- D (New York City Subway service)
-
Sixth Avenue Express 
Northern end Norwood – 205th Street Southern end Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue Stations 41 The D Sixth Avenue Express is a rapid transit service of the New York City Subway. It is colored orange on route signs, station signs, and the official subway map, since it uses the IND Sixth Avenue Line through Manhattan.
The D service operates at all times from 205th Street in Norwood, Bronx, to Stillwell Avenue in Coney Island, Brooklyn via Concourse in the Bronx, Eighth Avenue (under Central Park West) and Sixth Avenue in Manhattan, and the north side of the Manhattan Bridge to and from Brooklyn. In Brooklyn, D service operates via the BMT Fourth Avenue and West End lines.
At all times, D trains operate express in Manhattan. Trains operate local in the Bronx at all times except rush hours, when they run express in peak direction only (mornings to Manhattan, evenings from Manhattan). In Brooklyn, D trains bypass DeKalb Avenue and operate express along the Fourth Avenue corridor at all times except late nights, when they stop at DeKalb Avenue and operate local.
Contents
History
D service began on December 15, 1940 when the IND Sixth Avenue Line opened. It ran from 205th Street, Bronx to World Trade Center on the IND Eighth Avenue Line (at that time was called Hudson Terminal), switching from the IND Sixth Avenue to the Eighth Avenue Lines at West Fourth Street – Washington Square.
On December 29, 1951, peak direction express service in the Bronx was discontinued.
On October 30, 1954, a connection between the IND South Brooklyn Line and BMT Culver Line opened. D service was rerouted via these two lines to Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue with limited rush hour trains to Church Avenue.
Between 1957 to 1959, limited rush hour trains ran express and/or local to IND Fulton Street Line.
From December 4 to December 27, 1962, a special service labeled DD was provided due to a water main break. It ran local from 205th Street, Bronx to 59th Street – Columbus Circle, then continued as a local down the Eighth Avenue Line to West Fourth Street, where it switched to the Sixth Avenue Line and continued on its normal route to Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue via the Culver Line.
On November 26, 1967, the Chrystie Street Connection opened, adding express service on the Sixth Avenue Line and connecting it with the Manhattan Bridge. D service was switched over to BMT Brighton Line via this new connector. It became the express service on weekdays to Brighton Beach and the local to Stillwell Avenue other times. In Manhattan, it ran express from West 4th Street to 34th Street rush hours only (the B used the express tracks to terminate there at other times). It would become the full time Sixth Avenue Express when non-rush hours B service was extended to 57th Street – Sixth Avenue.
When the north side of the Manhattan Bridge was closed in April 1986, D service ran in two sections, one between the Bronx and 34th Street (the Orange D) while the other ran from 57th Street – Seventh Avenue on the BMT Broadway Line, then express along the Broadway Line to Canal Street, then over the south side of the Manhattan Bridge into Brooklyn, and then along the Brighton Line to Stillwell Avenue (the Yellow D). At this time, D/Q skip-stop service ran in Brooklyn on weekdays.
In 1988, the north side reopened and the two sections joined. The D now ran as the full time Brighton Local to Stillwell Avenue.
In May 1995, the north side was closed during midday and weekends and D service was cut south of 34th Street-Herald Square. On July 22, 2001, it was closed at all times and D service was cut again. In Brooklyn, it was replaced by Q local service.
After September 11, 2001, C service was suspended. On weekends, the D ran local on the Eighth Avenue Line north of 59th Street to fill in the gap caused by the suspension.
On February 22, 2004, the north side of the Manhattan Bridge was reopened, and D trains were extended via the north side of the bridge to Brooklyn, replacing the W as the Fourth Avenue Express (late nights local) and West End Local to Stillwell Avenue. For Brooklyn service, the D had become the B and vice-versa.[1]
From May 24 to Fall 2004, construction on the IND Concourse Line suspended D express service in the Bronx, but the B still traveled to/from Bedford Park Boulevard during rush hours.
The Eighth Avenue fire in January 2005 caused D trains to run local on the Eighth Avenue Line north of 59th Street on weekday evenings until C service was restored on February 2.
Cultural references
- Bob Dylan's 1966 song "Visions of Johanna" includes the lyric "In the empty lot where the ladies play blindman's bluff with the keychain/And the all-night girls, they whisper of escapades out on the D train." At the time, the D used the IND Culver Line to Coney Island.
- Biz Markie's song "Pickin' Boogers" from his debut album Goin' Off features the line "I was chillin one day/with my partner Kane/headed up to the rooftop/ridin' the D train."
