IND Queens Boulevard Line

IND Queens Boulevard Line

Legend Jamaica – 179th Street 169th Street Parsons Boulevard Sutphin Boulevard IND Archer Avenue Line Briarwood – Van Wyck Boulevard Jamaica Yard connection Former IND World's Fair Line Kew Gardens – Union Turnpike 75th Avenue Jamaica Yard connection Forest Hills – 71st Avenue 67th Avenue 63rd Drive – Rego Park Woodhaven Boulevard Grand Avenue – Newtown Elmhurst Avenue Never Built IND Winfield Spur to Rockaways Roosevelt Avenue – Jackson Heights (unused upper level) 65th Street IRT Flushing Line Express Tracks Northern Boulevard 46th Street Steinway Street Express Tracks 36th Street IND 63rd Street Line Queens Plaza IRT Flushing Line 60th Street Tunnel Connection IND Crosstown Line 23rd Street – Ely Avenue IRT Flushing Line 53rd Street Tunnel Lexington Avenue – 53rd Street IRT Lexington Avenue Line Fifth Avenue/53rd Street IND Sixth Avenue Line Seventh Avenue 50th Street IND Eighth Avenue Line

The Queens Boulevard Line is a fully underground line of the B Division of the New York City Subway in Manhattan and Queens, New York City, United States. The line provides crosstown service across Manhattan under 53rd Street and east through Queens to Jamaica. The two-track section in Manhattan is also known as the 53rd Street Line. East of Queens Plaza, the line occupies four tracks, with express service on the inner tracks. This line is one of two (the IND Culver Line being the other) for which the express tracks deviate from the local tracks, following a shorter and hence faster route. It is the second busiest line in the system, after the IRT Lexington Avenue Line.^{[citation needed]}

During the daytime, the portion of the line between the two major junctions in Long Island City and Forest Hills–71st Avenue is served by trains of four services: the E and F express and the R and V local. The R and V services terminate at Forest Hills; east of this point the F operates via the local tracks, making all stops to 179th Street in Jamaica; the E continues to use the express tracks to the IND Archer Avenue Line junction, where it diverts en route to/from Jamaica Center. At the western end of the line, the F and R split onto the IND 63rd Street Line and BMT Broadway Line (via the 60th Street Tunnel Connection) in Long Island City, while the E and V continue west into Manhattan to the IND Eighth Avenue Line and IND Sixth Avenue Line respectively.

The F is the only train that operates along the line at all times, providing express service. R-train service ceases in Manhattan and Queens after 11:00 p.m., while the V does not run after midnight or on weekends. After 9:00 p.m. and throughout the weekend, the E operates on the local tracks east of Forest Hills, making all stops; after midnight seven days a week, it makes all local stops from/to Queens Plaza. One extra service—the G—only serves the Queens Boulevard Line after 9:00 p.m. and on weekends, running local between Long Island City (from the IND Crosstown Line) and Forest Hills.

Description

The Queens Boulevard Line begins at 179th Street (E  F ) as a four-track subway under Hillside Avenue. Just after curving north under the Van Wyck Expressway, a flying junction joins the recent two-track Archer Avenue Line (E ) to the local and express tracks. Soon after, the line turns west under Queens Boulevard.

Vents at Broadway and 58th Street

East of Union Turnpike, another flying junction ties the eastward tracks to Jamaica Yard. The other side of the wye curves west to become a lower level of the subway just west of Union Turnpike. After passing through 75th Avenue, those tracks join the local and express tracks at another flying junction. Just west is Forest Hills–71st Avenue, where several services (G  R  V ) begin on the local tracks, and E  F  service switches to the express tracks.

From here the line runs under Queens Boulevard until it turns north onto Broadway after Grand Avenue–Newtown. Near the Roosevelt Avenue–Jackson Heights transit hub, an abandoned trackless tunnel branches off into an unused upper part of the station which is used for storage. At the intersection of Broadway and Northern Boulevard, the express tracks turn west under Northern Boulevard. The local tracks take a longer route, remaining under Broadway, then turning south onto Steinway Street and west again onto Northern Boulevard, where they rejoin the express tracks. As the line approaches Queens Plaza, the two-track IND 63rd Street Line (F ) splits from both sets of tracks at a flying junction, running to Manhattan under 41st Avenue. The Queens Boulevard Line continues under Northern Boulevard to Queens Plaza, where crossover switches allow V service to switch to the express tracks. Just west of Queens Plaza, the line splits into three parts at yet another flying junction. The express tracks continue towards Manhattan under 44th Drive, while the local tracks split two ways, with the 60th Street Tunnel Connection (R ) turning northwest and the IND Crosstown Line (G ) remaining under Jackson Avenue (Northern Boulevard south of Queens Plaza). From this point on, the Queens Boulevard Line has only two tracks.

