BMT Sea Beach Line
Encyclopedia
The BMT Sea Beach Line is a rapid transit
line of the BMT
division of the New York City Subway
, connecting the BMT Fourth Avenue Line
subway at 59th Street
via a four-track wide open cut to Coney Island
in Brooklyn
. It has at times hosted the fastest express service between Manhattan
and Coney Island since there are no express stations along the entire stretch, but now carries only local trains .
at a flying junction
immediately south of 59th Street
. Between the station and the split, crossover switches are provided between the local and express tracks of the Fourth Avenue Line, and then the express tracks curve east under the northbound local track to become the beginning of the Sea Beach Line. After emerging from the tunnel under Fourth Avenue, the two separate Sea Beach tracks rise on either side of a ramp which formerly connected to the original line to the Brooklyn shore at 65th Street in Bay Ridge
.
After passing the former junction with the line to the shore, the Sea Beach widens to the width of four tracks. All stations have two side platforms with no platform access to the express tracks anywhere on the Sea Beach right-of-way.
express service for Coney Island riders (NX). Though these expresses are thought of as being Sea Beach Expresses, they did not serve a single station on the Sea Beach Line.
The express tracks on the Sea Beach had other uses over the years. Most new equipment, especially experimental cars, was broken in on these tracks. The tracks were used for motorman
training and set up with a short stretch of 1950s-era automation
to test the ill-fated system later used on one track of the IRT 42nd Street Shuttle.
Historically, the two express tracks were an absolute block, that is, there was no signal control between one end of the tracks near Sixth Avenue and Kings Highway
. A train was not supposed to enter the block until any train in front of it had departed the block.
The express tracks section on this back was allowed to severely deteriorate as did much of the system from the 1970s on. In 1998, it was decided to rehabilitate the express tracks in this area, with full signaling. Only the northbound (E4) track was rehabilitated, however, for two-way traffic from its northern end to Kings Highway if needed. The southbound (E3) track remains unused, being discontinued from the other three tracks and inaccessible from 59th Street
to Kings Highway.
, there are crossover switches to the southbound express track from the northbound express track. On both sides of Kings Highway, crossovers exist to allow express trains to switch to the local tracks before the station or local trains to switch to express after the station.
The express tracks end south of 86th Street as the line becomes double-tracked, and cut diagonally adjacent to the Coney Island Yards. After several yard connections, the line ends at the Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue terminal.
The New York and Sea Beach Railroad was organized on September 25, 1876 as a steam-powered excursion railroad. It opened from a junction with the Brooklyn, Bath and Coney Island Railroad (West End Line) and concurrently-opened New York, Bay Ridge and Jamaica Railroad (Manhattan Beach Line) to Coney Island on July 18, 1877. After a delay of two years, it was opened to the Bay Ridge Ferry (to South Ferry, Manhattan) on July 17, 1879, at which time the Sea Beach Palace opened at the Coney Island end.
Except at its two ends, the railroad used the same route as the current Sea Beach Line. At the Bay Ridge end, the railroad ran just north of the Long Island Rail Road
's Bay Ridge Branch, ending at the Bay Ridge Channel around 64th Street. The current line joins this alignment near Fifth Avenue. The old railroad crossed the Bay Ridge Branch with a pronounced S-curve just east of Seventh Avenue; the crossing is now much straighter with the Bay Ridge Branch in a deeper cut. On the Coney Island end, the original path curved left soon after the curve to the right at the northern edge of the Coney Island Yards, ending at the combined Sea Beach Palace hotel and depot, on the north side of the BMT Brighton Line
at around West 10th Street.
In early 1896, the company went bankrupt and was reorganized on August 14 as the Sea Beach Railway. The Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) bought it on November 5, 1897, along with the short elevated
Sea View Railway on Coney Island, and assigned it by lease to the Brooklyn Heights Railroad. It was soon fitted with trolley wire
for electric operation as a branch of the BMT West End Line
from Bath Junction to Coney Island, with trains coming from Park Row
in Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge
and BMT Fifth Avenue Line. Streetcars ran over the rest of the line to Bay Ridge. In 1907, connecting tracks were built connecting to the West End Line just north of Coney Island Creek
in order to bring Sea Beach trains into West End Depot. The original alignment was retained for freight service only.
