R (New York City Subway service) Totally Explained

Everything about R New York City Subway Service totally explained

The R Broadway Local is a service of the New York City Subway. It is colored yellow on the route sign (either on the front and/or side - depending on equipment used) and on station signs and the NYC Subway map, as it represents a service provided on the BMT Broadway Line in Manhattan. Normal service is local from 71st Avenue in Forest Hills, Queens, to 95th Street in Bay Ridge, Brooklyn; during late nights it operates as a shuttle within Brooklyn from 36th Street to 95th Street. The R is one of only two services that have two or more stations with the same name (the other being the B); it serves two 36th Street stations (one in Queens on the IND Queens Boulevard Line and one in Brooklyn on the BMT Fourth Avenue Line). In addition, the R is the longest New York City Subway line without an elevated section, although there's a small opening between 59th Street and Bay Ridge Avenue in Brooklyn when the line passes over a valley containing the L.I.R.R. Bay Ridge tracks.
The R fleet consists mostly of R46s, but does see R32s occasionally.
The following lines are used by the R service:

Line	Tracks	When
IND Queens Boulevard Line from Forest Hills–71st Avenue to Queens Plaza	local	all but late nights
BMT 60th Street Tunnel Connection	N/A	all but late nights
60th Street Tunnel	local	all but late nights
BMT Broadway Line	local	all but late nights
Montague Street Tunnel	N/A	all but late nights
BMT Fourth Avenue Line to 36th Street	local	all but late nights
BMT Fourth Avenue Line from 36th Street to Bay Ridge–95th Street	local	all (late nights, skips 53rd Street and 45th Street northbound)

History

The line that later became the R was the BMT 2. When it entered service on January 15, 1916, it ran between Chambers Street on the BMT Nassau Street Line and 86th Street, using the Manhattan Bridge to cross the East River. Service on the BMT Broadway Line (which was only between Whitehall Street and Times Square) began exactly two years later. The Montague Street Tunnel opened on October 1, 1920, and at that time it took its current shape, running local from Queensboro Plaza to 86th Street. Bay Ridge–95th Street station opened on October 31, 1925. During this time, rush-hour specials to Chambers Street were added and later removed, only to be added again. At one time, including 1931, additional midday service operated local between 57th Street and Whitehall Street–South Ferry. The 2 also used the Nassau Street Loop during rush hours, entering Manhattan via the Manhattan Bridge or Montague Street Tunnel and leaving via the other.
   On October 17, 1949, the platforms on the BMT Astoria Line had been shaved, and the BMT's Astoria Shuttle was replaced with through service from the Fourth Avenue Line. On January 1, 1961, the northern terminal was relocated to its current location at Forest Hills–71st Avenue, via the BMT 60th Street Tunnel Connection. On June 29, 1950, special rush hour trains began running between 95th Street and Chambers Street via the south side of the Manhattan Bridge and/or the Montague Street Tunnel. This was discontinued two years later.
   In winter 1960–61, letters started to appear on the RR, which was known as the "Fourth Avenue Local via Tunnel", from Forest Hills–71st Avenue to Bay Ridge–95th Street, like current R service. On November 27, 1967, the day after the IND Chrystie Street Connection opened, the RR was moved back to Ditmars Boulevard–Astoria on the BMT Astoria Line. (EE service began at Whitehall Street–South Ferry and used the former route to 71st Avenue). The Nassau Street specials were through-routed from 95th Street to 168th Street in Jamaica as RJ. Under the first color scheme, RR was colored green and RJ was red.
   The RJ service only lasted a few months before it was cut back to Chambers Street and renamed as additional RR rush-hour peak-direction service. In May 1986, when double letters were eliminated, RR service became R. R service was assigned the color yellow (because it used the BMT Broadway Line), and the special Chambers Street rush-hour R service was brown (using the Nassau Street Line).
   Effective May 24, 1987, the north terminals of the N and R were swapped, taking the R along the IND Queens Boulevard Line to Forest Hills–71st Avenue. The change was made to give the R access to the repair facility at Jamaica Yard.
   When the IND Archer Avenue Line opened on December 11, 1988, E service was rerouted along to Jamaica Center–Parsons Boulevard, and the R was extended to replace the E to 179th Street. At the same time, the special rush-hour service to Chambers Street was removed. The extension to Jamaica was short-lived, and the R was cut back in the fall of 1992 to 71st–Continental Avenue in favor of an extension of the F, which runs express west of 71st Avenue.
   On September 30, 1990, late-night R service became a shuttle between 36th Street and 95th Street in Brooklyn. In the late '90s, northbound late-night trains began skipping 53rd Street and 45th Street.
   On September 11, 2001, after the attack on the World Trade Center, the BMT Broadway Line was damaged, and the R service was cut back to run only south of Court Street. On September 17, R service was totally suspended, replaced with J service in Brooklyn and Q service in Manhattan and Queens (External Link

