Canarsie Traffic". The New York Times. July 17, 1928. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  10. ^ "B.M.T. TO SPEED UP QUEENS SERVICE; New Multi-Section Cars to Be Used for Special Rush-Hour Trips Starting Wednesday". The New York Times. September 21, 1936. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  11. ^ Perlmutter, Emanuel (November 16, 1967). "SUBWAY CHANGES TO SPEED SERVICE: Major Alterations in Maps, Routes and Signs Will Take Effect Nov. 26" (PDF). The New York Times. Retrieved July 7, 2015.
  12. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved November 27, 2016.
  13. ^ "Hey, What's a "K" Train? 1985 Brochure". Flickr – Photo Sharing!. June 17, 2016. Retrieved June 17, 2016.
  14. ^ "1991 Service Capacity Plan" (PDF). New York City Transit Authority. January 4, 1991. p. 207. Retrieved February 11, 2020.
  15. ^
    Daily News. New York. Retrieved March 20, 2010.[permanent dead link
    ‍]
  16. ^ Mays, Jeff (April 21, 2015). "MAP: See How Much Subway Ridership Increased at Your Station". DNA Info. Archived from the original on April 23, 2015. Retrieved May 5, 2015.
  17. ^ MTA Capital Program Milestones Report Archived July 16, 2012, at the Wayback Machine
  18. ^ MTA/Siemens train-arrival sign
  19. ^ "New BMT-IND Schedules" (PDF). The New York Division Bulletin. 46 (7). Electric Railroaders' Association: 20. July 2003.
  20. ^ "L Train Shutdown to Begin on April 27". Spectrum News NY1 | New York City. October 30, 2018. Retrieved October 31, 2018.
  21. ^
    ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved January 3, 2019.
  22. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved April 4, 2017.
  23. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved December 16, 2017.
  24. ^ "Governor Cuomo Announces Completion of Nation-Leading L Project Tunnel Rehabilitation With No Shutdown" (Press release). Albany, NY: New York State – Governor Andrew M. Cuomo. April 26, 2020. Archived from the original on April 27, 2020. Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  25. ISSN 0362-4331
    . Retrieved April 27, 2020.
  26. ^ "Subway Service Guide" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2025. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
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