F (New York City Subway service)

Queens Boulevard Express/ Sixth Avenue Local
Manhattan and Queens-bound F train of R160s arriving at Avenue P
Northern end	Jamaica–179th Street
Southern end	Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue or Kings Highway
Stations	45
Rolling stock	64 R46s (8 trains) 360 R160A/Bs (36 trains)[1] (Rolling stock assignments subject to change)
Depot	Jamaica Yard
Started service	December 15, 1940 (1940-12-15)
Route map  F  ( E  rush hours) Jamaica–179th Street 169th Street Parsons Boulevard Sutphin Boulevard Jamaica Center via Archer Avenue Briarwood Kew Gardens–Union Turnpike 75th Avenue  M  ​ R  Forest Hills–71st Avenue bypassed local section 67th Avenue 63rd Drive–Rego Park Woodhaven Boulevard Grand Avenue–Newtown Elmhurst Avenue Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue bypassed local section 65th Street Northern Boulevard 46th Street Steinway Street 36th Street ​ ​ Manhattan & Brooklyn via Queens Boulevard 21st Street–Queensbridge Queens Manhattan Roosevelt Island ​ 96th Street via 2nd Avenue Lexington Avenue–63rd Street ​ Downtown & Brooklyn via Broadway 57th Street (December 2018) East Side & Queens via 53rd Street ​ Uptown & the Bronx via 8th Avenue 47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center 42nd Street–Bryant Park 34th Street–Herald Square 23rd Street (December 2018) 14th Street West Fourth Street–Washington Square Broadway–Lafayette Street ​ Brooklyn via Manhattan Bridge Brooklyn via Williamsburg Bridge Second Avenue Delancey Street East Broadway Manhattan Brooklyn York Street ​ Manhattan via 8th Avenue Jay Street–MetroTech ​ Euclid Avenue & The Rockaways via Fulton Street Queens via Crosstown Bergen Street Carroll Street Smith–9th Streets 4th Avenue Seventh Avenue 15th Street–Prospect Park Fort Hamilton Parkway Church Avenue  G  Ditmas Avenue 18th Avenue Avenue I Bay Parkway Avenue N Avenue P Rush hour short turns Kings Highway Avenue U Avenue X Manhattan & Queens via Sea Beach Manhattan & the Bronx via West End Neptune Avenue Manhattan via Brighton West Eighth Street–New York Aquarium Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue  D ​  F ​  N ​  Q  Legend Lines used by the Other services sharing tracks with the Unused lines, connections, or service patterns  F  Termini of services Cross-platform interchange Platforms on different levels

The F Queens Boulevard Express/Sixth Avenue Local^[2] is a rapid transit service in the B Division of the New York City Subway. Its route bullet is colored orange since it uses the IND Sixth Avenue Line in Manhattan.^[3]

The F operates at all times between 179th Street in Jamaica, Queens and Stillwell Avenue in Coney Island, Brooklyn, making express stops in Queens (between Forest Hills–71st Avenue and 21st Street–Queensbridge) and local stops in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

From 1968 to 1976, the F ran express along the IND Culver Line in Brooklyn. The F also ran via the 53rd Street Tunnel until 2001. Since the 2010s, there have been calls to restore partial express service from Jay Street–MetroTech to Church Avenue, although this has been controversial.

History

A poster notifying the opening of the Sixth Avenue Subway at 12:01 AM, Sunday, Dec. 15, 1940

F service officially began on December 15, 1940, operating between Parsons Boulevard and Church Avenue via the Queens Boulevard, Sixth Avenue, and Culver Lines. It ran express in Queens and local in Manhattan and Brooklyn.^[4]

During World War II, by January 10, 1944, trains were extended to 169th Street during evenings, late nights, and Sunday mornings. Temporarily in 1948, as shown in a map from that year, the D and F service switched, with the F terminating at Second Avenue, but this was subsequently rescinded.^[5] On December 11, 1950, trains were extended to the newly opened 179th Street on evenings, nights, and Sunday mornings.^[6] On May 13, 1951, all trains outside of rush hour were extended to 179th Street using the local tracks beyond Parsons Boulevard. On October 8, 1951, trains were extended to 179th Street at all times.^[7] During rush hours F trains skipped 169th Street running via the express tracks. At other times, the F stopped at 169th Street.^[8]

In 1953, the platforms were lengthened to 660 feet at 75th Avenue and Sutphin Boulevard so that F trains could run eleven car trains, which began during rush hours on September 8. The extra train car increased the total carrying capacity by 4,000 passengers.^[9]

On October 30, 1954, the connection between the IND Culver Line and BMT Culver Line opened, with the IND taking over the elevated section. All F service began terminating at Broadway–Lafayette Street with D service entering Brooklyn via the Rutgers Street Tunnel. In addition, all except weekday daytime trains were rerouted via the local tracks between Continental Avenue and Parsons Boulevard.^[10] On April 29, 1956, trains were extended to Second Avenue.