As part of the Dual Contracts, a new Sea Beach Line was built and on June 22, 1915, the new four-track open cut was completed and subway trains started running between Coney Island and Chambers Street in Lower Manhattan
. The express tracks were finished several weeks later. When the BMT Fourth Avenue Line
was extended south from the Sea Beach Line on January 15, 1916, the Sea Beach trains were shifted to the express tracks on Fourth Avenue, with Fourth Avenue trains providing local service.
The tracks over the north side of the Manhattan Bridge
opened on September 4, 1917, along with part of the BMT Broadway Line
. All Sea Beach service was moved to the new line, ending at 14th Street – Union Square. This was extended to Times Square – 42nd Street on January 5, 1918.
In 1924 the BMT
assigned numbers to its services. The Sea Beach Line service became the 4. This has since become the train. In general, Sea Beach service has always ran express in Manhattan and on Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn, ending at 42nd Street and later 57th Street. The began in 1967 as a "super-express" from Brighton Beach
on the BMT Brighton Line
through Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue, and along the Sea Beach Line express tracks to 57th Street with only seven stops between Stillwell Avenue and 57th Street, three in Brooklyn and four in Manhattan. This service was canceled in 1968 due to low ridership and no regular trains have used the Sea Beach express tracks since.
In later years the service was extended from 57th Street, first to Forest Hills – 71st Avenue via the BMT 60th Street Tunnel Connection
. In 1987, it was moved to Astoria – Ditmars Boulevard, which is its current terminus, so that the had access to Jamaica Yard.
When Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue was closed for reconstruction from 1993-1995 and 2001-2005, 86th Street was the southern terminal for the N train.
BMT E.
Rapid transit
A rapid transit, underground, subway, elevated railway, metro or metropolitan railway system is an electric passenger railway in an urban area with a high capacity and frequency, and grade separation from other traffic. Rapid transit systems are typically located either in underground tunnels or on...
line of the BMT
Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation
The Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation was an urban transit holding company, based in Brooklyn, New York City, United States, and incorporated in 1923. The system was sold to the city in 1940 and today, together with the IND subway system, form the B Division of the New York City Subway...
division of the New York City Subway
New York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the City of New York and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, a subsidiary agency of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and also known as MTA New York City Transit...
, connecting the BMT Fourth Avenue Line
BMT Fourth Avenue Line
The Fourth Avenue Line is a rapid transit line of the BMT division of the New York City Subway, mainly running under Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn. Fourth Avenue never had a streetcar line or elevated railway due to the provisions of the assessment charged to neighboring property owners when the street...
subway at 59th Street
59th Street (BMT Fourth Avenue Line)
59th Street is an express station on the BMT Fourth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at 59th Street and Fourth Avenue, in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Sunset Park, it is served by the N and R trains at all times....
via a four-track wide open cut to Coney Island
Coney Island
Coney Island is a peninsula and beach on the Atlantic Ocean in southern Brooklyn, New York, United States. The site was formerly an outer barrier island, but became partially connected to the mainland by landfill....
in Brooklyn
Brooklyn
Brooklyn is the most populous of New York City's five boroughs, with nearly 2.6 million residents, and the second-largest in area. Since 1896, Brooklyn has had the same boundaries as Kings County, which is now the most populous county in New York State and the second-most densely populated...
. It has at times hosted the fastest express service between Manhattan
Manhattan
Manhattan is the oldest and the most densely populated of the five boroughs of New York City. Located primarily on the island of Manhattan at the mouth of the Hudson River, the boundaries of the borough are identical to those of New York County, an original county of the state of New York...
and Coney Island since there are no express stations along the entire stretch, but now carries only local trains .