). All three lines returned to normal service on October 28.(External Link

) On September 8, 2002, Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue was closed for reconstruction. Late night R service was extended to Pacific Street, running express between that station and 36th Street. Service was cut back to 36th Street when the north side of the Manhattan Bridge reopened on February 22, 2004.

Stations

For a more detailed station listing, see the articles on the lines listed above.

	Station	Subway transfers	Connections and notes
Queens
	Forest Hills–71st Avenue/Continental Avenues		LIRR Main Line at Forest Hills
	67th Avenue
	63rd Drive–Rego Park
	Woodhaven Boulevard-Slattery Plaza
	Grand Avenue–Newtown
	Elmhurst Avenue
	Jackson Heights-Roosevelt Avenue	(IRT Flushing Line)	Q33 bus to LaGuardia Airport Q47 bus to LaGuardia Marine Air Terminal
	65th Street
	Northern Boulevard
	46th Street
	Steinway Street
	36th Street
	Queens Plaza
	Manhattan
	Lexington Avenue-59th Street	(IRT Lexington Avenue Line) (IND 63rd Street Line at Lexington Avenue; MetroCard-only transfer)	Roosevelt Island Tramway
	Fifth Avenue-59th Street
	Midtown-57th Street/7th Avenue
	49th Street		Station is accessible in the northbound direction only
	Times Square–42nd Street	(IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line) (IRT Flushing Line) (IND Eighth Avenue Line at 42nd Street–Port Authority Bus Terminal)	Port Authority Bus Terminal
	34th Street-Herald Square	(IND Sixth Avenue Line)	PATH at 33rd Street Amtrak, LIRR, NJ Transit at Pennsylvania Station
	28th Street
	23rd Street
	14th Street–Union Square	(BMT Canarsie Line) (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)
	Eighth Street
	Prince Street
	Canal Street	(IRT Lexington Avenue Line) (BMT Nassau Street Line)
	City Hall
	Cortlandt Street-World Trade Center		Station closed until further notice due to construction at the World Trade Center site
	Rector Street
	Whitehall Street–South Ferry		Staten Island Ferry at South Ferry
Brooklyn
	Court Street-Borough Hall	(IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line) (IRT Eastern Parkway Line)
	Lawrence Street–MetroTech
	DeKalb Avenue
	Atlantic Avenue–Pacific Street	(BMT Brighton Line) (IRT Eastern Parkway Line)	LIRR Atlantic Branch at Flatbush Avenue
	Union Street
	Ninth Street	(IND Culver Line at Fourth Avenue)
	Prospect Avenue
	25th Street
	36th Street-4th Avenue
	45th Street		Stops late nights in the southbound direction only
	53rd Street		Stops late nights in the southbound direction only
	59th Street
	Bay Ridge Avenue
	77th Street
	86th Street
	Bay Ridge–95th Street

Further Information

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