| BMT/IND 63rd Street Lines | |||
|---|---|---|---|
   The IND 63rd Street Line is served by theF and<F> Express. The BMT 63rd Street Line is served by theQ. Limited BMT service is also provided by theN andR. | |||
| Overview | |||
| Owner | City of New York | ||
| Locale | Manhattan andQueens | ||
| Termini |
| ||
| Stations | 3 | ||
| Service | |||
| Type | Rapid transit | ||
| System | New York City Subway | ||
| Operator(s) | New York City Transit Authority | ||
| Daily ridership | 25,326[1] | ||
| History | |||
| Opened | October 29, 1989; 36 years ago (1989-10-29) (IND) May 1, 1995; 30 years ago (1995-05-01) (temporary usage of BMT) January 1, 2017; 8 years ago (2017-01-01) (permanent usage of BMT) | ||
| Technical | |||
| Number of tracks | 2–4 | ||
| Character | Underground | ||
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | ||
| Electrification | 600VDirect current traction3rd rail | ||
| |||
TheIND 63rd Street Line andBMT 63rd Street Line, also referred to as the63rd Street Crosstown,Crosstown Route,[2] orRoute 131-A,[3] are tworapid transit lines of theB Division of theNew York City Subway system. The two lines run under 63rd Street on theUpper East Side ofManhattan, with across-platform interchange at theLexington Avenue–63rd Street station.
Each line consists of two tracks in a stacked configuration, with the southbound tracks of each line parallel to each other on the upper level, while the northbound tracks are parallel on the lower level. Crossover connections between each line's respective tracks are located just to the west of the Lexington Avenue station. The IND line, the southern of the two lines, is served byF trains at all times and<F> Express trains during rush hours; it connects theIND Sixth Avenue Line in Manhattan to theIND Queens Boulevard Line inQueens. It uses the upper level of the bi-level63rd Street Tunnel to travel under theEast River between Manhattan and Queens. The northern, BMT, line is served by theQ train at all times, although a limited number ofN andR trains also serve the line during rush hours. Also known as the Second Avenue Connection,[4]: 128 it links theBMT Broadway Line to theSecond Avenue Subway, both in Manhattan.[5] The crossover between the lines has been used in the past during service disruptions as well as during theManhattan Bridge closures in the late 1990s.
These lines were conceived as part of theMetropolitan Transportation Authority's1968 expansion plans, and along with theArcher Avenue lines and a small section of the Second Avenue Subway, they were the only portions of the plan to be completed before it was scaled back due to fiscal issues. The IND 63rd Street Line was originally planned to be extended further east into Queens as a super-express bypass of the IND Queens Boulevard Line. After these plans were abandoned in the mid-1970s, it was commonly referred to as a "subway to nowhere" because it ended one stop into Queens, without any infrastructure connecting to other subway lines in Queens. The 63rd Street Tunnel lay unused for over a decade, and its lower level, intended for futureLong Island Rail Road (LIRR) service, was completed solely to support the subway line above it.
The IND 63rd Street Line between Queens and Manhattan opened on October 29, 1989, and was connected to the Queens Boulevard Line on December 16, 2001. The BMT 63rd Street Line in Manhattan was only used for regular service starting in 2017, when theSecond Avenue Subway's first phase opened.