Extent and service
The modern line begins as a split from the BMT Fourth Avenue LineBMT Fourth Avenue Line
The Fourth Avenue Line is a rapid transit line of the BMT division of the New York City Subway, mainly running under Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn. Fourth Avenue never had a streetcar line or elevated railway due to the provisions of the assessment charged to neighboring property owners when the street...
at a flying junction
Flying junction
A flying junction or flyover is a railway junction at which one or more diverging or converging tracks in a multiple-track route cross other tracks on the route by bridge to avoid conflict with other train movements. A more technical term is "grade-separated junction"...
immediately south of 59th Street
59th Street (BMT Fourth Avenue Line)
59th Street is an express station on the BMT Fourth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at 59th Street and Fourth Avenue, in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Sunset Park, it is served by the N and R trains at all times....
. Between the station and the split, crossover switches are provided between the local and express tracks of the Fourth Avenue Line, and then the express tracks curve east under the northbound local track to become the beginning of the Sea Beach Line. After emerging from the tunnel under Fourth Avenue, the two separate Sea Beach tracks rise on either side of a ramp which formerly connected to the original line to the Brooklyn shore at 65th Street in Bay Ridge
Bay Ridge, Brooklyn
Bay Ridge is a neighborhood in the southwest corner of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, USA. It is bounded by Sunset Park on the north, Seventh Avenue and Dyker Heights on the east, The Narrows Strait, which partially houses the Belt Parkway, on the west and 86th Street and Fort Hamilton on...
.
After passing the former junction with the line to the shore, the Sea Beach widens to the width of four tracks. All stations have two side platforms with no platform access to the express tracks anywhere on the Sea Beach right-of-way.
Express tracks
The express tracks were originally intended to host the Coney Island Express. Service was carried on these tracks twice in the line's history — for summer weekend service to Chambers Street from 1924-1952 and again from 1967-1968 to provide a fast rush-hour Broadway LineBMT Broadway Line
The BMT Broadway Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway in Manhattan, New York City, United States. , it is served by three services, all colored yellow: the on the express tracks and the on the local tracks...
express service for Coney Island riders (NX). Though these expresses are thought of as being Sea Beach Expresses, they did not serve a single station on the Sea Beach Line.
The express tracks on the Sea Beach had other uses over the years. Most new equipment, especially experimental cars, was broken in on these tracks. The tracks were used for motorman
Motorman
A motorman is the person who operates an electrified trolley car, tram, light rail, or rapid transit train.The term refers to the person who is in charge of the motor in the same sense as a railroad engineer is in charge of the engine. The term was gender-neutral...
training and set up with a short stretch of 1950s-era automation
Automation
Automation is the use of control systems and information technologies to reduce the need for human work in the production of goods and services. In the scope of industrialization, automation is a step beyond mechanization...
to test the ill-fated system later used on one track of the IRT 42nd Street Shuttle.
Historically, the two express tracks were an absolute block, that is, there was no signal control between one end of the tracks near Sixth Avenue and Kings Highway
Kings Highway (BMT Sea Beach Line)
Kings Highway is a local station on the BMT Sea Beach Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Kings Highway and West Seventh Street, it is served by the N train at all times....
. A train was not supposed to enter the block until any train in front of it had departed the block.
The express tracks section on this back was allowed to severely deteriorate as did much of the system from the 1970s on. In 1998, it was decided to rehabilitate the express tracks in this area, with full signaling. Only the northbound (E4) track was rehabilitated, however, for two-way traffic from its northern end to Kings Highway if needed. The southbound (E3) track remains unused, being discontinued from the other three tracks and inaccessible from 59th Street
59th Street (BMT Fourth Avenue Line)
59th Street is an express station on the BMT Fourth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at 59th Street and Fourth Avenue, in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Sunset Park, it is served by the N and R trains at all times....
to Kings Highway.
