IND Fulton Street Line

IND Fulton Street Line
The A train serves the entire IND Fulton Street Line at all times and the C train serves the line north of Euclid Avenue at all times except late nights.
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, running 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 in Ozone Park, Queens. The A train runs express daytime and local late nights in the underground portion of the line and local on the elevated portion of the line at all times. The C train runs local on the underground portion of 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 stopped in 1942 shortly after the United States entered World War II. The portion continuing from east of Rockaway Avenue to Crystal Street, not far west of the future Euclid Avenue station, began construction in 1938, and the next portion in 1940.

After WWII ended, workers and materials became available for civilian use again. The badly needed short run to a better terminal at East New York (the current Broadway Junction station) opened in December 1946. The last portion opened on 28 November 1948, running along Pennsylvania Avenue and Pitkin Avenue to Euclid Avenue near the Queens border. It included access to a new train yard.

Under Fulton Street, the line is mainly single level. Nostrand Avenue 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 three-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 line 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 three days later.

Route

Entering Brooklyn via the Cranberry Street Tunnel as a two-track line, the IND 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 Streets, but connect to the abandoned Court Street station which is presently the site of the New York City Transit Museum. At this point, the line becomes a four-track system until Euclid Avenue.

The line continues east under Schermerhorn Street to the intersections of Third Avenue and Flatbush Avenue, across them onto Lafayette Avenue and then finally onto Fulton Street until Broadway Junction.

After Broadway Junction, the line leaves Fulton Street via Truxton Street, crosses Broadway, curves through a corner of the East New York Yard, crosses Jamaica Avenue and then south on Pennsylvania Avenue. It then turns east onto Pitkin Avenue until Euclid Avenue station. East of Euclid Avenue are track connections to Pitkin Yard and the Grant Avenue station from either the express or local tracks. The four mainline trackways continue east on Pitkin Avenue, disused, and end at approximately Elderts Lane.

Past Grant Avenue, the line becomes elevated as it enters Queens, 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 Rockaway Boulevard, the IND Rockaway Line branches southward while 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 ) originally Broadway-East New York
	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
Connecting tracks to Pitkin Yard and the Grant Avenue station; Mainline tracks end
	Grant Avenue		A	April 29, 1956
Single Express track begins from Pitkin Yard (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	Q10 bus to JFK Airport