D (New York City Subway service)

Sixth Avenue Express
A train made of R68 cars in D service at Bay Parkway, bound for Manhattan and the Bronx.
Northern end	Norwood – 205th Street
Southern end	Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue
Stations	41
Rolling stock	232 R68s (29 trains, AM rush) 216 R68s (27 trains, AM rush)
Depot	Concourse Yard
Started service	December 15, 1940 (1940-12-15)

The D Sixth Avenue Express is a rapid transit service in the B Division of the New York City Subway. Its route emblem, or "bullet", is colored bright orange since it uses the IND Sixth Avenue Line in Manhattan.^[1] The D operates at all times between 205th Street in Norwood, Bronx, and Stillwell Avenue in Coney Island, Brooklyn via Grand Concourse in the Bronx, Central Park West / Sixth Avenue in Manhattan, the north side of the Manhattan Bridge, and Fourth Avenue / West End in Brooklyn. The D runs express in Manhattan and makes all stops on the BMT West End Line in Brooklyn at all times. The D also makes all stops in the Bronx except when it runs express in the peak direction during rush hours. The D runs express on Fourth Avenue at all times except nights when it serves all stops.

History

A poster showing the temporary DD service that resulted from a water main break.

Sixth Avenue Subway Will Be Opened to the Public at 12-01 A.M. Sunday, Dec. 15, 1940

D service began on December 15, 1940 when the IND Sixth Avenue Line opened. It ran from 205th Street, the Bronx to World Trade Center (at that time called Hudson Terminal) on the IND Eighth Avenue Line, switching between the IND Sixth Avenue to the Eighth Avenue Lines just south of West Fourth Street – Washington Square.^[2]

D service was increased on October 24, 1949 in order to offset the loss off CC service.^[3]

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.^[4]

Between 1957 and 1959, limited rush hour trains ran express and/or local to Euclid Avenue.

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.^[5]

On November 26, 1967, the Chrystie Street Connection opened, adding express service on the Sixth Avenue Line and connecting it with the north tracks of the Manhattan Bridge. D service was switched over to BMT Brighton Line via this new connector. It became the express service weekdays to Brighton Beach and the local to Stillwell Avenue at other times. In Manhattan, it ran express from West 4th Street to 34th Street rush hours only (the B used the express tracks to relay when it terminated at West 4th Street at other times).^[6] 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 tracks of the Manhattan Bridge closed on April 13, 1986 due to construction, the D service was divided and ran in two sections, one between Norwood-205th Street in the Bronx and 34th Street – Herald Square (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 tracks 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.

On December 11, 1988, the north tracks of the Manhattan Bridge reopened and the two sections of the D joined together running via Sixth Avenue Express. The D now ran as the full-time Brighton Local to Stillwell Avenue.^[7]

In May 1995, the north tracks were 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.^[8]

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 in service caused by the suspension.

On February 22, 2004, full service on the Manhattan Bridge was restored and D trains were extended via the north tracks of the bridge to Brooklyn, replacing the W as the Fourth Avenue Express (late nights local) and West End Local to Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue.^[9][10][11] The D was moved to the West End Line instead of returning to the Brighton Line, which it had run on since 1967, in order to avoid running two separate (B and D) shortened services outside of weekdays. Moving the D to the West End Line meant it could now provide 24-hour service to both the Concourse Line in the Bronx and West End Line in Brooklyn. This eliminated the need to run late-night and/or weekend shuttles on either the West End or Concourse lines.^[12]

From May 24, 2004 to Fall 2004, construction on the IND Concourse Line, required the suspension of D express service in the Bronx.^[13]

In popular culture

• 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 D passes through 72nd Street (opposite Yoko's apartment in the Dakota Building) but never stops there, as it is a local station.
• 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 namesake street youth gang in the 1979 film The Warriors travel on the D, throughout the film's opening credits, from their Coney Island turf to a meeting in the Bronx.
• The service is mentioned in the song Boogie Down by Man Parrish Ft. Freeze Force (MC John Ski) raps the following line: "You take the D to 205th Then go see me 'cause I got the gift And I'm the cool MC with the vicious sounds I'm not from the Bronx, but I still Boogie Down".
• The service 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).
• The service is mentioned twice in the song Stop That Train by the Beastie Boys. Mike D and Adrock rap the following line: "Same faces every day, but you don't know their names, party people going places on the D train". Adam Yauch raps the following line: "Groggy-eyed and fried, and I'm headed for the station, D train ride to Coney Island vacation."
• The eponymous character of Seinfeld uses the D train to go to Coney Island in the 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 an 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. Also, in episode "Dr. Blowhole's Revenge", when Julien is kidnaped by the lobsters, Mort starts his travel to save him by using the metro until Coney Island.
• Man Against Crime episode Third Rail (S4E19) starring Ralph Bellamy was filmed on the D train and at the 207th Street Yard in 1953.
• Jean-Michel Basquiat generated much interest in his graffiti art, which took the form of spray-painted aphorisms that were targeted at the D train.^[14]

Route

Service pattern

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

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
	Station closed
	Stops weekdays in the peak direction only
Time period details

	Stations		Subway transfers	Connections
The Bronx
Concourse Line
	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)
Eighth Avenue Line
	125th Street		A  B  C	M60 Select Bus Service to LaGuardia Airport
	59th Street–Columbus Circle		A  B  C  1  2  (IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line)
Sixth 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)
	34th Street–Herald Square		B  F  M  N  Q  R  W  (BMT Broadway Line)	M34 / M34A Select Bus Service PATH at 33rd Street
	West 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)
Chyrstie Street Branch
	Grand Street		B
Brooklyn
Fourth Avenue Line
	DeKalb Avenue		N  Q  R
	Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center		N  R  B  Q  (BMT Brighton Line) 2  3  4  5  (IRT Eastern Parkway Line)	LIRR Atlantic Branch at Atlantic Terminal
	Union Street		N  R
	Ninth Street		N  R  F  G  (IND Culver Line at Fourth Avenue)
	Prospect Avenue		N  R
	25th Street		N  R
	36th Street		N  R
West End Line
	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

Wikimedia Commons has media related to D (New York City Subway service).

• MTA NYC Transit – D Sixth Avenue Express
• "D Subway Timetable, Effective November 7, 2016" (PDF). New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved November 7, 2016. 

New York City Subway
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