The following services use the 63rd Street Lines:[6][7]
| Service information | Lines served | Section of line | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Service | Division | ||
 | IND | Culver Local,Sixth Avenue Local,Queens Boulevard Express | entire IND section |
 (limited rush hour service) | IND | Culver Express,Sixth Avenue Local,Queens Boulevard Express | |
 | BMT | Brighton Local,Broadway Express,Second Avenue Local | entire BMT section |
  (limited rush hour service)[8] | BMT | Sea Beach Local/Fourth Avenue Express,Broadway Express,Second Avenue Local () Fourth Avenue Local,Broadway Local,Second Avenue Local ( ) | |
The 63rd Street Lines comprise two physical pairs of trackage; each track pair's mileage is measured via differentsubway chaining schemes. One is chained as part of theIndependent Subway System (IND), and the other is chained as part of theBrooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT).[9][10]
The IND line begins as a northward continuation of theIND Sixth Avenue Line at57th Street station. It runs underSixth Avenue andCentral Park, turning east under 63rd Street and running through the63rd Street Tunnel under theEast River, with stations atMain Street onRoosevelt Island and at21st Street-Queensbridge under 41st Avenue in Queens. At its eastern end, the line merges with theIND Queens Boulevard Line under Northern Boulevard, west of36th Street station. This line is coded as chaining route "T", with the southbound track marked as T1 and the northbound track designated T2.[9][10] Beneath the subway tunnel is a lower level used by theLong Island Rail Road (LIRR), where it heads toGrand Central Madison. It is connected toGrand Central Terminal as part of the LIRR'sEast Side Access project, which commenced operations in 2023.[11][12]: 2
The BMT line begins as a northward continuation of the express tracks of theBMT Broadway Line at the57th Street–Seventh Avenue station. It runs underSeventh Avenue, Central Park and 63rd Street before turning north underSecond Avenue and merging with theSecond Avenue Subway. The tracks on this line are coded with BMT chaining, labeled as tracks G3 and G4 to distinguish them from the pre-existing G1 and G2 tracks associated with the60th Street Tunnel andAstoria Line. The odd-numbered tracks carry southbound trains, while the even-numbered tracks carry northbound trains.[9][10]
The two lines intersect at theLexington Avenue–63rd Street station, where there arecross-platform interchanges for both northbound and southbound trains. Just west of Lexington Avenue-63rd Street, twodiamond crossover tracks allow trains to switch between the two lines. This connection, not used in passenger service, allows trains to run from the Broadway Line to the Queens Boulevard Line and from the Sixth Avenue Line to the Second Avenue Line.[10]
The first segments of the two lines opened on October 29, 1989; the IND line opened between57th Street and21st Street–Queensbridge, and the BMT line opened between 57th Street-Seventh Avenue and Lexington Avenue-63rd Street. The BMT 63rd Street Line was not used for passenger service. The IND Line was usually served byB,F andQ trains; during this time, Q trains ran on theIND Sixth Avenue Line due to reconstruction of theManhattan Bridge. From the line's opening until September 1990, service was provided by Q trains during weekdays, by B trains during weekends, and by an F/Q[a] combination route late nights. Starting in September 1990, evening Q service was replaced by the B instead. In April 1993, the F/Q combination designation was dropped and was simply known as F. TheJFK Express also served the IND line very briefly; the service was discontinued on April 15, 1990.[13] From April to November 1995, as part of the Manhattan Bridge reconstruction, the bridge's north side (Sixth Avenue) tracks closed during middays and weekends; the Q ran on theBMT Broadway Line during these times, using the BMT 63rd Street Line and switching to the IND 63rd Street Line to Queens west of Lexington Avenue-63rd Street.[14]
In May 1997,63rd Street Shuttle service via the IND Sixth Avenue Line replaced F service during late nights. Between February 22, 1998, and May 22, 1999, service between the Sixth Avenue Line and the 63rd Street Line was suspended because of construction on the IND tracks. B and Q trains were cut back to 57th Street, and the late night shuttle suspended. During this time, a differentshuttle provided full-time service between 21st Street–Queensbridge and34th Street-Herald Square via theBMT Broadway Line; for instance, in 1995, this shuttle switched between the IND and BMT Lines west of Lexington Avenue station. On May 22, 1999, the B and Q returned to 21st Street–Queensbridge.[15]
On July 22, 2001, the north side tracks of the Manhattan Bridge, which served the Sixth Avenue Line, closed. B and Q service on the IND 63rd Street Line was replaced with a full-time shuttle via the Sixth Avenue Line.[16] On December 16, 2001, the 63rd Street Connector to theIND Queens Boulevard Line officially opened, and the F was rerouted to serve the IND Line at all times, replacing the shuttle and assuming its current service pattern.[17][18]
