Bx15 and M125 buses
The Bx15 and M125 bus routes constitute the Third Avenue/125th Street Line, a public transit line in New York City. The Bx15 runs between Fordham Plaza and the Hub in the Bronx, running primarily along Third Avenue. The M125 runs between the Hub in the Bronx and Manhattanville in Manhattan, running along Willis Avenue in the South Bronx and along 125th Street in Harlem, Manhattan.
bx15, m125
bx15
Kingsbridge Depot (Bx15)
Tuskegee Airmen Depot (M125)
- Nova Bus LFS articulated
- New Flyer Xcelsior XD60 (M125 only)
- New Flyer Xcelsior XE60 (BX15 only)
- Nova Bus LFS HEV
(supplemental service/BX15 rush hour) - Nova Bus LFS
(BX15 rush hour & supplemental service only)
1864 (streetcar line)
April 1, 1916 (Bronx-Harlem streetcar)
August 5, 1941 (Previously Bx29, and present Bx15 bus service)[2]
June 26, 2022 (M125 bus service)
Fordham, Belmont, Tremont, Morrisania, Melrose, Mott Haven (Bx15)
Mott Haven, East Harlem, Harlem, Manhattanville (M125)
Fordham Plaza, Bronx – Fordham Road (Bx15)
The Hub, Bronx – 149th Street (M125)
Third Avenue[3] (Bx15), 125th Street (M125)
The Hub, Bronx – 149th Street (Bx15)
Manhattanville, Manhattan – 12th Avenue (M125)
4.0 miles (6.4 km) (Bx15)
2.6 miles (4.2 km) (M125)
24 hours
1,228,559 (Bx15, 2023)
1,508,256 (M125, 2023)[4]
Prior to 2022, the corridor was a single bus route, the Bx15. The route is the successor to a streetcar line of the Union Railway Company and later the Third Avenue Railway known as the Willis Avenue Line or Willis Avenue−125th Street Line. The streetcar line, the first street railway in the Bronx, was known as the Harlem Bridge, Morrisania, and Fordham Railroad. The route began operation on Third Avenue in the Bronx in 1864, and the company was incorporated as the Union Railway Company in 1892. The Union Railroad applied in 1904 for extensions of several streetcar lines into Manhattan, including an extension of the Willis Avenue Line across 125th Street. The Willis Avenue Line was ultimately extended in 1916 across the 125th Street Crosstown Line.
The streetcar line was replaced by bus service in 1941; the route was known as the Bx29 prior to 1984. From 1973 to 2013 the Bx15 shared Third Avenue with the Bx55, a limited-stop service which replaced rapid transit service on the Third Avenue Elevated line between the Hub and Williamsbridge. In 2013, the Bx55 was converted into the Bx15 Limited, extending the route south to Manhattan, but eliminating service north of Fordham Plaza. The Bx15 south of the Hub was expected to be split into a new M125 bus route in 2020, but was delayed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in New York City; the split took place on June 26, 2022.
History[edit]
As a streetcar line[edit]
In 1863, the first street railway was constructed in the Bronx, known as the Harlem Bridge, Morrisania, and Fordham Railroad. The route ran from the Harlem Bridge (now Third Avenue Bridge) to Fordham via Third Avenue, and began operation in 1864. It was informally called the "Huckleberry Road".[14] In 1892, the company was incorporated as the Union Railway Company. On August 23 of that year, it was granted several streetcar franchises in the Bronx by the Board of Aldermen, as part of an expanded "Huckleberry System". This included a line from the Harlem River to the Westchester County border via Willis Avenue, Melrose Avenue, Webster Avenue, and Bronx River Road.[14][15][16] The line was completed by fall 1895.[15] The company would become a subsidiary of the Third Avenue Railway in 1898.[14]
In February 1904, the Union Railroad would apply for extensions of several streetcar lines into Manhattan. This included an extension of the Willis Avenue Line from 134th Street in Mott Haven over the recently constructed Willis Avenue Bridge (opened in 1901)[14] into East Harlem at 125th Street, connecting with lines of the Third Avenue Railway.[17] Ten years later on July 2, 1914, the company received a permit to extend Willis Avenue service across the bridge, then west along 125th Street to Fort Lee Ferry, which connected Manhattan with Fort Lee, New Jersey. The service was requested to eliminate the required transfer to other streetcar lines.[18] The new service was inaugurated on April 1, 1916, providing a link between the Bronx and New Jersey. The occasion was celebrated with a 7-day carnival in Harlem.[19][20] Thereafter, the line became alternately known as the Willis Avenue−125th Street Line.[21]
In its final iteration, the line traveled between Fordham and western Harlem using Third Avenue, the Willis Avenue Bridge, and 125th Street. The line terminated at a loop at 12th Avenue (Riverside Drive) between 125th Street and Saint Clair Place (geographically 129th Street). At 12th Avenue there was a connection to the Fort Lee Ferry.[22][23][17] The line formerly proceeded further north along Webster Avenue to McClean Avenue, at the border with the city of Yonkers in Westchester County. This portion of the line was discontinued on August 18, 1935.[23] Between 149th Street and Gun Hill Road, the line ran directly underneath the Third Avenue Elevated line, a rapid transit line which formerly ran to Lower Manhattan.[17] The route between Fordham Plaza and the city line along Webster Avenue was also shared with the Webster and White Plains Avenues Line streetcars.[23][17]
