IND Sixth Avenue Line - Description

Description

The majority of the Sixth Avenue Line has four tracks, two local and two express. At each end, these pairs of tracks split, giving the line two north and two south ends. One of the north ends is at 57th Street, where two tracks lead south under Sixth Avenue from the IND 63rd Street Line (used by the F train at all times). The other is just south of 59th Street – Columbus Circle, where a two-track line splits from the IND Eighth Avenue Line at a flying junction (with connections to the local and express tracks), immediately turns east under 53rd Street, and crosses the IND Queens Boulevard Line, which parallels it just to the north. At Seventh Avenue, the southbound track is above the northbound track (the same is true on the Queens Boulevard Line, though north is the opposite direction from the Sixth Avenue Line). These tracks are used by the B and D express trains.

This line then turns south to go under Sixth Avenue, merging with the branch from 57th Street and a connection to the IND Queens Boulevard Line (used by the M train) to become a four-track line. The southbound track becomes the westernmost track, and the northbound track becomes the second track from the east; the other lines merge to become the second track from the west and the easternmost track, with connections only between the 63rd Street Line and the two main tracks. After passing through 47th–50th Streets – Rockefeller Center, the two southbound tracks cross; the main tracks become the two center express tracks and the tracks from the other lines are the two outside local tracks.

South of 42nd Street – Bryant Park is a large interlocking with many crossover and switches. The original express tracks ended just to the south at 34th Street – Herald Square and some services switched to the local tracks at the interlocking. This was done because the PATH tunnels already existed under Sixth Avenue south of 33rd Street and the Sixth Avenue Line local tracks were built on each side of PATH. The section between West Fourth Street – Washington Square and 34th Street – Herald Square, the only express section of this line, was originally built as a two track subway with the provision to expand to four tracks later (the express tracks were added in the 1960s during the Chrystie Street Connection projects. As a result they are placed under the local tracks and PATH).

At West Fourth Street – Washington Square, the express tracks return to the same level as the local tracks. A flying junction just to the south connects the local tracks of the Eighth Avenue Line. The Sixth Avenue Line then turns east under Houston Street. After Broadway – Lafayette Street, the express tracks turn south and use the Chrystie Street Connection to Grand Street before crossing the north side of the Manhattan Bridge into Brooklyn. The local tracks split at this point. One pair continues east to Second Avenue (used by the F train) while the other pair merges with the BMT Nassau Street Line at Essex Street (used by the M train).

Just before approaching Second Avenue, the line splits into four tracks again. The two express tracks, currently not used in revenue service, continue east and dead-end. They would have entered Brooklyn merging with the never-built IND Worth Street Line. The local tracks in Manhattan turn south under Essex Street and Rutgers Street before crossing under the East River via the Rutgers Street Tunnel to become the IND Culver Line in Brooklyn, stopping at the outer tracks of Jay Street – MetroTech.