IND Queens Boulevard Line
The IND Queens Boulevard Line, sometimes abbreviated as QBL,[2] is a line of the B Division of the New York City Subway in Manhattan and Queens, New York City, United States. The line, which is underground throughout its entire route, contains 23 stations. The core section between 50th Street in Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan, and 169th Street in Jamaica, Queens, was built by the Independent Subway System (IND) in stages between 1933 and 1940, with the Jamaica–179th Street terminus opening in 1950. As of 2015, it is among the system's busiest lines, with a weekday ridership of over 460,000 people.
IND Queens Boulevard Line
25
New York City Transit Authority
256,518 (2022, weekday)[1]
Underground
4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
The Queens Boulevard Line's eastern terminus is the four-track 179th Street station. The line continues westward then northwest as a four-track line with the local tracks to the outside of the express tracks. The Queens Boulevard Line merges with the IND Archer Avenue Line east of Briarwood and with Jamaica Yard spurs west of Briarwood and east of Forest Hills–71st Avenue. The express tracks and the local tracks diverge at 65th Street in Jackson Heights and merge again at 36th Street in Sunnyside. West of 36th Street, the IND 63rd Street Line splits off both pairs of tracks, entering Manhattan via the 63rd Street Tunnel. At Queens Plaza in Long Island City, the line narrows to two tracks, with the local tracks splitting into the 60th Street Tunnel Connection and the IND Crosstown Line. From there, the express tracks of the line provide crosstown service across Manhattan under 53rd Street before turning southwest at Eighth Avenue, ending at the 50th Street station. The two-track section west of Queens Plaza is also known as the IND 53rd Street Line.
The Queens Boulevard Line is served by four overlapping routes. The E train serves the section between 50th Street and Briarwood, normally running express. The F runs express from 36th Street to 71st Avenue and local east of 71st Avenue to 179th Street. The M and R serve local stops on the route west of 71st Avenue, with the M diverging from the line west of Fifth Avenue/53rd Street and the R splitting west of Queens Plaza. The E and F serve the line at all times, while the M runs on the line during weekdays only and the R runs on the line at all times except late nights. During evenings and weekends, the E runs local between 71st Avenue and Briarwood, and E and F trains make all local stops west of 71st Avenue during late nights to provide local service along the line. The routes experience frequent overcrowding during weekdays, and the Queens Boulevard Line has among the highest rush-hour train frequencies in the system. A planned upgrade to the line, to replace its signals with a communications-based train control system, would add capacity to the line.
The line's construction in the 1920s and 1930s promoted housing growth along the Queens Boulevard corridor and stimulated the urbanization of central Queens. However, there are multiple provisions for spur routes along the Queens Boulevard line that were never built. The most notable of these proposals was the IND Second System, which would have provided a spur to Maspeth from the Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue station; another spur to the Rockaways east of 63rd Drive–Rego Park via the Rockaway Beach Branch; a third spur east of Briarwood along the former Van Wyck Boulevard to South Ozone Park; and an extension of the line eastward past 179th Street. Other proposals included a "super express bypass" that would use the right-of-way of the Long Island Rail Road's Main Line to bypass all stations between 36th Street and 71st Avenue, as well as a spur from the Woodhaven Boulevard station northeast to Queens College via the Long Island Expressway.
History[edit]
Construction[edit]
The Queens Boulevard Line, also referred to as the Long Island City−Jamaica Line, Fifty-third Street−Jamaica Line, and Queens Boulevard−Jamaica Line prior to opening,[7][14][15] was one of the original lines of the city-owned Independent Subway System (IND), planned to stretch between the IND Eighth Avenue Line in Manhattan and 178th Street and Hillside Avenue in Jamaica, Queens.[7][15][16]
As originally proposed in 1925, the line's junction with the IND Crosstown Line in Long Island City would have been a T-junction, allowing trains from Manhattan to travel south to Brooklyn via the Crosstown line.[16] A map from June of that year shows a proposed alternate routing for the Queens Boulevard Line,[17] that would have had the line turn via Kew Gardens Road after the Union Turnpike station instead of continuing via Queens Boulevard. After proceeding via Kew Gardens Road, the line would have turned via Hillside Avenue.[18] The proposed route via Kew Gardens Road was supported by Queens Borough President Maurice Connolly because it would have served Richmond Hill as well. He also pointed out that there was considerable opposition to building a subway line in front of Maple Grove Cemetery.[19] The map shows a second line branching off and continuing along Queens Boulevard, then running under private property on a diagonal line to Sutphin Boulevard, where it would continue south until it reached the LIRR Jamaica station.[18] Later plans eliminated the dual branches, and consolidated them along Queens Boulevard. This moved the initial alignment of the Sutphin Boulevard branch west to Van Wyck Boulevard (now Van Wyck Expressway), which was to extend as far south as Atlantic and 94th Avenues. This change caused a conflict between local business groups who wanted the subway under one or the other road. Ultimately, Chairman of the Board of Transportation John H. Delaney sided with the Van Wyck Boulevard alignment due to the fact that the Sutphin Boulevard alignment would have required buying more private property.[20]
During construction, only bellmouths were built for the line, however, they were eventually used for the IND Archer Avenue Line. As documented by the map, the Queens Boulevard Line, as originally planned, would have had the express trains travel on a more direct route, via Broadway and Queens Boulevard, while the local trains would take a less direct route hitting larger population centers. There were to be two such instances, however, only one was actually completed. The first one, which was not constructed, would have gone through Winfield (now Woodside), west of the existing Elmhurst Avenue station, and the local tracks would have diverged, continuing via Queens Boulevard before turning onto 69th Street (Fisk Avenue), rejoining the express tracks at Broadway in Woodside. The second instance, the one that was built, was planned to have the local tracks continue via Broadway west of the 65th Street station, and then it would turn south via Steinway Street before rejoining the express tracks at the 36th Street station. The express tracks here would take the more direct route, via Northern Boulevard.[18]
Originally, the New York City Board of Transportation (BOT) did not plan for a 50th Street station on the Queens Boulevard Line. This station was to have only been served by Eighth Avenue trains heading north toward Washington Heights. The Eighth Avenue Association petitioned the BOT for an additional stop at 50th Street. On November 21, 1926, it was announced that the BOT had agreed to construct a stop at this location for the Queens Boulevard Line.[21]
