D (New York City Subway service)

The D Sixth Avenue Express is a rapid transit service in the B Division of the New York City Subway. Its route emblem, or "bullet", is colored, since it uses the IND Sixth Avenue Line in Manhattan.

The D operates at all times between 205th Street in Norwood, Bronx, and Stillwell Avenue in Coney Island, Brooklyn via Grand Concourse in the Bronx, Central Park West and Sixth Avenue in Manhattan, the north side of the Manhattan Bridge, and Fourth Avenue and West End in Brooklyn.

During daytime hours, the D runs express between 145th Street in Manhattan and 36th Street–Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn and local elsewhere. During rush hours in the peak direction, the D also runs express between Fordham Road in the Bronx and 145th Street in Manhattan. Overnight D service is only express in Manhattan and local elsewhere.

In its early years, the D ran to Chambers Street/Hudson Terminal in Lower Manhattan via the lower IND Eighth Avenue Line south of West 4th Street. From 1954 to 1967, the D ran via the IND Culver Line to Coney Island. With the completion of the Chrystie Street Connection, service was rerouted via the BMT Brighton Line, running there from 1967 to 2001. As part of the multi-year rebuilding of the Manhattan Bridge, a short-lived D service ran via the BMT Broadway Line in Manhattan to the Brighton Line in Brooklyn, while  D service used the Sixth Avenue, Central Park West, and Concourse Lines in Manhattan and the Bronx.

Early history


D service began on December 15, 1940, when the IND Sixth Avenue Line opened. It ran from 205th Street, the Bronx to World Trade Center (at that time called Hudson Terminal) on the IND Eighth Avenue Line at all times, switching between the IND Sixth Avenue to the Eighth Avenue Lines just south of West Fourth Street–Washington Square. Service ran express via the Concourse Line during rush hours. Two trains started service at Bedford Park Boulevard in the morning rush hour.

D service was increased on October 24, 1949, in order to offset the discontinuation of C service, which ran express via the Concourse Line and the Eighth Avenue Line. After the morning rush hour on weekdays, several D trains terminated at Bedford Park Boulevard. On December 29, 1951, Saturday peak direction express service in the Bronx was discontinued, along with the discontinuation of Saturday CC local service.

On October 30, 1954, the Culver Ramp opened, providing a connection between the IND South Brooklyn Line and BMT Culver Line. D service was rerouted via these two lines to Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue with alternate trains running to Church Avenue during rush hours. On Saturdays, four round trips ran between 205th Street and Kings Highway. D trains replaced F service on the South Brooklyn Line, and were sent over the new connection as the first IND service to reach Coney Island. The service was announced as Concourse–Culver and advertised as direct Bronx–Coney Island service.

On May 13, 1957, alternate D trains were cut back to Church Avenue during weekday middays. Between October 7, 1957, and 1959, four rush hour trains ran to Euclid Avenue via the IND Fulton Street Line when the D started being inspected at Pitkin Yard. Four trains left 205th Street between 7:20 and 8:10 a.m., and one left Bedford Park Boulevard at 8:53 a.m. These four trains returned between 3 and 5 p.m. During the morning rush hour, several northbound trains ended at Bedford Park Boulevard. These trains ran express along the Fulton Street Line if they ran during the hour that A trains ran express along the line.

From December 4 to 27, 1962, a special service labeled DD was provided due to a water main break. It ran local from 205th Street, Bronx to 59th Street–Columbus Circle, then continued as a local down the Eighth Avenue Line to West Fourth Street, where it switched to the Sixth Avenue Line and continued on its normal route to Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue via the Culver Line.

Chrystie Street
On November 26, 1967, the Chrystie Street Connection opened, connecting the Sixth Avenue Line with the north tracks of the Manhattan Bridge and the BMT Southern Division lines in Brooklyn. In conjunction with this project, the new express tracks on the Sixth Avenue Line between West Fourth Street–Washington Square and 34th Street were opened, providing additional capacity for the extra trains on the IND via the connection. On this date, D service was switched over to BMT Brighton Line via this new connector, running express on weekdays to Brighton Beach and local to Stillwell Avenue at all other times. The D replaced Q service, which had run local in Brooklyn (except during morning rush hours and early evenings) and express on the BMT Broadway Line in Manhattan, terminating at 57th Street. In Manhattan, it ran express from West 4th Street to 34th Street rush hours only, with the using the express tracks to relay when it terminated at West 4th Street at other times. Service on the Culver Line to Coney Island was replaced by extended F service. On July 1, 1968, it would become the full-time Sixth Avenue Express when non-rush hours service and new KK service was extended to the new 57th Street–Sixth Avenue station.

