BMT West End Line

Summary

The BMT West End Line is a line of the New York City Subway, serving the Brooklyn communities of Sunset Park, Borough Park, New Utrecht, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach and Coney Island. The D train operates local on the entire line at all times. Although there is a center express track and three express stations along the line, there is no regular express service.

BMT West End Line
"D" train
The D train serves the entire BMT West End Line at all times.
Overview
OwnerCity of New York
Termini
Stations13
Service
TypeRapid transit
SystemNew York City Subway
Operator(s)New York City Transit Authority
Daily ridership46,068[1]
History
Opened1916–1917
Technical
Line length4.5 miles (7.2 km)[2]
Number of tracks3–6
CharacterOpen Cut (Ninth Avenue only) /Surface along Coney Island Yard/
Elevated
Track gauge4 ft 8+12 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Electrification600 V DC third rail
Route map

Legend
Ninth Avenue
(lower level abandoned)
Fort Hamilton Parkway
50th Street
55th Street
62nd Street
71st Street
79th Street
18th Avenue
20th Avenue
Bay Parkway
25th Avenue
Bay 50th Street
Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue

The elevated line, originally mapped as the New Utrecht Avenue Line (though the common name prevailed after construction), replaced the surface West End Line.[3]

Extent and service edit

The following services use part or all of the BMT West End Line:[4]

  Time period Section of line
  all times full line

The line begins as a branch of the BMT Fourth Avenue Line south of the 36th Street station, and it extends through a cut described as the 38th Street cut to Ninth Avenue. Then it becomes an elevated structure over New Utrecht Avenue, before subsequently turning through private property near 79th Street into 86th Street. The line then continues over 86th Street to Stillwell Avenue and to the line's terminal at Coney Island.[3]

History edit

The line was originally a surface excursion railway to Coney Island, called the Brooklyn, Bath and Coney Island Railroad, which was established in 1862, but did not reach Coney Island until 1864.[5] Under the Dual Contracts of 1913, an elevated line was built over New Utrecht Avenue, 86th Street and Stillwell Avenue.

From 39th Street to Coney Island, the old route was abandoned as a rapid transit line, and it was turned into a surface car line. Surface car operation began on the line once the new elevated service started.[3]

The first portion of the line, between the 36th Street station on Fourth Avenue and 62nd Street station, opened on June 24, 1916, with two tracks.[6][7] On the same date, the line opened three more stations to 18th Avenue, but with only one track in service. The second track between 62nd Street and 18th Avenue opened on July 8, 1916. The line was then extended to 25th Avenue on July 29, 1916. The line opened to and 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.[3]

As part of an 18-month capital budget that took effect on January 1, 1963, the wooden platforms at the stations on the West End Line were replaced with concrete platforms.[8]

On November 13, 1985, the New York City Transit Authority announced that an almost four-year-long renovation of the line would begin in spring 1986. As part of the project, tracks and girders would be repaired, and stations would be rehabilitated. To enable sections of the local tracks to be taken out of service for long periods of time for the work, trains would operate on the center express track and stop at local stations through the use of temporary platforms that would be constructed atop the local track.[9]

Service history edit

 
Elevated line over 86th Street at Bay Parkway station
 
Route designation on BMT Triplex equipment

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 train from Manhattan was extended to Coney Island, absorbing the T and TT (both ran 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 during late night hours, but express at all other times. Late night operation was cut back to a shuttle to 36th Street in 1976.

In 2001, when reconstruction of the Manhattan Bridge north tracks resumed, the B service in Brooklyn was replaced by the new W train, which ran as a shuttle not only to 36th Street during nighttime hours, but also to Atlantic Avenue–Pacific Street on weekends. In 2002, reconstruction of Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue resulted in the West End Line being the only line to serve the terminal and the W was extended full-time into Manhattan, using the local Fourth Avenue tracks and Montague Street Tunnel on weekends and late nights hours.[10]

In 2004, the Manhattan Bridge reconstruction project was completed, and the W was replaced with an extended D train, running over the bridge at all hours and express on Fourth Avenue except late nights. D service was moved to the West End Line instead of returning to the Brighton Line, where it ran on from 1967 to 2001, because West End Line residents from Chinatowns in Brooklyn wanted full-time access to Grand Street, on the Sixth Avenue Line in Manhattan's Chinatown. This also eliminated the need to run late-night and/or weekend shuttles on either the Concourse Line or the West End Line.[11]

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. In 1987, the short line service was essentially recreated when the rush-hour M extension to Brooklyn was moved from the BMT Brighton Line to the West End Line terminating at Bay Parkway. It terminated at Ninth Avenue during midday hours until 1995, when it was cut back to Chambers Street. It was extended again from 2001–2004 while the Manhattan Bridge was closed for reconstruction. In 2010, as part of a series of MTA budget cuts, rush-hour M service was discontinued.

