IND Fulton Street Line

IND Fulton Street Line
The A and C trains are the only trains that serve the IND Fulton Street Line. The C train only serves the line north of Euclid Avenue, while the A train serves the entire line.
Overview
Type	Rapid transit
System	New York City Subway
Termini	Jay Street – MetroTech Ozone Park – Lefferts Boulevard
Stations	22
Operation
Opened	1915–1956
Owner	City of New York
Operator(s)	New York City Transit Authority
Character	Underground (Brooklyn) Elevated (Queens)
Technical
No. of tracks	2-4
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Electrification	Direct Current traction

IND Fulton Street Line

Legend IND Sixth Avenue Line IND Eighth Avenue Line Jay Street – MetroTech BMT Fourth Avenue Line Court StreetNew York Transit Museum IND Crosstown Line Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets IND Culver Line Lafayette Avenue Clinton–Washington Avenues Franklin Avenue Nostrand Avenue Kingston–Throop Avenues Utica Avenue Ralph Avenue Rockaway Avenue Broadway Junction Liberty Avenue Van Siclen Avenue Shepherd Avenue Euclid Avenue Pitkin Yard Grant Avenue former Fulton Street elevated 80th Street 88th Street Rockaway Boulevard IND Rockaway Line 104th Street 111th Street Ozone Park – Lefferts Boulevard

The IND Fulton Street Line is a rapid transit line of the IND Division of the New York City Subway, extending from the Cranberry Street Tunnel under the East River through all of central Brooklyn to a terminus in Ozone Park, Queens. The IND Rockaway Line branches from it. It forms part of the A train, which runs express daytime and local late nights in the underground portion of the line. On the elevated portion of the line, the A train operates local along Liberty Avenue. The C train also runs local on the line at all times except late nights.

General characteristics

The Fulton Street subway was the Independent System's main line from downtown Brooklyn to southern Queens. Construction was delayed by funding problems in the early 1930s, solved by federal Works Progress Administration funding starting in 1936. That lasted only a few years, as work on the last portions in Brooklyn was then stopped in 1942 shortly after the nation entered World War II. The portion continuing from east of Rockaway Avenue station to Crystal St, not far west of the future Euclid Ave station, was let in 1938, and the next portion in 1940.

After the war ended, workers and materials became available for civilian use again. The badly needed short run to a better terminal at East New York (now named Broadway Junction station) was finished in about a year, opening in December 1946. The last portion opened on 28 November 1948, running along Pennsylvania Ave and Pitkin Ave to the Euclid Avenue station just prior to the Queens border. It included access to a new train yard with access from Euclid Ave station.

While much of the line is four tracks, its only service into Manhattan is via the two-track Cranberry Street Tunnel. Manhattan-bound trains merge into the express tracks at the Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets station.

Under Fulton Street, the line is mainly single level. The Nostrand Avenue station is the exception with the express tracks on the upper level and local tracks on the lower level. This is partly because it was built while the old, now-demolished elevated line on the surface had to be supported.

The stations along Liberty Avenue in Queens, from 80th Street – Hudson Street through Ozone Park – Lefferts Boulevard, as well as the current 3-track elevated structure, were built for the BMT Fulton Street Line in 1915 as part of the BMT's portion of the Dual Contracts. The connection to the BMT was severed on April 26, 1956, and the IND was extended east (track direction south) from Euclid Avenue via a connecting tunnel and new intermediate station at Grant Avenue. The new service began on April 29, 1956.

Route

Powerhouse at Liberty wye

Entering Brooklyn via the Cranberry Street Tunnel as a two-track line, the Eighth Avenue Line travels east on Cranberry Street, then south on Jay Street. It becomes the Fulton Street line at an interlocking north of Jay Street – MetroTech while briefly running parallel with the IND Culver Line. It turns away from the Culver Line onto Schermerhorn Street to the six-track Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets station, which it shares with the Brooklyn–Queens Crosstown Line. The local tracks are unused at Hoyt-Schermerhorn, but are connected to the abandoned Court Street station (it is presently the site of the New York City Transit Museum). At this point it becomes a four-track system until Euclid Avenue.

The line continues east under Schermerhorn Street to the intersection of Schermerhorn, Third Avenue and Flatbush Avenue, and thence across it, onto Lafayette Avenue and then finally onto Fulton Street.

It leaves Fulton Street via Truxton Street, crosses Broadway, curves through a corner of the BMT East New York Yard, and crosses Jamaica Avenue onto Granville Payne Avenue. It turns east onto Pitkin Avenue to Euclid Avenue, where it interchanges with the Pitkin Avenue Yards.

A two-track ramp leads from the Euclid Ave station to the Grant Ave station. Past Grant Ave, the line becomes elevated, swinging somewhat north until it is over Liberty Avenue. Here it becomes a three-track line, with the center track coming from Pitkin Yard. Just past the Rockaway Boulevard Station, the Rockaway Line branches southward. The Fulton Street Line continues over Liberty Avenue to its terminus at Lefferts Boulevard.

Station listing

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

	Station	Tracks	Services	Opened	Transfers and notes
Begins as continuation of IND Eighth Avenue Line express tracks (A  C ); with connecting tracks to IND Sixth Avenue Line local tracks (no regular service)
	Jay Street – MetroTech	express	A  C	February 1, 1933	IND Culver Line (F ) BMT Fourth Avenue Line (N  R )
Local tracks begin
	Court Street	local		April 9, 1936	Closed 1946, reopened 1976 as the New York Transit Museum
Local tracks continue east from Court Street; Express tracks continue south then east from Jay Street – MetroTech
	Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets	all	A  C	April 9, 1936	IND Crosstown Line (G ) Local tracks & platforms between local and express tracks unused
	Lafayette Avenue	local	A  C	April 9, 1936
	Clinton–Washington Avenues	local	A  C	April 9, 1936
	Franklin Avenue	local	A  C	April 9, 1936	BMT Franklin Avenue Line (S )
	Nostrand Avenue	all	A  C	April 9, 1936	local – lower level express – upper level
	Kingston–Throop Avenues	local	A  C	April 9, 1936
	Utica Avenue	all	A  C	April 9, 1936
	Ralph Avenue	local	A  C	April 9, 1936
	Rockaway Avenue	local	A  C	April 9, 1936
	Broadway Junction	all	A  C	December 30, 1946	BMT Canarsie Line (L ) BMT Jamaica Line (J  Z )
	Liberty Avenue	local	A  C	November 28, 1948
	Van Siclen Avenue	local	A  C	November 28, 1948
	Shepherd Avenue	local	A  C	November 28, 1948
	Euclid Avenue	all	A  C	November 28, 1948
Express tracks end
	Grant Avenue		A	April 29, 1956
Single Express track begins (no regular service)
	80th Street	local	A	September 25, 1915
	88th Street	local	A	September 25, 1915
	Rockaway Boulevard	local	A	September 25, 1915
IND Rockaway Line splits (A )
	104th Street	local	A	September 25, 1915
	111th Street	local	A	September 25, 1915
	Ozone Park – Lefferts Boulevard		A	September 25, 1915