On January 1, 2017, the first phase of the Second Avenue Subway opened,[19] extending the Q (now running via theBMT Broadway Line), and some rush-hourNshort turn trips, along the BMT 63rd Street Line.[7] The Q and N then turned north to connect to the Second Avenue Subway, terminating at96th Street.[19] Before the Second Avenue Subway opened in 2017, the BMT line was generally not used for passenger service, except for detours due to emergencies or construction on other lines (including the aforementioned periods in 1995 and 1998). Because the line was not used in regular service from 1989 to 2016, it was not shown on the officialsubway map, except in 1995 and 1998.[20] Prior to 2011, these tracks were also used to store train sets outside of rush hour.[21]From August 28, 2023, through April 1, 2024, F trains were rerouted via the53rd Street Tunnel between Queens and Manhattan, and weekdayM trains were truncated to57th Street in Manhattan, due to repairs in the 63rd Street Tunnel. An F shuttle train ran betweenLexington Avenue-63rd Street and21st Street-Queensbridge, stopping atRoosevelt Island, at all times except late nights. Shuttle buses ran between Queens Plaza and 21st Street–Queensbridge during the day and between Queens Plaza and Roosevelt Island at night.[22][23]
In June 2025, internal MTA documents were leaked, indicating that a proposal to rerouteM trains through the 63rd Street Tunnel and rerouteF trains through the53rd Street Tunnel would be presented for approval in fall 2025. If approved, the route swap would be implemented by December. The route swap is anticipated to reduce overcrowding at 63rd Street line stations, as well as reduce reliance on critical interlockings west of the36th Street station in Queens.[24][25] In September 2025, the MTA confirmed that the F and M trains would swap routings on weekdays starting on December 8, 2025, with the F running via 53rd Street and the M running via 63rd Street.[26][27]
In February 1963, theNew York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) proposed a two-track East River subway tunnel under 76th Street with unspecified connections to the rest of the transit network, at a cost of $139 million. In a May 2, 1963, report, the proposed site of the tunnel was switched to 59th Street. On May 24,Mayor Wagner suggested that a tunnel around 61st Street "be built with all deliberate speed".[28] On October 17, 1963, theBoard of Estimate approved a new East River tunnel sited at 64th Street, noting that it would cost $30 million and take seven years to build. The 64th Street site was said to be $5.3 million less expensive, "because of easier grades and smaller curves".[29]
The lack of specificity about how the tunnel would be used was criticized at an early date. In December 1964, the Citizens Budget Committee said that the project, now shifted to 63rd Street, was "leading nowhere-to-nowhere". The Committee went on to propose three connections that were eventually adopted (connections to theBMT Broadway Line andIND Sixth Avenue Line, both at 57th Street, and to theIND Queens Boulevard Line near Queens Plaza), and one that was not adopted (a connection to theIRT Lexington Avenue Line).[30]
The route was changed to 63rd Street because officials atRockefeller Institute at 64th Street feared that heavy construction and later train movements so close to the institute's buildings might have adversely affected delicate instruments at the Institute and change the accuracy of the research being conducted.[31] The Board of Estimate approved the revised 63rd Street route on January 14, 1965, at a budget of $28.1 million and a four-year timetable, with the connections to the rest of the transit network awaiting a study that was then scheduled for completion in mid-1966.The New York Times noted that "A variety of possible connections...are under study," including possible new lines under Madison and Second Avenues. The NYCTA's chairman, Joseph E. O'Grady, said that the tunnel and the subway connections would eventually be completed at about the same time, "since construction of the tunnel takes at least a year longer than the connections".[32]
In 1966, MayorJohn Lindsay gave his approval for the 63rd Street option, preferring it over the 61st Street option. Lindsay's administration proposed a new station at 63rd Street to connect with theLexington Avenue/59th Street station via an undergroundarcade surrounded by retail areas.[33] Communities along the route of the proposed crosstown tunnel disagreed on the exact routing. Advocacy groups such as the Citizens Budget Commission,Citizens Union, and theCommerce and Industry Association preferred a 61st Street routing for easier interchange with the Lexington Avenue/59th Street station. Queens civic leaders supported the 63rd Street proposal, saying that a transfer station at 61st Street would worsen congestion on the already busy Lexington Avenue Line.[33]
A third track was added to the plans for the tunnel in April 1966. The track would serveLong Island Rail Road (LIRR) trains to east Midtown, alleviating train traffic intoPennsylvania Station.[34] That August, a fourth track was added to the plans after it was determined that LIRR trains would be too large to run on subway tracks. This amendment increased the number of LIRR tracks to two, and provided dedicated tracks for the LIRR and the subway.[35]