Southern portion of the line
Before and after Kings HighwayKings Highway (BMT Sea Beach Line)
Kings Highway is a local station on the BMT Sea Beach Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Kings Highway and West Seventh Street, it is served by the N train at all times....
, there are crossover switches to the southbound express track from the northbound express track. On both sides of Kings Highway, crossovers exist to allow express trains to switch to the local tracks before the station or local trains to switch to express after the station.
The express tracks end south of 86th Street as the line becomes double-tracked, and cut diagonally adjacent to the Coney Island Yards. After several yard connections, the line ends at the Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue terminal.
History
Except at its two ends, the railroad used the same route as the current Sea Beach Line. At the Bay Ridge end, the railroad ran just north of the Long Island Rail Road
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road or LIRR is a commuter rail system serving the length of Long Island, New York. It is the busiest commuter railroad in North America, serving about 81.5 million passengers each year. Established in 1834 and having operated continuously since then, it is the oldest US...
's Bay Ridge Branch, ending at the Bay Ridge Channel around 64th Street. The current line joins this alignment near Fifth Avenue. The old railroad crossed the Bay Ridge Branch with a pronounced S-curve just east of Seventh Avenue; the crossing is now much straighter with the Bay Ridge Branch in a deeper cut. On the Coney Island end, the original path curved left soon after the curve to the right at the northern edge of the Coney Island Yards, ending at the combined Sea Beach Palace hotel and depot, on the north side of the BMT Brighton Line
BMT Brighton Line
The BMT Brighton Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway in Brooklyn, New York City, United States. Local service is provided at all times by the Q train. The Q is joined by the B express train on weekdays...
at around West 10th Street.
In early 1896, the company went bankrupt and was reorganized on August 14 as the Sea Beach Railway. The Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) bought it on November 5, 1897, along with the short elevated
Elevated railway
An elevated railway is a form of rapid transit railway with the tracks built above street level on some form of viaduct or other steel or concrete structure. The railway concerned may be constructed according to the standard gauge, narrow gauge, light rail, monorail or suspension railway system...
Sea View Railway on Coney Island, and assigned it by lease to the Brooklyn Heights Railroad. It was soon fitted with trolley wire
Overhead lines
Overhead lines or overhead wires are used to transmit electrical energy to trams, trolleybuses or trains at a distance from the energy supply point...
for electric operation as a branch of the BMT West End Line
BMT West End Line
The BMT West End Line is a line of the New York City Subway, serving the Brooklyn, communities of Borough Park, New Utrecht, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach and Coney Island. The D train operates on the line at all times, providing service to Manhattan and the Bronx via the IND Sixth Avenue Line...
from Bath Junction to Coney Island, with trains coming from Park Row
Park Row (BMT station)
Park Row was a major elevated railway terminal constructed over the New York end of the Brooklyn Bridge, across from New York City Hall in Manhattan that served as the terminal for BMT services operating over the Brooklyn Bridge from the BMT Fulton Street Line, BMT Myrtle Avenue Line and their...
in Manhattan via the Brooklyn Bridge
Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge is one of the oldest suspension bridges in the United States. Completed in 1883, it connects the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn by spanning the East River...
and BMT Fifth Avenue Line. Streetcars ran over the rest of the line to Bay Ridge. In 1907, connecting tracks were built connecting to the West End Line just north of Coney Island Creek
Coney Island Creek
Coney Island Creek encompasses two sea inlets in Brooklyn, New York City, one separating Coney Island from the neighborhoods of Gravesend and Bath Beach, the other separating the neighborhoods of Sheepshead Bay and Manhattan Beach...
in order to bring Sea Beach trains into West End Depot. The original alignment was retained for freight service only.
Lower Manhattan
Lower Manhattan is the southernmost part of the island of Manhattan, the main island and center of business and government of the City of New York...
