Yellow W Line

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 since it uses the BMT Broadway Line in Manhattan.

The W operates weekdays during daytime hours only between Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria, Queens and Whitehall Street in Lower Manhattan, making all stops along the full route; limited rush hour service is extended beyond Whitehall Street to and from 86th Street in Gravesend, Brooklyn, making all stops in Brooklyn. The W is internally staffed and scheduled as part of the .

Introduced on July 22, 2001, the W originally ran at all times on the BMT West End Line and BMT Fourth Avenue Line in Brooklyn to Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue across the Manhattan Bridge, running express on the Broadway Line. It was truncated in 2004 to its current service pattern, running local on the Broadway Line to Whitehall Street until June 25, 2010, when it was eliminated due to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA)'s financial crisis. The route was later restored 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.*
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Service history

Context

The W was originally devised as an extra Broadway service designation that first appeared on rollsign curtains ordered for the then-new R68, R68A and R110B subway cars which entered service between 1986 and 1993, as well as on replacement rollsign curtains ordered for the R30 through R46 B Division subway cars overhauled between 1985 and 1992; the W appeared on all rollsigns ordered during this time as a diamond bullet. This service was essentially a variant of the route, which in the 1970s and 1980s made express stops on the Broadway Line between Forest Hills–71st Avenue in Queens and Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue in Brooklyn. At the time, some N trains (until 1976 designated as EE) were designated with a diamond N bullet as early as 1982 on trains, but beginning in 1979 on maps; these trains made all stops on the Broadway Line, and traveled only between 71st Avenue and Whitehall Street.

The Manhattan Bridge, between Manhattan and Brooklyn, contains four subway tracks: a northern pair for the IND Sixth Avenue Line and a southern pair for the BMT Broadway Line. Repairs to the bridge forced the N, which normally ran express on the Broadway Line and via the bridge, to run local via the Montague Street Tunnel starting in 1986. The south tracks were closed completely for repairs from 1988 to 2001. This service change precluded W local service from running as envisioned.

The W label was first used in 2001, when the two tracks on the Manhattan Bridge's northern side, which connected to the IND Sixth Avenue Line, were closed for repairs; new rollsign curtains were ordered in 2001 to reflect the service changes being implemented at the time, with the W appearing on rollsigns as a circle bullet. This required the suspension of Sixth Avenue service south of 34th Street–Herald Square as it used those tracks to travel to and from Brooklyn. The W service replaced the B on the BMT West End Line and BMT Fourth Avenue Line in Brooklyn, ran on the BMT Broadway Line in Manhattan and BMT Astoria Line in Queens. It replicated the route of the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT)'s old 3 route (later named the T) that operated from 1916 until 1967, when the B replaced it. The W also replicated the route of the Broadway B service from April 1986 to December 1988 when the bridge's north tracks were first closed.

2001–2004

Plans for the W train were announced in late 2000, when the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced that the Manhattan Bridge's south tracks would reopen and that the north tracks would be closed. W service began on July 22, 2001. The route initially operated 24 hours daily. Weekday rush hour and midday service operated between Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard in Queens and Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue in Brooklyn; service bypassed all stations between Astoria Boulevard and Queensboro Plaza between 6a.m. and 9p.m. (in the southbound direction between 6a.m. and 1p.m., and in the northbound direction from 1p.m. to 9p.m.), operated via the 60th Street Tunnel, made express stops in Manhattan via the Broadway Line (stopping at 49th Street in both directions), operated via the Manhattan Bridge south tracks, made express stops in Brooklyn via Fourth Avenue (bypassing DeKalb Avenue in both directions), and made all stops via the West End Line. Weekday evening service short-turned at 57th Street–Seventh Avenue in Manhattan and did not operate to or from Ditmars Boulevard; evening service in Manhattan and Brooklyn was the same as weekday rush hour and midday service, except trains bypassed 49th Street in both directions. Weekend daytime and daily overnight service operated as a shuttle within Brooklyn only; weekend service operated between Atlantic Avenue–Pacific Street and Stillwell Avenue, making express stops via Fourth Avenue; daily overnight service operated between 36th Street and Stillwell Avenue.

