BMT West End Line

For the former surface line, also owned by the BMT, see West End Line (Brooklyn surface).

BMT West End Line
The D train serves the entire BMT West End Line at all times
Overview
Type	Rapid transit
System	New York City Subway
Termini	Ninth Avenue Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue
Stations	13
Operation
Opened	1916-1918
Owner	City of New York
Operator(s)	New York City Transit Authority
Character	Open Cut(9th Ave. Sta. only) Elevated
Technical
No. of tracks	3-6
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Electrification	600V DC third rail

The BMT West End Line is a line of the New York City Subway, serving the Brooklyn, communities of Borough Park, New Utrecht, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach and Coney Island. The D train operates on the line at all times, providing service to Manhattan and the Bronx via the IND Sixth Avenue Line. Although there is a center express track and express stations along the entire line, there is no regular express service at this time.

The elevated line, originally mapped as the New Utrecht Avenue Line (though the common name prevailed after construction), replaced the surface West End Line.

History

Elevated line over 86th Street at Bay Parkway station

Under the Dual Contracts of 1913, an elevated line was built over New Utrecht Avenue, 86th Street and Stillwell Avenue, fully opening to Coney Island on July 21, 1917. The original surface right-of-way was retained for use by trolley cars to provide local service and protect the company's franchise. Over the years, the West End line has been featured in movies and television shows. The famous chase scene from "The French Connection" (1971) was filmed under the West End line in Brooklyn, and the opening scene of "Saturday Night Fever" (1977) features Tony Manero (John Travolta) walking down 86th Street, with the West End elevated line above. Additionally, the opening credits of the television show "Welcome Back, Kotter" (1975) also featured the West End line.

Service patterns

[v · Legend South Brooklyn Railway BMT Fourth Avenue Line South Brooklyn Railway formerly to 5th Avenue El 36th–38th Street Yard Ninth Avenue (lower level abandoned) formerly to BMT Culver Line Fort Hamilton Parkway 50th Street 55th Street 62nd Street BMT Sea Beach Line 71st Street 79th Street 18th Avenue 20th Avenue Bay Parkway 25th Avenue Bay 50th Street Coney Island Complex Stillwell Avenue Yard BMT Sea Beach Line Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue BMT Brighton and IND Culver lines

Route designation on BMT Triplex equipment

The West End Line has had an express (on the BMT Fourth Avenue Line) service - labeled 3 in 1924 - since it opened in 1916, passing over the Manhattan Bridge and onto the BMT Broadway Line express tracks. In the late 1950s, midday trains were switched to the local Fourth Avenue tracks and through the Montague Street Tunnel, and late night and Sunday service became a shuttle between Coney Island and 36th Street. The express and local services were assigned the designations T and TT in the early 1960s. With the opening of the Chrystie Street Connection in late 1967, the B train from Manhattan and the Bronx was extended to Coney Island, absorbing the T and TT (both ran express on Fourth Avenue). The TT late night and Sunday shuttle survived until 1968, when the B became full-time. It ran local on Fourth Avenue during late night hours, but express at all times. Late night operation was cut back to a shuttle to 36th Street in the mid-1980s. In 2001, when reconstruction of the Manhattan Bridge north tracks, the B service in Brooklyn was replaced by the new W train, which ran as a shuttle not only to 36th Street during nighttime hours, but also to Atlantic Avenue – Pacific Street on weekends. In 2002, reconstruction of Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue resulted in the West End Line being the only line to serve the terminal and the W was extended full-time into Manhattan, using the local Fourth Avenue tracks and Montague Street Tunnel on weekends and late nights hours. In 2004, the Manhattan Bridge reconstruction was completed, and the W was replaced with an extended D train, running over the bridge at all hours and express on Fourth Avenue except late nights.

The other service pattern was the "West End Short Line", a rush-hour local (on Fourth Avenue) service between the BMT Nassau Street Line in Lower Manhattan and 62nd Street or Bay Parkway. It became part of the TT in the early 1960s and was discontinued in 1967.

In 1987, the short line service was essentially recreated when the rush-hour M extension to Brooklyn was moved from the BMT Brighton Line to the West End Line terminating at Bay Parkway. It terminated at Ninth Avenue until 1995, when it was cut back to Chambers Street. It was extended again from 2001-04 while the Manhattan Bridge was closed for reconstruction. In 2010, as part of a series of MTA budget cuts, rush-hour M service was discontinued.

Chaining information

The West End Line is chained BMT D. This is coincidental to the fact that the current (2011) primary service designator is also D.

Station listing

Station service legend
	Stops all times
	Stops rush hours only
Time period details

Neighborhood		Station	Tracks	Services	Opened	Transfers and notes
splits from the BMT Fourth Avenue Line (D )
Center Express track begins (No Regular Service)
connecting tracks to former BMT Culver Line (No Regular Service)
connecting tracks to 36th–38th Street Yard from local tracks
Sunset Park		Ninth Avenue	all	D	June 24, 1916	former transfer to BMT Culver Line
Borough Park		Fort Hamilton Parkway	local	D	June 24, 1916
		50th Street	local	D	June 24, 1916
		55th Street	local	D	June 24, 1916
Bensonhurst		62nd Street	all	D	September 15, 1916	BMT Sea Beach Line (N ) at New Utrecht Avenue
		71st Street	local	D	September 15, 1916
		79th Street	local	D	September 15, 1916
		18th Avenue	local	D	September 15, 1916
		20th Avenue	local	D	December 29, 1916
		Bay Parkway	all	D	December 29, 1916
		25th Avenue	local	D	December 29, 1916
connecting track to Coney Island Yard
Gravesend		Bay 50th Street	local	D	December 21, 1917
connecting track to Coney Island Yard
Center Express track ends
Coney Island		Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue	all	D	December 23, 1918	BMT Brighton Line (Q ) IND Culver Line (F ) BMT Sea Beach Line (N )

See also

• Transportation to Coney Island

References

• Opening of the Brooklyn, Bath and Coney Island Railroad, New York Times June 9, 1864 page 2
• Railroad History Database

External links

• Gunther and His Railroad by Morton Morris
• BMT West End Line on NYCSubway.org