W (New York City Subway service)

Broadway Local
A train made of R160 cars in W service at 36th Avenue in Queens.
Note: This map shows the final W service pattern from February 22, 2004 until June 25, 2010.
Northern end	Astoria – Ditmars Boulevard
Southern end	Whitehall Street – South Ferry (formerly Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue until February 22, 2004)
Stations	23
Rolling stock	R46 R68 R68A (fleet shared with the ) (Rolling stock assignments subject to change)
Discontinued	June 25, 2010 (2010-06-25)

The W Broadway Local was a rapid transit service of the New York City Subway's B Division that ran from July 21, 2001 to June 25, 2010. Its route emblem, or "bullet", was colored yellow since it used the BMT Broadway Line in Manhattan. In addition to the Broadway Line, the W served the BMT Astoria Line in Queens and used the 60th Street Tunnel to travel under the East River between Queens and Manhattan during its nine-year history. It also ran in Brooklyn until 2004, serving the BMT Fourth Avenue and West End lines.

Service history

A train made of R40 cars in W service at 34th Street – Herald Square.

A train made of R68A cars in W service at 28th Street.

The W was introduced on July 22, 2001 when the Manhattan Bridge north tracks were closed for reconstruction. 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 IND Sixth Avenue Line, but had to be split as a result of the reconstruction project. A similar split had been made from 1986 to 1988, when a part-time orange diamond B only ran north of 34th Street. Meanwhile, a full-time (though only in Brooklyn at nights) yellow B ran from Coney Island across the south side of the bridge and up the BMT Broadway Line into Queens. This old pattern was effectively restored in 2001, but instead of having two "B" services, the Brooklyn service became 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 local for 49th Street), and BMT Astoria Line (express during rush hours in the peak direction) to Astoria – Ditmars Boulevard. Evening service ended at 57th Street 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.

After September 11, 2001, N service was 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 northbound) and in Brooklyn between 36th Street and Coney Island. Normal service on both trains resumed on October 28, 2001.

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.

When Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue was closed for reconstruction, the W became a full-time Coney Island–Astoria service. 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.

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 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. The first three W trains of the day, however, 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 Sea Beach lines.

On July 27, 2008, the W was extended to run until 11:00 p.m.

On March 24, 2010 the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced the elimination of the W due to financial shortfalls with the N and Q replacing it. The W ceased operation on Friday, June 25, 2010, along with the V, with the last train bound for Astoria – Ditmars Boulevard leaving Whitehall Street – South Ferry at 10:50 p.m.

In July 2015, the MTA confirmed that it was considering restoring the W train in its 2004-2010 format in order to maintain service levels on the BMT Astoria Line in Queens once the Q train is rerouted from the Astoria Line to the Second Avenue Line in Manhattan's Upper East Side.

Final route

Service pattern

The following lines were last used by the W:

Line	Tracks	Time
BMT Astoria Line (full line)	local	weekdays only
BMT Broadway Line (full line)

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 during the day
	Stops rush hours in the peak direction only
	Stops 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 and notes
Queens
	Astoria – Ditmars Boulevard		N  W
	Astoria Boulevard		N  W	M60 bus to LaGuardia Airport
	30th Avenue		N  W
	Broadway		N  W
	36th Avenue		N  W
	39th Avenue		N  W
	Queensboro Plaza		N  W  7  <7> ​ (IRT Flushing Line)
Manhattan
	Lexington Avenue / 59th Street		N  ​R  ​W  4  ​5  ​6  <6> (IRT Lexington Avenue Line) F  <F> (IND 63rd Street Line at Lexington Avenue – 63rd Street; MetroCard-only transfer)	Roosevelt Island Tramway
	Fifth Avenue / 59th Street		N  ​R  ​W
	57th Street – Seventh Avenue		N  ​Q  ​R  ​W
	49th Street		N  ​​R  ​W	Station is accessible in the northbound direction only.
	Times Square – 42nd Street		N  ​Q  ​R  ​W  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  ​W  B  ​D  ​F  <F> ​ V (IND Sixth Avenue Line)	PATH at 33rd Street Note: V service discontinued
	28th Street		​Q  ​R  ​W
	23rd Street		​Q  ​R  ​W
	14th Street – Union Square		N  ​Q  ​R  ​W  L  (BMT Canarsie Line) 4  ​5  ​6  <6> (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)
	Eighth Street – New York University		​Q  ​R  ​W
	Prince Street		​Q  ​R  ​W
	Canal Street		N  ​Q  ​R  ​W  6  <6> (IRT Lexington Avenue Line) J  M  Z ​ (BMT Nassau Street Line)	Note: M service rerouted via the IND Sixth Avenue Line
	City Hall		​R  ​W
	Cortlandt Street		​R  ​W	PATH at World Trade Center
	Rector Street		​R  ​W
	Whitehall Street – South Ferry		​R  ​W  1  (IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line)	Staten Island Ferry at Whitehall Terminal

External links

• "MTA NYC Transit – W Broadway Local". Archived from the original on 09/01/2012. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |archivedate= (help)
• Line by Line History