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, W service initially operated as a shuttle between DeKalb and Stillwell Avenues before being restored to its normal route by the evening of September 12. On September 17, daytime W service operated between Ditmars Boulevard and Stillwell Avenue to replace the N, which got suspended; trains made all stops in Queens and Manhattan and express stops in Brooklyn and operated via the Manhattan Bridge. Overnight service was split into two sections, with the northern section operating between Ditmars Boulevard and 34th Street–Herald Square, and the southern section operating between 36th Street and Stillwell Avenue. Normal W service was restored on October 28. When the December 16, 2001 schedule went into effect, two weekday morning rush hour northbound trains terminated at 57th Street, and one evening rush hour southbound train originated at 57th Street.

Weekday peak direction express service in Queens was discontinued on January 7, 2002 due to unpopularity among residents along the Astoria Line. This change was approved by the MTA Board in December 2001. Express service was implemented on the Astoria Line in order to improve operations at the Ditmars Boulevard terminal, and because 43% of the line's riders boarded at express stations. Instead, the change yielded no operational benefits, and made local N trains overcrowded, and express W trains underutilized. N trains carried 1.9 times as many passengers as W trains in the morning, and 2.6 times as many in the evening. W express service had been suspended after the September 11 attacks to replace N service. Even after normal service resumed in October 2001, local W service was kept until November 19 on a trial basis. Analysis of the operating pattern found that the terminal could handle the all-local service pattern and that the ridership split between the N and W was more balanced. Evening service was extended beyond 57th Street and originated and terminated at Ditmars Boulevard starting in July, matching the weekday rush hour and midday service pattern.

On September 8, 2002, as a result of ongoing reconstruction taking place at the Stillwell Avenue Terminal, W service was revised to operate between Ditmars Boulevard and Stillwell Avenue 24 hours. Weekday daytime service prior this date remained the same, but weekend daytime and daily overnight service was rerouted to operate via the Montague Street Tunnel to replace the ; in addition, service during this time made all stops along the reroute. This change also gave the West End Line overnight service to Manhattan for the first time since 1977.

On April 27, 2003, early evening weekend service was increased from running every 12 minutes to every 8 minutes, and Sunday morning and early evening service were increased to run every 8 minutes instead of every 10 minutes.

2004–2010

When the Manhattan Bridge's north tracks were restored to service on February 22, 2004, the W was curtailed to its current service pattern, running weekdays only from 7:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. as an entirely local service between Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard and Whitehall Street–South Ferry, Lower Manhattan. The Brooklyn portion was replaced by the , which was extended over the north side of the bridge and down the West End Line. W service between Manhattan and Queens remained, because of increasing ridership on the BMT Astoria Line. 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. 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.

On March 24, 2010, the MTA announced the elimination of the W due to financial shortfalls. In its place, on weekdays, the train ran local north of Canal Street while the train was extended from 57th Street–Seventh Avenue to Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard, running local north of 34th Street–Herald Square. 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.

2015–present

In July 2015, the MTA announced it was considering restoring the W with its 2004–2010 service pattern following the opening of the first phase of the Second Avenue Subway, which would reroute the Q from the Astoria Line to 96th Street on Manhattan's Upper East Side. The W would replace the Q on the Astoria Line to maintain two services on the line weekdays.

On May 23, 2016, the MTA announced it would restore the W. Service was restored on November 7, 2016, running between 7:00a.m. and 11:00p.m. The Q was temporarily cut back to 57th Street–Seventh Avenue, allowing for a seamless extension to the Second Avenue Line, which opened on January 1, 2017. Additionally, the N train again ran express in Manhattan on weekdays from 34th Street–Herald Square to Canal Street. The W's restoration meant there would be 20 fewer trips to and from Astoria per weekday as the W ran for a shorter time span each day than the Q did. In June 2018, the MTA added service between 6:00a.m. and 7:00a.m., and between 11:00p.m. and midnight in response to overcrowded N trains during those hours. As the N and W share the same fleet from the Coney Island Yard, a small number of W trains originate or terminate at 86th Street throughout the day. These trains operate via the Montague Street Tunnel and local along the BMT Fourth Avenue Line and BMT Sea Beach Line as they did prior to 2010.

In July 2019, the MTA introduced a proposal to end late evening service. Instead, W service would once again end at around 9:30 PM. In their proposal, the MTA noted that service often ended early on weeknights to accommodate planned work.

In March 2020, the W was temporarily suspended due to lack of ridership and train crew availability caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, though full service was restored in June. On December 29, 2021, W service was again suspended due to a shortage of crew members exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic; service was again restored on January 24, 2022.

Route

Service pattern

The following table shows the lines used by the W, 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.

References

External links

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New York City Subway services