The line continues west through the 53rd Street Tunnel under the East River into Manhattan. After Lexington Avenue, the westbound tracks rise above the eastbound tracks. A flying junction after Fifth Avenue ties the westbound tracks into the southbound local tracks of the IND Sixth Avenue Line (V ), which begin here as a merge of these connection tracks and the IND 63rd Street Line (F ). At that junction, the Sixth Avenue Line express tracks turns west under 53rd Street, just to the south of the Queens Boulevard Line. The two lines share platforms at Seventh Avenue, but no connecting tracks are present. Then the Queens Boulevard Line turns south below the IND Eighth Avenue Line (A  C ) with separate lower-level platforms at 50th Street, and then the tracks split to join the local and express tracks of the Eighth Avenue Line north of 42nd Street–Port Authority Bus Terminal. At that station, a special lower platform formerly served a single southbound track from the Queens Boulevard Line, merging with both southbound tracks of the Eighth Avenue Line south of that station. It was speculated that this platform and level was built to prevent the IRT from extending their Flushing Line west. Recently, the MTA announced plans to extend the Flushing Line. The track through the lower level has been disconnected,^{[citation needed]} and the lower level will be partially demolished to make way for the new Flushing Line tunnel.

Background

Station listing

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

	Station	Tracks	Services	Opened	Transfers and notes
	Jamaica–179th Street	all	E  F	December 10, 1950
	169th Street	local	F	April 24, 1937
	Parsons Boulevard	all	E  F	April 24, 1937
	Sutphin Boulevard	local	F	April 24, 1937
IND Archer Avenue Line (E ) merges
	Briarwood–Van Wyck Boulevard	local	E  F	April 24, 1937
connecting tracks to Jamaica Yard
	Kew Gardens–Union Turnpike	all	E  F	December 31, 1936
	75th Avenue	local	E  F	December 31, 1936
connecting tracks to Jamaica Yard; former connection to IND World's Fair Line
	Forest Hills–71st Avenue	all	E  F  G  R  V	December 31, 1936
	67th Avenue	local	E  G  R  V	December 31, 1936
	63rd Drive–Rego Park	local	E  G  R  V	December 31, 1936
	Woodhaven Boulevard	local	E  G  R  V	December 31, 1936
	Grand Avenue–Newtown	local	E  G  R  V	December 31, 1936
	Elmhurst Avenue	local	E  G  R  V	December 31, 1936
	Roosevelt Avenue–Jackson Heights	all	E  F  G  R  V	August 19, 1933	IRT Flushing Line (7 ) at 74th Street–Broadway
	65th Street	local	E  G  R  V	August 19, 1933
express tracks diverge (E  F )
	Northern Boulevard	local	E  G  R  V	August 19, 1933
	46th Street	local	E  G  R  V	August 19, 1933
	Steinway Street	local	E  G  R  V	August 19, 1933
express tracks rejoin (E  F )
	36th Street	local	E  G  R  V	August 19, 1933
IND 63rd Street Line splits (F )
	Queens Plaza	all	E  G  R  V	August 19, 1933
local tracks split to IND Crosstown Line (G ) and 60th Street Tunnel Connection (R )
	23rd Street–Ely Avenue	express	E  V	August 28, 1939	IND Crosstown Line (G ) at Long Island City–Court Square IRT Flushing Line (7  <7>) at 45th Road–Court House Square (MetroCard-only transfer)
	Lexington Avenue–53rd Street	express	E  V	August 19, 1933	IRT Lexington Avenue Line (4  6  <6>) at 51st Street
	Fifth Avenue/53rd Street	express	E  V	August 19, 1933
connection to IND Sixth Avenue Line (V ) splits
	Seventh Avenue	express	E	August 19, 1933	IND Sixth Avenue Line (B  D )
*	50th Street	express	E	August 19, 1933	IND Eighth Avenue Line (A  C ) (transfer in same direction only)
merges with IND Eighth Avenue Line (A  C )

^* southbound only

External links

• nycsubway.org — IND Queens Boulevard Line