N (New York City Subway service)
| Broadway Local | |
|---|---|
 | |
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A train made of R160 cars in N service, approaching 39th Avenue. | |
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Note: Dashed pink line shows late night service via the Montague Street Tunnel | |
| Northern end | Astoria – Ditmars Boulevard |
| Southern end | Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue |
| Stations | 45 |
| Rolling stock | R68, R160 |
| Depot | Coney Island Yard |
The N Broadway Local is a rapid transit service in the B Division of the New York City Subway. Its route emblem, or "bullet", is colored sunflower yellow since it uses the BMT Broadway Line in Manhattan.[1] The N operates at all times between Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria, Queens, and Stillwell Avenue in Coney Island, Brooklyn via Astoria in Queens, the south side of the Manhattan Bridge, and Fourth Avenue / Sea Beach in Brooklyn. The N runs express on Fourth Avenue and local elsewhere at all times except nights when it serves all stops along its entire route, using the Montague Street Tunnel to travel between Manhattan and Brooklyn as a replacement for the R.
Service history
Original designation for the Sea Beach Line
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The route that is now the N was originally BMT service 4, known as the Sea Beach Line or Sea Beach Express.
On June 22, 1915, the current BMT Sea Beach Line opened, replacing a street level "el" that branched off of the Fifth Avenue El with the former BMT West End Line. Originally, it used the south tracks of the Manhattan Bridge, which at that time connected to the BMT Nassau Street Line.[2]
On September 14, 1917, the first part of the BMT Broadway Line and the north side tracks of the Manhattan Bridge opened. Trains ran from 14th Street – Union Square to Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue, now using the bridge's northern tracks.[2]
On January 15, 1918, service was extended to Times Square – 42nd Street.[2]
On May 2, 1957, service was extended north via the express tracks to 57th Street – Seventh Avenue.[2]
In 1959, trains began stopping at DeKalb Avenue during midday hours. Previously, they bypassed DeKalb Avenue at all times except late nights.
Beginning on January 1, 1961, trains bypassed DeKalb Avenue during rush hours only. In addition, on weekday evenings, late nights, and all day Sundays, they ran local on the BMT Fourth Avenue Line.
The N designation begins to appear when R27 subway cars are moved to the line in April 1961.[2]
The NX designation was used for a rush hour peak-direction "super-express" service along the express tracks of the Sea Beach Line, beginning at Brighton Beach on the BMT Brighton Line, running through Coney Island, and then following the N route to 57th Street – Seventh Avenue. This short-lived service began on November 27, 1967 (when the Chrystie Street Connection opened) [3] and ended April 12, 1968 due to low ridership. Starting on Monday, April 15, 1968, the five NX trips instead ran as N trips.[4][2]
On August 28, 1976, N service was extended north over the BMT 60th Street Tunnel Connection to Forest Hills – 71st Avenue to replace the discontinued EE. While some N trains ran the full route from Coney Island to 71st Avenue, via the Manhattan Bridge and Broadway Express, some trains ran local between Whitehall Street – South Ferry in Lower Manhattan and Forest Hills – 71st Avenue, which had been the EE route.[2]
Reconstruction of the Manhattan Bridge between 1986 and 2004 disrupted N service, usually removing it from the bridge. On April 13, 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, running via the Montague Street Tunnel and Lower Manhattan making local stops, though evening, night and weekend trains continued to use the bridge and express tracks, terminating at 57th Street – Seventh Avenue.[2]
On May 24, 1987, the N swapped northern terminals with the R. The N was switched to Astoria – Ditmars Boulevard, while the R went to Forest Hills – 71st Avenue. This was done to give the R direct access to Jamaica Yard; previously, the N had direct access to both Jamaica Yard and Coney Island Yard, and the R, running from Bay Ridge to Astoria, lacked direct access to either yard.[2]
When the north side of the Manhattan Bridge reopened and the south side was closed on December 11, 1988, the N began running local in Brooklyn at all times; the M, which was rerouted from the BMT Brighton Line to the BMT West End Line, replaced it as the weekday express.
On September 30, 1990, full service on the Manhattan Bridge was briefly restored. Express service on Broadway ran all times except nights (all service stopped at 49th Street due to heavy usage).[5] This very short service was halted by the discovery of a cracked beam under the south side tracks on the bridge.[2]
In 1994, the N switched back to express in Brooklyn only, from Atlantic Avenue – Pacific Street to 59th Street, with the M running local instead on weekdays.[2]
From 1994 to 1996, the southern terminal of the N was 86th Street due to rehabilitation work at Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue. On November 4, 2001, it was cut back again as the terminal's reconstruction project continued.[2]
From April to November 1995, the north side of the Manhattan Bridge was closed during midday and weekends. To allow B trains to lay up on the express tracks at Pacific Street, midday N express service in Brooklyn was discontinued for the duration of the closure.