In November 1967, voters approved a $2.5 billion transportation bond issue, and in early 1968, under theProgram for Action, officials provided detailed plans for how it would be used. Among many other projects, the proposal included:[36]
This proposal, with some modifications, received approval from the Board of Estimate on September 21, 1968.[37]
Plans for the 63rd Street Line were approved by theNew York City Board of Estimate on June 3, 1969.[38] Groundbreaking ceremonies for the line took place on November 24, 1969, at Vernon Boulevard and 21st Street inQueensbridge Park, Long Island City.[39][40][41] Workers tunneled westward from Queens, as well as in both directions underRoosevelt Island. Four 38-foot-square (12 m) prefabricated sections of the 63rd Street Tunnel were constructed atPort Deposit, Maryland, then towed to New York and sunk under the East River.[42] The first of the tunnel segments was delivered in May 1971[43] and was lowered into place on August 29, 1971;[42] the last section was lowered on March 14, 1972.[44] The double-deck, 3,140-foot (960 m)[39] tunnel under the East River was "holed through" on October 10, 1972, with the separate sections of tunnels being connected.[45]
One section of the line that ran through Central Park was controversial because it called for 1,500 feet (460 m) ofcut-and-cover tunneling, which would require digging an open trench through Central Park.[46] In May 1970,Manhattan Community Board 8 held a meeting so constituents could voice concerns about the project's impact.[47] The next month, MayorJohn Lindsay told city engineers to write a report that studied ways to reduce the project's impact.[46] The results of the report, released in January 1971, called for usingtunnel boring machines underneath Central Park to reduce disruption.[48] In February 1971, the NYCTA published advertisements in newspapers, seeking construction bids for the tunnels under Central Park. After the advertisements had run for three days, the NYCTA withdrew them after community and conservation groups objected.[49] Later that month, the NYCTA finally agreed to halve the width of the proposed 75-foot (23 m)-wide cut, which resulted in a proportionate decrease in the area of affected parkland. The NYCTA also agreed to reduce disruption to theHeckscher Playground, located above the proposed subway tunnel's path, by cutting construction time from three years to two years and by constructing a temporary playground nearby.[50] In March, the NYCTA again sought construction bids.[51] The sections that connected to the existing Broadway and Sixth Avenue Lines were holed through on October 11, 1973.[52] Construction on the section between 5th Avenue and Park Avenue began in August 1974. The project involved digging a 45-foot (14 m)-high cavern underneath the street.[53]
On March 20, 1975, New York mayorAbraham Beame announced significant cutbacks to the plan. Construction of the Southeastern Queens extension was deferred until 1981, and the Long Island Rail Road extension through the lower level of the 63rd Street tunnel was canceled for the foreseeable future. However, it was still anticipated that the Queens Boulevard super-express and the Archer Avenue Line up to Parsons/Archer would still be completed. The Queens project, although curtailed, was given priority because it was "more advanced in construction".[54]
By January 1976, the tunnel was 95% complete.[2] In May, construction was briefly halted when residents jumped into utility pits to protest the cutting of trees near the Lexington Avenue station.[55] A US federal judge issued a stop-work order on May 13,[56] but issued another verdict five days later that allowed construction to proceed.[57] Construction resumed on May 25, after three weeks of protests, and the trees were cut down anyway.[58]
In summer 1976, the NYCTA announced that "it will take an extra five or six years—until 1987 or 1988—to complete the new Manhattan–Queens trunk subway line from Central Park to Jamaica via the new 63rd Street tunnel." The main cause of the delay was the 5.8-mile "super express", although it was expected that the three new Archer Avenue line stations could be ready sooner. As an interim measure, the NYCTA proposed a new station at Northern Boulevard, adjacent to Queens Plaza, which could possibly open by 1983 or 1984.[59] However, there were also a lack of federal funds, so this could not be completed immediately.[60] By this time, there were only going to be seven stations on the 63rd Street and Archer Avenue Lines combined.[61] At the time, these two lines were part of the same route, the 63rd Street–Southeast Queens line.[2]
The Manhattan portion of the line was completed in 1976. TheTimes noted:
Underneath Central Park lie two eerily quiet sets of tracks. They have advanced equipment – welded tracks, fluorescent lighting and rubber-based pads under the rail – that have not yet been installed on most of the system's 230 operating miles.
These tunnels were finished in 1976. This year, the contractor will tear down his two-story office in Central Park, remove the fence near Fifth Avenue and restore foliage and the bird house he damaged, at a cost of $300,000.
