B (New York City Subway service)

Sixth Avenue Express

A train made of R68A cars in B service at Kings Highway, bound for Manhattan.

A train made of R68 cars in B service at Kings Highway, bound for Manhattan.

Note: dashed line shows rush hour only service
Northern end Bedford Park Boulevard (rush hours) or 145th Street
Southern end Brighton Beach
Stations 37
Rolling stock R68, R68A
Depot Coney Island Yard

The B Sixth Avenue Express is a rapid transit service in the B Division of the New York City Subway. Its route emblem, or "bullet", is colored bright orange since it uses the IND Sixth Avenue Line in Manhattan.[1] The B only operates on weekdays except nights. On middays and evenings, the B operates between 145th Street in Harlem, Manhattan and Brighton Beach in Brooklyn via Central Park West Local, the north side of the Manhattan Bridge, and Brighton Express. During rush hours, the B is extended to and from Bedford Park Boulevard in the Bronx via Concourse Local.

History

 
B

6TH AVE
 
BB

6TH AVE
R1 through R38 end rollsigns

B train logos

The designation B was originally intended to designate express trains originating in the Washington Heights neighborhood of Manhattan and operating in Midtown Manhattan on the IND Sixth Avenue Line. However, the original B service, beginning with the opening of the Sixth Avenue Line in 1940 and continuing until the opening of the Chrystie Street Connection in 1967, ran only as a rush-hour local between 168th Street – Washington Heights and 34th Street – Herald Square. This service was designated BB in conformance with Independent Subway System protocol of using double letters to indicate local services.[2]

Subsequent to the opening of the Chrystie Street Connection, the former BB trains were combined with the former T service of the BMT West End Line, creating a through service from Washington Heights to Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue.[3] This service was initially to have been signed BT but was simply signed B instead. Starting on July 1, 1968, the B had its Manhattan terminal at 57th Street during non-rush hour daytime hours, bypassing 57th Street and extending to 168th Street only during rush hours.

The partial closure of the Manhattan Bridge to subway service between April 13, 1986 and February 21, 2004 affected B service by severing the connection between the northern and southern portions of the route. Beginning on April 13, 1986, the northern B service (via Sixth Avenue, informally called the "Orange B") and the southern B service (via the BMT Broadway Line, informally called the "Yellow B") operated as two different services. The Orange B more or less duplicated the former BB service, and the Yellow B imitated the old T service. The former B service resumed December 11, 1988. On October 29, 1989, the IND 63rd Street Line opened, extending service to 21st Street – Queensbridge. B service ran through this new line on weekends. A year later, it would also run here on weekday evenings.

On April 30, 1995, the north side of the Manhattan Bridge was closed on midday and weekends until the following November. During this time, B trains ran only between Atlantic Avenue – Pacific Street and Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue, running local on the BMT West End Line and express on the BMT Fourth Avenue Line.[2]

On February 22, 1998, B service was cut to 57th Street on evenings and weekends as a result of the reconstruction of the IND 63rd Street Line. Service on that line was replaced by a shuttle to the BMT Broadway Line.

On March 1, 1998, the B and the C switched northern terminals, ending the connection between the B and Washington Heights. The B was now routed onto the IND Concourse Line during rush hours.[2]

In 2000, B service was taken off of the IND 63rd Street Line for signal and track work. It now ran along Central Park West to 145th Street (Bedford Park Boulevard during rush hours) at all times except late nights.

On July 22, 2001, B service over the Manhattan Bridge was again interrupted and service recast similarly to the 1986 changes. However, this time the West End Line portion of the run was redesignated as the W. B service ran weekdays only, to Bedford Park Boulevard during rush hours and 145th Street during middays and evenings.[4]