- The opening track on Yoko Ono's 2009 album Between My Head And The Sky is titled 'Waiting For The D Train'. The Sixth Avenue Express D Train passes through 72nd Street Subway Station (opposite Yoko's apartment in the Dakota Building) BUT never stops, as 72nd Street is only a local station; this may be the reason Yoko is waiting so in the song! Several movies, including Rosemary's Baby and Vanilla Sky directed by Roman Polanski and Cameron Crowe respectively, use the exterior of the Dakota. It was also John Lennon's home - with Yoko Ono - from 1973 until his death (outside the building) in 1980.
- In the late 1980s and early 1990s, numerous Top 10 Lists on Late Night with David Letterman contained references to the D train.
- The famous car-chase scene in the movie The French Connection took place under the elevated tracks running from 86th Street into New Utrecht Avenue, Brooklyn (although at that time, the B was serving the West End Line). Many of the actual street scenes, however, were shot in other areas, such as Bushwick, Brooklyn.
- The line is mentioned in the song 3 The Hard Way by Beastie Boys. Adam Yauch raps the following line: "Used to ride the D to beat the morning bell at Edward R. Murrow out on Avenue L..." (Referring to Edward R. Murrow High School, where the D served the station closest to the school, Avenue M, until 2001, when it was replaced by the Q).
- Seinfeld uses the D line to go to Coney Island in the Seinfeld episode The Subway.
- The 1980s folk-pop trio The Washington Squares includes a song titled "D Train" on their eponymous 1987 debut album.
- Type O Negative refer to the D Train as the chosen transport to Brighton Beach, where lead singer Peter Steele will kill his girlfriend in their songs "Xero Tolerance," "Hey Pete", and "Kill You Tonight".
- It is also mentioned in a episode of Penguins of Madagascar called "Gone In A Flash" where the penguins go to rescue Maurice and have to travel through the subway system.
Route
Service pattern
The following table shows the lines used by the D service, with shaded boxes indicating the route at the specified times:
Line From To Tracks Times non-
rushrush
peaklate
nightsIND Concourse Line (full line) Norwood – 205th Street all Bedford Park Boulevard 145th Street express local IND Eighth Avenue Line 145th Street 59th Street – Columbus Circle express IND Sixth Avenue Line 59th Street – Columbus Circle Broadway – Lafayette Street Chrystie Street Connection Grand Street all Manhattan Bridge north BMT Fourth Avenue Line DeKalb Avenue bypass bridge Atlantic Avenue – Pacific Street 36th Street express local BMT West End Line (full line) Ninth 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 only 
Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction 
Stops rush hours only 
Stops rush hours in the peak direction only Time period details 
Stations 
Subway transfers Connections The Bronx Norwood – 205th Street Bedford Park Boulevard B 
Kingsbridge Road B Fordham Road B Bx12 Select Bus Service 182nd–183rd Streets B Tremont Avenue B 174th–175th Streets B 170th Street B 167th Street B 161st Street – Yankee Stadium B
4
(IRT Jerome Avenue Line)Manhattan 155th Street B 145th Street B
A C 
(IND Eighth Avenue Line)125th Street A B 
C M60 bus to LaGuardia Airport 59th Street – Columbus Circle A B C
1 2 
(IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line)Seventh Avenue B
E (IND Queens Boulevard Line)47th–50th Streets – Rockefeller Center B F M 42nd Street – Bryant Park B F M
7 <7>
(IRT Flushing Line at Fifth Avenue – Bryant Park)34th Street – Herald Square B F M
N Q R (BMT Broadway Line)M34 / M34A Select Bus Service
PATH at 33rd StreetWest Fourth Street – Washington Square B F M
A C E (IND Eighth Avenue Line)PATH at 9th Street Broadway – Lafayette Street B F M
4 6 <6> (IRT Lexington Avenue Line at Bleecker Street; transfer to downtown trains only)Grand Street B Brooklyn DeKalb Avenue N Q Atlantic Avenue – Pacific Street N R
B Q (BMT Brighton Line)
2 3 4 5 (IRT Eastern Parkway Line)LIRR Atlantic Branch at Atlantic Terminal Union Street N Ninth Street N
F G (IND Culver Line at Fourth Avenue)Prospect Avenue N 25th Street N 36th Street N R Ninth Avenue Fort Hamilton Parkway 50th Street 55th Street 62nd Street N (BMT Sea Beach Line at New Utrecht Avenue)71st Street 79th Street 18th Avenue 20th Avenue Bay Parkway 25th Avenue Bay 50th Street Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue F (IND Culver Line)
N (BMT Sea Beach Line)
Q (BMT Brighton Line)References
External links
- MTA NYC Transit – D Sixth Avenue Express
- MTA NYC Transit – D train timetablePDF – Effective June 26, 2011
- New Routes Listed in IND Emergency Caused by Flooding, New York Times December 8, 1962 page 33
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