F (New York City Subway service)

History

F service officially began on December 15, 1940 operating between Parsons Boulevard and Church Avenue via the Queens Boulevard, Sixth Avenue, and Culver Lines. It ran express in Queens and local in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

During World War II, by January 10, 1944, trains were extended to 169th Street during evenings, late nights, and Sunday mornings. Temporarily in 1948, as shown in a map from that year, the D and F service switched, with the F going to Second Avenue, but this was afterwards changed back. On December 11, 1950, trains were extended to the newly opened 179th Street on evenings, nights, and Sunday mornings. On May 13, 1951, all trains outside of rush hour were extended to 179th Street using the local tracks beyond Parsons Boulevard. On October 8, 1951, trains were extended to 179th Street at all times. During rush hours F trains skipped 169th Street running via the express tracks. At other times, the F stopped at 169th Street.

In 1953, the platforms were lengthened to 660 feet at 75th Avenue and Sutphin Boulevard so that F trains could run eleven car trains. The F began running eleven car trains during rush hours on September 8, 1953. The extra train car increased the total carrying capacity by 4,000 passengers.

On October 30, 1954, the connection between the IND Culver Line and BMT Culver Line opened, with the IND taking over the elevated section. All F service began terminating at Broadway–Lafayette Street to allow D service to enter Brooklyn via the Rutgers Street Tunnel. In addition, all except weekday daytime trains were rerouted via the local tracks between Continental Avenue and Parsons Boulevard. On April 29, 1956, trains were extended to Second Avenue.

Beginning on October 6, 1957, trains terminated at 34th Street–Herald Square evenings, nights and weekends. On November 10, 1958, F service was cut back from Second Avenue and started terminating at Broadway–Lafayette Street weekdays. Then, beginning on July 11, 1967, trains no longer ran express between 179th Street and 71st–Continental Avenues weekday midday, and were extended weekdays daytime from Broadway-Lafayette Street back to Second Avenue. When, on November 26, 1967, the Chrystie Street Connection was completed, D service was rerouted via this connection, over the north side of the Manhattan Bridge, and via the BMT Brighton Line in Brooklyn. F service replaced it on the IND Culver Line.

Beginning on August 19, 1968, rush hour express service between Jay Street–Borough Hall and Kings Highway was added, in both directions between Jay Street-Borough Hall and Church Avenue, and in rush hour peak direction only by alternate trains between Church Avenue and Kings Highway. Beginning on June 16, 1969 express service was modified with Kings Highway trains operating as locals along the entire route Bergen Street to Kings Highway. Express service was further modified December 31, 1972 when all trains began making local stops between Bergen Street and Church Avenue in the rush direction because of complaints. At the same time, all trains were rerouted via the express tracks between Continental Avenue and Parsons Boulevard in Queens.

On January 18, 1976 F express service between Bergen Street and Church Avenue was discontinued during rush hours in the non-peak direction. On August 30, 1976 express service between Bergen Street and Church Avenue was completely discontinued, with all trains making all stops. Rush direction alternate-train express service between Ditmas Avenue and Kings Highway was retained. This was due to budget cuts and complaints about reduced Manhattan service by riders at local stations.

Starting on August 27, 1977, F was made a local in Queens between Continental Avenue and Queens Plaza, late nights, replacing the GG service.

On May 24, 1987, N and R services swapped terminals in Queens. As part of the reroute plan, F service terminated at 57th Street / Sixth Avenue during late nights (extended to 21st Street-Queensbridge when the IND 63rd Street Line opened on October 29, 1989). On December 11, 1988, as part of the Archer Avenue Subway service changes, F trains began skipping 169th Street during rush hours because R trains were extended to 179th Street to run local. On September 30, 1990, R service was cut back from Continental Avenue to 179th Street at all times except rush hours. As a result, F trains began running local east of 71st Avenue during middays, evenings, and weekends. On October 25, 1992, R rush hour service was cut back from 179th Street to Continental Avenue, and F was made local 179th Street to Continental Avenue during rush hours as well. On August 31, 1997, late night F service was again rerouted to 179th Street as a local with service on the 63rd Street Line being replaced by a Q shuttle.

In December 2000, the F service began to be rerouted via the new 63rd Street connector during nights and weekends. On December 16, 2001, the 63rd Street Connector officially opened, connecting the IND 63rd Street Line with the IND Queens Boulevard Line. In a controversial move, the local V service replaced the express F service in the heavily trafficked 53rd Street Tunnel between Manhattan and Queens, while F service was rerouted to the 63rd Street Tunnel and ran express in Queens between 71st Avenue and 21st Street–Queensbridge at all times.

On September 8, 2002, Stillwell Avenue was closed for reconstruction. F service was cut back to Avenue X, and service to Stillwell Avenue was replaced by a shuttle bus. F service returned to Stillwell Avenue on May 23, 2004, upon completion of the construction work.

Proposed Brooklyn express service

There has been community support for resuming express service along the northern portion of the Culver Line from Jay Street–MetroTech to Church Avenue. including Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Senator Daniel Squadron. The MTA announced that after the elevated Culver Viaduct underwent extensive renovations from 2009 to 2012, "There will be no impediment to implementing the F express."

However, the F express service along the Culver Line was under consideration for four years due to controversy from residents living along the line, who feared that they would no longer have a one-seat ride into Manhattan. Although the service was not implemented, some politicians drafted a letter in 2014 that petitioned for the express service. In late October 2015, city officials started considering the implementation of F express service. Some rush-hour peak-direction F trains have been skipping local stops between Jay Street and Fourth Avenue since at least 2015, and the MTA is planning to use expanded rush-hour express service (Jay Street to Church Avenue) in both directions in the summers of 2016 and 2017. In May 2016, the MTA announced that half of all rush-hour F trains may start running express in fall 2017; however, the train frequency on the rest of the F's route would remain the same.

Service pattern

The F uses the following lines with the same service pattern at all times.

Stations

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