N (New York City Subway service)

For the San Francisco streetcar line, see N Judah

Broadway Local
Note: dashed line shows late night service
Northern end	Astoria – Ditmars Boulevard
Southern end	Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue
Stations	45
Rolling stock	R46 R68 R68A (fleet shared with the ) (Rolling stock assignments subject to change)

The N Broadway Local is a service of the New York City Subway. Its route bullet is colored yellow, which appears on station signs and the NYC Subway map, as it represents a service provided on the BMT Broadway Line through Manhattan.

The N service operates at all times from Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria, Queens, to Stillwell Avenue in Coney Island, Brooklyn via Astoria in Queens, Broadway, and the south side of the Manhattan Bridge to and from Brooklyn. In Brooklyn, the N operates via Fourth Avenue and Sea Beach lines.

The N normally operates express along the Fourth Avenue corridor, bypassing DeKalb Avenue, and local elsewhere. During late nights, the N travels through Lower Manhattan via the Montague Street Tunnel, replacing the R service, making all stops.

The N and Q share the same two terminals even though they travel along different tracks in Brooklyn and Manhattan.

Service history

The route that is now the N was originally BMT service 4, known as the Sea Beach Line or Sea Beach Express.

• On June 22, 1915, the current BMT Sea Beach Line opened, replacing a street level "el" that branched off of the Fifth Avenue El with the former BMT West End Line. Originally, it used the south tracks of the Manhattan Bridge, which at that time connected to the BMT Nassau Street Line.
• Beginning September 14, 1917, trains ran from 14th Street – Union Square to Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue, using the BMT Broadway Line and the newly opened northern tracks of the Manhattan Bridge to enter Brooklyn.

An R160B N train approaching 39th Avenue

An R68A N train leaving Queensboro Plaza

• On January 15, 1918, service was extended to Times Square – 42nd Street.
• On May 2, 1957, service was extended north via the express tracks to 57th Street. When the BMT Southern Division routes were given letters in 1960, the 4 became the N, with a single letter because it ran express; it was given the color yellow (which it kept in the 1979 revisions).
• The light blue NX designation was used for a short-lived "super-express" service along the express tracks of the Sea Beach Line, beginning several stations east of Coney Island at Brighton Beach, and also ending at 57th Street. This service was only provided from November 27, 1967 to April 12, 1968 due to low ridership. Starting on Monday, April 15, 1968, the five NX trips instead ran as N trips.
• On August 28, 1976, N service was extended north over the BMT 60th Street Tunnel Connection to Forest Hills – 71st Avenue, to replace the discontinued EE. Some local N trains went from Whitehall Street – South Ferry in Lower Manhattan to 71st Avenue, which had been the E route; others stayed with the Manhattan Bridge route and were simply extended to 71st Avenue.
• On April 26, 1986, the north tracks on the Manhattan Bridge were closed for rehabilitation, and services that had used the north tracks were moved to the south side. This caused N trains to be sent via Lower Manhattan and the Montague Street Tunnel, running fully local, though evening, night and weekend trains continued to use the bridge and express tracks, terminating at 57th Street.
• In May 1987, the N swapped northern terminals with the R. The N was switched to Astoria – Ditmars Boulevard, while the R went to 71st Avenue. This was done to give the R direct access to Jamaica Yard; previously, the R did not have direct access to either Jamaica Yard or Coney Island Yard, while the N had direct access to both.
• In fall 1990, full service on Manhattan Bridge was briefly restored. Express service ran all times except nights (all service stopped at 49th Street due to heavy usage). This very short service was halted by the discovery of a cracked beam on the bridge.
• In 1994, the N switched back to express in Brooklyn only, from Atlantic Avenue – Pacific Street to 59th Street.
• From 1993 to 1995, the southern terminal of the N was 86th Street due to rehabilitation work at Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue. On November 3, 2001, it was cut back again for the final phase of the terminal's reconstruction project.
• From April to November 1995, the north side of the Manhattan Bridge was closed during midday and weekends. To allow B trains to lay up on the express tracks at Pacific Street, midday N express service in Brooklyn was discontinued for the duration of the closure.
• After the September 11, 2001 attacks, N service was suspended and replaced by the W in Manhattan and Queens and the M in Brooklyn. On October 28, service was restored, but Cortlandt Street remained closed until September 15, 2002.
• On September 8, 2002, the N service became a shuttle to Pacific Street on nights and weekends, running express on the BMT Fourth Avenue Line, as the W was extended since it was the only line serving Stillwell Avenue.
• On February 22, 2004, the Manhattan Bridge work was finally completed. Since then, the N has been restored to the bridge (via Fourth Avenue express and DeKalb Avenue bypass). Weekdays, N trains ran express between 34th Street in Manhattan and 59th Street in Brooklyn, and local elsewhere. On weekends, it makes local stops in Manhattan, but express in Brooklyn. During late nights, it runs local along its entire route via the Montague Street Tunnel, replacing the R train.
• On May 29, 2005, the new Stillwell Avenue terminal was completed, and N service there was restored.
• On June 28, 2010, the N began running local in Manhattan north of Canal Street at all times in place of the W, which was discontinued due to budget problems, effectively adopting the weekend service pattern.

