IND Queens Boulevard Line

IND Queens Boulevard Line
Stations on the IND Queens Boulevard Line are served by E, F, M and R trains.
Overview
Type	Rapid transit
System	New York City Subway
Locale	New York City
Termini	50th Street Jamaica – 179th Street
Daily ridership	over 251,456 (2010, weekday)
Operation
Owner	MTA
Operator(s)	MTA
Rolling stock	R46, R160
Technical
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) Standard gauge
Route map 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 Jackson Heights – Roosevelt Avenue (unused upper level) 65th Street IRT Flushing Line Express Tracks diverge Northern Boulevard 46th Street Steinway Street Express Tracks diverge 36th Street IND 63rd Street Line Queens Plaza IRT Flushing Line 60th Street Tunnel Connection IND Crosstown Line Court Square – 23rd Street 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.

Description

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

Vents at Broadway and 58th Street

East of Kew Gardens – 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 Kew Gardens – Union Turnpike. After passing through 75th Avenue, those tracks join the local and express tracks at another flying junction.

From here, the line runs under Queens Boulevard until it turns north onto Broadway after Grand Avenue – Newtown. Near Jackson Heights – Roosevelt Avenue, an abandoned trackless tunnel for the IND Second System 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. This is only one of two areas in the subway where the express tracks diverge from the local tracks (the other being the IND Culver Line between Seventh Avenue and Church Avenue.

As the line leaves 36th Street, the two-track IND 63rd Street Line 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 before line splitting into three parts at 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 turning northwest and the IND Crosstown Line (no regular service) 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 – 53rd Street, the westbound tracks rise above the eastbound tracks. A flying junction after Fifth Avenue / 53rd Street, ties the westbound tracks into the southbound local tracks of the IND Sixth Avenue Line, which begin here as a merge of these connection tracks and the IND 63rd Street Line. At that junction, the Sixth Avenue 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 with separate lower-level platforms at 50th Street. 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, currently undergoing demolition, 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.

Services

During daytime hours, the portion of the line between 36th Street and Forest Hills – 71st Avenue is served by four services: the E, F, M, and R. The M operates via Sixth Avenue and 53rd Street to Queens Plaza before making local stops to Forest Hills – 71st Avenue on weekdays. The R enters Queens Boulevard from the Broadway Line and the 60th Street Tunnel before making local stops to Forest Hills – 71st Avenue at all times except late nights. The F train joins the IND Queens Boulevard Line from the 63rd Street and runs express to Forest Hills – 71st Avenue before making local stops to Jamaica – 179th Street at all times. The E train runs from the Eighth Avenue Line and 53rd Street to Queens Boulevard before making express stops along the line (except evenings and weekends when it makes local stops east of Forest Hills – 71st Avenue & when it makes all stops during late night hours) to the Archer Avenue Line east of the Briarwood – Van Wyck Boulevard. Limited rush hour E trains also run to Jamaica – 179th Street serving the entire line, making all express stops.

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	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  M  R	December 31, 1936
	67th Avenue	local	E  M  R	December 31, 1936
	63rd Drive – Rego Park	local	E  M  R	December 31, 1936
	Woodhaven Boulevard	local	E  M  R	December 31, 1936
	Grand Avenue – Newtown	local	E  M  R	December 31, 1936
	Elmhurst Avenue	local	E  M  R	December 31, 1936
	Jackson Heights – Roosevelt Avenue	all	E  F  M  R	August 19, 1933	IRT Flushing Line (7 ) at 74th Street – Broadway
	65th Street	local	E  M  R	August 19, 1933
express tracks diverge (E  F )
	Northern Boulevard	local	E  M  R	August 19, 1933
	46th Street	local	E  M  R	August 19, 1933
	Steinway Street	local	E  M  R	August 19, 1933
express tracks rejoin (E  F )
	36th Street	local	E  M  R	August 19, 1933
IND 63rd Street Line splits (F )
	Queens Plaza	all	E  M  R	August 19, 1933
local tracks split to IND Crosstown Line (no regular service) and 60th Street Tunnel Connection (R )
	Court Square – 23rd Street	express	E  M	August 28, 1939	IND Crosstown Line (G )
	Lexington Avenue – 53rd Street	express	E  M	August 19, 1933	IRT Lexington Avenue Line (4  6  <6>) at 51st Street
	Fifth Avenue / 53rd Street	express	E  M	August 19, 1933
connection to IND Sixth Avenue Line (M ) 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