D (New York City Subway service)

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	Sixth Avenue Express
Northern end	205th Street
Southern end	Coney Island

all terminals shown above

The D Sixth Avenue Express is a rapid transit service of the New York City Subway. It is colored orange on route signs, station signs, and the official subway map, since it uses the IND Sixth Avenue Line through Manhattan.

The D service operates at all times, from 205th Street in Norwood, Bronx, to Stillwell Avenue in Coney Island, Brooklyn, via Central Park West and Sixth Avenue in Manhattan, and via the Manhattan Bridge to and from Brooklyn. In Brooklyn, D service operates via Fourth Avenue and the BMT West End Line.

D trains generally operate local in the Bronx, express in Manhattan, and local in Brooklyn. However, rush hour trains north of 145th Street run express in the peak direction only (mornings to Manhattan, evenings from Manhattan) along the Concourse Line. Brooklyn trains operate express along the Fourth Avenue corridor at all times except late nights.

The D fleet consists mostly of R68s, but has R68As occasionally running on that service. R40s and R40Ms are used to provide extra service on the D during construction or games at Yankee Stadium.

The following lines are used by the D service:

Line	Tracks	When
IND Concourse Line (full line)	local (express rush hours in peak direction)	always
IND Eighth Avenue Line from 145th Street to 59th Street–Columbus Circle	express	always
IND Sixth Avenue Line from 59th Street to Broadway–Lafayette Street	express	always
IND Chrystie Street Connection (full line)	express	always
BMT Manhattan Bridge north tracks (full line)	N/A	always
BMT Fourth Avenue Line north of 36th Street	express (local late nights)	always
BMT West End Line (full line)	local	always

1 History
2 Cultural references
3 Stations
4 External links
5 References

[edit] History

This article or section may contain an inappropriate mixture of prose and timeline.

Please help convert this timeline into prose or, if necessary, a list.

Coney Island-bound D train of R68s at 62nd Street

Side sign of an R40, which was running on the D due to construction

D service officially began on December 15, 1940 when the IND Sixth Avenue Line opened. It ran from Norwood-205th Street, Bronx to Chambers Street on the IND Eighth Avenue Line (at that time was called Hudson Terminal), switching from the IND Sixth Avenue to the Eighth Avenue Lines at West 4th Street.

On December 29, 1951, peak direction express service in the Bronx was discontinued.

On October 30, 1954, a connection between the IND South Brooklyn Line and BMT Culver Line opened. D service was rerouted via these two lines to Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue with limited rush hour trains to Church Avenue.

During 1957 to 1959, limited rush hour trains ran express and/or local to IND Fulton Street Line.

From December 4 to December 27, 1962, a special service labeled DD was provided due to a water main break. It ran local from 205th Street, Bronx to 59th Street-Columbus Circle, then continued as a local down the Eighth Avenue Line to West 4th Street, where it switched to the Sixth Avenue Line and continued on its normal route to Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue via the Culver Line.

On November 26, 1967, the IND Chrystie Street Connection opened, adding express service on the Sixth Avenue Line and connecting it with the Manhattan Bridge. D service was switched over to BMT Brighton Line via this new connector. It became the express service on weekdays to Brighton Beach and the local to Stillwell Avenue other times. In Manhattan, it ran express from West Fourth Street to 34th Street rush hours only (the B used the express tracks to terminate there at other times). It would become the full time Sixth Avenue Express when non-rush hours B service was extended to 57th Street–Sixth Avenue.

When the north side of the Manhattan Bridge was closed in April 1986, D service ran in two sections, one between the Bronx and 34th Street while the other ran from 57th Street on the BMT Broadway Line, then express along the Broadway Line to Canal Street, then over the south side of the Manhattan Bridge into Brooklyn, and then along the Brighton Line to Stillwell Avenue. At this time, D/Q skip-stop service ran in Brooklyn on weekdays.

In 1988, the north side reopened and the two sections joined. The D now ran as the full time Brighton Local to Stillwell Avenue.

In May 1995, the north side was closed during midday and weekends and D service was cut south of 34th Street. On July 22, 2001, it was closed at all times and D service was cut again. In Brooklyn, it was replaced by Q local service.

After September 11, 2001, C service was suspended. On weekends, the D ran local on the Eighth Avenue Line north of 59th Street to fill in the gap caused by the suspension.

On February 22, 2004, the north side of the Manhattan Bridge was reopened, and D trains were extended via the north side of the bridge to Brooklyn, replacing the W as the Fourth Avenue Express (late nights local) and West End Local to Stillwell Avenue.

From May 24 to Fall 2004, construction on the IND Concourse Line suspended D express service in the Bronx, but the B still traveled to Bedford Park Boulevard during rush hours.

The Eighth Avenue fire in January 2005 caused D trains to run local on the Eighth Avenue Line north of 59th Street on weekday evenings until C service was restored on February 2.