By 1981, five years after completion of the tunnel, the Transit Authority expects to put it to use; its brand new quiet tracks will be used as a storage yard for out-of-service trains.[62]
The Zoo York Wall was agraffiti wall within the line's length through Central Park, where subway writers and other street artists "made their marks" in the early 1970s. It was a temporary wall, erected by the NYCTA in 1971 to block unauthorized entry into the site of the 63rd Street Line running underneath theCentral Park Zoo. Its name originates from the 63rd Street Tunnel (which it was supposed to guard), then called the "Zoo York Tunnel". During the tunnel's construction (1971–1973), the tunnel provided a subterranean gathering place for very early subway artists who hung around together in Central Park, and was namedZoo York byALI, founder of the SOUL ARTISTS graffiti crew. The name came about because it was in azoo in NewYork, hence "Zoo York".[63]
Armored with polished aluminium in the futile hope of resisting spray-paint and permanent marker ink, the wall did little to dissuade teenage graffiti writers from climbing over and descending into the tunnel during its construction.Graffiti artists also marked their territory by "tagging" the wall which had been put up around the construction site. Upon completion of the subway project in 1973, the "Zoo York Wall" was torn down.[63]
The name came about because the Central Park Zoo at that time was a classical 19th-centurymenagerie, populated by wild animals displayed in open-air cages, who paced the bars back and forthneurotically—always hoping for an escape, yet paradoxically blind to the world beyond their cramped quarters. ALI noted that by contrast, here were these feral teenagers, himself included, living in a free society, who sought nothing more wholeheartedly than to crowd together in a deep, dark hole in the ground. Marvelling at their perverse urban psychologies, ALI decided that all city people were insane for seeking imprisonment in tiny apartments, offices, subway cars and the like, and declared that New York City itself was "notNew, but aZoo!" He named the tunnel itself "Zoo York".[63]
In May 1978, theTimes noted, "What started out a few years ago as 40 miles of new subway routes to serve the long-suffering residents of Queens has been whittled down to 15 miles, is years behind schedule, and will cost more than twice as much as originally estimated....The line costs $100,000 a foot, will be very short and will serve only a modest number of riders." The article now noted that the Queens super-express had been deferred "to 1988 at the earliest", and the only sections in progress were the 63rd Street Line to Northern Boulevard, and "a small piece along Archer Avenue". The 63rd Street Line's opening date was projected for 1985. The plan depended on the idea that Queens Boulevard riders would be willing to exit the subway at Queens Plaza and walk a city block to a new station at Northern Boulevard to continue their trip. The NYCTA projected that this transfer would draw 11,000 passengers a day.[62]
By October 1980, officials considered stopping both projects and spending the money on maintaining the existing system. By then, the Archer Avenue project was projected for completion in 1984, and the 63rd Street line in 1985. TheTimes noted that the lower level of the 63rd Street tunnel was still under construction, even though it would remain unused indefinitely. Richard Ravitch, the MTA chairman, said that to stop the work was "so costly as to make it impractical subsequent to the construction of the subway portion." It "had to be finished – largely for structural reasons – to support the subway tunnel above". The line was described as a "tunnel to nowhere" because the tunnel would have one station in Queens, and because it would not connect to any other lines.[64][65]
In 1979, the New York City Department of Transportation and a steering committee started reexamining the New Routes program. The Queens Transit Alternatives Study was undertaken, evaluated 18 transit plans, and recommended that 5 be further evaluated. The MTA unveiled five proposals to local communities in the spring of 1983. The proposals ranged from leaving it as-is, with the line's terminus in Long Island City, to the original 1960s plan to connect the 63rd Street Line to the LIRR Main Line, the cost of which was now estimated at $1 billion.[66] At21st Street–Queensbridge, usage estimates for that station in 1984 were 220 passengers per hour unless a connection was made to the rest of the system.[67] These options were formally evaluated by an Alternative Analysis/Draft Environmental Impact Statement completed by the Federal Transit Administration and the MTA in May 1984.[68] The MTA was studying four options for making this line more useful:[66][69][67]
