B (New York City Subway service)

Sixth Avenue Express
A Brooklyn–bound R68A B train departing Seventh Avenue station
Northern end	Bedford Park Boulevard or 145th Street (limited middays and all evenings)
Southern end	Brighton Beach
Stations	37 27 (limited midday and all evening service)
Rolling stock	R68 R68A[1][2] (Rolling stock assignments subject to change)
Depot	Coney Island Yard
Started service	December 15, 1940; 84 years ago (1940-12-15)
Route map Legend to Norwood via Concourse  B  (weekdays) Bedford Park Boulevard Kingsbridge Road Fordham Road 182nd–183rd Streets Tremont Avenue 174th–175th Streets 170th Street 167th Street 161st Street–Yankee Stadium The Bronx Manhattan 155th Street ​ to 168th Street or 207th Street via 8th Avenue  B  (evenings) 145th Street 135th Street 125th Street 116th Street Cathedral Parkway–110th Street 103rd Street 96th Street 86th Street 81st Street–Museum of Natural History 72nd Street 59th Street–Columbus Circle ​​ Downtown & Brooklyn via 8th Avenue Seventh Avenue ​ East Side & Queens via 53rd Street Uptown & Queens via 63rd Street 47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center 42nd Street–Bryant Park 34th Street–Herald Square bypassed local section 23rd Street 14th Street West Fourth Street–Washington Square Broadway–Lafayette Street ​ Downtown & Brooklyn via 6th Avenue Grand Street ​ Uptown & Queens via Broadway Manhattan Brooklyn Manhattan & Queens via 4th Avenue Myrtle Avenue (closed) DeKalb Avenue ​​​​ to Bay Ridge & Coney Island via 4th Avenue Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center Seventh Avenue via Franklin Avenue Shuttle Prospect Park (  S ) bypassed local section Parkside Avenue Church Avenue bypassed local section Beverley Road Cortelyou Road Newkirk Plaza bypassed local section Avenue H Avenue J Avenue M Kings Highway bypassed local section Avenue U Neck Road Sheepshead Bay Brighton Beach  B  Coney Island via Brighton Legend Lines used by the Other services sharing tracks with the Unused lines, connections, or service patterns  B  Termini of services Cross-platform interchange Platforms on different levels This diagram: view talk edit

The B Sixth Avenue Express^[3] is a rapid transit service in the B Division of the New York City Subway. Its route emblem, or "bullet", is colored orange, since it uses the IND Sixth Avenue Line in Midtown Manhattan.^[4]

The B operates weekdays during daytime hours only. Weekday rush hour and midday service operates between Bedford Park Boulevard in the Bronx and Brighton Beach in Brooklyn. The route makes all stops in the Bronx and Upper Manhattan, and express stops in Midtown Manhattan (between 34th and West Fourth Streets) and in Brooklyn. Limited midday and all evening service short turns at 145th Street in Manhattan, rather than operating all the way to Bedford Park Boulevard.

From the opening of the IND Sixth Avenue Line in 1940 until November 25, 1967, the B ran exclusively in Manhattan, as the BB, from 168th Street in Washington Heights during rush hours to 34th Street–Herald Square in Midtown Manhattan. Upon the opening of the Chrystie Street Connection on November 26, 1967, the B started running via the BMT West End Line (local) and BMT Fourth Avenue Line (express) in Brooklyn and ran over the Manhattan Bridge directly from Sixth Avenue. A short-lived B service marked with a yellow bullet ran via the BMT Broadway Line in Manhattan and the BMT West End Line in Brooklyn from 1986 to 1988 due to Manhattan Bridge renovation, while an orange B service traveled the BB route between 168th and 34th Streets. After 1989, the B north of 47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center used the IND Eighth Avenue Line to 168th Street on weekdays, and the IND 63rd Street Line on evenings and weekends. Late night service ran as a shuttle on the West End Line. Weekday service was rerouted to the Concourse Line in 1998, while off-peak service along 63rd Street ceased in 2000. The B started using the Brighton Line in 2004 after work on the north side of the Manhattan Bridge was completed.