1878–1920: Original railroad The predecessor to the subway service known as the Q today was the Brooklyn, Flatbush and Coney Island Railway. On July 2, 1878, this
steam railroad began operations on what would become the
BMT Brighton Line, from
Prospect Park to the Brighton Beach Hotel in
Brighton Beach, which opened at the same time. The Brighton Beach Hotel was located on
Coney Island by the
Atlantic Ocean at the foot of modern-day Coney Island Avenue. Passengers could make connections with the
horsecars of the
Brooklyn City Railroad at the Prospect Park terminal. On August 19, 1878, service was extended north from Prospect Park along what is today the
BMT Franklin Avenue Line used by the
Franklin Avenue Shuttle, to Atlantic Avenue west of Franklin Avenue, a location known as Bedford station on what is today the
Atlantic Branch of the
Long Island Rail Road (LIRR). By 1903, a surface extension of the Brighton Beach Line on what is now Brighton Beach Avenue permitted through service from Park Row, Manhattan west to
Culver Depot at Surf Avenue near West 8th Street, much nearer to the growing amusement center known then as West Brighton and now as Coney Island.
1920–1950: Subway service begins On August 1, 1920, subway service on the
BMT Brighton Line, then owned by the
Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT), officially began with the openings of a two-track underground subway between Prospect Park and
DeKalb Avenue and the
Montague Street Tunnel between Brooklyn and Manhattan. The span of express service was extended by 90 minutes until 8:27 p.m. leaving Times Square in 1929. Express service began operating between the AM rush hour and noon on Saturday mornings in April 1930. Express service began operating middays on May 30, 1931, replacing short-line local service. In September 1937, Brighton express service ran between Brighton Beach and Times Square rush hours, middays, and early evenings weekdays and Saturdays. During the 1930s, limited morning rush hour service ran via the south side tracks of the Manhattan Bridge and the
Nassau Street Loop to
Chambers Street on the
BMT Nassau Street Line. On June 29, 1950, trains began running there during the evening rush as well. On October 17, 1949, the
IRT Astoria Line in Queens, up to this point operated by the
Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT), was converted to BMT operation. 1 Local trains were extended via the
60th Street Tunnel and the BMT Astoria Line to
Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard during weekday rush hours, and on Saturday mornings and early afternoons. Number 2
Fourth Avenue Local trains also ran here at all times.
1950s On April 27, 1950, 1 Local trains were extended to Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard during middays. On May 4, 1957, 1 Express trains running started running to Ditmars Boulevard on Saturdays as well, QT service ran to Ditmars Boulevard on weekdays; on Saturdays, it ran via the Franklin Avenue Line to Franklin Avenue in Brooklyn instead. The QB provided off-peak service between Coney Island and Astoria, via Brighton Local and the Manhattan Bridge. Sunday service between Franklin Avenue and Brighton Beach was discontinued on this date, with Sunday service now provided solely by the
Franklin Avenue Shuttle (SS, formerly 7) between Prospect Park and Fulton Street. Service between Brighton Beach and Franklin Avenue was merged into the Franklin Avenue Shuttle service on October 14, 1961, and all non-shuttle service between was discontinued in February 1963. The
Fourth Avenue Local (RR) now provided Broadway Line service along the Queens Boulevard line on weekdays, and the
West End Express (T) was extended from 57th Street to Ditmars Boulevard during rush hours. This service change essentially swapped the northern terminals of the Brighton Local and RR, and between the Brighton Express and T. Prior to this both Brighton Line–Broadway services had operated via the 60th Street Tunnel to Queens. By having the Brighton Express Q terminate at 57th Street, this change served to keep one Brighton Line service unaffected in the event of a massive delay in the 60th Street Tunnel. All Saturday trains on the Brighton Line began running local, doubling the frequency of service and providing a one-seat ride to Manhattan for riders at local stations. With the arrival of new subway cars to the line, which provided improved running times, trains making local stops between Brighton Beach and Prospect Park did so in only 1.5 minutes longer than existing express service. From February 10 to November 2, 1964, the Brighton Express tracks were closed to permit platform extension work at Newkirk Avenue.
Skip-stop service was instituted along the Brighton Line. Brighton Express service, which made A stops, ran express from Brighton Beach to Kings Highway, and then stopped at Avenue J, Newkirk Avenue, Cortelyou Road, Beverley Road, Church Avenue, Parkside Avenue, and Prospect Park. The RR replaced Q, QB and QT service to Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard. On May 5, 1985, the double-letter naming scheme for local services was dropped; the QB was renamed the Q the next day. Starting on April 26, 1986, the Brighton Line's local tracks underwent reconstruction between Prospect Park and
Newkirk Avenue, requiring the suspension of express service; at the same time, reconstruction of the
Manhattan Bridge started, which would disrupt subway service until 2004. QB service was discontinued. The bridge's north side tracks (leading to the Sixth Avenue Line) closed. The Q now ran rush hours between 57th Street–Seventh Avenue and Brighton Beach, using a yellow diamond bullet. Because the Manhattan Bridge's north side tracks closed, the D and Q ran on the bridge's south side tracks, both running via Broadway Express to 57th Street–Seventh Avenue. To substitute for the suspended Brighton Line express service, the Q ran
skip-stop service with the D between Newkirk Avenue and
Sheepshead Bay. D trains served
Neck Road,
Avenue M and
Avenue H; the Q skipped those stops, serving
Avenue U and
Avenue J, while both lines served
Kings Highway. By 1987, as reconstruction on the Brighton Line progressed, the weekday skip-stop pattern expanded to Prospect Park, with D trains serving
Beverley Road while Q trains served
Cortelyou Road and
Parkside Avenue, with
Church Avenue as a mutual station.
