Q (New York City Subway service)
:''For former
QJ service, see the page about the
J.
The
Q Broadway Express is a service of the
New York City Subway. It is colored yellow since it uses the
BMT Broadway Line through
Manhattan. It follows the same service pattern at all times, running express in Manhattan and local in
Brooklyn from 57th Street in
Midtown Manhattan to Stillwell Avenue in
Coney Island.
The following lines are used by the :
1967-1979 bullet
(in a circle) |
On
August 1,
1920, service on the
BMT Brighton Line began upon opening of the
Montague Street Tunnel by a connecting two-track line between Prospect Park and DeKalb Avenue. Weekdays and Saturday, express service went via the
Manhattan Bridge to Times Square–42nd Street while local service went via Montague Street to
Queensboro Plaza. During late nights, local service ran via the tunnel as well. Evenings and Sundays, this service ran express in Manhattan via the bridge to 57th Street/Seventh Avenue.
Beginning in the
1930s, special morning rush-hour service ran via the bridge to
Chambers Street every day except Sundays. On
June 29,
1950, evening service was instituted as well. On
June 21,
1952, this special service was discontinued.
On
October 17,
1949, the
Astoria Line was converted from joint / operation to exclusive BMT operation and Brighton Locals were extended to
Ditmars Boulevard,
Astoria.
On
June 26,
1952, all Broadway Express service was extended to 57th Street/Seventh Avenue.
On
December 1,
1955, weekday local service was extended through the new
BMT 60th Street Tunnel Connection to
71st-Continental Avenue–Forest Hills on the
IND Queens Boulevard Line. Weekday express service was extended to Ditmars Boulevard. Beginning on
May 4,
1957, service ran to Ditmars on Saturdays as well, making local stops in
Manhattan to replace the locals which now ran to Chambers Street via Montague Street.
On
October 24,
1957, local service via the Manhattan Bridge was switched to the local track at Prince Street, and night service was moved from Montague Street to the bridge.
From
May 28,
1959, local service on the Brighton Line ran only durng middays. Nassau Street specials ran via Montague Street in the peak direction and via the Manhattan Bridge in reverse peak direction.
Nine days later, Saturday local service began running to
Franklin Avenue.
On
November 15,
1960, the first
R-27 cars were put into service. Express was designated as
Q, local via tunnel as
QT, and local via bridge as
QB. The R27s spent most of their time on the
QT. On
September 16,
1964, the first
R32 "Brightliners" went into service on the
Q.
Beginning on
January 1,
1961, weekday service had the
Q running from 57th Street/Seventh Avenue to Brighton Beach and the
QT running from Ditmars Boulevard to Stillwell Avenue. On Saturdays, the
QT ran to Franklin Avenue while the
Q ran to Ditmars Boulevard as an express in Brooklyn and local in Manhattan. The
QB remained unchanged.
On
April 2,
1962, Saturday
Q service was discontinued. During evenings, late nights, and weekends, the
QT ran local to Ditmars Boulevard.
From
February 10 to
November 2,
1962, the Brighton Line express tracks were out of service to allow platforms to be extended to train lengths.
Skip-stop service was instituted among all three lines.
On
November 26,
1967, the
IND Chrystie Street Connection opened. Originally, all three
Q services were to be completely eliminated and replaced by the and
QJ. However, due to riders' opposition, the
NX service was institued to provide Broadway service for Brighton passengers at Brighton Beach, Ocean Parkway, and West 8th Street. In addition, three morning rush
QJs were redesignated as
QB, and two more were later added. They ran local in Brooklyn from Stillwell Avenue to 57th Street/Seventh Avenue via the Manhattan Bridge and Broadway Express, and then returned either out of service or replaced by service.
In
1986, the IND double-letter naming scheme was dropped. The resulting
Q ran between 57th Street/Seventh Avenue and Stillwell Avenue during rush hours, making express stops in Manhattan and local stops in Brooklyn. During construction on the Brighton express tracks, the
Q ran skip-stop service with the . At the same time, the north side of the
Manhattan Bridge was closed for reconstruction.
In
1988, the north side reopened and the south side was closed. The
Q became the weekday Brighton Express and was rerouted via the north side of the bridge and the
IND Sixth Avenue Line to
57th Street/Sixth Avenue,
Midtown Manhattan (and to
21st Street–Queensbridge,
Long Island City, beginning in
1989). On weekday evenings, a shuttle ran between 57th Street/Sixth Avenue and
Second Avenue. This was replaced by service on
September 30,
1990.
In May
1995, the north side of the
Manhattan Bridge was closed during midday and weekends. During this time, the
Q ran local in Brooklyn and then via Montague Street to
Canal Street on the Broadway Line. From there, it ran express to 21st Street–Queensbridge.
On
February 22,
1998, reconstruction on the
IND 63rd Street Line cut and
Q service to 57th Street/Sixth Avenue. Service on the 63rd Street Line was replaced by a
shuttle to the BMT Broadway Line. Normal service resumed on
May 22,
1999 |
A Stillwell Avenue-bound Q train |
On
July 22,
2001, the north side of the
Manhattan Bridge was closed and the south side had reopened. There were two
Q lines. In Brooklyn, the circle
Q replaced the as the Brighton Local to Stillwell Avenue while the diamond
Q replaced the Sixth Avenue
Q as the Brighton Express to Brighton Beach. Both
Qs used the south side of the Manhattan Bridge to travel into Manhattan and then ran to 57th Street/Seventh Avenue via Broadway Express.
After
September 11,
2001, service was suspended. The
Q local replaced it between
Canal Street and
71st-Continental Avenue–Forest Hills at all times except late nights, when it terminated at 57th Street/Seventh Avenue. Service went back to normal on
October 28.
On
September 8,
2002, Stillwell Avenue was closed for reconstruction and the
Q local terminated at Brighton Beach. It returned to Stillwell on
May 23,
2004.
From
April 27 to
November 2,
2003, the south side of the Manhattan Bridge was closed on weekends and
Q service was rerouted via the Montague Street Tunnel.
On
February 22,
2004, the north side of the
Manhattan Bridge reopened. The
Q diamond was discontinued and replaced by the in Brooklyn and in Manhattan.
Current plans for the
Second Avenue Line provide for the
Q to be extended northward from 57th Street via the
BMT 63rd Street Line, which is currently used only during service disruptions. The
Q would stop at
Lexington Avenue-63rd Street at a currently-hidden platform to provide a cross-platform transfer to the
IND 63rd Street Line (currently served by the train). East of Lexington Avenue, it would curve northward to merge with the Second Avenue Line at about 64th Street. At the conclusion of the project, the
Q's new northern terminal will be 125th Street, providing residents of
Spanish Harlem and the
Upper East Side with direct subway service via
Second Avenue and
Broadway to western
Midtown,
Lower Manhattan, and
Brooklyn.
For a more detailed station listing, see the articles on the lines listed above. trains run all the time.
*
MTA NYC Transit - Q Broadway Express*
MTA NYC Transit - Q schedule (
PDF)
*
Line By Line History