Beginning on October 6, 1957, trains terminated at 34th Street–Herald Square evenings, nights and weekends. On November 10, 1958, F service was cut back from Second Avenue and started terminating at Broadway–Lafayette Street weekdays. Then, beginning on July 11, 1967, trains no longer ran express between 179th Street and 71st–Continental Avenues weekday midday, and were extended weekdays daytime from Broadway-Lafayette Street back to Second Avenue. When, on November 26, 1967, the Chrystie Street Connection was completed, D service was rerouted via this connection, over the north side of the Manhattan Bridge, and via the BMT Brighton Line in Brooklyn. F service replaced it on the IND Culver Line.^[11]

Beginning on August 19, 1968, rush hour express service was added, in both directions, between Jay Street-Borough Hall and Church Avenue, and in rush hours, peak direction trains to/from Stillwell Avenue (alternating with those terminating at Kings Highway) ran express as well between Church Avenue and Kings Highway.^{[12]:18[13]:5} Beginning on June 16, 1969 express service was modified with Kings Highway trains operating as locals along the entire route Bergen Street to Kings Highway. Express service was further modified December 31, 1972 when all trains began making local stops between Bergen Street and Church Avenue in the rush direction because of complaints of reduced numbers of trains at local stations. At the same time, all trains were rerouted via the express tracks between Continental Avenue and Parsons Boulevard in Queens.

On January 18, 1976, F express service between Bergen Street and Church Avenue was discontinued during rush hours in the non-peak direction.^[14] On August 30, 1976, express service between Bergen Street and Church Avenue was completely discontinued, with all trains making all stops. Rush direction alternate-train express service between Ditmas Avenue and Kings Highway was retained. This was due to budget cuts and continuing complaints about reduced Manhattan service by riders at local stations.^{[12]:18[13]:5}

Starting on August 27, 1977, F was made a local in Queens between Continental Avenue and Queens Plaza, late nights, replacing the GG service.^[15]

On May 24, 1987, N and R services swapped terminals in Queens. As part of the reroute plan, F service terminated at 57th Street / Sixth Avenue during late nights.^[16] Peak-direction F express service on the Culver Line in Brooklyn, between Kings Highway and 18th Avenue, was suspended in 1987 because of reconstruction along that part of the Culver Line.^{[12]:20[13]:5} On December 11, 1988, as part of the Archer Avenue Subway service changes, F trains began skipping 169th Street during rush hours because R trains were extended to 179th Street to run local.^[17][18] On October 29, 1989, the IND 63rd Street Line opened and late night F service was cut back to 47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center.^[19] Service was extended to 21st Street–Queensbridge in 1993.

On September 30, 1990, R service was cut back to Continental Avenue from 179th Street at all times except rush hours. As a result, F trains began running local east of 71st Avenue during middays, evenings, and weekends.^[20][21] On October 25, 1992, R rush hour service was cut back from 179th Street to Continental Avenue, and the F was made local from 179th Street to Continental Avenue during rush hours as well.^[20][22]

On August 30, 1997, late night F service was again routed to 179th Street as a local, with service on the 63rd Street Line being provided by a shuttle.^[23][24]

In December 2000, the F service started being rerouted via the new 63rd Street connector during some nights and weekends.^[25] On December 16, 2001, the 63rd Street Connector officially opened, connecting the IND 63rd Street Line with the IND Queens Boulevard Line. In a controversial move, the new local V service replaced the express F service in the heavily trafficked 53rd Street Tunnel between Manhattan and Queens, while F service was rerouted to the 63rd Street Tunnel and ran express in Queens between 71st Avenue and 21st Street–Queensbridge at all times.^[26][27]

On September 8, 2002, Stillwell Avenue was closed for reconstruction. F service was cut back to Avenue X, and service to Stillwell Avenue was replaced by a shuttle bus.^[28] F service returned to Stillwell Avenue on May 23, 2004, upon completion of the construction work.

Proposed Brooklyn express service

Coney Island-bound F train of R46s at Avenue P

There has been community support for resuming express service on the Culver Line between Jay Street–MetroTech and Church Avenue, including from Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Senator Daniel Squadron.^[29][30][31] The MTA announced that after the elevated Culver Viaduct underwent extensive renovations from 2009 to 2012, "There will be no impediment to implementing the F express."^[32]

While F express service was contested for four years by some residents on the Culver Line who feared they would lose a one-seat ride into Manhattan, some politicians drafted a letter in 2014 petitioning for express service.^[33] In late October 2015, city officials considered the implementing express service.^[34] Some rush-hour peak-direction F trains ran express between Jay Street and Fourth Avenue since at least 2015 and the MTA once planned to use expanded rush-hour express service (Jay Street to Church Avenue) in both directions in the summers of 2016 and 2017.^[35] In May 2016, the MTA announced half of all rush-hour F trains may start running express in fall 2017, with the train frequency on the rest of the F's route remaining the same.^[36] However, this service still remained "under consideration" as of 2017.^[37]

