List of New York City Subway lines

The

In the New York City Subway nomenclature, a "line" refers to the physical trackage used by trains that are used by numbered or lettered "services"; the services that run on certain lines change periodically. Today, the division or company names are not used publicly, while the line names may occasionally be used.

Nomenclature

In the nomenclature of the subway, the terms "line" and "service" are not interchangeable with each other. While in popular usage the word "line" is often used synonymously with "service" (even sometimes on the website of the MTA^[1]), this list will use the formal usage of the term "line."

A line is the physical structure and tracks that trains run over. Each section of the system is assigned a unique line name that begins with a division (IRT, BMT or IND), which is its pre-unification division when applicable. For example, the line under Eighth Avenue is the IND Eighth Avenue Line. Some lines have changed names (and even divisions), but this happens relatively infrequently.

By contrast, a service refers to the route that a train takes across the various lines. A service can operate along several lines and even along different divisions. For example, the R service operates along the IND Queens Boulevard Line as well as the BMT Broadway Line and the BMT Fourth Avenue Line.

Each service is assigned a color. Since 1979, each service's color corresponds to the line it primarily uses in Midtown Manhattan^{[original research?]}—defined as the trunk line. There are three exceptions: the IND Crosstown Line, which does not carry services to Manhattan, is colored light green; the BMT Nassau Street Line, which runs only through Lower Manhattan, is colored brown; and all shuttles are colored dark gray.^[2] The list of trunk lines and colors is shown in the table below.

Primary Trunk line	Color[3][4]	Pantone[5]	Hexadecimal	Service bullets
IND Eighth Avenue Line	Blue	PMS 286	#0039a6	​​
IND Sixth Avenue Line	Orange	PMS 165	#ff6319	​​​
IND Crosstown Line	Lime	PMS 376	#6cbe45
BMT Canarsie Line	Light slate gray	50% black	#a7a9ac
BMT Nassau Street Line	Brown	PMS 154	#996633	​
BMT Broadway Line	Yellow	PMS 116	#fccc0a	​​​
IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line	Red	PMS 185	#ee352e	​​
IRT Lexington Avenue Line	Green	PMS 355	#00933c	​​
IRT Flushing Line	Purple	PMS Purple	#b933ad	​
IND Second Avenue Line	Turquoise	PMS 638	#00add0
Shuttles	Dark slate gray	70% black	#808183

Line listing

There are currently 36

as BMT and the IND lines.

In the list below, lines with colors next to them indicate trunk lines, which determine the colors that are used for services' route bullets and diamonds, as well as shuttle service lines. The opening date refers to the opening of the first section of track for the line. In the "division" column, the current division is followed by the original division in parentheses.

