BMT West End Line

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Route designation on BMT Triplex equipment
Route designation on BMT Triplex equipment

The West End Line, now a subway line in Brooklyn, New York City, is a branch line from the Broadway (Manhattan)-Fourth Avenue (Brooklyn) subway, serving the communities of Borough Park, New Utrecht, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach and Coney Island. It is served full time by the D, and rush hours by the M, which provides direct access to the financial district.

The elevated line, originally mapped as the New Utrecht Avenue Line (though the common name prevailed after construction), replaced the surface West End Line.

Contents

[edit] History

Elevated line over 86th Street at Bay Parkway station
Elevated line over 86th Street at Bay Parkway station

Under the Dual Contracts of 1913, an elevated line was built over New Utrecht Avenue, 86th Street and Stillwell Avenue, fully opening to Coney Island on July 21, 1917. The original surface right-of-way was retained for use by trolley cars to provide local service and protect the company's franchise. Over the years, the West End line has been featured in movies and television shows. The famous chase scene from "The French Connection" (1971) was filmed under the West End line in Brooklyn, and the opening scene of "Saturday Night Fever" (1977) features Tony Manero (John Travolta) walking down 86th Street, with the West End elevated line above. Additionally, the opening credits of the television show "Welcome Back, Kotter" (1975) also featured the West End line.

[edit] Service patterns

BMT West End Line
LUECKE
South Brooklyn Railway
uHLUECKE UKRZo uABZ3rg uHSTR uHLUECKE
BMT Fourth Avenue Line
muGRENZEe uSTR
uSTRlf uABZlg
South Brooklyn Railway
uSTR ueLUECKE
formerly to 5th Avenue El
ueABZrg uexSTRrf
uSTR uKDSa
36th–38th Street Yard
uABZrg uSTRrf
ueABZlf uexSTRlg
uCPICl uexCPICr
Ninth Avenue
uSTR ueLUECKE
formerly to BMT Culver Line
uHST
Fort Hamilton Parkway
uHST
50th Street
uHST
55th Street
uHLUECKE uUTurmBHFo uHLUECKE
62nd Street BMT Sea Beach Line
uHST
71st Street
uHST
79th Street
uHST
18th Avenue
uHST
20th Avenue
uBHF
Bay Parkway
uHST
25th Avenue
uABZlf uSTRlg
uHST uSTR
Bay 50th Street
uABZrg uABZ3lf uKDSl
Coney Island Complex
uABZrg uABZ3rg uKDSl
Stillwell Avenue Yard
uSTR uABZrg uHLUECKE
BMT Sea Beach Line
uABZld uABZrd
uCPICle uCPICr
Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue
uSTRlf uHLUECKE
BMT Brighton and IND Culver lines

The West End Line has had an express (on the BMT Fourth Avenue Line) service - labeled 3 in 1924 - since it opened in 1916, passing over the Manhattan Bridge and onto the BMT Broadway Line express tracks. In the late 1950s, midday trains were switched to the local Fourth Avenue tracks and through the Montague Street Tunnel, and late night and Sunday service became a shuttle between Coney Island and 36th Street. The express and local services were assigned the designations T and TT in the early 1960s. With the opening of the Chrystie Street Connection in late 1967, the B was extended to Coney Island, absorbing the T and TT (both express on Fourth Avenue). The TT late night and Sunday shuttle survived until 1968, when the B became full-time; it ran local on Fourth Avenue at late nights but express otherwise. Late night operation was cut back to the shuttle - now B - in the mid-1980s, and in 2001, during the reconstruction of the Manhattan Bridge subway tracks, the portion of the B in Brooklyn became the W, running as a shuttle not only to 36th Street at nights but also to Atlantic Avenue–Pacific Street on weekends. But in 2002 the West End Line became the only line to serve Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue during its reconstruction, and the W was extended full-time into Manhattan, using the local Fourth Avenue tracks and tunnel at late nights and on weekends. Finally, in 2004, the Manhattan Bridge reconstruction was completed, and the W was replaced with an extended D, running over the bridge at all hours and express on Fourth Avenue except late nights.

The other service pattern was the "West End Short Line", a rush-hour local (on Fourth Avenue) service between the BMT Nassau Street Line in Lower Manhattan and 62nd Street or Bay Parkway. It became part of the TT in the early 1960s and was discontinued in 1967. However, in 1987 the short line service was essentially recreated when the rush-hour M extension was moved from the BMT Brighton Line to the West End Line, and it has extended to Bay Parkway during rush hours since then. (At times, the M has extended to Ninth Avenue middays.)

[edit] Station listing

Station service legend
Stops all times Stops all times
Stops rush hours only Stops rush hours only
Time period details
Handicapped/disabled access Station Tracks Services Opened Transfers and notes
splits from the BMT Fourth Avenue Line (D all times M rush hours until 7:30 p.m.)
Ninth Avenue all D all times M rush hours until 7:30 p.m. June 24, 1916
Fort Hamilton Parkway local D all times M rush hours until 7:30 p.m. June 24, 1916
50th Street local D all times M rush hours until 7:30 p.m. June 24, 1916
55th Street local D all times M rush hours until 7:30 p.m. June 24, 1916
62nd Street all D all times M rush hours until 7:30 p.m. September 15, 1916 BMT Sea Beach Line at New Utrecht Avenue (N all times)
71st Street local D all times M rush hours until 7:30 p.m. September 15, 1916
79th Street local D all times M rush hours until 7:30 p.m. September 15, 1916
18th Avenue local D all times M rush hours until 7:30 p.m. September 15, 1916
20th Avenue local D all times M rush hours until 7:30 p.m. September 15, 1916
Bay Parkway all D all times M rush hours until 7:30 p.m. December 29, 1916
25th Avenue all D all times December 29, 1916
Bay 50th Street all D all times December 21, 1917
Handicapped/disabled access Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue all D all times December 23, 1918 BMT Brighton Line (Q all times)
BMT Culver Line (F all times)
BMT Sea Beach Line (N all times)

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

[edit] References

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