F (New York City Subway service)

Sixth Avenue Local
Northern end	Jamaica – 179th Street
Southern end	Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue or Kings Highway
Stations	45
Rolling stock	R160 (Rolling stock assignments subject to change)

The F Sixth Avenue Local is a rapid transit service in the B Division of the New York City Subway. It is colored orange on route signs, station signs, and the official subway map, since it runs on the IND Sixth Avenue Line through Manhattan.

The F service operates at all times between 179th Street in Jamaica, Queens and Stillwell Avenue in Coney Island, Brooklyn via Queens Boulevard in Queens, 63rd Street and Sixth Avenue in Manhattan, and Culver in Brooklyn, making all stops except for an express section in Queens between Forest Hills – 71st Avenue and 21st Street – Queensbridge. Some rush hour trains short turn at Kings Highway due to capacity issues at Stillwell Avenue.

History

An R160A F train at 34th Street – Herald Square, bound for Queens

An R46 F train at 34th Street – Herald Square, bound for Queens

1967–1979 bullet

F service officially began on December 15, 1940 between Parsons Boulevard and Church Avenue via the Queens Boulevard, Sixth Avenue, and Culver Lines. It ran express in Queens and local in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

During World War II, trains were extended to 169th Street during evenings, late nights, and Sunday mornings. Temporarily, a 1948 map had the D and F service switched, with the F going to Second Avenue. But this was afterwards changed back. On December 11, 1950, trains were extended to 179th Street on evenings, nights, and Sunday mornings. On May 13, 1951, all trains outside of rush hour extended to 179th Street. On October 18, 1951, all trains started to terminate at 179th Street at all times. Then, on October 30, 1954, the connection between the IND Culver Line and BMT Culver Line was completed, with the IND taking over the elevated section. Rush hour F service terminated at Broadway – Lafayette Street to allow D service to enter Brooklyn via the Rutgers Street Tunnel. On June 28, 1956, trains were extended to Second Avenue.

Beginning October 6, 1957, trains terminated at 34th Street – Herald Square evenings, nights and weekends. On November 10, 1958, F service was cut back from Second Avenue and started terminating at Broadway – Lafayette Street weekdays. Then, beginning July 9, 1967, trains no longer ran express between 179th Street and 71st – Continental Avenues. When, on November 26, 1967, the Chrystie Street Connection was completed, D service was rerouted via this connection, over the north side of the Manhattan Bridge, and via the BMT Brighton Line in Brooklyn. F service replaced it on the IND Culver Line. Beginning in July 1968 there was rush hour express service between Jay Street – Borough Hall and Kings Highway. This was discontinued in 1976 due to budget cuts and complaints about reduced Manhattan service by riders at local stations.

On May 24, 1987, N and R services switched terminals in Queens. As part of the reroute plan, F service terminated at 57th Street / Sixth Avenue during late nights. Then, on September 30, 1990, R service was cut back from 179th Street to 71st Avenue, and replaced by F service. Also, at the same time, late night service and late night local service in Queens was replaced by the G and F service was moved to 21st Street – Queensbridge to replace the Q shuttle. In May 1997, the F service was taken off of the IND 63rd Street Line during late nights and was replaced by a shuttle. The F service now ran local to 179th Street.

In December 2000, the F service began to be rerouted via the new 63rd Street connector during nights and weekends. A couple of rush hour specials were soon after scheduled to run through the connector to relieve the 53rd St. tunnel. On December 16, 2001, the 63rd Street Connector officially opened, connecting the IND 63rd Street Line with the IND Queens Boulevard Line. In a controversial move, the local V service replaced the express F service in the heavily trafficked 53rd Street Tunnel between Manhattan and Queens, while F service was rerouted to the 63rd Street Tunnel at all times. F service also began making express stops in Queens between 71st Avenue and 21st Street – Queensbridge at all times. On September 8, 2002, Stillwell Avenue was closed for reconstruction. F service was cut back to Avenue X, and service to Stillwell Avenue was replaced by a shuttle bus. F service returned to Stillwell Avenue on May 23, 2004, upon completion of the construction work.

