| Broadway Local | |
|---|---|
| Northern end | 71st Avenue or 36th Street (late nights) |
| Southern end | Bay Ridge – 95th Street |
| Stations | 45 |
The R Broadway Local is a service of the New York City Subway. It is colored yellow on the route sign (either on the front and/or side – depending on equipment used) and on station signs and the NYC Subway map, as it represents a service provided on the BMT Broadway Line in Manhattan.
The R service operates at all times. Normal service operates from 71st Avenue in Forest Hills, Queens, to 95th Street in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn via the IND Queens Boulevard Line, BMT Broadway Line, and BMT Fourth Avenue Line, making all stops. During late nights, it operates as a shuttle within Brooklyn from 36th to 95th Streets, with northbound trains bypassing 53rd and 45th Streets.
The R is the longest New York City Subway service without an elevated section, although there is a small opening between 59th Street and Bay Ridge Avenue in Brooklyn when the Fourth Avenue line passes over a valley containing the Long Island Rail Road's Bay Ridge Branch tracks.
The line has been called the Silicon Subway, for its social role: connecting the areas of Manahttan where many technical firms are located in the 2010's, with the areas in Brooklyn where they typically live. [1]
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The service that later became the R was the BMT 2. When it entered service on January 15, 1916, it ran between Chambers Street on the BMT Nassau Street Line and 86th Street, using the Manhattan Bridge to cross the East River. Service on the BMT Broadway Line (which was only between Whitehall Street and Times Square) began exactly two years later. The Montague Street Tunnel opened on October 1, 1920, and at that time it took its current shape, running local from Queensboro Plaza to 86th Street. Bay Ridge – 95th Street station opened on October 31, 1925. During this time, rush-hour specials to Chambers Street were added and later removed, only to be added again. At one time, including 1931, additional midday service operated local between 57th Street and Whitehall Street – South Ferry. The 2 also used the Nassau Street Loop during rush hours, entering Manhattan via the Manhattan Bridge or Montague Street Tunnel and leaving via the other.
On October 17, 1949, the platform edges on the BMT Astoria Line had been shaved back, and the BMT's Astoria Shuttle was replaced with through service from the Fourth Avenue Line. On June 29, 1950, special rush hour trains began running between 95th Street and Chambers Street via the south side of the Manhattan Bridge and/or the Montague Street Tunnel. This was discontinued two years later. On January 1, 1961, the northern terminal was relocated to its current location at Forest Hills – 71st Avenue, via the BMT 60th Street Tunnel Connection.
In winter 1960–61, letters started to appear on the RR, which was known as the "Fourth Avenue Local via Tunnel", from Forest Hills – 71st Avenue to Bay Ridge – 95th Street, like current R service. On November 27, 1967, the day after the IND Chrystie Street Connection opened, the RR was moved back to Astoria – Ditmars Boulevard on the BMT Astoria Line. (EE service began at Whitehall Street – South Ferry and used the former route to 71st Avenue). The Nassau Street specials were through-routed from 95th Street to 168th Street in Jamaica as RJ. Under the first color scheme, RR was colored green and RJ was red.
The RJ service only lasted a few months before it was cut back to Chambers Street and renamed as additional RR rush-hour peak-direction service. In May 1985, when double letters were eliminated, RR service became the R. R service was assigned the color yellow (because it used the BMT Broadway Line), and the special Chambers Street rush-hour R service was brown (using the Nassau Street Line).
Effective May 24, 1987, the north terminals of the N and R were swapped, taking the R along the IND Queens Boulevard Line to Forest Hills – 71st Avenue. The change was made to give the R direct access to the Jamaica Yard (where the train is now assigned to this day)'[2][3] previously, R trains had to run light to/from the Coney Island Yard.
On November 23, 1987, the special Chambers Street rush-hour R service was eliminated.
When the IND Archer Avenue Line opened on December 11, 1988, E service was rerouted along to Jamaica Center – Parsons/Archer, and the R was extended to replace the E to Jamaica – 179th Street. The extension to Jamaica was short-lived, and the R was cut back in October of 1992 to 71st–Continental Avenue in favor of an extension of the F, which runs express west of 71st Avenue.
On September 30, 1990, late-night R service became a shuttle between 36th Street and 95th Street in Brooklyn. In the late '90s, northbound late-night trains began skipping 53rd Street and 45th Street to avoid occupying the track that through N trains use.
On September 11, 2001, after the attack on the World Trade Center, the BMT Broadway Line was damaged, and the R service was cut back to run only south of Court Street. On September 17, R service was totally suspended, replaced with J service in Brooklyn and Q service in Manhattan and Queens [4] All three trains returned to normal service by October 28. [5]
On September 8, 2002, Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue was closed for reconstruction. Late night R service was extended to Pacific Street, running express between that station and 36th Street. Service was cut back to 36th Street when the north side of the Manhattan Bridge reopened on February 22, 2004.
The following table shows the lines used by the R service, with shaded boxes indicating the route at the specified times:
| Line | From | To | Tracks | Times | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| all ex. nights |
late nights |
||||
| IND Queens Boulevard Line | Forest Hills – 71st Avenue | Queens Plaza | local | ||
| 60th Street Tunnel Connection and 60th Street Tunnel | all | ||||
| BMT Broadway Line (full line) | Lexington Avenue / 59th Street | Canal Street | local | ||
| City Hall | Whitehall Street – South Ferry | all | |||
| Montague Street Tunnel | |||||
| BMT Fourth Avenue Line (full line) | Court Street | Jay Street – MetroTech | |||
| DeKalb Avenue | 25th Street | local | |||
| 36th Street | 59th Street | ||||
| Bay Ridge Avenue | Bay Ridge – 95th Street | all | |||
Note: Late-night northbound trains skip 53rd and 45th Streets on the BMT Fourth Avenue Line.
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 in the peak direction only | |
| Time period details | |
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