W (New York City Subway service)

Broadway Local
A W train made of R160s at 14th Street–Union Square in Manhattan.
A train made of R68s in W service at 8th Street-New York University in Manhattan.
Northern end	Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard
Southern end	Whitehall Street–South Ferry
Stations	23
Rolling stock	(Shared with N) 16 R68s (2 trains, AM rush) 310 R160Bs (31 trains)
Depot	Coney Island Yard
Started service	July 22, 2001 (2001-07-22)
Discontinued	June 25, 2010 (2010-06-25)
Reinstated	November 7, 2016 (2016-11-07)

The W Broadway Local is a rapid transit service of the New York City Subway's B Division. Its route emblem, or "bullet", is colored sunflower yellow since it uses the BMT Broadway Line in Manhattan.^[1] The W operates on weekdays only between Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria, Queens and Whitehall Street-South Ferry in Lower Manhattan, serving all stops along the BMT Astoria Line in Queens and the BMT Broadway Line in Manhattan.

Introduced in July 22, 2001, the W initially ran until June 25, 2010, when it was eliminated due to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's (MTA's) financial crisis. The MTA restored the route on November 7, 2016, using its original emblem and 2004–2010 routing, as part of the updated service pattern related to the opening of the Second Avenue Subway.^{[2][3][4][5][6]}

Internally, the W is staffed and scheduled as part of the N, similar to service patterns of the 1970s and 1980s.^[7][2][8]

Service history

Origins

The W was originally conceived as an extra Broadway Line local service running on the Astoria and Broadway lines to Whitehall Street. This service was essentially a variant of the N route, which in the 1970s and 1980s ran express between Queens and Brooklyn, with some trains running local between Queens and Whitehall Street. However, reconstruction of the Manhattan Bridge between 1986 and 2004 forced the N, which normally ran express on the Broadway Line and on the Bridge, to run local via the Montague Street Tunnel. This service change precluded W local service from running as envisioned. The W bullet appeared on roll signs as a yellow diamond bullet, but on the R68s and R68As, round bullet signs were installed. The W also appeared on the digital signs of the R44s and R46s with any route and designation combination that could be used for the Broadway Line.^[9]

2001-2004

The W was introduced on July 22, 2001 when the Manhattan Bridge north tracks (leading to the IND Sixth Avenue Line) closed for reconstruction. The Bridge's south side tracks, which led to the Broadway Line, reopened after being closed since 1988. The B had run full-time from Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue to Manhattan via the BMT West End Line and Manhattan Bridge north tracks onto the Sixth Avenue Line, but it had to be split when the north side tracks closed.^[10] This split had already been made from 1986 to 1988, when a part-time orange B only ran north of 34th Street–Herald Square on the Sixth Avenue Line.^[11][12][13] At the same time, a full-time yellow B ran from Coney Island in Brooklyn across the south side of the bridge and up the BMT Broadway Line into Queens (at nights however, this yellow B only ran in Brooklyn). This old pattern was effectively restored in 2001, but instead of having two "B" services, the yellow B was instead named the W. This route began at Coney Island and ran up the West End Line (local), BMT Fourth Avenue Line (express), Manhattan Bridge south tracks, Broadway Line (express, switching to the local tracks for 49th Street), and BMT Astoria Line (express during rush hours in the peak direction until 9:30 PM, local otherwise)^[14] to Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard. Evening service ended at 57th Street–Seventh Avenue in Manhattan (using the express tracks and bypassing 49th Street), late night service at 36th Street in Brooklyn, and weekend service at Atlantic Avenue–Pacific Street in Brooklyn.^[15]

After September 11, 2001, Broadway Line service in Lower Manhattan was suspended; the N was completely suspended and W trains ran at all times between Ditmars Boulevard and Coney Island. It made all stops except in Brooklyn north of 36th Street. During late nights, it ran in two sections: between Ditmars Boulevard and 34th Street, skipping 49th Street in the northbound direction, and in Brooklyn between 36th Street and Coney Island. Normal service on both routes resumed on October 28, 2001.^[16]

The Astoria express service, being unpopular with residents, was discontinued on January 15, 2002. Around that time, evening service was extended from 57th Street to Astoria.^[17]

Beginning on September 8, 2002, when Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue station underwent reconstruction, the W became a full-time Coney Island–Astoria service. During this time, it was the only line directly serving Coney Island, as all the other lines that normally did so had been cut short. Late night and weekend service was sent via the Montague Street Tunnel and the local tracks of the Fourth Avenue and Broadway Lines; the N ran only in Brooklyn at those times.^[9][18][19]