On February 22, 2004, the Manhattan Bridge was fully reopened to subway service. B trains were extended through Grand Street station and over the north tracks of the Manhattan Bridge into Brooklyn, replacing the Q Diamond as the Brighton Express to Brighton Beach. The B was moved to the Brighton Line instead of returning to the West End Line, which it had run on since 1967, in order to avoid running two separate (B and D) shortened services outside of weekdays. The plan was for the B to run only on weekdays in the Bronx, while the restored service on the Brighton Line (formerly the D) was to run only on weekdays in Brooklyn. Thus, moving the B to the Brighton Line meant it would only be operated on weekdays. In contrast, the D would now provide 24-hour service to the Concourse Line in the Bronx and West End Line in Brooklyn eliminating the need to run late-night and/or weekend shuttles on either line.[5]

From September 14, 2009 to October 3, 2011, B trains ran local in Brooklyn due to a station reconstruction project on the Brighton Line.[2]

Route

Service pattern

The following table shows the lines used by the B, with shaded boxes indicating the route at the specified times:

Line From To Tracks Times
week
days		 rush
hours
IND Concourse Line Bedford Park Boulevard 155th Street local    
145th Street all  
IND Eighth Avenue Line 135th Street 59th Street – Columbus Circle local
IND Sixth Avenue Line Seventh Avenue Broadway – Lafayette Street express
Chrystie Street Connection Grand Street all
Manhattan Bridge north
BMT Brighton Line DeKalb Avenue Brighton Beach express

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 weekdays only
Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction
Stops rush hours only
Stops weekdays in the peak direction only
Time period details
Stations Subway transfers Connections/Other Notes
The Bronx
Concourse Line
Bedford Park Boulevard D 
Kingsbridge Road D  Northern terminal for some afternoon rush hour trains
Fordham Road D  Bx12 Select Bus Service
182nd–183rd Streets D 
Tremont Avenue D 
174th–175th Streets D 
170th Street D 
167th Street D 
161st Street – Yankee Stadium D 
4  (IRT Jerome Avenue Line)
Manhattan
155th Street D 
145th Street D 
A  C  (IND Eighth Avenue Line)		 Northern terminal for all midday and evening trains
Eighth Avenue Line
135th Street C 
125th Street A  C  D  M60 Select Bus Service to LaGuardia Airport
116th Street C 
Cathedral Parkway – 110th Street C 
103rd Street C 
96th Street C 
86th Street C  M86 Select Bus Service
81st Street – Museum of Natural History C 
72nd Street C 
59th Street – Columbus Circle A  C  D 
1  (IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line)
Sixth Avenue Line
Seventh Avenue D 
E  (IND Queens Boulevard Line)
47th–50th Streets – Rockefeller Center D  F  M 
42nd Street – Bryant Park D  F  M 
7  <7> (IRT Flushing Line at Fifth Avenue)
34th Street – Herald Square D  F  M 
N  Q  R  (BMT Broadway Line)		 M34 / M34A Select Bus Service
PATH at 33rd Street
West Fourth Street – Washington Square D  F  M 
A  C  E  (IND Eighth Avenue Line)		 PATH at 9th Street
Broadway – Lafayette Street D  F  M 
6  <6> (IRT Lexington Avenue Line at Bleecker Street)
Chrystie Street Branch
Grand Street D 
Brooklyn
Brighton Line
DeKalb Avenue Q  R 
Atlantic Avenue – Barclays Center Q 
D  N  R  (BMT Fourth Avenue Line)
2  3  4  5  (IRT Eastern Parkway Line)		 LIRR Atlantic Branch at Atlantic Terminal
Seventh Avenue Q 
Prospect Park Q 
S  (BMT Franklin Avenue Line)
Church Avenue Q 
Newkirk Plaza Q 
Kings Highway Q 
Sheepshead Bay Q 
Brighton Beach Q 

References

  1. ↑ "mta.info - Line Colors". mta.info.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "NYCT Line by Line History". erictb.info.
  3. ↑ "New Subway Routes Brochure". www.thejoekorner.com. New York City Transit Authority. November 26, 1967. Retrieved 2016-01-24.
  4. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20030629092241/http://mta.info/nyct/service/pdf/tdcur.pdf
  5. ↑ "A Subway Map Remade, in Hopes of Matching Routes and Riders". The New York Times. February 20, 2004. Retrieved June 9, 2014.

External links

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