N (New York City Subway service)

Before 1970

The route that is now the N was originally BMT service 4, known as the Sea Beach Line or Sea Beach Express.

On June 22, 1915, the current BMT Sea Beach Line opened, replacing a street level "el" that branched off of the Fifth Avenue El with the former BMT West End Line. Originally, it used the south tracks of the Manhattan Bridge, which at that time connected to the BMT Nassau Street Line.

On September 4, 1917, the first part of the BMT Broadway Line and the north side tracks of the Manhattan Bridge opened. Trains ran from 14th Street–Union Square to Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue, now using the bridge's northern tracks.

On January 15, 1918, service was extended to Times Square–42nd Street.

On May 2, 1957, service was extended north via the express tracks to 57th Street–Seventh Avenue.

In 1959, trains began stopping at DeKalb Avenue during midday hours. Previously, they bypassed DeKalb Avenue at all times except late nights.

Beginning on January 1, 1961, trains bypassed DeKalb Avenue during rush hours only. In addition, on weekday evenings, late nights, and all day Sundays, they ran local on the BMT Fourth Avenue Line.

The N designation begins to appear when R27 subway cars are moved to the line in April 1961.

1970–1980

The NX designation was used for a rush hour peak-direction "super-express" service along the express tracks of the Sea Beach Line, beginning at Brighton Beach on the BMT Brighton Line, running through Coney Island, and then following the N route to 57th Street–Seventh Avenue. This short-lived service began on November 27, 1967 (when the Chrystie Street Connection opened) and ended April 12, 1968 due to low ridership. Starting on Monday, April 15, 1968, the five NX trips instead ran as N trips.

On August 30, 1976, N service was extended north over the BMT 60th Street Tunnel Connection to Forest Hills–71st Avenue to replace the discontinued EE. While some N trains ran the full route from Coney Island to 71st Avenue, via the Manhattan Bridge and Broadway Express, some trains ran local between Whitehall Street–South Ferry in Lower Manhattan and Forest Hills–71st Avenue, which had been the EE route.

On August 27, 1977, N service was cut back during late nights, only operating between 36th Street and Coney Island.

1980–1990

Reconstruction of the Manhattan Bridge between 1986 and 2004 disrupted N service, usually removing it from the bridge. On April 26, 1986, the north side tracks on the Manhattan Bridge (leading to the IND Sixth Avenue Line) were closed for rehabilitation, and services that had used the north side were moved to the south side, running via the BMT Broadway Line. Because of the large amount of train traffic now running on the bridge's south side tracks, rush hour and midday N service stopped using the bridge, running via the Montague Street Tunnel and Lower Manhattan making local stops, though evening, night and weekend trains continued to use the bridge and express tracks, terminating at 57th Street–Seventh Avenue.

On April 26, 1986, the M, which was rerouted from the BMT Brighton Line to the BMT West End Line, replaced the N as the weekday express via the Fourth Avenue Line. On May 24, 1987, the N swapped northern terminals with the R. The N was switched to Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard, while the R went to Forest Hills–71st Avenue. This was done to give the R direct access to Jamaica Yard; previously, the N had direct access to both Jamaica Yard and Coney Island Yard, and the R, running from Bay Ridge to Astoria, lacked direct access to either yard. When the north side of the Manhattan Bridge reopened and the south side was closed on December 11, 1988, the N began running local in Manhattan and via the Montague Tunnel at all times; In order to replace B service to Ditmars Boulevard, additional N service was provided during rush hours.

On September 30, 1990, full service on the Manhattan Bridge was briefly restored. Express service on Broadway ran all times except nights (all service stopped at 49th Street due to heavy usage). This very short service was halted by the discovery of a cracked beam under the south side tracks on the bridge.

1990–2000

In 1994, the N switched back to express in Brooklyn only, from Atlantic Avenue–Pacific Street to 59th Street, with the M running local instead on weekdays.

From 1994 to 1996, the southern terminal of the N was 86th Street due to rehabilitation work at Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue. On November 4, 2001, it was cut back again as the terminal's reconstruction project continued.

From April to November 1995, the north side of the Manhattan Bridge was closed during midday and weekends. To allow B trains to lay up on the express tracks at Pacific Street, midday N express service in Brooklyn was discontinued for the duration of the closure.

2001–2010

After the September 11, 2001 attacks, Broadway Line service through Lower Manhattan was suspended; N service was also suspended and replaced by the W in Manhattan and Queens and the M in Brooklyn. On October 28, N service was restored, but Cortlandt Street remained closed until September 15, 2002.

On September 8, 2002, because of the ongoing reconstruction of Coney Island terminal, weekend and late night N service was reduced to a shuttle between 86th and Pacific Streets, running express on the BMT Fourth Avenue Line. In its place, the W was extended to Manhattan and Astoria, Queens at all times; this was because the W was the only route still serving Stillwell Avenue during this part of the reconstruction.

On February 22, 2004, the Manhattan Bridge work was finally completed. The N returned to its full route in Manhattan and Queens at all times, and returned to using the Manhattan Bridge at all times except nights (via Fourth Avenue express, bypassing DeKalb Avenue). On weekdays, N trains ran express between 34th Street in Manhattan and 59th Street in Brooklyn, and local elsewhere. On weekends, it makes local stops in Manhattan, but express in Brooklyn, using the bridge. During late nights, it runs local along its entire route via the Montague Street Tunnel, replacing the R train.

On May 29, 2005, the new Stillwell Avenue terminal was completed, and N service between 86th Street and Coney Island was restored.

On June 28, 2010, the N began running local in Manhattan north of Canal Street on weekdays to replace the W, which was discontinued due to budget problems, effectively adopting the weekend service pattern. N trains that short-turned at 57th Street or Times Square during the AM rush hour continued to run express in Manhattan.

2011–present

From August 2, 2013 to September 14, 2014, the Montague Street Tunnel was closed for Hurricane Sandy-related repairs. During this time, overnight N service was rerouted via the Manhattan Bridge.

On November 7, 2016, the MTA restored the BMT Broadway Line services to their 2004-2010 service pattern in preparation for the rerouting of the Q train to the Second Avenue Subway. As a result, the N train once again became a weekday express between 34th Street–Herald Square and Canal Street, with local service replaced by the W train. The MTA approved the service change on May 23, 2016. The changes took place on November 7, 2016. On January 3, 2017, the handful of N trains that short-turned at 57th Street–Seventh Avenue during rush hours were extended to 96th Street using the Second Avenue Subway.

Service pattern

The following table shows the lines used by the N, with shaded boxes indicating the route at the specified times:

Stations

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