. The express tracks were finished several weeks later. When the BMT Fourth Avenue Line
BMT Fourth Avenue Line
The Fourth Avenue Line is a rapid transit line of the BMT division of the New York City Subway, mainly running under Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn. Fourth Avenue never had a streetcar line or elevated railway due to the provisions of the assessment charged to neighboring property owners when the street...
was extended south from the Sea Beach Line on January 15, 1916, the Sea Beach trains were shifted to the express tracks on Fourth Avenue, with Fourth Avenue trains providing local service.
The tracks over the north side of the Manhattan Bridge
Manhattan Bridge
The Manhattan Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the East River in New York City, connecting Lower Manhattan with Brooklyn . It was the last of the three suspension bridges built across the lower East River, following the Brooklyn and the Williamsburg bridges...
opened on September 4, 1917, along with part of the BMT Broadway Line
BMT Broadway Line
The BMT Broadway Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway in Manhattan, New York City, United States. , it is served by three services, all colored yellow: the on the express tracks and the on the local tracks...
. All Sea Beach service was moved to the new line, ending at 14th Street – Union Square. This was extended to Times Square – 42nd Street on January 5, 1918.
In 1924 the BMT
Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation
The Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation was an urban transit holding company, based in Brooklyn, New York City, United States, and incorporated in 1923. The system was sold to the city in 1940 and today, together with the IND subway system, form the B Division of the New York City Subway...
assigned numbers to its services. The Sea Beach Line service became the 4. This has since become the train. In general, Sea Beach service has always ran express in Manhattan and on Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn, ending at 42nd Street and later 57th Street. The began in 1967 as a "super-express" from Brighton Beach
Brighton Beach (BMT Brighton Line)
Brighton Beach is an express/terminal station on the BMT Brighton Line of the New York City Subway. It is located over Brighton Beach Avenue at Brighton Sixth Street in the community of Brighton Beach on Coney Island in Brooklyn.- Description:...
on the BMT Brighton Line
BMT Brighton Line
The BMT Brighton Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway in Brooklyn, New York City, United States. Local service is provided at all times by the Q train. The Q is joined by the B express train on weekdays...
through Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue, and along the Sea Beach Line express tracks to 57th Street with only seven stops between Stillwell Avenue and 57th Street, three in Brooklyn and four in Manhattan. This service was canceled in 1968 due to low ridership and no regular trains have used the Sea Beach express tracks since.
In later years the service was extended from 57th Street, first to Forest Hills – 71st Avenue via the BMT 60th Street Tunnel Connection
BMT 60th Street Tunnel Connection
The 60th Street Tunnel Connection or 11th Street Connection is a short rapid transit line of the New York City Subway connecting the BMT 60th Street Tunnel under the East River with the IND Queens Boulevard Line west of Queens Plaza in Long Island City, Queens, New York City, United States...
. In 1987, it was moved to Astoria – Ditmars Boulevard, which is its current terminus, so that the had access to Jamaica Yard.
When Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue was closed for reconstruction from 1993-1995 and 2001-2005, 86th Street was the southern terminal for the N train.
Chaining information
The Sea Beach Line is chainedNew York City Subway chaining
New York City Subway chaining is a method to precisely specify locations along the New York City Subway lines. It measures distances from a fixed point, called chaining zero, following the twists and turns of the railroad line, so that the distance described is understood to be the "railroad...
BMT E.
