The BMT 63rd Street Line is a rapid transit line of the division of the New York City Subway system. It runs from a connection with the BMT Broadway Line at 57th Street and 7th Avenue north and east to Lexington Avenue-63rd Street , where it connects to the IND 63rd Street Line and ends. There are plans to continue it east and north to merge with the Second Avenue Line.
Extent and service
The BMT line is only used for non-revenue moves, switching to the IND 63rd Street Line west of Lexington Avenue; it is planned to carry extended service onto the Second Avenue Line. It is occasionally used for revenue service as a bypass, and hosted shuttle service to Long Island City for a while during construction. The tracks are coded as BMT chaining route "G", the same as the 60th Street tunnel and Astoria Line as tracks G3 and G4 to distinguish them from the pre-exisiting G1 and G2 tracks, The BMT tracks end at bumper blocks east of Lexington Avenue and are to be connected to the Second Avenue Line in the future.
The two lines share only one point of contact, west of Lexington Avenue, where double crossovers allow northbound and southbound trains of either line to crossover to the other line. At Lexington Avenue, a double-decked station will allow cross-platform transfers between the two lines, similar to the arrangement at Queensboro Plaza. Trains to Queens (and later Upper Manhattan) use the upper level and trains to downtown Manhattan the lower level. Currently the BMT tracks are behind a wall on the platforms on each level, which will be removed when the tracks are active.
Background
The BMT line opened on October 29, 1989.
Station listing
External links