After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Broadway Line service through Lower Manhattan was suspended; N service was also suspended and replaced by the W in Manhattan and Queens and the M in Brooklyn. On October 28, N service was restored, but Cortlandt Street remained closed until September 15, 2002.
On September 8, 2002, because of the ongoing reconstruction of Coney Island terminal, weekend and late night N service was reduced to a shuttle between Coney Island and Pacific Street, running express on the BMT Fourth Avenue Line. In its place, the W was extended to Manhattan and Astoria, Queens at all times; this was because the W was the only route still serving Stillwell Avenue during this part of the reconstruction.[2]
On February 22, 2004, the Manhattan Bridge work was finally completed. The N returned to its full route in Manhattan and Queens at all times, and returned to using the Manhattan Bridge at all times except nights (via Fourth Avenue express, bypassing DeKalb Avenue). On weekdays, N trains ran express between 34th Street in Manhattan and 59th Street in Brooklyn, and local elsewhere. On weekends, it makes local stops in Manhattan, but express in Brooklyn, using the bridge. During late nights, it runs local along its entire route via the Montague Street Tunnel, replacing the R train.[2]
On May 29, 2005, the new Stillwell Avenue terminal was completed, and N service there was restored.[2]
On June 28, 2010, the N began running local in Manhattan north of Canal Street on weekdays to replace the W, which was discontinued due to budget problems, effectively adopting the weekend service pattern.
On August 2, 2013, the Montague Street Tunnel was closed for Hurricane Sandy-related repairs and overnight N service was rerouted via the Manhattan Bridge.[6] Overnight N service through the tunnel resumed on September 14, 2014.
On February 19, 2016, the MTA announced that as part of a Second Avenue Subway-related reroute of BMT Broadway Line services, weekday express N service between 34th Street – Herald Square and Canal Street may be restored in Fall 2016.[7][8][9]
Route
Service pattern
The following table shows the lines used by the N, with shaded boxes indicating the route at the specified times:
| Line | From | To | Tracks | Times | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| all ex. nights |
late nights | ||||
| BMT Astoria Line (full line) | Astoria – Ditmars Boulevard | Queensboro Plaza | local | ||
| 60th Street Tunnel | all | ||||
| BMT Broadway Line | Lexington Avenue / 59th Street | Prince Street | local | ||
| Canal Street | express | ||||
| local | |||||
| City Hall | Whitehall Street – South Ferry | all | |||
| Manhattan Bridge | south | ||||
| Montague Street Tunnel | all | ||||
| BMT Fourth Avenue Line | Court Street | Jay Street – MetroTech | all | ||
| DeKalb Avenue | bypass | ||||
| tunnel | |||||
| Atlantic Avenue – Barclays Center | 59th Street | express | |||
| local | |||||
| BMT Sea Beach Line (full line) | Eighth Avenue | Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue | |||
Stations
For a more detailed station listing, see the articles on the lines listed above.
| Station service legend | |
|---|---|
 |
Stops all times |
 |
Stops all times except late nights |
 |
Stops late nights only |
 |
Stops weekdays only |
 |
Stops rush hours/weekdays in the peak direction only |
| Time period details | |
References
- ↑ "mta.info - Line Colors". mta.info.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 "NYCT Line by Line History". erictb.info.
- ↑ service notice, effective November 27, 1967
- ↑ service notice, effective April 15, 1968
- ↑ "Service Changes September 30, 1990" (PDF). subwaynut.com. New York City Transit Authority. September 30, 1990. Retrieved May 1, 2016.
- ↑ "R Train To Resume Service Between Brooklyn And Manhattan Monday". cbslocal.com.
- ↑ "Ahead of 2nd Ave. Subway opening, MTA officially set to restore W service to Astoria". Second Ave. Sagas. Retrieved 2016-02-19.
- ↑ "MTA Confirms W Train is Coming Back". TWC News. Retrieved 2016-02-19.
- ↑ "MTA | Press Release | NYC Transit | MTA Advances Work On Second Avenue Subway Service". www.mta.info. Retrieved 2016-02-19.
- ↑ "GTFS Schedule Data - New York City Transit Subway" (ZIP). New York, NY: Metropolitan Transportation Authority. May 13, 2011. Retrieved June 1, 2011.
External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to N (New York City Subway service). |
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Wikinews has related news: New York City Subway N service to be restored to Coney Island May 29, via the Sea Beach Line |
- MTA NYC Transit – N Broadway Local
- "N Subway Timetable, Effective December 6, 2015" (PDF). New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved 2016-03-07.
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