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IND Queens Boulevard Line
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The Queens Boulevard Line is a fully underground line of the B Division of the New York City Subway in Manhattan and Queens, New York City, United States. The line provides crosstown service across Manhattan under 53rd Street and east through Queens to Jamaica. The two-track section in Manhattan is also known as the 53rd Street Line. East of Queens Plaza, the line has four tracks, with express service on the inner tracks. This line is one of two (the IND Culver Line being the other) for which the express tracks deviate from the local tracks to provide a more direct route.
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Encyclopedia
The Queens Boulevard Line is a fully underground line of the B Division of the New York City Subway in Manhattan and Queens, New York City, United States. The line provides crosstown service across Manhattan under 53rd Street and east through Queens to Jamaica. The two-track section in Manhattan is also known as the 53rd Street Line. East of Queens Plaza, the line has four tracks, with express service on the inner tracks. This line is one of two (the IND Culver Line being the other) for which the express tracks deviate from the local tracks to provide a more direct route. It is the second busiest line in the system, after the IRT Lexington Avenue Line.
During the daytime, the portion of the line between the various junctions in Long Island City and Forest Hills–71st Avenue is served by trains of four services: the and express and the and local. The and services end at Forest Hills, where the switches to the local tracks to the end at 179th Street in Jamaica; the stays on the express tracks to the IND Archer Avenue Line junction, where it splits to Jamaica Center. The and split onto the IND 63rd Street Line and BMT Broadway Line (via the 60th Street Tunnel Connection) in Long Island City, while the and continue west into Manhattan to the IND Eighth Avenue Line and IND Sixth Avenue Line respectively.
The is the only service that uses the same route at all times. The stops running in Manhattan and Queens after 11:00 p.m., while the does not run after midnight or on weekends. After 9:00 p.m. and on weekends, the switches to the local tracks east of Forest Hills, and after midnight, it runs completely local. One extra service—the —only serves the Queens Boulevard Line after 9:00 p.m. and on weekends, running local between Long Island City (from the IND Crosstown Line) and Forest Hills.
Description
The Queens Boulevard Line begins at 179th Street as a four-track subway under Hillside Avenue. Just after curving north under the Van Wyck Expressway, a flying junction joins the recent two-track Archer Avenue Line to the local and express tracks. Soon after, the line turns west under Queens Boulevard.
East of Union Turnpike, another flying junction ties the eastward tracks to Jamaica Yard. The other side of the wye curves west to become a lower level of the subway just west of Union Turnpike. After passing through 75th Avenue, those tracks join the local and express tracks at another flying junction. Just west is Forest Hills–71st Avenue, where several services begin on the local tracks, and service switches to the express tracks.
From here the line runs under Queens Boulevard until it turns north onto Broadway after Grand Avenue–Newtown. Near the Roosevelt Avenue–Jackson Heights transit hub, an abandoned trackless tunnel branches off into an unused upper part of the station which is used for storage. At the intersection of Broadway and Northern Boulevard, the express tracks turn west under Northern Boulevard. The local tracks take a longer route, remaining under Broadway, then turning south onto Steinway Street and west again onto Northern Boulevard, where they rejoin the express tracks. As the line approaches Queens Plaza, the two-track IND 63rd Street Line splits from both sets of tracks at a flying junction, running to Manhattan under 41st Avenue. The Queens Boulevard Line continues under Northern Boulevard to Queens Plaza, where crossover switches allow service to switch to the express tracks. Just west of Queens Plaza, the line splits into three parts at yet another flying junction. The express tracks continue towards Manhattan under 44th Drive, while the local tracks split two ways, with the 60th Street Tunnel Connection turning northwest and the IND Crosstown Line remaining under Jackson Avenue (Northern Boulevard south of Queens Plaza). From this point on, the Queens Boulevard Line has only two tracks.
The line continues west through the 53rd Street Tunnel under the East River into Manhattan. After Lexington Avenue, the westbound tracks rise above the eastbound tracks. A flying junction after Fifth Avenue ties the westbound tracks into the southbound local tracks of the IND Sixth Avenue Line , which begin here as a merge of these connection tracks and the IND 63rd Street Line . At that junction, the Sixth Avenue Line express tracks turns west under 53rd Street, just to the south of the Queens Boulevard Line. The two lines share platforms at Seventh Avenue, but no connecting tracks are present. Then the Queens Boulevard Line turns south below the IND Eighth Avenue Line with separate lower-level platforms at 50th Street, and then the tracks split to join the local and express tracks of the Eighth Avenue Line north of 42nd Street–Port Authority Bus Terminal. At that station, a special lower platform formerly served a single southbound track from the Queens Boulevard Line, merging with both southbound tracks of the Eighth Avenue Line south of that station. It was speculated that this platform and level was built to prevent the IRT from extending their Flushing Line west. Recently, the MTA announced plans to extend the Flushing Line. The track through the lower level has been disconnected, and the lower level will be partially demolished to make way for the new Flushing Line tunnel.
Background
Station listing
| Station | Tracks | Services | Opened | Transfers and notes |
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| Jamaica–179th Street | all | | December 10, 1950 | | | | 169th Street | local | | April 24, 1937 | | | | Parsons Boulevard | all | | April 24, 1937 | | | | Sutphin Boulevard | local | | April 24, 1937 | | | IND Archer Avenue Line merges |
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| | Briarwood–Van Wyck Boulevard | local | | April 24, 1937 | | | connecting tracks to Jamaica Yard |
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| Kew Gardens–Union Turnpike | all | | December 31, 1936 | | | | 75th Avenue | local | | December 31, 1936 | | | connecting tracks to Jamaica Yard; former connection to IND World's Fair Line |
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| | Forest Hills–71st Avenue | all | | December 31, 1936 | | | | 67th Avenue | local | | December 31, 1936 | | | | 63rd Drive–Rego Park | local | | December 31, 1936 | | | | Woodhaven Boulevard | local | | December 31, 1936 | | | | Grand Avenue–Newtown | local | | December 31, 1936 | | | | Elmhurst Avenue | local | | December 31, 1936 | | | Roosevelt Avenue–Jackson Heights | all | | August 19, 1933 | IRT Flushing Line at 74th Street–Broadway | | | 65th Street | local | | August 19, 1933 | | | express tracks diverge |
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| | Northern Boulevard | local | | August 19, 1933 | | | | 46th Street | local | | August 19, 1933 | | | | Steinway Street | local | | August 19, 1933 | | | express tracks rejoin |
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| | 36th Street | local | | August 19, 1933 | | | IND 63rd Street Line splits |
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| Queens Plaza | all | | August 19, 1933 | | | local tracks split to IND Crosstown Line and 60th Street Tunnel Connection |
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| | 23rd Street–Ely Avenue | express | | August 28, 1939 | IND Crosstown Line at Long Island City–Court Square
IRT Flushing Line at 45th Road–Court House Square (MetroCard-only transfer) | | Lexington Avenue–53rd Street | express | | August 19, 1933 | IRT Lexington Avenue Line at 51st Street | | | Fifth Avenue/53rd Street | express | | August 19, 1933 | | | connection to IND Sixth Avenue Line splits |
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| | Seventh Avenue | express | | August 19, 1933 | IND Sixth Avenue Line | | * | 50th Street | express | | August 19, 1933 | IND Eighth Avenue Line (transfer in same direction only) | | merges with IND Eighth Avenue Line |
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* southbound only
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