The F and <F> Queens Boulevard Express/Sixth Avenue Local are two rapid transit services in the B Division of the New York City Subway. Their route bullets are colored , since they use and are part of the IND Sixth Avenue Line in Manhattan.
The F operates 24 hours daily between 179th Street in Jamaica, Queens and Stillwell Avenue in Coney Island, Brooklyn. Daytime service makes express stops in Queens and all stops in Manhattan and Brooklyn; overnight service makes all stops along the full route. Limited rush hour service operates along the full route and makes express stops between Jay Street and Church Avenue in the peak direction only, making one intermediate stop at Seventh Avenue; this express service was introduced in September 2019. In Brooklyn, local service is denoted as (F) in a circle-shaped bullet while express service is denoted as <F> in a diamond-shaped bullet.
From 1968 to 1976, the F ran express along the IND Culver Line in Brooklyn. The F also ran via the 53rd Street Tunnel until moving to the 63rd Street Tunnel in 2001, except between August 2023 and March 2024 when service between Queens and Manhattan was rerouted to the 53rd Street Tunnel due to track replacement. F trains moved back to the 53rd Street Tunnel on weekdays during the day in December 2025. Since the 1990s, there have been calls to restore partial express service in Brooklyn from Jay Street–MetroTech to Church Avenue, although this has been controversial. The limited express <F> service between Jay Street and Church Avenue started on September 16, 2019, with two daily rush-hour trains in each direction. The F has a weekday ridership of 600,000.
History
1940s and 1950s
With the opening of the IND Sixth Avenue Line on December 15, 1940, F service began, operating as the line's Queens Boulevard service. It operated between Parsons Boulevard and Church Avenue via Queens Boulevard Line, Sixth Avenue Line, and the Culver Line. It ran express in Queens and local in Manhattan and Brooklyn. F trains provided an additional 24/7 express route in Queens, and inaugurated express service on the Queens Boulevard Line east of Continental Avenue. F trains ran on the express tracks between West Fourth Street and Broadway-Lafayette Street to avoid conflict with the D and E south of West Fourth Street. This service pattern was first announced by the New York City Board of Transportation on December 1, 1939. With the start of F service, E service was cut back from Church Avenue to Broadway–Lafayette Street.
On January 10, 1944, trains were extended to 169th Street during evenings, late nights, and Sunday mornings. Temporarily in 1948, as shown in a map from that year, the and F service switched, with the F terminating at Second Avenue, but this was subsequently rescinded.
On December 11, 1950, trains were extended to the newly opened Jamaica–179th Street on evenings, nights, and Sunday mornings. On May 13, 1951, all trains outside of rush hour were extended to 179th Street using the local tracks beyond Parsons Boulevard. On October 8, 1951, trains were extended to 179th Street at all times. During rush hours F trains skipped 169th Street running via the express tracks. At other times, the F stopped at 169th Street.
On June 30, 1952, two morning rush hour trips on both the E and F trains, running between 71st Avenue and Jay Street. E and F trains each began running every three minutes for 24 minutes in the AM rush, and every 3.5 minutes for 45 minutes in the PM rush.
In 1953, the platforms were lengthened to at 75th Avenue and Sutphin Boulevard so that F trains could run eleven-car trains. The E and F began running eleven-car trains during rush hours on September 8, 1953. The extra train car increased the total carrying capacity by 4,000 passengers. The lengthening project cost $400,000. Ten 11-car trains operated on each of the E and F trains.
The operation of eleven-car trains ended on September 8, 1958. While the schedule had included the continued operation of 11-car trains, with two conductors, that was cancelled after a labor arbitrator ruled that all trains could run with a single conductor. The signal blocks, especially in Manhattan, were too short to accommodate the longer trains, and the motormen had a very small margin of error to properly platform the train. It was found that operating ten-car trains allowed for two additional trains per hour to be scheduled.
On October 30, 1954, the connection between the IND Culver Line and BMT Culver Line opened, with the IND taking over the elevated section. All F service began terminating at Broadway–Lafayette Street with service entering Brooklyn via the Rutgers Street Tunnel. In addition, weekend and night trains began running local between Continental Avenue and 179th Street. During middays and early evenings, trains stopped at 169th Street. On April 29, 1956, trains were extended to Second Avenue.
Beginning on October 6, 1957, trains began terminating at 34th Street–Herald Square during nights and weekends. Between September 8 and November 7, 1958, two F trains ran between Forest Hills and Second Avenue, leaving Forest Hills at 8:06 and 8:21 a.m. On November 10, they were routed to Hudson Terminal, before returning to Queens in E service. On the same day, F service was cut back from Second Avenue and started terminating at Broadway–Lafayette Street to allow for construction on the Chrystie Street Connection.
