W (New York City Subway service)

Context

The W was originally conceived as an extra Broadway Line local service running on the Astoria and Broadway lines to Whitehall Street. This service was essentially a variant of the N route, which in the 1970s and 1980s ran express between Queens and Brooklyn, with some trains running local between Queens and Whitehall Street. However, reconstruction of the Manhattan Bridge between 1986 and 2004 forced the N, which normally ran express on the Broadway Line and on the Bridge, to run local via the Montague Street Tunnel. This service change precluded W local service from running as envisioned. The W bullet appeared on roll signs as a yellow diamond bullet, but on the R68s and R68As, round bullet signs were installed. The W also appeared on the digital signs of the R44s and R46s with any route and designation combination that could be used for the Broadway Line.

2001-2004

The W was introduced on July 22, 2001 when the Manhattan Bridge north tracks (leading to the IND Sixth Avenue Line) closed for reconstruction. The Bridge's south side tracks, which led to the Broadway Line, reopened after being closed since 1988. The B had run full-time from Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue to Manhattan via the BMT West End Line and Manhattan Bridge north tracks onto the Sixth Avenue Line, but it had to be split when the north side tracks closed. This split had already been made from 1986 to 1988, when a part-time orange B only ran north of 34th Street–Herald Square on the Sixth Avenue Line. At the same time, a full-time yellow B ran from Coney Island in Brooklyn across the south side of the bridge and up the BMT Broadway Line into Queens (at nights however, this yellow B only ran in Brooklyn). This old pattern was effectively restored in 2001, but instead of having two "B" services, the yellow B was instead named the W. This route began at Coney Island and ran up the West End Line (local), BMT Fourth Avenue Line (express), Manhattan Bridge south tracks, Broadway Line (express, switching to the local tracks for 49th Street), and BMT Astoria Line (express during rush hours in the peak direction until 9:30 PM, local otherwise) to Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard. Evening service ended at 57th Street–Seventh Avenue in Manhattan (using the express tracks and bypassing 49th Street), late night service at 36th Street in Brooklyn, and weekend service at Atlantic Avenue–Pacific Street in Brooklyn.

After September 11, 2001, Broadway Line service in Lower Manhattan was suspended; the N was completely suspended and W trains ran at all times between Ditmars Boulevard and Coney Island. It made all stops except in Brooklyn north of 36th Street. During late nights, it ran in two sections: between Ditmars Boulevard and 34th Street, skipping 49th Street in the northbound direction, and in Brooklyn between 36th Street and Coney Island. Normal service on both routes resumed on October 28, 2001.

The Astoria express service, being unpopular with residents, was discontinued on January 15, 2002. Around that time, evening service was extended from 57th Street to Astoria.

Beginning on September 8, 2002, when Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue station underwent reconstruction, the W became a full-time Coney Island–Astoria service. During this time, it was the only train serving Coney Island, as all the other services that normally did so had been cut short. Late night and weekend service was sent via the Montague Street Tunnel and the local tracks of the Fourth Avenue and Broadway Lines; the N ran only in Brooklyn at those times.

2004-2010

When all four tracks on the Manhattan Bridge were restored to service on February 22, 2004, the W was changed to its final service pattern, running weekdays only from 7:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. (7:00 to 21:30) as an entirely local service between Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard and Whitehall Street–South Ferry, Lower Manhattan. The Brooklyn portion was replaced by the D, which was extended over the north side of the bridge and down the West End Line. Instead, of reverting to the service pattern in 1986, prior to the Manhattan Bridge service changes, the W was kept because of increasing ridership on the BMT Astoria Line. Because there was not enough room to store W trains on the lower level tracks at City Hall, the first three W trains of the day entered service at 86th Street in Gravesend, Brooklyn and the last three trains of the night continued in service to Kings Highway. These trips ran local in Brooklyn via the Montague Street Tunnel, BMT Fourth Avenue and BMT Sea Beach lines.

On July 27, 2008, the W was extended to run until 11:00 p.m in response to growth in the subway system's ridership.

On March 24, 2010, the MTA announced the elimination of the W due to financial shortfalls with the N and Q replacing it. The N train became a full-time local north of Canal Street while the Q was extended to Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard on weekdays. The W ceased operation on Friday, June 25, 2010 with the last train bound for Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard leaving Whitehall Street–South Ferry at 10:50 p.m.

2016 restoration

In July 2015, the MTA announced that it was considering restoring the W in its 2004-2010 service pattern once the first phase of the Second Avenue Subway opens. When the Second Avenue Line opened on January 1, 2017, the Q was rerouted from the Astoria Line to 96th Street on Manhattan's Upper East Side. The W replaced the Q in Astoria in order to maintain two services along the Astoria Line during weekdays. However, there would be 20 fewer round-trips per weekday on the Astoria Line after the W's reintroduction, as the W serves Astoria for a shorter time span each day than the Q did.

On May 23, 2016, the MTA announced that it had decided to restore the W. Under the MTA's plan, W service was restored on November 7, 2016. The Q was temporarily cut back to 57th Street–Seventh Avenue, allowing for a seamless extension of Q service to the Second Avenue Line, which opened on January 1, 2017. Additionally, the N train once again became express in Manhattan on weekdays from 34th Street–Herald Square to Canal Street. As the N and W share the same fleet from the Coney Island Yard, the first three W trains originate at 86th Street (Bay Parkway until Spring 2017); in addition, two W trains terminate there in the late morning and one in the evening. These trains operate via the Montague Street Tunnel and local along the BMT Fourth Avenue Line and BMT Sea Beach Line as they did prior to 2010.

Stations

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