On August 19, 1968, to reduce conflicts at the Brighton Beach terminal, D service was truncated to Brighton Beach when it ran express on the BMT Brighton Line (morning rush hours through early evenings, and QB (rush-hour peak direction only) and QJ (morning rush hours through early evenings) were extended from Brighton Beach to Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue. In addition, the span of Manhattan-bound D express service was increased by two hours, with the last express leaving Brighton Beach at 7:37 p.m.

Effective January 2, 1973, the daytime QJ was truncated to Broad Street as the J, and the M was extended beyond Broad Street during the day along the QJ's former route to Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue, via the Montague Street Tunnel and Brighton Line local tracks. Also, changes were made to D and M service on the Brighton Line. Northbound weekday M train service originating at Kings Highway would begin at 5:46 a.m., while northbound service from Coney Island would begin at 6:34 a.m. From 5:40 to 6:34 a.m. northbound D trains would run local from Brighton Beach to Kings Highway, and then run express to Prospect Park. Late morning and early afternoon D trains would from then on run express from Brighton Beach to Kings Highway. The span of D express service to Brighton Beach was extended by 45 minutes to 9:05 p.m. from Prospect Park, and the span of M service from Broad Street to Coney Island was extended by 45 minutes over the span of QJ service to cover local stops.

Rehabilitation work
D service was divided and ran in two sections when the north tracks of the Manhattan Bridge closed on April 26, 1986, due to construction, with regular service expected to resume on October 26, 1986. The northern section ran between Norwood–205th Street in the Bronx and 34th Street–Herald Square (the orange D) while the southern section ran express on the BMT Broadway Line from 57th Street–Seventh Avenue to Canal Street, then crossed the south tracks of the Manhattan Bridge into Brooklyn, and operated local along the Brighton Line to Stillwell Avenue (the yellow D). Service to Grand Street was replaced by the S shuttle, which ran via the Sixth Avenue local to 57th Street–Sixth Avenue.

At this time, the local tracks on the BMT Brighton Line also underwent reconstruction, necessitating the suspension of express service. As a substitute, the D and Q ran skip-stop service between Newkirk Avenue and Sheepshead Bay on weekdays. D trains served Neck Road, Avenue M, and Avenue H; the Q served Avenue U and Avenue J, and both trains served Kings Highway. The first skip-stop train left Brighton Beach at about 6:30 a.m. while the last one left 57th Street–Seventh Avenue at about 7:30 p.m. On weekday evenings, between 8 p.m. and 1 a.m., D trains made all local stops, except Parkside Avenue and Beverley Road where service was only available in one direction. During late nights and weekends, D trains ran express between Prospect Park and Kings Highway depending on which tracks were being worked on. 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.

On December 11, 1988, the north tracks of the Manhattan Bridge reopened and the two sections of the D joined together running via Sixth Avenue Express. The D now ran as the full-time Brighton Local to Stillwell Avenue.

From April 30 to November 12, 1995, the Bridge's north tracks closed during middays and weekends and during these hours, D service was cut south of 34th Street-Herald Square. In its place, the Q ran local in Brooklyn to Stillwell Avenue. On July 22, 2001, the north tracks were closed at all times and the southern (Broadway Line) tracks reopened. D service was again cut below 34th Street–Herald Square. In Brooklyn, D service was replaced by local service.

On February 22, 2004, full service on the Manhattan Bridge was restored and D trains were extended via the north tracks of the bridge to Brooklyn, replacing the as the Fourth Avenue Express (late nights local) and West End Local to Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue. The D was moved to the West End Line instead of returning to the Brighton Line, which it had run on since 1967, to provide 24-hour service to both the Concourse Line and West End Line and avoid running two separate (B and D) shortened services outside of weekdays. This eliminated the need to run late-night and weekend shuttles on the West End Line as was done prior to 2002.

From May 24, 2004, to fall 2004, signal modernization on the IND Concourse Line required the suspension of D express service in the Bronx.

From September 18, 2021, until January 24, 2022, southbound D trains terminated at Bay 50th Street so work could be completed to protect Coney Island Yard from flooding.

The IND Concourse Line's express track was closed from July 2, 2022, to January 23, 2023, with D trains using the local tracks at all times.

Service pattern
The following table shows the lines used by the D, with shaded boxes indicating the route at the specified times:

Stations
For a more detailed station listing, see the articles on the lines listed above.