There has been community support for resuming express service along the northern portion of the Culver Line. The MTA has announced that the elevated Culver Viaduct undergone extensive renovations from 2009 to 2012, after which "There will be no impediment to implementing the F express." The F express service along the Culver Line is still under consideration, as there is some controversy from residents living along the line who fear that they would no longer have a one-seat ride into Manhattan. As of 2014, there is no Culver express service.

Route

Service pattern

The F service uses the following lines with the same service pattern at all times.

Line	From	To	Tracks
IND Queens Boulevard Line	Jamaica – 179th Street	75th Avenue	local
	Forest Hills – 71st Avenue	36th Street	express
IND 63rd Street Line (full line)	21st Street – Queensbridge	57th Street	all
IND Sixth Avenue Line	47th–50th Streets – Rockefeller Center	Second Avenue	local
	Delancey Street	York Street	all
IND Culver Line (full line)	Jay Street – MetroTech	Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue	local

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 late nights and weekends only
	Stops weekdays during the day
	Stops rush hours/weekdays 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
Queens
	Jamaica – 179th Street		E	Q3 bus to JFK Int'l Airport
	169th Street
	Parsons Boulevard		E
	Sutphin Boulevard
	Briarwood – Van Wyck Boulevard		E
	Kew Gardens – Union Turnpike		E	Q10 bus to JFK Int'l Airport
	75th Avenue		E
	Forest Hills – 71st Avenue		E  ​​M  ​R	LIRR Main Line at Forest Hills
	Jackson Heights – Roosevelt Avenue		E  ​​M  ​R  7  (IRT Flushing Line)	Q47 bus to LaGuardia Marine Air Terminal Q70 Limited bus to LaGuardia Airport
	21st Street – Queensbridge
Manhattan
	Roosevelt Island			Roosevelt Island Tramway
	Lexington Avenue – 63rd Street		4  ​5  ​6  <6> (IRT Lexington Avenue Line at 59th Street), N  ​R  ​W  (BMT Broadway Line at Lexington Avenue / 59th Street); Out-of-system transfers with MetroCard
	57th Street
	47th–50th Streets – Rockefeller Center		B  ​D  ​​M
	42nd Street – Bryant Park		B  ​D  ​​M  7  <7> ​ (IRT Flushing Line at Fifth Avenue)
	34th Street – Herald Square		B  ​D  ​​M  N  ​Q  ​R  ​W  (BMT Broadway Line)	M34 / M34A Select Bus Service PATH at 33rd Street
	23rd Street		M	PATH at 23rd Street
	14th Street		M  1  ​2  ​3  (IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line at 14th Street) L  (BMT Canarsie Line at Sixth Avenue)	PATH at 14th Street
	West Fourth Street – Washington Square		B  ​D  ​​M  A  ​C  ​E  (IND Eighth Avenue Line)	PATH at 9th Street
	Broadway – Lafayette Street		B  ​D  ​​M  4  ​6  <6> (IRT Lexington Avenue Line at Bleecker Street)
	Second Avenue			M15 Select Bus Service
	Delancey Street		J  M  Z ​ (BMT Nassau Street Line at Essex Street)
	East Broadway
Brooklyn
	York Street
	Jay Street – MetroTech		A  ​C  N  R  ​W  (BMT Fourth Avenue Line)
	Bergen Street		G
	Carroll Street		G
	Smith–Ninth Streets		G
	Fourth Avenue		G  D  ​N  ​R  ​W  (BMT Fourth Avenue Line at Ninth Street)
	Seventh Avenue		G
	15th Street – Prospect Park		G
	Fort Hamilton Parkway		G
	Church Avenue		G
	Ditmas Avenue
	18th Avenue
	Avenue I
	Bay Parkway
	Avenue N
	Avenue P
	Kings Highway			Southern terminus for some weekday rush hour trains.
	Avenue U
	Avenue X
	Neptune Avenue
	West Eighth Street – New York Aquarium		Q  (BMT Brighton Line)
	Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue		D  (BMT West End Line) N  (BMT Sea Beach Line) Q  (BMT Brighton Line)

External links

• MTA NYC Transit – F Sixth Avenue Local
• "F Subway Timetable, Effective June 30, 2024". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved June 28, 2024.