2004-2010

Notice of the W's elimination

When all four tracks on the Manhattan Bridge were restored to service on February 22, 2004, the W was changed to its final service pattern, running weekdays only from 7:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. (7:00 to 21:30) as an entirely local service between Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard and Whitehall Street–South Ferry, Lower Manhattan. The Brooklyn portion was replaced by the D, which was extended over the north side of the bridge and down the West End Line.^{[9][20][21][22][23][24]} Instead, of reverting to the service pattern in 1986, prior to the Manhattan Bridge service changes, the W was kept because of increasing ridership on the BMT Astoria Line.^[25] Because there was not enough room to store W trains on the lower level tracks at City Hall, the first three W trains of the day entered service at 86th Street in Gravesend, Brooklyn and the last three trains of the night continued in service to Kings Highway. These trips ran local in Brooklyn via the Montague Street Tunnel, BMT Fourth Avenue and BMT Sea Beach lines.^[26]

On July 27, 2008, the W was extended to run until 11:00 p.m in response to growth in the subway system's ridership.^[27][28][29]

On March 24, 2010, the MTA announced the elimination of the W due to financial shortfalls with the N and Q replacing it. The N train became a full-time local north of Canal Street while the Q was extended to Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard on weekdays. The W ceased operation on Friday, June 25, 2010 with the last train bound for Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard leaving Whitehall Street–South Ferry at 10:50 p.m.^[9][30]

2016 Restoration

Notice of the W's restoration

In July 2015, the MTA announced that it was considering restoring the W in its 2004-2010 service pattern once the first phase of the Second Avenue Subway opens. When the Second Avenue Line opens (expected for December 2016), the Q would be rerouted from the Astoria Line to 96th Street on Manhattan's Upper East Side. The W would replace the Q in Astoria in order to maintain two services along the Astoria Line.^[31] However, there would be 20 fewer round-trips per weekday on the Astoria Line after the W's reintroduction, because the W will serve Astoria for a shorter time span each day than the Q did.^[32]

On May 23, 2016, the MTA announced that it had decided to restore the W.^[33] Under the MTA's plan, W service was restored on November 7, 2016.^[2] The Q was temporarily cut back to 57th Street–Seventh Avenue, allowing for a seamless extension of Q service to the Second Avenue Line when it opens.^[3][4][5] Additionally, the N train once again became express in Manhattan on weekdays from 34th Street–Herald Square to Canal Street. As the N and W trains' fleet is based from the Coney Island Yard, the first three W trains originate at 86th Street and two trains terminate there in the late morning and one in the evening.^[34] Until the conclusion of rehabilitation work on the BMT Sea Beach Line, the originating trains currently go into service at Bay Parkway, then operate local along the Fourth Avenue Line and Montague Street Tunnel as they did prior to 2010.^[35][2]

Route

Service pattern

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 weekdays only
	Stops rush hours/weekdays in the peak direction only
Time period details

	Stations		Subway transfers	Connections and notes
Queens
Astoria Line
	Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard		N
	Astoria Boulevard		N	M60 Select Bus Service bus to LaGuardia Airport
	30th Avenue		N
	Broadway		N
	36th Avenue		N
	39th Avenue		N
	Queensboro Plaza		N  7  <7> (IRT Flushing Line)
Manhattan
Broadway Line
	Lexington Avenue/59th Street		N  R  4  5  6  <6> (IRT Lexington Avenue Line) F  (IND 63rd Street Line at Lexington Avenue–63rd Street; MetroCard-only transfer)	Roosevelt Island Tramway
	Fifth Avenue–59th Street		N  R
	57th Street–Seventh Avenue		N  Q  R
	49th Street		N  R	Station is accessible in the northbound direction only.
	Times Square–42nd Street		N  Q  R  1  2  3  (IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line) 7  <7> (IRT Flushing Line) S  (42nd Street Shuttle) A  C  E  (IND Eighth Avenue Line at 42nd Street–Port Authority Bus Terminal)	Port Authority Bus Terminal
	34th Street–Herald Square		N  Q  R  B  D  F  M  (IND Sixth Avenue Line)	M34 / M34A Select Bus Service PATH at 33rd Street
	28th Street		R
	23rd Street		R	M23 Select Bus Service
	14th Street–Union Square		N  Q  R  L  (BMT Canarsie Line) 4  5  6  <6> (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)
	Eighth Street–New York University		R
	Prince Street		R
	Canal Street		N  Q  R  6  <6> (IRT Lexington Avenue Line) J  Z  (BMT Nassau Street Line)
	City Hall		R
	Cortlandt Street		R	PATH at World Trade Center
	Rector Street		R
	Whitehall Street–South Ferry		R  1  (IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line)	M15 Select Bus Service Staten Island Ferry at Whitehall Terminal

References

External links

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

• "MTA NYC Transit – W Broadway Local". 
• W Train Timetable
• Line by Line History

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