Station listing
| Neighborhood | Station | Tracks | Services | Opened | Transfers and notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| splits from the BMT Fourth Avenue Line BMT Fourth Avenue Line The Fourth Avenue Line is a rapid transit line of the BMT division of the New York City Subway, mainly running under Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn. Fourth Avenue never had a streetcar line or elevated railway due to the provisions of the assessment charged to neighboring property owners when the street... |
||||||
| Two center Express tracks begin (No Regular Service) (Southbound track disconnected & not in service) (Northbound track bi-directional) |
||||||
| Sunset Park Sunset Park, Brooklyn Sunset Park is a neighborhood in the western section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, USA. It is bounded by Greenwood Heights to the north, Borough Park to the east, Bay Ridge to the south, and Upper New York Bay to the west... |
Eighth Avenue Eighth Avenue (BMT Sea Beach Line) Eighth Avenue is a local station on the BMT Sea Beach Line of the New York City Subway, located in Sunset Park, Brooklyn at the intersection of Eighth Avenue and 62nd Street. It is served by the N train at all times.... |
local | June 22, 1915 | |||
| Bensonhurst Bensonhurst, Brooklyn Bensonhurst is a neighborhood located in the southwestern part of the New York City borough of Brooklyn.-Geography:Sometimes erroneously thought to include all or parts of such neighborhoods as Bath Beach, Dyker Heights, and Borough Park, or to be defined by the streets where the concentration of... |
Fort Hamilton Parkway Fort Hamilton Parkway (BMT Sea Beach Line) Fort Hamilton Parkway is a local station on the BMT Sea Beach Line of the New York City Subway, located in Brooklyn at the intersection of Fort Hamilton Parkway and 62nd Street. It is served by the N train at all times.... |
local | June 22, 1915 | |||
| New Utrecht Avenue | local | June 22, 1915 | BMT West End Line BMT West End Line The BMT West End Line is a line of the New York City Subway, serving the Brooklyn, communities of Borough Park, New Utrecht, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach and Coney Island. The D train operates on the line at all times, providing service to Manhattan and the Bronx via the IND Sixth Avenue Line... at 62nd Street |
|||
| 18th Avenue 18th Avenue (BMT Sea Beach Line) 18th Avenue is a local station on the BMT Sea Beach Line of the New York City Subway, located in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn at the intersection of 18th Avenue and 64th Street. It is served by the N train at all times.... |
local | June 22, 1915 | ||||
| 20th Avenue 20th Avenue (BMT Sea Beach Line) 20th Avenue is a local station on the BMT Sea Beach Line of the New York City Subway, located in Brooklyn on 20th Avenue between 63rd and 64th Streets. It is served by the N train at all times.... |
local | June 22, 1915 | ||||
| Bay Parkway Bay Parkway (BMT Sea Beach Line) Bay Parkway is a local station on the BMT Sea Beach Line of the New York City Subway, located in Brooklyn at the intersection of Bay Parkway and West Seventh Street. It is served by the N train at all times.... |
local | June 22, 1915 | ||||
| Southbound Express track reconnects to line (No Regular Service) | ||||||
| Gravesend Gravesend, Brooklyn Gravesend is a neighborhood in the south-central section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn, USA.The derivation of the name is unclear. Some speculate that it was named after the English seaport of Gravesend, Kent. An alternative explanation suggests that it was named by Willem Kieft for the... |
Kings Highway Kings Highway (BMT Sea Beach Line) Kings Highway is a local station on the BMT Sea Beach Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Kings Highway and West Seventh Street, it is served by the N train at all times.... |
local | June 22, 1915 | |||
| Avenue U Avenue U (BMT Sea Beach Line) Avenue U is a local station on the BMT Sea Beach Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Avenue U and West 7th Street, it is served by the N train at all times.... |
local | June 22, 1915 | ||||
| 86th Street | local | August 23, 1915 | ||||
| Center Express tracks end | ||||||
| connecting tracks to Coney Island Yard | ||||||
| Coney Island | Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue | all | December 13, 1918 | BMT Brighton Line BMT Brighton Line The BMT Brighton Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway in Brooklyn, New York City, United States. Local service is provided at all times by the Q train. The Q is joined by the B express train on weekdays... IND Culver Line IND Culver Line The IND Culver Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway, extending from Downtown Brooklyn south to Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, United States... BMT West End Line BMT West End Line The BMT West End Line is a line of the New York City Subway, serving the Brooklyn, communities of Borough Park, New Utrecht, Bensonhurst, Bath Beach and Coney Island. The D train operates on the line at all times, providing service to Manhattan and the Bronx via the IND Sixth Avenue Line... |
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