IND Crosstown Line
TheG, which uses the Crosstown Line throughBrooklyn andQueens, is colored lime green.
Overview
Owner	City of New York
Locale	Brooklyn andQueens,New York City
Termini	Court Square Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets
Stations	13
Service
Type	Rapid transit
System	New York City Subway
Operator(s)	New York City Transit Authority
Daily ridership	70,453[1]
History
Opened	1933–1937
Technical
Number of tracks	2-4
Character	Underground
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Electrification	600V DCthird rail
Route map Show interactive map Legend Queens Boulevard Line Flushing Line Court Square 53rd Street Line 21st Street Flushing Line Greenpoint Tubes (Newtown Creek) Greenpoint Avenue Nassau Avenue Lorimer Street (Canarsie Line) Metropolitan Avenue Jamaica Line Broadway Flushing Avenue Myrtle–Willoughby Avenues Bedford–Nostrand Avenues Classon Avenue Clinton–Washington Avenues Fulton Street Line Fulton Street |Lafayette Avenue Brighton Line Fourth Avenue Line Eastern Parkway Line Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets Culver Line Fulton Street Line This box: view talk edit Show route diagram

TheIND Crosstown Line orBrooklyn–Queens Crosstown Line is arapid transit line of theB Division of theNew York City Subway inBrooklyn andQueens,New York City. It provides crosstown service between western Brooklyn and southwestern Queens and is the only non-shuttle subway line that does not carry trains to and fromManhattan.

The following service uses part or all of the IND Crosstown Line,^[2] whose bullet is colored lime green:

	Time period	Section of line
	all times	south ofCourt Square

The only service to use the Crosstown Line is theG. The line north ofCourt Square has not been in regular use since 2010.^[3]

The north end of the Crosstown Line is aflying junction with theIND Queens Boulevard Line and60th Street Tunnel Connection just south ofQueens Plaza. The line then travels south as a two-track line, except for a center relay track south of Court Square. At the turn from Marcy Avenue to Lafayette Avenue, two center tracks appear, merging into one after crossovers to the main tracks. These tracks were to be used for a split to another line ina 1931 expansion plan. This center track continues throughBedford–Nostrand Avenues and then ends with crossovers to the main tracks, but space remains in the center throughClasson Avenue for the third track.^[3]

AtHoyt–Schermerhorn Streets, the Crosstown Line passes through the middle of the four-trackIND Fulton Street Line.Cross-platform interchange is available between the lines, but no track connections exist. After Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets, the line turns south and ends as a merge into the local tracks of theIND Culver Line, just south of the split of that line into local and express tracks.^[3]

Plans for a crosstown subway line were floated as early as 1912.^[4][5] In 1923, a plan for such a line, to be operated by theBrooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) from theQueensboro Bridge under Jackson Avenue, Manhattan Avenue, Roebling Street, Bedford Avenue, and Hancock Street toFranklin Avenue at the north end of theBMT Franklin Avenue Line,^[6] was adopted by the city.^[7] However, the following year,Mayor Hylan announced his opposition to it.^[8] In addition, residents of central Brooklyn, which was already heavily developed, opposed an elevated line because of noise and aesthetic concerns, but the BRT would not build a subway because an elevated was the cheapest option.^[5]

Eventually, the line was moved and incorporated into the city'sIndependent Subway System (IND).^[9] The junction with theIND Queens Boulevard Line in Long Island City was originally supposed to have a secondwye, with service from Manhattan via the53rd Street Tunnel planned to feed into the Crosstown Line. This would have been part of a loop service between the Crosstown andEighth Avenue Lines.^[9][10]

The first contract to build the Crosstown Line, for a section north ofNassau Avenue in Brooklyn, was awarded in 1928.^[11] The portion of the line crossingNewtown Creek between Brooklyn and Queens, now known as the Greenpoint Tubes, was built without the use of atunneling shield or compressed air, contrary to the convention of the time. The tunnel was bored through solid rock, crossing under theEast River Tunnels of theLong Island Rail Road and theIRT Flushing Line, then lined with concrete.^[12]

On August 19, 1933, the line was opened north of Nassau Avenue, and theGG began operation toQueens Plaza.^[13] The entire Crosstown Line was completed and connected to theIND Culver Line on July 1, 1937, whereupon the GG was extended in both directions toSmith–Ninth Streets andForest Hills–71st Avenue.^[14]

In 1946, as part of a $1 billion plan issued by theNew York City Board of Transportation, a branch of the IND Crosstown Line was to be built, with the routing via Franklin Avenue and connecting with theBMT Brighton Line. This would have replaced theBMT Franklin Avenue Line.^[15]

In 1986, theNew York City Transit Authority launched a study to determine whether to close 79 stations on 11 routes, including the entire Crosstown Line, due to low ridership and high repair costs.^[16][17] Numerous figures, including New York City Council memberCarol Greitzer, criticized the plans.^[17][18]

Over the years, the termini for the GG (relabeled G in 1985)^[19] varied, including being extended toJamaica–179th Street^[20] or cut back toQueens Plaza. On December 16, 2001, a new weekdays-onlyV train (replaced in 2010 by theM) running local on theQueens Boulevard Line required the truncation of the G toLong Island City–Court Square during weekdays.^[21][22] G service was extended to Forest Hills–71st Avenue at all other times until April 19, 2010, when G service was permanently cut back from the Queens Boulevard Line due to budget cuts and closures for repair work.^[23]

Service was also extended toChurch Avenue several times, the most recent extension being in 2009. During weekend service disruptions on theF service between Jay and Bergen Streets, trains were extended beyond Church Avenue toConey Island.

