BMT Nassau Street Line

BMT Nassau Street Line
Train services that use the BMT Nassau Street Line through downtown have been colored brown since 1979. One station is also served by the M train, which is now part of the IND Sixth Avenue Line.
Overview
Type	Rapid transit
System	New York City Subway
Termini	Essex Street Broad Street
Stations	6
Daily ridership	126,833
Operation
Opened	1908-1931
Owner	City of New York
Operator(s)	New York City Transit Authority
Character	Underground
Technical
No. of tracks	2-4
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Electrification	600V DC third rail

BMT Nassau Street Line
← Manhattan ■ Brooklyn → IND Sixth Avenue Line Essex Street BMT Jamaica Line Williamsburg Bridge over East River IND Sixth Avenue Line Chrystie Street Connection Bowery Canal Street BMT Broadway Line former Manhattan Bridge connection Chambers Street IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line Fulton Street IND Eighth Avenue Line Broad Street BMT Broadway Line BMT Fourth Avenue Line Montague Street Tunnel under East River

The BMT Nassau Street Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway system in Manhattan. It is a continuation of the BMT Jamaica Line in Brooklyn after crossing the Williamsburg Bridge; it continues to a junction with the BMT Broadway Line just before the Montague Street Tunnel after which the line reenters Brooklyn (no revenue service south of Broad Street since June, 2010).

The line is served at all times by the J train. The Z provides supplemental rush hour service, operating in the peak direction.

While the line is officially recognized as the Nassau Street Line, it only serves one station on Nassau Street: Fulton Street.

The M service has historically served the Nassau Street Line. Since June 28, 2010, the M has been rerouted via the Chrystie Street Connection to run on the IND Sixth Avenue Line, as a replacement for the V. The M continues to serve one Nassau Street Line station: the Essex Street station.

Service

The following services use part or all of the Nassau Street Line. The trunk line's bullets are colored terra cotta brown:

	Time period			Section of line
	Rush hours	Middays, evenings, weekends	Late nights
	local			north of Broad Street
	local		no service	Essex Street
	local in peak direction	no service		north of Broad Street

History

After the original IRT opened, the city began planning new lines. Two of these were extensions of that system, to Downtown Brooklyn and Van Cortlandt Park, but the other two - the Centre Street Loop Subway (or Brooklyn Loop Subway) and Fourth Avenue Subway (in Brooklyn) - were separate lines for which construction had not progressed as far. The Centre Street Loop, approved on January 25, 1907 as a four-track line (earlier proposed as two tracks), was to connect the Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Bridge, and Williamsburg Bridge via Centre Street, Canal Street, and Delancey Street. An extension south from the Brooklyn Bridge under William Street to Wall Street was also part of the plan, as were several loops towards the Hudson River and a loop connecting the bridges through Brooklyn. Construction contracts for the main line in Manhattan were awarded in early 1907, despite no determination of the operator once completed. The line was assigned to a proposed Tri-borough system in early 1908 and to the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) in the Dual Contracts, adopted on March 4, 1913.

1908 plan for Chambers Street and the Brooklyn Bridge connection

The BRT began operating through a short piece of subway, coming off the Williamsburg Bridge under Delancey Street to Essex Street, on September 16, 1908. The Centre Street Loop was opened to Chambers Street (at the Brooklyn Bridge) on August 4, 1913, with temporary operation at first on the two west tracks. The south tracks on the Manhattan Bridge, also running into Chambers Street, were placed in service on June 22, 1915. An extension south from Chambers Street to the Montague Street Tunnel, known as the Nassau Street Loop, was not completed until May 30, 1931, as part of the Dual Contracts.

Plans for the Chambers Street area changed several times during construction, always including a never-completed connection to the Brooklyn Bridge tracks. By 1910, only the west two tracks were to rise onto the bridge, and the east two were to continue south to the Montague Street Tunnel. As actually built for the 1931 opening south of Chambers Street, the two outer tracks ran south to the tunnel, while the two inner tracks continued several blocks in a lower level stub tunnel to allow trains to reverse direction.

On September 20, 2004, northbound trains began running on the second track from the west (serving the former southbound platform), and the former northbound platforms at Canal Street and Bowery were closed off. The second track from the east was removed.

Station listing

Station service legend
	Stops all times
	Stops all times except late nights
	Stops late nights only
	Stops weekdays only
	Stops rush hours only
	Stops rush hours in the peak direction only
Time period details

Neighborhood (approximate)		Station	Services	Opened	Transfers and notes
Begins as the BMT Jamaica Line comes off the Williamsburg Bridge (J  M  Z )
Lower East Side		Essex Street	J  M  Z	September 16, 1908	IND Sixth Avenue Line (F ) at Delancey Street
	Split to Chrystie Street Connection (M )
		Bowery	J  Z	August 4, 1913
Chinatown		Canal Street	J  Z	August 4, 1913	BMT Broadway Line (N  Q  R ) IRT Lexington Avenue Line (4  6  <6>)
Former Connection to Manhattan Bridge south tracks
Civic Center		Chambers Street	J  Z	August 4, 1913	IRT Lexington Avenue Line (4  5  6  <6>) at Brooklyn Bridge – City Hall
Financial District		Fulton Street	J  Z	May 30, 1931	IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line (2  3 ) IRT Lexington Avenue Line (4  5 ) IND Eighth Avenue Line (A  C ) Connection to BMT Broadway Line (N  R ) at Cortlandt Street via Dey Street Passageway
		Broad Street	J  Z	May 30, 1931
	Terminus of all service
Line merges with the BMT Broadway Line (N  R ) and becomes the BMT Fourth Avenue Line via the Montague Street Tunnel