BMT Broadway Line

BMT Broadway Line
The N, Q, R, and W, which use the Broadway Line through Midtown Manhattan, are colored yellow.
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	City of New York
Locale	Manhattan, New York City, New York
Termini	east of Lexington Avenue/59th Street south of Whitehall Street–South Ferry
Stations	16
Service
Type	Rapid transit line
System	New York City Subway
Operator(s)	New York City Transit Authority
Daily ridership	445,799[1]
History
Opened	April 9, 1917; 107 years ago (1917-04-09)
Technical
Character	Underground
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Electrification	600V DC third rail
Route map Legend Astoria Line 60th Street Tunnel (East River) Tunnel Connection to Queens Blvd Line Lexington Avenue Line Lexington Avenue–59th Street 63rd Street Lines Fifth Avenue–59th Street 57th Street–Seventh Avenue (57th Street) Seventh Avenue (Queens Boulevard Line) 49th Street 42nd Street Shuttle Times Square–42nd Street (Flushing Line) 34th Street–Herald Square (Sixth Av Line) 28th Street 23rd Street 14th Street–Union Square (Canarsie Line) Eighth Street–New York University Sixth Avenue Line Prince Street Lexington Avenue Line Nassau Street Line Canal Street (local | express) Manhattan Bridge (East River) Fourth Avenue & Brighton Lines City Hall (lower level storage tracks) Brooklyn Branch Eighth Avenue Line Cortlandt Street Rector Street Lexington Avenue Line Whitehall Street–South Ferry Broad Street Montague Street Tunnel (East River) Fourth Avenue Line Legend Express station Local station This diagram: view talk edit

The BMT Broadway Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway in Manhattan. As of November 2016^[update], it is served by four services, all colored yellow: the N and ​Q trains on the express tracks and the R and ​W trains on the local tracks during weekdays (the N and Q trains make local stops during late nights, as do the N and R trains on weekends). The line is often referred to as the "N and R",^[2][3] since those were the only services on the line from 1988 to 2001, when the Manhattan Bridge's southern tracks were closed for rebuilding. The Broadway Line was built to give the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (later the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation, or BMT) access to Midtown Manhattan.

The line is named for its location under Broadway between Vesey Street and Seventh Avenue/45th Street (Times Square). It also passes under Vesey Street, Whitehall Street, Trinity Place, and Church Street in Lower Manhattan, and Seventh Avenue, 59th Street, and 60th Street in Midtown. The local tracks stretch the entire length between the two East River tunnels: the Montague Street Tunnel to the BMT Fourth Avenue Line in Brooklyn and the 60th Street Tunnel to the BMT Astoria Line and 60th Street Tunnel Connection in Queens. Center express tracks exist between Canal Street and 57th Street, turning off at Canal Street to feed the south tracks on the Manhattan Bridge, and continuing north and east under Central Park as the IND/BMT 63rd Street Line (connecting with the Second Avenue Subway). The Broadway Line was the only Manhattan outlet north of Delancey Street for the BMT's Brooklyn lines until 1967, when the opening of the Chrystie Street Connection allowed most BMT Brighton Line and BMT West End Line service to be moved to the IND Sixth Avenue Line.