Route

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 late nights and weekends only
	Stops weekdays only
	Station closed
	Stops rush hours only (limited service)
	Stops rush hours/weekdays in the peak direction only
Time period details
	Station is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act
↑	Station is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act in the indicated direction only
↓
	Elevator access to mezzanine only

	Stations		Subway transfers	Connections
Queens
Queens Boulevard Line
	Jamaica–179th Street		E	Q3 bus to JFK Int'l Airport
	169th Street			Q3 bus to JFK Int'l Airport
	Parsons Boulevard		E
	Sutphin Boulevard			Q44 Select Bus Service
	Briarwood		E	Q44 Select Bus Service
	Kew Gardens–Union Turnpike		E	Q10 bus to JFK Int'l Airport
	75th Avenue		E
	Forest Hills–71st Avenue		E  ​​M  ​R	LIRR Main Line at Forest Hills
	Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue		E  ​​M  ​R  7  (IRT Flushing Line)	Q47 bus to LaGuardia Airport Marine Air Terminal Q53 Select Bus Service Q70 Select Bus Service to LaGuardia Airport
63rd Street Line
	21st Street–Queensbridge
Manhattan
	Roosevelt Island			Roosevelt Island Tramway
	Lexington Avenue–63rd Street		F ​ N  ​Q  ​R  Out-of-system transfers with MetroCard: 4  ​5  ​6  <6> (IRT Lexington Avenue Line at 59th Street) N  ​R  ​W  (BMT Broadway Line at Lexington Avenue/59th Street)
Sixth Avenue Line
	57th Street			Station is closed for renovations as part of the Enhanced Station Initiative until December 2018.
	47th–50th Streets–Rockefeller Center		B  ​D  ​​M
	42nd Street–Bryant Park		B  ​D  ​​M  7  <7> ​ (IRT Flushing Line at Fifth Avenue)
	34th Street–Herald Square		B  ​D  ​​M  N  ​Q  ​R  ​W  (BMT Broadway Line)	M34 / M34A Select Bus Service PATH at 33rd Street Amtrak, LIRR, NJ Transit at Pennsylvania Station
	23rd Street		M	M23 Select Bus Service PATH at 23rd Street Station is closed for renovations as part of the Enhanced Station Initiative until December 2018.
	14th Street		M  1  ​2  ​3  (IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line at 14th Street) L  (BMT Canarsie Line at Sixth Avenue)	PATH at 14th Street
	West Fourth Street–Washington Square		B  ​D  ​​M  A  ​C  ​E  (IND Eighth Avenue Line)	PATH at 9th Street
	Broadway–Lafayette Street		B  ​D  ​​M  4  ​6  <6> (IRT Lexington Avenue Line at Bleecker Street)
Houston Street Branch
	Second Avenue		F	M15 Select Bus Service
	Delancey Street		J  M  Z ​ (BMT Nassau Street Line at Essex Street)
	East Broadway
Brooklyn
	York Street
Culver Line
	Jay Street–MetroTech		A  ​C  N  R  ​W  (BMT Fourth Avenue Line)
	Bergen Street		G
	Carroll Street		G
	Smith–Ninth Streets		G
	Fourth Avenue		G  D  ​N  ​R  ​W  (BMT Fourth Avenue Line at Ninth Street)
	Seventh Avenue		G
	15th Street–Prospect Park		G
	Fort Hamilton Parkway		G
	Church Avenue		G	One a.m. rush hour trip in each direction begins and ends its run to Manhattan and Queens at this station[lower-alpha 1]
	Ditmas Avenue
	18th Avenue
	Avenue I
	Bay Parkway
	Avenue N
	Avenue P
	Kings Highway			B82 Select Bus Service Some rush hour trips in either direction begin and end their runs to Manhattan and Queens at this station[lower-alpha 2]
	Avenue U
	Avenue X			Some northbound a.m. rush hour trips begin at this station.
	Neptune Avenue
	West Eighth Street–New York Aquarium		Q  (BMT Brighton Line)
	Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue		D  (BMT West End Line) N  (BMT Sea Beach Line) Q  (BMT Brighton Line)

Notes

References

External links

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

• MTA NYC Transit – F Sixth Avenue Local
• MTA Subway Time – F Train
• "F Subway Timetable, Effective June 24, 2018" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved June 24, 2018.
• "Review of F Line Operations, Ridership, and Infrastructure" (PDF). nysenate.gov. MTA New York City Transit Authority. October 7, 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2010-05-31. Retrieved 28 July 2015.