The suburbanGlendale,Ridgewood andMiddle Village communities in central Queens strongly opposed any proposals involving the Montauk Branch, which ran through their neighborhood.[70][71] The ultimately agreed-on plan was to connect the tunnel to the local tracks of the IND Queens Boulevard Line, at a cost of $222 million, and a timetable of at least eight years. It was estimated that the project would attract 16,500 passengers per hour. This was the cheapest plan besides doing nothing. The MTA board approved this plan on December 14, 1984.[75] The section of the line up to Long Island City was projected to open by the end of 1985.[76]
By June 1985, the project was again delayed indefinitely. According toThe New York Times, the tunnel had originally been planned to open that year, but then inspectors found that the tube was not ready for service. The tunnels had been inundated with 6 feet (1.8 m) of water, and several girders and electrical equipment had also deteriorated.[77]
Two contractors were hired to assess the structural integrity of the tunnel, and the delay was estimated at two years.[78] The federal government withheld $31 million of funding for the tunnel in July 1985 due to "'wholly inadequate' management of the tunnel's construction".[79] In August 1985, at the instigation of SenatorAl D'Amato, the federal government suspended funding on both the 63rd Street and Archer Avenue projects over "concerns with the construction management practices". The two projects had cost nearly $1 billion between them, of which the federal government had provided $530 million for 63rd Street and $295 million for Archer Avenue.[78]
By February 1987, the MTA's contractors had concluded that the tunnel was structurally sound, although federal funding had not yet been released. The MTA approved a new plan to have the tunnel open by October 1989. The agency also proposed a $550 million, 1,500-foot connector to both the express and local tracks of the IND Queens Boulevard Line. Under the plan, the Queens Boulevard Line would be "reverse-signaled", which would accommodate Manhattan-bound trains on three out of the line's four tracks in the morning rush, and the opposite for the evening rush. This part of the plan was not projected to begin before the 1990s.[80]
In June 1987, the federal government completed its own review of the project. "A little light appeared at the end of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's 63rd Street 'tunnel to nowhere' last week", theTimes reported, as the government's own inspector found the tunnel sound, and released the final installment of $60 million for both the 63rd Street and Archer Avenue projects.[81] The first train to use the extension was the "rail polisher train", a non-revenue move that occurred on August 1, 1989.[82]
The 63rd Street lines went into service on October 29, 1989, twenty years after construction began, with new stations at Lexington Avenue, Roosevelt Island, and 21st Street/41st Avenue in Queens. The IND line was served byQ trains on weekdays andB trains on weekends. The 1,500-foot (460 m) connector to the Queens Boulevard Line had not yet started construction.[83] The BMT line was not in use at that time. It was built for future service options, including a connection to the Second Avenue Subway for service from theUpper East Side toLower Manhattan.[84] From May to November 1995, the north side of theManhattan Bridge was closed for reconstruction during middays and weekends and theQ train was routed via Broadway at this time. It used the BMT 63rd Street Line to connect to the IND 63rd Street Line and serve Lexington Avenue,Roosevelt Island, and21st Street–Queensbridge stations.[14]
From February 22, 1998, to May 22, 1999,63rd Street Shuttle trains operated via this line between 21st Street–Queensbridge and57th Street–Seventh Avenue, later running further to34th Street–Herald Square.[85][86] The 57th Street/Sixth Avenue station was closed from 12:30 to 6 a.m. daily during the project.[87] The project had initially been slated to be completed in fall 1999,[88] but normal service resumed in May 1999, ahead of schedule.[86] The 1998–1999 reconstructions were to replace the tracks, which had become deteriorated after eight years of use due to a flaw in the railway ties; namely, an "innovative" design of "shallow epoxy-and-sand pads" had weakened the base of the rails.[89]
Planning for the connection to theIND Queens Boulevard Line began in December 1990, with the final design contract awarded in December 1992. Two build alternatives were evaluated: a connection to the local tracks of the Queens Boulevard Line, and a connection to the local and express tracks. The goal of the project was to increase capacity on Queens Boulevard by 33% and to eliminate the dead-end terminal at 21st Street–Queensbridge. Bellmouths were constructed to allow for a future bypass line through Sunnyside Yard.[68]