Division	Line	Borough(s)	Service(s)	Opened	Structure
B (IND)	02Second Avenue Line	Manhattan	N  ​   Q  ​   R	January 1, 2017[6]	underground
B (BMT)	Fourth Avenue Line	Brooklyn	D  ​   N  ​   R  ​   W	June 22, 1915[7]	underground
B (IND)	06Sixth Avenue Line	Manhattan Brooklyn	<F> ​   M	January 1936[8]	underground
B (IND)	08Eighth Avenue Line	Manhattan Brooklyn	A  ​   B  ​   C  ​   D  ​   E	September 10, 1932[9]	underground
A (IRT)	42nd Street Shuttle	Manhattan	S	October 27, 1904[10]	underground[a]
B (BMT)	63rd Street Line	Manhattan	N  ​   Q  ​   R	October 29, 1989[9]	underground
B (IND)	63rd Street Line	Manhattan Queens	<F>	October 29, 1989[9]	underground
B (BMT)	Archer Avenue Line	Queens	Z	December 11, 1988[7]	underground
B (IND)	Archer Avenue Line	Queens	E	December 11, 1988[9]	underground
B (BMT)	Astoria Line	Queens	N  ​   W	April 21, 1917[11]	elevated
B (BMT)	Brighton Line	Brooklyn	B  ​   Q	July 2, 1878[12]	underground, open cut, at-grade, embankment, elevated
B (BMT)	Broadway Line	Manhattan	N  ​   Q  ​   R  ​   W	September 4, 1917[7]	underground
A (IRT)	Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line	Bronx Manhattan Brooklyn	1  ​   2  ​   3	October 27, 1904[10]	elevated[a], embankment, underground
B (BMT)	Canarsie Line	Manhattan Brooklyn	L	October 21, 1865[13]	underground, elevated, at-grade
B (IND)	Concourse Line	Bronx Manhattan	B  ​   D	July 1, 1933[9]	underground
B (IND)	Crosstown Line	Brooklyn Queens	G	August 19, 1933[9]	underground
B (IND)	Culver Line	Brooklyn	<F> ​   G	March 16, 1919[7]	underground, elevated[c]
A (IRT)	Dyre Avenue Line	Bronx	5	May 15, 1941	elevated[b], embankment, open-cut, underground
A (IRT)	Eastern Parkway Line	Brooklyn	2  ​   3  ​   4  ​   5	January 9, 1908[10]	underground
A (IRT)	Flushing Line	Manhattan Queens	<7> ​	June 22, 1915[10]	underground, elevated
B (BMT)	Franklin Avenue Line	Brooklyn	S	July 2, 1878[12]	elevated, embankment, open cut
B (IND)	Fulton Street Line	Brooklyn Queens	A  ​   C	April 9, 1936[9]	underground, elevated[d]
B (BMT)	Jamaica Line	Brooklyn Queens	Z  ​	February 2, 1885[7]	elevated
A (IRT)	Jerome Avenue Line	Bronx	4  ​   5	June 12, 1917[10]	elevated, underground
A (IRT)	Lenox Avenue Line	Manhattan	2  ​   3	November 23, 1904[10]	at-grade, underground
A (IRT)	Lexington Avenue Line	Manhattan	<6>	October 27, 1904[10]	underground[a]
B (BMT)	Myrtle Avenue Line	Brooklyn Queens	M	December 19, 1889[7]	elevated, embankment, at-grade
B (BMT)	Nassau Street Line	Manhattan	Z  ​	September 16, 1908[7]	underground
A (IRT)	New Lots Line	Brooklyn	2  ​   3  ​   4  ​   5	November 23, 1920[10]	elevated
A (IRT)	Nostrand Avenue Line	Brooklyn	2  ​   5	August 23, 1920[10]	underground
A (IRT)	Pelham Line	Bronx	<6> ​	August 1, 1918[10]	underground, elevated
B (IND)	Queens Boulevard Line	Manhattan Queens	<F> ​   M  ​   R	August 19, 1933[9]	underground
B (IND)	Rockaway Line	Queens	A  ​   S	June 28, 1956	at-grade, embankment, elevated[e]
B (BMT)	Sea Beach Line	Brooklyn	N  ​   W	June 22, 1915[7]	open cut, elevated
B (BMT)	West End Line	Brooklyn	D	June 24, 1916[7]	open-cut, elevated
A (IRT)	White Plains Road Line	Bronx	2  ​   5	July 10, 1905[10]	elevated, underground

Inter-division connections

The following list shows the connections between the different divisions of the New York City Subway.[14]^{[dubious – discuss]}

Purpose-built

These connections can be used by trains in revenue service:

• 60th Street Tunnel Connection, also known as the 11th Street Cut (Queens) (BMT/IND) (R train)
• 63rd Street Lines
  (Manhattan) (BMT/IND)
• <F>​​, N​, and Q
  trains)
• Chrystie Street Connection (Manhattan) (BMT/IND) via the Manhattan Bridge (B and ​D trains) and via the Williamsburg Bridge (M train)

This connection is not for revenue service due to the differing widths of the trains:

• Astoria Line / Flushing Line (Queens) (BMT/IRT)

Yards

These connections are located within the

• 207th Street Yard (Manhattan) (IND/IRT); trains from the IND Eighth Avenue Line and IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line
• Coney Island Complex (Brooklyn) (BMT/IND); trains from the IND Culver Line, BMT Sea Beach Line and BMT West End Line
• Concourse Yard (Bronx) (IND/IRT); trains from the IND Concourse Line and IRT Jerome Avenue Line
• Linden Yard (Brooklyn) (BMT/IRT/LIRR); trains from the BMT Canarsie Line and IRT New Lots Line

• BMT West End Line / South Brooklyn Railway (Brooklyn) (BMT/Mainline RR)

Unused connections in the same division

In some places, there are track connections within the same division that are unused in regular service.^[15]

Brooklyn

• At
  Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue
  , see above.
• At
  Broadway Junction, there is an unused flyover between the BMT Canarsie Line and the BMT Jamaica Line
  .
• At
  Prospect Park, the tracks of the BMT Franklin Avenue Line become the local tracks of the BMT Brighton Line
  .
• At
  DeKalb Avenue, there is an unused connection between the BMT Brighton Line and the BMT Broadway Line
  via the Montague Tunnel.