Route

Service pattern

The following table shows the lines used by the N service, with shaded boxes indicating the route at the specified times:

Line	From	To	Tracks	Times
				all ex. nights	late nights
BMT Astoria Line (full line)	Astoria – Ditmars Boulevard	Queensboro Plaza	local
60th Street Tunnel			all
BMT Broadway Line	Lexington Avenue / 59th Street	Prince Street	local
	Canal Street		express
			local
	City Hall	Whitehall Street – South Ferry	all
Manhattan Bridge			south
Montague Street Tunnel			all
BMT Fourth Avenue Line	Court Street	Jay Street – MetroTech	all
	DeKalb Avenue		bypass
			tunnel
	Atlantic Avenue – Pacific Street	59th Street	express
			local
BMT Sea Beach Line (full line)	Eighth Avenue	Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue

Stations

For a more detailed station listing, see the articles on the lines listed above.

Station service legend
	Stops all times
	Stops all times except late nights
	Stops late nights only
	Stops weekdays during the day
	Stops rush hours in the peak direction only
Time period details
	Station is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act
↑	Station is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act in the indicated direction only
↓
	Elevator access to mezzanine only

	Stations		Subway transfers	Connections and denotes
Queens
	Astoria – Ditmars Boulevard		W
	Astoria Boulevard		W	M60 bus to LaGuardia Airport
	30th Avenue		W
	Broadway		W
	36th Avenue		W
	39th Avenue		W
	Queensboro Plaza		W  7  <7> ​ (IRT Flushing Line)
Manhattan
	Lexington Avenue / 59th Street		​R  ​W  4  ​5  ​6  <6> (IRT Lexington Avenue Line) F  <F> (IND 63rd Street Line at Lexington Avenue – 63rd Street; MetroCard-only transfer)	Roosevelt Island Tramway
	Fifth Avenue / 59th Street		​R  ​W
	57th Street – Seventh Avenue		​Q  ​R  ​W
	49th Street		​Q  ​R  ​W	Station is accessible in the northbound direction only
	Times Square – 42nd Street		​Q  ​R  ​W  1  ​2  ​3  (IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line) 7  <7> ​ (IRT Flushing Line) A  ​C  ​E  (IND Eighth Avenue Line at 42nd Street – Port Authority Bus Terminal)	Port Authority Bus Terminal
	34th Street – Herald Square		​Q  ​R  ​W  B  ​D  ​F  <F> ​M  (IND Sixth Avenue Line)	PATH at 33rd Street
	28th Street		​Q  ​R  ​W
	23rd Street		​Q  ​R  ​W
	14th Street – Union Square		​Q  ​R  ​W  L  (BMT Canarsie Line) 4  ​5  ​6  <6> (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)
	Eighth Street – New York University		​Q  ​R  ​W
	Prince Street		​Q  ​R  ​W
via Montague Street tunnels (night service) and via Manhattan Bridge (all but late nights)
trains via Montague Street tunnels (night service)
	Canal Street		Q  4  ​6  (IRT Lexington Avenue Line) J  (BMT Nassau Street Line)
	City Hall
	Cortlandt Street	*		PATH at World Trade Center *Station is accessible in the southbound direction only; southbound platform is bypassed due to ongoing construction
	Rector Street
	Whitehall Street – South Ferry		1  (IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line)	Staten Island Ferry at South Ferry
Brooklyn
	Court Street		2  (IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line) 4  (IRT Eastern Parkway Line)
	Jay Street – MetroTech		A  (IND Fulton Street Line) F  <F> ​ (IND Culver Line)
	DeKalb Avenue		D  ​​Q  ​R
trains via Manhattan Bridge (all but late nights)
	Canal Street		​Q  ​R  ​W  6  <6> ​ (IRT Lexington Avenue Line) J  ​Z  (BMT Nassau Street Line)
trains via Montague Street tunnels enter here
	Atlantic Avenue – Pacific Street		D  ​R  W  B  ​Q  (BMT Brighton Line) 2  ​3  ​4  ​5  (IRT Eastern Parkway Line)	LIRR Atlantic Branch at Flatbush Avenue
	Union Street		D  ​​R
	Ninth Street		D  ​​R  F  ​G  (IND Culver Line at Fourth Avenue)
	Prospect Avenue		D  ​​R
	25th Street		D  ​​R
	36th Street		D  ​R  W
	45th Street		​R  ​W
	53rd Street		​R  ​W
	59th Street		​R  ​W
	Eighth Avenue
	Fort Hamilton Parkway
	New Utrecht Avenue		D  (BMT West End Line at 62nd Street)
	18th Avenue
	20th Avenue
	Bay Parkway
	Kings Highway
	Avenue U
	86th Street
	Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue		Q  (BMT Brighton Line) F  <F> ​ (IND Culver Line) D  (BMT West End Line)

External links

• MTA NYC Transit - N Broadway Express
• Template:PDFlink