The remaining section from 21st Street to the Queens Boulevard Line, which cost $645 million, began construction on September 22, 1994. The construction project also extended the lower level LIRR tunnel and involved a number of other elements, including the integration of ventilation plants, lowering a sewer siphon 50 feet, rehabilitation of elements of the existing line, mitigating ground water, diverting trains which continued to run through the project area and widening of the entry point to the Queens Boulevard Line to six tracks.[65][90][91][68][92] In December 2000, the 63rd Street Connector was made available for off-peak construction reroutes, but the first revenue in-service train did not use the connector until one month later.[93] Regular service was expected to begin by August or September of that year.[94] However, theSeptember 11, 2001, terrorist attacks delayed the commencement of regular service. The connector came into regular use on December 16, 2001, with the rerouting of F service at all times to 63rd Street.[17]
The 63rd Street Connector created a new path between Manhattan and the heavily traveled Queens Boulevard Line, increasing the amount of train service that could be run between Manhattan and Queens. With the F rerouted via 63rd Street, service through the53rd Street Tunnel was replaced by theV, a new local service that ran along the Sixth Avenue and Queens Boulevard lines.[17] This service was discontinued on June 25, 2010, and replaced with a reroute of theM.[95][96]
The 63rd Street Lines were envisioned to connect theSecond Avenue Subway to theBMT Broadway Line, theIND Sixth Avenue Line, andQueens. The BMT 63rd Street Line would directly connect the upper Second Avenue Line to the Broadway Line. Construction on the IND Second Avenue Line began in 1972, but was halted in 1975 due to theNew York City fiscal crisis. As a result, the BMT 63rd Street Line was not finished and instead ended abruptly at Lexington Avenue-63rd Street station. In 2007, construction on the Second Avenue line recommenced and in 2011, construction started at Lexington Avenue-63rd Street to expand and renovate the station, and to complete the connection to the Second Avenue Line. This renovation removed the walls on the platforms and opened new entrances on the Third Avenue side of the station. Thetunnel boring machine being used to create the tunnels for the first phase of Second Avenue Line broke through the wall into the lower level of the BMT 63rd Street Line on September 22, 2011.[97]
On January 1, 2017, the first phase of the Second Avenue Line opened, extending theQ andN services under Central Park and eastward to the stop at Lexington Avenue–63rd Street before turning north at Second Avenue to merge with the Second Avenue Line.[19] This created direct service between theUpper East Side and the existingBMT Broadway Line.[98] The double-deckedLexington Avenue–63rd Street station providescross-platform interchange between the two 63rd Street lines. Northbound trains use the lower level; southbound trains use the upper level.[10]
The third phase of Second Avenue Line construction, which is not funded as of 2017[update],[99] is proposed to include a separate connection between the IND 63rd Street Line and the Second Avenue Line, turning southwest from 63rd Street onto Second Avenue. This connection would allow trains coming from theIND Queens Boulevard Line to run on the Second Avenue Line toMidtown Manhattan andLower Manhattan.[10] However, the MTA does not plan to run passenger trains through this connection and it would be used only for movements by non-passenger trains, although passenger service could be possible if subway capacity in Queens is increased to accommodate extra service.[100] Garbage piled up within the unused bellmouths for this connection; when the trash was cleaned up in 2021, MTA officials estimated that the rubbish piles might have been accumulating in the bellmouths since the 1980s.[101]
As part of a $107 million project,[102]: 123 the tunnels were scheduled to experience numerous service disruptions in 2023 to accommodate replacement of direct fixation track and cables, installation of new signal equipment, leak remediation, and repairs to concrete surfaces. Much of the concrete track was installed in 1981, eight years before the line opened.[103]
| Station service legend | |
|---|---|
 | Stops 24 hours a day |
 | Stops every day during daytime hours only |
 | Stops during weekday daytime hours only |
 | Stops during weekend daytime and weekday evening hours |
 | Stops during weekday rush 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 |
| Station | Services | Opened | Transfers and notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| IND Line begins as a split from theIND Queens Boulevard Line (F <F> ) | ||||
| 21st Street–Queensbridge | F <F> | October 29, 1989 | |
| 63rd Street Tunnel | ||||
| Roosevelt Island | F <F> | October 29, 1989 | |
| 63rd Street Tunnel | ||||
| BMT Line begins as a split from[97] theIND Second Avenue Line (N Q R ) | ||||
| Lexington Avenue–63rd Street | F <F> N Q R | October 29, 1989 (IND) January 1, 2017 (BMT) | MetroCard/OMNY transfer toIRT Lexington Avenue Line (4 5 6 <6> ) at59th Street MetroCard/OMNY transfer toBMT Broadway Line (N R W ) atLexington Avenue–59th Street |
| connecting tracks | ||||
| IND Line continues as a branch of theIND Sixth Avenue Line (F <F> ) | ||||
| BMT Line continues asBMT Broadway Line express tracks (N Q R ) | ||||
{{cite book}}:|work= ignored (help)| Current services |
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