In 2012, flood waters fromHurricane Sandy caused significant damage to the Greenpoint Tubes under theNewtown Creek. Although the G was back in service days after the hurricane, the tube needed permanent repairs. To allow for these repairs, G service was curtailed for twelve weekends between July and December 2013, as well as daily between July 25 and September 2, 2014.^[24]

The 2015–2019MTA Capital Plan called for the Crosstown Line'sClasson Avenue andFlushing Avenue stations, along with 31 others, to undergo a complete overhaul as part of theEnhanced Station Initiative. Updates would include cellular service, Wi-Fi, USB charging stations, interactive service advisories and maps, improved signage, and improved station lighting.^[25][26] However, in April 2018, it was announced that cost overruns had forced the MTA to reduce the number of subway stations included in the program from 33 stations to 20. The stations to be renovated along the IND Crosstown Line were among the 13 stations without funding, which will be pushed back to the 2020–2024 Capital Plan.^[27]

The MTA announced in early 2022 that it planned to put the contract to installcommunications-based train control (CBTC) on the Crosstown Line toHoyt–Schermerhorn Streets station and modify the three interlockings on the line up for bid. The cost of the project is estimated to be $556.4 million.^[28] On May 16, 2022, the MTA put out the RFP for the design-build contract to install CBTC on the Crosstown Line. Court Square Interlocking will be modified to interface with CBTC while mechanical interlockings at Nostrand Avenue and Nassau Avenue will be replaced. Relay rooms and towers at Nostrand Avenue and Nassau Avenue will be decommissioned as part of the project. This project will include the use of axle counters instead of track circuits. Work on the project is expected to take four years.^[29] In December 2022, the MTA announced that it would award a $368 milliondesign–build contract to Crosstown Partners, a joint venture between Thales Group and TC Electric LLC.^[30][31] The contract includes not only the Crosstown Line between Court Square and Bergen Street, but also the Culver Line between Bergen Street and Church Avenue.^[31] The project also included addingWi-Fi in the tunnels.^[32]

Crosstown Partners formally received the CBTC contract in March 2023.^[33] The installation of CBTC required nighttime closures of parts of the line in late 2023 and early 2024.^[34] To accommodate the CBTC upgrades, the Crosstown Line was partially closed in three phases starting on June 28, 2024, and G service was partially suspended. Initially, the northern half of the line was closed, followed by the southern half.^[35][36] Additionally,5G cellular infrastructure was added during the partial shutdown.^[37][38] The line fully reopened on September 3, 2024.^[39][40] As part of the project, the Crosstown Line tunnels used by the G train between the Court Square and Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets stations were retrofitted with5G cellular service,^[41] which was activated north ofBedford–Nostrand Avenues in November 2025.^[42][43] The MTA indicated in July 2025 that the Crosstown CBTC upgrade would be delayed due to the need to add new 5G transmitters to theR211s used on the G route.^[44]

Every station is served by theG train.

Station service legend
	Stops 24 hours a day
	Stops every day during daytime hours only
	Stops everyday during overnight hours and weekends during daytime hours only
	Stops during weekday daytime hours only
	Stops during weekday rush hours in the peak direction only
Time period details
	Station is compliant with theAmericans with Disabilities Act
↑	Station is compliant with theAmericans with Disabilities Act in the indicated direction only
↓
	Elevator access to mezzanine only

Neighborhood (approximate)		Station	Services	Opened	Transfers and notes
Queens
Long Island City	Splits from theIND Queens Boulevard Line local tracks (no regular service)
		Court Square	G	August 19, 1933[13]	IRT Flushing Line (7  <7> ​) IND Queens Boulevard Line (E  ​F  <F> )
		21st Street	G	August 19, 1933[13]	Connection toLIRR atHunterspoint Avenue
Brooklyn
Greenpoint		Greenpoint Avenue	G	August 19, 1933[13]
		Nassau Avenue	G	August 19, 1933[13]
Williamsburg		Metropolitan Avenue	G	July 1, 1937[14]	BMT Canarsie Line (L ) atLorimer Street
		Broadway	G	July 1, 1937[14]
Williamsburg/ Bedford–Stuyvesant		Flushing Avenue	G	July 1, 1937[14]
Bedford–Stuyvesant		Myrtle–Willoughby Avenues	G	July 1, 1937[14]
		Bedford–Nostrand Avenues	G	July 1, 1937[14]	Center track between the two island platforms
Clinton Hill		Classon Avenue	G	July 1, 1937[14]	Additional space for a center track
		Clinton–Washington Avenues	G	July 1, 1937[14]
Fort Greene		Fulton Street	G	July 1, 1937[14]
Downtown Brooklyn		Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets	G	July 1, 1937[14]	IND Fulton Street Line (A  ​C )
Merges with theIND Culver Line (G )

Wikimedia Commons has media related toIND Crosstown Line.

• nycsubway.org—IND Brooklyn/Queens Crosstown Line
• G Line Track Diagram: Court Square to Church AvenueArchived January 27, 2016, at theWayback Machine

• New York City Subway lines
• Independent Subway System
• Railway lines opened in 1933

• New York City Subway station articles with outdated ridership data
• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Use American English from February 2025
• All Wikipedia articles written in American English
• Use mdy dates from November 2019
• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• Articles using KML from Wikidata
• Commons category link is on Wikidata
• Webarchive template wayback links
• Pages using the Kartographer extension