1988–2004: Manhattan Bridge reconstruction 1988–2001: Sixth Avenue service On December 11, 1988, the Bridge's north side tracks reopened and the south side tracks closed, and the reconstruction project on the Brighton Line ended. The Q became the weekday Brighton Express to Brighton Beach and was rerouted via the north side of the bridge and the
IND Sixth Avenue Line to
57th Street–Sixth Avenue,
Midtown Manhattan. Because it ran on the Sixth Avenue Line in Manhattan, the route now used an orange bullet on maps. One AM rush hour train from Brighton Beach terminated at
168th Street in Manhattan instead of 21st Street; this trip last ran on September 28, 1990. The weekday evening shuttle was replaced by the B on September 30, 1990. The replaced the late night shuttle in April 1993. In January 1991, a reduction of service along the Central Park West corridor to remove excess capacity was proposed. Initially, Q service would operate between
207th Street and
Brighton Beach during weekday rush hours and middays, making express stops along its entire route. The service plan was later amended to eliminate the Q designation and replace it with an orange
A, assuming the same service pattern that was proposed for the Q. This service change would have been implemented in October 1991, pending approval from the MTA board. On February 6, 1995, Q trains began running local south of Kings Highway due to rehabilitation work on the Brighton Line. including the restoration of Q express service between Kings Highway and Brighton Beach.
2001–2004: Brighton Express/Local Q service northbound Q train leaving
Coney Island-Stillwell AvenueOn July 22, 2001, the
Manhattan Bridge's north side tracks closed and the south side tracks reopened. There were now two Q services, colored yellow as they now ran via Broadway. In Brooklyn, the circle Q (Q local) replaced the as the full-time Brighton Local to Stillwell Avenue while the <Q> (Q express or Q diamond) replaced the Sixth Avenue Q as the weekday-only Brighton Express to Brighton Beach. Both Qs used the south side of the Manhattan Bridge to travel into Manhattan and then ran to 57th Street–Seventh Avenue via Broadway Express. Service on the IND 63rd Street Line was replaced by a
shuttle, which would be permanently replaced by the in December 2001 once the 63rd Street's connection to the
IND Queens Boulevard Line opened. northbound Q train leaving
Sheepshead BayAfter the
September 11, 2001 attacks, Q service was initially extended beyond 57th Street–Seventh Avenue and originated and terminated at
21st Street–Queensbridge via
63rd Street, but was cut back to its original terminal by the evening of September 12. On September 17, Q service was once again extended beyond 57th Street, this time originating and terminating at
Forest Hills–71st Avenue via
60th Street to replace the R, and made all stops in Queens, Manhattan and Brooklyn; overnight service
short turned at 57th Street and did not operate to or from 71st Avenue. <Q> Brighton Express service continued to operate its normal service pattern. Normal Q service was restored on October 28. On September 8, 2002, Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue (the Q southern terminal) was closed for reconstruction and the Q local terminated at Brighton Beach. During this time, service at stations between Brighton Beach and Stillwell Avenue was replaced by an extension of the
B68 bus. Q service to Stillwell Avenue resumed on May 23, 2004. From April 27 to November 2, 2003, the south side of the Manhattan Bridge was closed on weekends and Q service was rerouted via the Montague Street Tunnel. On February 22, 2004, reconstruction of the
Manhattan Bridge was completed and the north side tracks reopened. The <Q> express was discontinued and replaced with the in Brooklyn and in Manhattan to combine two weekday-only routes. The Q local remained unchanged.
2004–present: Extensions to Astoria and Second Avenue On June 28, 2010, the Q was extended from
57th Street–Seventh Avenue to
Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard via the
60th Street Tunnel and
BMT Astoria Line on weekdays, stopping at
49th Street. The extended Q replaced the , which was discontinued due to budget shortfalls. On December 7, 2014, late night Q service began operating local in Manhattan between 57th Street and
Canal Street in order to decrease waiting time at the local stations. On November 7, 2016, weekday Q service was cut back from Astoria to 57th Street–Seventh Avenue, skipping 49th Street, to provide a seamless transition for the opening of the Second Avenue Subway. Service to Astoria and the 49th Street station was replaced by the restored W service. On January 1, 2017, the first phase of the
Second Avenue Subway opened; the Q was extended from 57th Street–Seventh Avenue to
96th Street via the
BMT 63rd Street Line and the IND Second Avenue Line. This extension serves
Lexington Avenue–63rd Street station with a
cross-platform transfer to the
IND 63rd Street Line (served by the ) before serving new stations under Second Avenue at
72nd Street,
86th Street, and 96th Street, where it originates/terminates. The inaugural train on the Second Avenue Line ran on December 31, 2016, with passenger service beginning the next day. From January 1 to 9, 2017, service between 57th Street and 96th Street ran only from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m., with late-night service terminating at 57th Street; late night service to 96th Street began on January 9. Effective June 30, 2024, one evening PM train started terminating at Brighton Beach.
Future The second phase of the Second Avenue Line will
extend the Q to a new northern terminal at
Harlem–125th Street, with planned stops at
116th Street and
106th Street. At the Harlem–125th Street terminus, there will be a transfer to the existing
125th Street station on the
IRT Lexington Avenue Line and a connection to
Harlem–125th Street station on
Metro-North Railroad. This will provide residents of
East Harlem with direct subway service to the
Upper East Side, western
Midtown,
Lower Manhattan and
Brooklyn, and offer connections to and Metro-North from
the Bronx, the northern suburbs of New York City, and southern
Connecticut. An extension of the Second Avenue Line further west under 125th Street has been proposed, with transfers to other routes, although this extension has not been funded or approved. == Route ==