BMT Nassau Street Line

BMT Nassau Street Line
Train services that use the BMT Nassau Street Line through downtown have been colored brown since 1979.
Info
Type	Rapid transit
System	New York City Subway
Termini	Essex Street Broad Street
Stations	6
Operation
Opened	1908-1931
Owner	City of New York
Operator(s)	New York City Transit Authority
Character	Underground
Technical
No. of tracks	2-3
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Electrification	600V DC third rail

BMT Nassau Street Line
Legend BMT Jamaica Line Williamsburg Bridge Essex Street Chrystie Street Connection Bowery Canal Street Former Manhattan Bridge connection Chambers Street Fulton Street Broad Street BMT Broadway Line Montague Street Tunnel BMT Fourth Avenue Line

The BMT Nassau Street Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway system. It is served by the J, M, and Z trains which are colored brown on maps and signage.

The line starts in Manhattan and emerges to cross the Williamsburg Bridge and becomes the BMT Jamaica Line in Brooklyn.

The line is served at all times by the J train, although on weekends, the two southernmost stations are closed. The M train provides weekday service north of Chambers Street, while during rush hours, the M train serves the full line when service is extended to Bensonhurst, Brooklyn. In addition, the Z provides supplemental rush hour service, operating in the peak direction.

While the line is officially recognized as the Nassau Street Line, it only serves one station on Nassau Street: Fulton Street.

History

After the original IRT opened, the city began planning new lines. Two of these were extensions of that system, to Downtown Brooklyn and Van Cortlandt Park, but the other two - the Centre Street Loop Subway (or Brooklyn Loop Subway) and Fourth Avenue Subway (in Brooklyn) - were separate lines for which construction had not progressed as far. The Centre Street Loop, approved on January 25, 1907 as a four-track line (earlier proposed as two tracks),^[1] was to connect the Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, and Williamsburg Bridge via Centre Street, Canal Street, and Delancey Street. An extension south from the Brooklyn Bridge under William Street to Wall Street was also part of the plan, as were several loops towards the Hudson River and a loop connecting the bridges through Brooklyn. Construction contracts for the main line in Manhattan were awarded in early 1907, despite no determination of the operator once completed. The line was assigned to a proposed Tri-borough system in early 1908 and to the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) in the Dual Contracts, adopted on March 4, 1913.^[2][3]

1908 plan for Chambers Street and the Brooklyn Bridge connection

The BRT began operating through a short piece of subway, coming off the Williamsburg Bridge under Delancey Street to Essex Street, on September 16, 1908.^[4] The Centre Street Loop was opened to Chambers Street (at the Brooklyn Bridge) on August 4, 1913,^[5] with temporary operation at first on the two west tracks.^[6] The south tracks on the Manhattan Bridge, also running into Chambers Street, were placed in service on June 22, 1915.^{[citation needed]} An extension south from Chambers Street to the Montague Street Tunnel, known as the Nassau Street Loop, was not completed until May 30, 1931.^[7]

Plans for the Chambers Street area changed several times during construction, always including a never-completed connection to the Brooklyn Bridge tracks. By 1910, only the west two tracks were to rise onto the bridge, and the east two were to continue south to the Montague Street Tunnel. As actually built for the 1931 opening south of Chambers Street, the two outer tracks ran south to the tunnel, while the two inner tracks continued several blocks in a lower level stub tunnel to allow trains to reverse direction.^[8]

On September 20, 2004, northbound trains began running on the second track from the west, and the former northbound platforms at Canal Street and Bowery were closed off. The second track from the east was removed.^[9][10]

Station listing

Station service legend
	Stops all times
	Stops all times except late nights
	Stops late nights only
	Stops weekdays only
	Stops rush hours only
	Stops rush hours in the peak direction only
Time period details

	Station	Services	Opened	Transfers and notes
Begins as the BMT Jamaica Line comes off the Williamsburg Bridge (J  M  Z )
	Essex Street	J  M  Z	September 16, 1908[4]	IND Sixth Avenue Line (F ) at Delancey Street
Split to Chrystie Street Connection (no regular service)
	Bowery	J  M  Z	August 4, 1913[5]
	Canal Street	J  M  Z	August 4, 1913[5]	BMT Broadway Line (N  Q  R  W ) IRT Lexington Avenue Line (4  6  <6>)
Former Connection to Manhattan Bridge south tracks
	Chambers Street	J  M  Z	August 4, 1913[5]	IRT Lexington Avenue Line (4  5  6  <6>) at Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall
	Fulton Street	J  M  Z	May 30, 1931[citation needed]	IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line (2  3 ) IRT Lexington Avenue Line (4  5 ) IND Eighth Avenue Line (A  C ) at Broadway–Nassau Street Connection to PATH at World Trade Center
	Broad Street	J  M  Z	May 30, 1931[citation needed]
Merges (M ) with the BMT Broadway Line (N  R ) and becomes the BMT Fourth Avenue Line via the Montague Street Tunnel

References