BMT Brighton Line

BMT Brighton Line
The B train provides express service on the BMT Brighton Line on weekdays while the Q provides local service at all times.
Overview
Status	Operational
Owner	City of New York
Locale	Brooklyn, New York City, NY
Termini	DeKalb Avenue Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue
Stations	20
Service
Type	Rapid transit line
System	New York City Subway
Operator(s)	New York City Transit Authority
Daily ridership	148,457 (2023)[1]
History
Opened	July 2, 1878
Technical
Number of tracks	2–6
Character	Open cut, at-grade, underground, embankment and elevated
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Electrification	600V DC third rail
Route map Legend Broadway Line Sixth Avenue Line (express) Manhattan Bridge (East River) Sixth Avenue Line (local) Myrtle Avenue Fourth Avenue Line (express) Fourth Avenue Line (local) DeKalb Avenue Fulton Street & Crosstown Lines Eastern Parkway Line Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center Fourth Avenue Line Bergen Street Seventh Avenue Grand Army Plaza Eastern Parkway Line Franklin Avenue Line Prospect Park Parkside Avenue Church Avenue Beverley Road Cortelyou Road Newkirk Plaza Avenue H Avenue J Avenue M Kings Highway Avenue U Neck Road Sheepshead Bay Race Track Sheepshead Bay Brighton Beach Ocean Parkway Culver Line former BMT Culver Line connection West Eighth Street–New York Aquarium Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue West End and Sea Beach Lines Legend Express station Local station Closed station This diagram: view talk edit

The BMT Brighton Line, also known as the Brighton Beach Line,^[2] is a rapid transit line in the B Division of the New York City Subway in Brooklyn, New York. Local service is provided at all times by the Q train, but is joined by the B express train on weekdays. The Q train runs the length of the entire line from Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue to the Manhattan Bridge south tracks. The B begins at Brighton Beach and runs via the bridge's north tracks.

The line first opened in 1878 as a two-track surface-level excursion railroad called the Brooklyn, Flatbush and Coney Island Railway, transporting riders from Downtown Brooklyn via a connection with the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) to the seaside resorts at Coney Island. When its connection with the LIRR was severed in 1883, the line became the Brooklyn and Brighton Beach Railroad, which was eventually acquired by the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT, later Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation [BMT]). From 1903 to 1908, all of the original line's grade crossings were eliminated; This project also widened the line from two to four tracks from Church Avenue to Sheepshead Bay; From 1918 to 1920 the portion of original open-cut right-of-way from Church Avenue to Prospect Park station was widened to four tracks and a new subway alignment was built north of the Prospect Park station. The northern part of the original line became the modern-day BMT Franklin Avenue Line, which still runs today. In subsequent years, numerous improvements were made to the Brighton Line.