[edit] Cultural references

Bob Dylan's 1966 song "Visions of Johanna" includes the lyric "In the empty lot where the ladies play blindman's bluff with the keychain/And the all-night girls, they whisper of escapades out on the D train." At the time, the D used the IND Culver Line to Coney Island.
In the late 1980's and early 1990's, numerous Top 10 Lists on Late Night with David Letterman contained references to the D train.
The famous car-chase scene in the movie The French Connection took place under the elevated tracks running from 86th Street into New Utrecht Avenue, Brooklyn (although at that time, the B was serving the West End Line). Many of the actual street scenes, however, were shot in other areas, such as Bushwick, Brooklyn.
The line is mentioned in the song 3 The Hard Way by The Beastie Boys. Adam Yauch raps the following line: "Used to ride the D to beat the morning bell at Edward R. Murrow out on Avenue L..." (Referring to Edward R. Murrow High School, where the D served the station closest to the school, Avenue M, until 2001, when it was replaced by the Q).
Seinfeld uses the D line to go to Coney Island at the Seinfeld episode The Subway.

[edit] 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 all times except rush hours in the peak direction
	Stops rush hours only
	Stops rush hours in the peak direction only
Time period details

	Station	Subway transfers	Connections
The Bronx
	Norwood–205th Street
	Bedford Park Boulevard	B
	Kingsbridge Road	B
	Fordham Road	B
	182nd–183rd Streets	B
	Tremont Avenue	B
	174th–175th Streets	B
	170th Street	B
	167th Street	B
	161st Street-River Avenue	B 4 (IRT Jerome Avenue Line)
Manhattan
	155th Street-8th Avenue	B
	145th Street	B A C (IND Eighth Avenue Line)
	125th Street	A B C	M60 bus to LaGuardia Airport
	59th Street–Columbus Circle	A B C 1 2 (IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line)
	7th Avenue-53rd Street	B E (IND Queens Boulevard Line)
	47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center	B F V
	42nd Street–Bryant Park	B F V 7 <7> (IRT Flushing Line at Fifth Avenue–Bryant Park)
	34th Street–Herald Square	B F V N Q R W (BMT Broadway Line)	PATH at 33rd Street Amtrak, LIRR, NJ Transit at Pennsylvania Station
	West Fourth Street–Washington Square	B F V A C E (IND Eighth Avenue Line)	PATH at 9th Street
	Broadway–Lafayette Street	B F V 4 6 <6> (IRT Lexington Avenue Line at Bleecker Street; transfer to downtown trains only)
	Grand Street	B
Brooklyn
	DeKalb Avenue	N Q
	Atlantic Avenue–Pacific Street	M N R B Q (BMT Brighton Line) 2 3 4 5 (IRT Eastern Parkway Line)	LIRR Atlantic Branch at Flatbush Avenue
	Union Street	N
	Ninth Street	N
	Prospect Avenue	N
	25th Street	N
	36th Street-4th Avenue	M N R
	Ninth Avenue	M
	Fort Hamilton Parkway	M
	50th Street	M
	55th Street	M
	62nd Street	M N (BMT Sea Beach Line at New Utrecht Avenue)
	71st Street	M
	79th Street	M
	18th Avenue	M
	20th Avenue	M
	Bensonhurst-Bay Parkway	M
	25th Avenue
	Bay 50th Street
	Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue	F (BMT Culver Line) N (BMT Sea Beach Line) Q (BMT Brighton Line)

[edit] External links

[edit] References

Line By Line History
New Routes Listed in IND Emergency Caused by Flooding, New York Times December 8, 1962 page 33

v • d • e New York City Subway

Services	1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • A • B • C • D • E • F • G • J • L • M • N • Q • R • V • W • Z

Shuttles (S)	42nd Street • Franklin Avenue • Rockaway Park

Unused or defunct	8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • AA • BB • CC • EE (8 Avenue) • EE (Broadway) • GG • H • HH (Court Street) • HH (Rockaway Park) • JJ • K (Broadway) • K (8 Avenue) • KK • LL • MJ • NX • P • QB • QJ • QT • RJ • RR • T • TT • U • X • Y • JFK Express BMT: 1 • 2 • 3 • 4 • 5 • 6 • 7 • 8 • 9 • 10 • 11 • 12 • 13 • 14 • 15 • 16 Shuttles (S/SS): 63rd Street • Bowling Green • Culver • Grand Street • Other

Capital Construction	7 Subway Extension • Fulton Street Transit Center • Second Avenue Subway

Divisions	A Division (IRT) • B Division (BMT • IND)

Lists	Inter-division connections • Lines • Services • Stations • Terminals • Transfers • Yards

Miscellaneous	Chaining • History • Fares • MetroCard • Nomenclature • Rolling stock • Proposed expansion (1929-1940) • Train of Many Colors

See also: {{NYCS lines}} {{NYCS rolling stock}}