• At
  West Fourth Street–Washington Square, there is an unused connection between the local tracks of the IND Eighth Avenue Line and those of the IND Sixth Avenue Line
  .
• Between
  South Ferry loops, the IRT Lexington Avenue Line and the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line have crossovers on the balloon loop
  tracks.
• On the
  Livonia Yard
  in Brooklyn.
• South of
  Z trains, while the two outer tracks continue to the Montague Street Tunnel and to the BMT Fourth Avenue Line
  in Brooklyn.

Many of the New York City Subway's lines have express tracks, unused in revenue service and generally only used for re-routes.[16]

The Bronx

• Burnside Avenue
  , where they short-turn.
• Wakefield–241st Street
  .
• Dyre Avenue
  .
• Pelham Bay Park
  .
• 242nd Street
  .

Brooklyn

• NX
  service in 1967–1968; in 1999, one of the tracks was rehabilitated and the other was disconnected from the line leaving it unusable. The track is used occasionally for reroutes in either direction and possibly equipment testing. In the past, these tracks have been used to store rolling stock that are about to be scrapped.
• Bay 50th Street
  . Occasionally used for reroutes in either direction.
• Ocean Parkway. These are used for layups and for terminating/turning B
  trains but are listed here since they are a continuation of the express tracks from the Brighton line, and exist through Ocean Parkway station.
• Avenue X
  .
• Broadway Junction
  .

• Astoria –Ditmars Boulevard. This track was last used for W
  trains in the peak direction, and being unpopular with residents, was discontinued on January 15, 2002.
• Howard Beach–JFK Airport
  on the IND Rockaway Line.

A majority^{[original research?]} of the New York City Subway is underground, but the following segments are located above ground level.^{[17][dubious – discuss]}

The Bronx

• Van Cortlandt Park–242nd Street
• Woodlawn
• Wakefield–241st Street
• Entire
  Pelham Parkway
• Pelham Bay Park

Brooklyn

• 75th Street–Elderts Lane
• Myrtle–Wyckoff Avenues
• Entire IRT New Lots Line
• Entire BMT Sea Beach Line
• Entire BMT West End Line
• Canarsie–Rockaway Parkway ^[f]
• Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue
• Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue
• Entire BMT Franklin Avenue Line
• Both Manhattan Bridge lines

Manhattan

• Dyckman Street to north of 225th Street
  .
• Harlem–148th Street
  .
• BMT Jamaica Line on the Williamsburg Bridge
• Both Manhattan Bridge lines

Queens

• 121st Street
• Middle Village–Metropolitan Avenue
• Entire BMT Astoria Line
• Flushing–Main Street
• Grant Avenue
• Entire IND Rockaway Line

Trackage

At minimum, in normal revenue service, all lines have two tracks, with one exception: the

Three-tracked portions

The New York City Subway has fewer

1. 96th Street
2. Third Avenue–149th Street
3. 135th Street
   – center track is not usable in revenue service
4. Woodlawn
5. IRT Dyre Avenue Line (5 train) – entire line
6. <6>
   ​ trains) – entire line
7. Flushing–Main Street
8. Junius Street
   – center track is not usable in revenue service
9. Ozone Park–Lefferts Boulevard; the westernmost portion of this track goes to Pitkin Yard
10. Bay 50th Street
11. Bedford Park Boulevard
12. Avenue X
13. 111th Street
    , the center track is not usable in revenue service
14. East 105th Street
    – easternmost track is not usable in revenue service
15. Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard
16. Bedford–Nostrand Avenues
    – middle track can be used to turn trains coming from either direction
17. Whitehall Street – middle track used to turn southbound (W) and northbound (R
    ) trains
18. BMT Sea Beach Line (Eighth Avenue to 86th Street)

Additionally, there are several pocket tracks in the subway where the line temporarily widens from two to three tracks, such as east of