On July 19, 2019, a project to install elevators at the 62nd Street/New Utrecht Avenue station was completed.[12] Starting on September 18, 2021, and continuing until January 3, 2022, southbound D trains terminated at Bay 50th Street so work could be completed to protect Coney Island Yard from flooding.[13]

Station listing edit

Station service legend
  Stops all times
Time period details
  Station is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act
  ↑ Station is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act
in the indicated direction only
  ↓
  Elevator access to mezzanine only
Neighborhood   Station Tracks Services Opened Transfers and notes
splits from the BMT Fourth Avenue Line (D  )
Center Express track begins (No Regular Service)
connecting tracks to former BMT Culver Line (demolished)
connecting tracks to 36th–38th Street Yard from local tracks
Sunset Park Ninth Avenue all D   June 24, 1916 former transfer to BMT Culver Line
Borough Park Fort Hamilton Parkway local D   June 24, 1916
50th Street local D   June 24, 1916
55th Street local D   June 24, 1916
Bensonhurst   62nd Street all D   June 24, 1916 BMT Sea Beach Line (N  W  ) at New Utrecht Avenue
71st Street local D   June 24, 1916
79th Street local D   June 24, 1916
18th Avenue local D   June 24, 1916
20th Avenue local D   July 29, 1916
  Bay Parkway all D   July 29, 1916 B82 Select Bus Service
25th Avenue local D   July 29, 1916
connecting track to Coney Island Yard
Gravesend Bay 50th Street local D   July 21, 1917
connecting track to Coney Island Yard
Center Express track ends
Coney Island   Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue all D   July 21, 1917 BMT Brighton Line (Q  )
IND Culver Line (F   <F>  ​)
BMT Sea Beach Line (N  )

In popular culture edit

Over the years, the West End line has been featured in movies and television shows.

 
Under the structure, between 50th Street and Fort Hamilton Parkway stations

See also edit

References edit

  1. ^ "Annual Subway Ridership (2017–2022)". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2022. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
  2. ^ "BMT West End Line". BMT West End Line. Mark S. Feinman, Peggy Darlington, David Pirmann, and Ed Sachs. Retrieved September 19, 2019.
  3. ^ a b c d Report of the Public Service Commission For The First District of the State of New York For The Year Ending December 31, 1916 Vol. 1. New York State Public Service Commission. 1917. p. 48.
  4. ^ "Subway Service Guide" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. September 2019. Retrieved September 22, 2019.
  5. ^ Opening of the Brooklyn, Bath and Coney Island Railroad, The New York Times June 9, 1864, page 2
  6. ^ "Parade, Pageant Mark Celebration: Borough Park Civic Bodies and School Children Join in Festivities: West End Line Opened: First Train From Manhattan Over New "L" Extension of Dual System to Sixty-Second Street". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. June 24, 1916. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  7. ^ "Realty Boom Is Predicted for Borough Park Section". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. June 24, 1916. Retrieved September 16, 2015.
  8. ^ "For Release Sunday, July 12, 1964" (PDF). New York City Office of the Mayor. July 12, 1964. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
  9. ^ "Repairs on the BMT To Start Next Spring". The New York Times. November 14, 1985. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved February 22, 2024.
  10. ^ Manhattan Bridge Service Changes – The New York Times
  11. ^ "A Subway Map Remade, in Hopes of Matching Routes and Riders". The New York Times. February 20, 2004. Retrieved June 9, 2014.
  12. ^ "MTA Installs Four Elevators, Other ADA Features at New Utrecht Av/62 St Station Complex". mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. July 19, 2019. Archived from the original on January 10, 2021. Retrieved July 19, 2019.
  13. ^ Duggan, Kevin (August 17, 2021). "D train service cuts coming to southern Brooklyn for three months". amNewYork. Retrieved September 20, 2021.
  14. ^ a b "Film locations for The French Connection (1971)". The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved June 10, 2014.
  15. ^ Opening credits on YouTube

External links edit

Template:Attached KML/BMT West End Line
KML is from Wikidata
  • Railroad History Database
  • Gunther and His Railroad by Morton Morris
  • BMT West End Line on NYCSubway.org