1960s through 1980s Two additional F trains began running from Parsons Boulevard during the morning rush hour on April 6, 1964; these trips began entering service at 179th Street on December 21, 1964. On December 13, 1965, two morning F trains began running to Chambers Street. Beginning on July 11, 1966, trains no longer ran express between Parsons Boulevard and 71st–Continental Avenues weekday middays, and were extended weekdays daytime from Broadway-Lafayette Street back to Second Avenue. On August 30, 1966, service was cut back to Broadway-Lafayette Street.
With the opening of the Chrystie Street Connection on November 26, 1967, service was rerouted via this connection, the north side of the Manhattan Bridge, and the BMT Brighton Line in Brooklyn. F service replaced it on the IND Culver Line, with trips running to Coney Island at all times, with supplemental trips to Church Avenue during rush hours.
Beginning on August 19, 1968, rush hour express service was added, in both directions, between Jay Street-Borough Hall and Church Avenue, and in rush hours, peak direction trains to and from Stillwell Avenue (alternating with those terminating at Kings Highway) ran express as well between Church Avenue and Kings Highway. Beginning on June 16, 1969, express service was modified, with Kings Highway trains operating as locals along the entire route from Jay Street to Kings Highway.
On January 2, 1973, Kings Highway F trains began running express once again between Church Avenue and Jay Street in both directions. In addition, F trains began running express between 179th Street and Continental Avenue weekdays between 7:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. toward Queens, and between 6:00 a.m. and 6:15 p.m. toward Manhattan. In addition, between 10:00 a.m. and 2:20 p.m. Manhattan-bound, and between 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. Queens-bound, F trains would stop at 169th Street.
On January 18, 1976, F express service between Jay Street and Church Avenue was discontinued during rush hours in the peak direction, and only Coney Island trains in the reverse-peak direction ran express between Jay Street and Church Avenue. Peak direction GG trains were cut back to Smith–Ninth Streets. On August 30, 1976, express service between Bergen Street and Church Avenue was completely discontinued, with all trains making all stops. Rush direction alternate-train express service between Ditmas Avenue and Kings Highway was retained. In addition, several northbound trips in the morning rush hour began being put into service at Avenue X. GG trains began terminating at Smith–9th Streets at all times. The elimination of express service was made as part of service changes which eliminated 215 runs that were deemed underutilized to reduce operating deficits. The changes, which saved $3.1 million annually, were part of a three phase cut in service that began in 1975. This change was also made due to continuing complaints about reduced Manhattan service by riders at local stations.
On January 24, 1977, as part of a series of NYCTA service cuts to save $13 million, many subway lines began running shorter trains during middays. As part of the change, F trains began running with four cars between 9:50 a.m. and 1:50 p.m. Starting on August 27, 1977, the was made a local in Queens between Continental Avenue and Queens Plaza, late nights, replacing the service, which was cut back to Queens Plaza. This change was made as part of the last round of cuts in subway service announced in January 1977 to reduce annual operating costs by $30 million. Changes were also made in A, AA, B and N service. The NYCTA said that the cuts only duplicated other night service, and for most, would increase travel by a few minutes.
Until 1986, 2 E trains and 2 F trains started at Continental Avenue in the morning rush hour with the intention to relieve congestion. These trains were eliminated because they resulted in a loading imbalance as these lightly loaded trains would be followed by extremely crowded trains from 179th Street, which followed an 8-minute gap of E and F service from 179th Street.
On May 24, 1987, and services swapped terminals in Queens to provide R trains direct access to the Jamaica Yard. As part of the reroute plan, F service along Queens Boulevard was discontinued during late nights (1 a.m. to 5 a.m.). Late night local service was replaced by the R, which ran as a Queens Boulevard Local at all times. F trains were cut back to 57th Street on the Sixth Avenue Line during late nights.* In 1986, the TA studied which two services should serve the line during late nights as ridership at this time did not justify three services. A public hearing was held in December 1986, and it was determined that having the E and R run during late nights provided the best service.
Peak-direction F express service on the Culver Line in Brooklyn, between Kings Highway and 18th Avenue, was suspended on April 27, 1987, because of work to reconstruct station mezzanines along that part of the Culver Line, and was never restored in this section.
Archer and 63rd Street changes On December 11, 1988, the Archer Avenue Lines opened, and the E was rerouted to its current terminus at Jamaica Center, running via the Queens Boulevard Line's express tracks. It was decided that the E would serve Archer Avenue, rather than the F, to minimize disruption to passengers who continued to use Hillside Avenue; to maximize Jamaica Avenue ridership; and to take advantage of the length of the peak ridership period, which is longer on the F. It was found that most riders using bus routes that now served Archer Avenue used the E, while most passengers on buses to 179th Street used the F. F trains no longer stopped at 169th Street between 10 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., so the R was extended to 179th Street to serve local stations east of Continental Avenue and to allow F trains to continue running express to 179th Street.