1. Trunk lines:
   1. IND Sixth Avenue Line between Broadway– Lafayette Street and 47th–50th Streets
   2. IND Eighth Avenue Line between Chambers Street–World Trade Center and 168th Street, and again at Dyckman Street (two local tracks and two tracks leading to the 207th Street Yard)
   3. IRT Lexington Avenue Line between Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall and 125th Street
   4. IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line between Chambers and 96th Streets
   5. BMT Broadway Line between Canal Street and 57th Street–Seventh Avenue
   6. BMT Nassau Street Line at Chambers Street (originally a four platform station)
2. Branch lines:

   Manhattan branches:

   1. 63rd Street Lines
      at Lexington Avenue (two levels of one-direction tracks, with both levels containing one track each of IND and BMT, with connections between lines on both levels)
   2. Chrystie Street Connection (one pair IND and one pair BMT)
   3. Manhattan Bridge (one pair of tracks on each of the north and south sides of the bridge)

   Queens branches:

   1. IND Queens Boulevard Line east of Queens Plaza
   2. IND Rockaway Line north of Jamaica Bay
   3. Archer Avenue Lines
      from Sutphin Boulevard and east (two levels of paired tracks: all IND on one, all BMT on the other, without connections between lines)
   4. IRT Flushing Line and BMT Astoria Line at Queensboro Plaza (two levels of one-direction tracks, with both levels containing one track each of IRT and BMT, with a non-revenue connection between lines on upper level)

   Brooklyn branches:

   1. IRT Eastern Parkway Line (entire line)
   2. IND Culver Line north of Church Avenue
   3. IND Fulton Street Line between Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets and Euclid Avenue
   4. BMT Brighton Line between Ocean Parkway and Prospect Park
   5. BMT Fourth Avenue Line north of 59th Street
   6. Manhattan Bridge (one pair of tracks on each of the north and south sides of the bridge)

The Bronx has no four-tracked lines. Pocket tracks are not included.

Defunct lines

The following New York City Subway lines are either entirely defunct or have major portions no longer in service. Defunct

Vestiges of former lines

• Third Avenue–149th Street station, exiting the tunnel portal, one can see the initial framework of the IRT Third Avenue Line
  . There used to be a connection from the White Plains Road line to the Third Avenue El, which ran south across the Harlem River to Manhattan.
• IRT White Plains Road Line: The other end of the Third Avenue El connected to the White Plains Road line at the lower level of the
  Bronx Park terminal
  .
• 161st Street–Yankee Stadium station is the framework for the connection from the IRT Ninth Avenue Line
  .
• East 180th Street
  , to 133rd Street where it ran alongside the New Haven Railroad. The platforms of the NYW&B station are still visible at East 180th Street station and are sometimes used to store trains. The structure south of East 180th Street ends abruptly at the Lebanon Street.
• Queensboro Plaza
  .
• Grand Street
  . Heading northbound on the south side, the remains of the tunnel to the BMT Nassau Street Line loop is briefly visible. This area was reconfigured as part of the Chrystie Street Connection.
• Franklin Avenue–Fulton Street
  . The structure served as a pedestrian walkway and was demolished in 1998 when the station and the Franklin Avenue Line was rebuilt as a single-tracked line.
• Grant Avenue
  , an underground station.
• Ditmas Avenue
  , the original Culver line connected. The trackway is visible at Ditmas Avenue and the ramps are visible at Ninth Avenue.
• Gates Avenue, one can see where the structure turned onto Lexington Avenue
  to head toward the Brooklyn Bridge. The structure is only visible from street level.
• BMT Jamaica Line: West of
  Marcy Avenue, the BMT Jamaica Line veers right onto the Williamsburg Bridge
  while the original structure continues straight ahead.
• BMT Jamaica Line: East of
  168th Street
  station house still exist along Jamaica Avenue.
• The LIRR's Rockaway Beach Branch runs from the White Pot Junction to just east of Rockaway Boulevard, where the IND Rockaway Line begins.

See also

• List of New York City Subway services
• New York City Subway nomenclature
• Staten Island Railway

Notes

• 145th Street
  .
• ^b The IRT Dyre Avenue Line was formed from the purchase of abandoned New York, Westchester and Boston Railway trackage in 1941.
• IND Brooklyn Line
  .
• Grant Avenue
  .
• Rockaway Park Branch and Far Rockaway Branch
  in 1955.
• Wilson Avenue
  , the southbound track is above ground while the northbound one is at-grade. However, the land directly adjacent to the subway station makes the lower level northbound track look as though it is underground, and the upper level southbound track look at-grade.