R (New York City Subway service)

Early history

The service that later became the R was the BMT 2. When it entered service on January 15, 1916, it ran between Chambers Street on the BMT Nassau Street Line and 86th Street, using the Manhattan Bridge to cross the East River. Service on the BMT Broadway Line (which at the time was only between Whitehall Street and Times Square) began exactly two years later on January 15, 1918. On July 10, 1919 service may have been extended to 57th Street. The Montague Street Tunnel opened on October 1, 1920, and at that time it took its current shape, running local from Queensboro Plaza to 86th Street. Bay Ridge–95th Street station opened on October 31, 1925. During this time, rush-hour specials to Chambers Street were added and later removed, only to be added again. At one time, including 1931, additional midday service operated local between 57th Street and Whitehall Street–South Ferry. The 2 also used the Nassau Street Loop during rush hours, entering Manhattan via the Manhattan Bridge or Montague Street Tunnel and leaving via the other.

On October 17, 1949, the platform edges on the BMT Astoria Line had been shaved back to accommodate the larger BMT trains, and the BMT's Astoria Shuttle was replaced with through service from the 2 Fourth Avenue Line (now R) operating from Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria, Queens to Bay Ridge–95th Street in Brooklyn at all times. On June 29, 1950, special rush hour trains began running between Bay Ridge–95th Street and Chambers Street via the south side of the Manhattan Bridge and/or the Montague Street Tunnel. This was discontinued two years later. On January 1, 1961, the northern terminal was relocated to its current location at Forest Hills–71st Avenue, via the BMT 60th Street Tunnel Connection, which is also known as the "11th Street Cut". Night and weekend RR trains still terminated at 57th Street in Manhattan. PM rush hour Fourth Avenue–Nassau trains went back to the routing that was used prior to 1959, in which trains ran from Broad Street to 95th Street via the Manhattan Bridge, and the Fourth Avenue express tracks.

In the winter of 1960–1961, letters started to appear on the RR with the introduction of the R27s, which featured it on roll signs. The route was known as the "Fourth Avenue Local via Tunnel", and it operated from Forest Hills–71st Avenue to Bay Ridge–95th Street, like the current R service. On November 27, 1967, the day after the IND Chrystie Street Connection opened, the RR was moved back to Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard on the BMT Astoria Line. (EE service began at Whitehall Street (with additional trains starting at Canal Street) and used the former route to 71st Avenue). The Nassau Street specials were through-routed from Bay Ridge – 95th Street to 168th Street in Jamaica as RJ. Under the first color scheme, RR was colored green and RJ was red. In the original Chrystie Street routing plans, the TA planned to totally eliminate the "RR" service, and maintain the "RJ" route as the main Bay Ridge to Jamaica line.

The RJ service only lasted from November 1967 until July 1, 1968 when it was cut back to Chambers Street and renamed as additional RR rush-hour peak-direction service. With track connections between the Nassau Street Loop and the south tracks of the Manhattan Bridge severed as part of the November 1967 realignment, these trains did not run in a loop any more. On May 6, 1985, when double letters were eliminated, RR service became the R. R service was assigned the color yellow (because it used the BMT Broadway Line), and the special Chambers Street-Bay Ridge rush-hour service was signed with a brown diamond with a white R inside because its route ran along the BMT Nassau Street Line. Proposed on October 15, 1986 but put in effect on May 24, 1987, the north terminals of the N and R were swapped, taking the R along the IND Queens Boulevard Line to Forest Hills–71st Avenue. The change was made to give the R direct access to the Jamaica Yard (where the train is now assigned to this day), and previously, R trains had to run light to/from the Coney Island Yard. Starting on April 28, 1986, the Nassau Street Line R service was extended to Metropolitan Avenue for layups and put-ins from Fresh Pond Yard. After the N/R swap, the Nassau R used East New York Yard equipment. This service was discontinued and eliminated completely on November 22, 1987, with the last Nassau R operating on November 20.

1990s and 2000s changes

When the IND Archer Avenue Line opened on December 11, 1988, E service was rerouted along to Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer, and the R was extended to replace the E to Jamaica–179th Street. The extension to Jamaica was short-lived, and the R was cut back on September 30, 1990 outside of rush hours, and then during rush hours in October 25, 1992 to 71st–Continental Avenue in favor of making the F local between 71st Avenue and 179th Street at all times, eliminating express service along Hillside Avenue.

On September 30, 1990, late-night R service became a shuttle between 36th Street and Bay Ridge–95th Street in Brooklyn. In October 2000, northbound late-night trains began skipping 53rd Street and 45th Street to speed up the relay process.

On September 11, 2001, after the attack on the World Trade Center, the BMT Broadway Line was damaged, and the R service was cut back to run only south of Court Street. On September 17, R service was completely suspended, replaced with J service in Brooklyn and Q service in Manhattan and Queens. All three trains returned to normal service by October 28.

On September 8, 2002, Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue was closed for reconstruction. Late night R service was extended to Pacific Street, running express between that station and 36th Street. Service was cut back to 36th Street when the north side of the Manhattan Bridge reopened on February 22, 2004.

2010s changes

After Hurricane Sandy flooded the system, the Montague Street Tunnel was completely flooded. When service was restored, the R train was split into two sections (between Forest Hills and 34th Street–Herald Square and between Jay Street–MetroTech and Bay Ridge–95th Street). On December 4, the Queens–Manhattan section was extended to Whitehall Street–South Ferry. On December 21, full service was restored between Manhattan and Brooklyn after the Montague Street Tubes were drained.

However, on August 2, 2013, the Montague Street Tunnel was closed again until fall 2014 due to extra repairs needed, which brought back similar storm changes to the R train. On weekdays, the divided R ran in two sections: one section between Forest Hills and Whitehall Street–South Ferry, and the other between Court Street-Borough Hall and Bay Ridge–95th Street. On weekends, the R train ran its full route via the Manhattan Bridge, skipping all stations between Canal Street and DeKalb Avenue. Originally slated to open by October 2014, it re-opened a few weeks early, on September 15, 2014, and $58 million under budget.

On June 16, 2016, it was announced that late-night R service would be extended to Whitehall Street in order to provide a one-seat ride into Manhattan. This eliminated the need for northbound trains to skip 45th Street and 53rd Street as they no longer needed to relay on the express tracks at 36th Street. The change took place on November 5, 2016. During evenings, many R trains used to short-turn at Whitehall Street (coming from Forest Hills-71st Avenue), resulting in long headways along the R in Brooklyn. As part of the changes, these short-turns were extended to 95th Street.

Service pattern

The following table shows the lines used by the R, 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.