M (New York City Subway service)

The M Queens Boulevard/Sixth Avenue/Myrtle Avenue Local is a rapid transit service in the B Division of the New York City Subway. Its route emblem, or "bullet", is colored since it is a part of the IND Sixth Avenue Line in Manhattan.

The M operates 24 hours daily, although service patterns vary based on the time of day. Weekday rush hour and midday service operates between 71st Avenue in Forest Hills and Metropolitan Avenue in Middle Village, Queens and makes all stops along the full route through Manhattan and Brooklyn; weekday evening and weekend non-overnight service short turns at Essex Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and does not operate to or from 71st Avenue. Overnight service operates as a shuttle between Metropolitan Avenue in Queens and Myrtle Avenue–Broadway in Brooklyn.

The M is the only service that travels in the same borough via two different and unconnected lines. Additionally, the M is the only non-shuttle service that has both of its full-run terminals in the same borough (Queens). Though the full route length between 71st Avenue and Metropolitan Avenue is about , the stations are geographically located apart, marking this as the shortest geographic distance between termini for any New York City Subway service that is not a shuttle service.

An MJ service ran the entire BMT Myrtle Avenue Line until 1969, when the section west of Broadway in Brooklyn was demolished. Before 2010, the full-length M ran from Middle Village to southern Brooklyn via the BMT Nassau Street Line and Montague Street Tunnel. The M had originally run on the BMT Brighton Line to and from Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue. Beginning in 1986, it used the BMT Fourth Avenue Line and BMT West End Line in Brooklyn, terminating at Ninth Avenue or Bay Parkway. __TOC__ History

M service

1914–1960

Until 1914, the only service on the Myrtle Avenue Line east of Grand Avenue was a local service between Park Row (via the Brooklyn Bridge) and Middle Village (numbered 11 in 1924). The Myrtle Viaduct, a two-track ramp connecting the Myrtle Avenue Line with the BMT Broadway Elevated (now the Jamaica) Line at the Myrtle Avenue station was opened on July 29, 1914, allowing for a second service, the daytime Myrtle Avenue–Chambers Street Line, or Myrtle-Chambers Line, which ran along the Broadway elevated and the Williamsburg Bridge to Chambers Street on the Nassau Street Loop in Lower Manhattan.

Following the completion of a third track along the Broadway Elevated between Marcy Avenue and Myrtle Avenue on January 17, 1916, these trains began running express on the Broadway Elevated during the evening rush hour in the peak-direction. By 1920, trains later began running express in the morning rush hour and on Saturday afternoon in the peak direction. The number 10 was assigned to the service in 1924."Guide Map to BMT Lines – Rapid Transit Division". Brooklyn—Manhattan Transit. 1924. At the time, service ran on weekdays between 6 a.m. and 8 p.m., on Saturdays from 6 a.m. and 9 p.m., and on Sundays from 12:30 to 11 p.m. In the morning rush hour, trains ran express between Central Avenue and Essex Street, and during the evening rush hour, trains ran express between Bowery and Broadway–Myrtle Avenue.

Sunday service was removed in June 1933. All Saturday trains began running local on June 28, 1952. On February 10, 1958, the four rush hour Brighton-Nassau special trains began stopping at Neck Road and Avenue U. In addition, the evening rush hour trains began stopping at DeKalb Avenue, as had been done by morning rush hour trains. On June 28, 1958, Saturday service was discontinued. On May 26, 1959, midday service was eliminated, making the Myrtle-Chambers Line rush-hours only. Service had previously operated on weekdays from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. Beginning on February 23, 1960, express trains began stopping at Marcy Avenue, which was originally a local stop.

1961–1978 In 1961, with the arrival of new R27s which featured rollsigns with new lettered designations for the BMT's numbered services, the 10 was renamed the M. Since these cars were not assigned to the route, it remained signed as 10. However, the rush hour Nassau Street specials on the BMT Brighton Line and BMT Fourth Avenue Line were signed using the M designation. The line was officially designated "M" after the Chrystie Street changeover on November 27, 1967.

The second half of the Chrystie Street Connection opened on July 1, 1968, and the , which had run along Nassau Street to Broad Street, was relocated through the new connection to the IND Sixth Avenue Line (and renamed the KK). To augment service to Broad Street, the M was extended two stations, from Chambers Street to Broad Street.

On October 4, 1969, the Myrtle Avenue Elevated was discontinued south of Myrtle Avenue to Jay Street. To make up for the loss of MJ service, M service was expanded to run during middays, operating weekdays between 6 a.m. and 7 p.m., and a new SS shuttle began running between Myrtle Avenue and Metropolitan Avenue at other times. In August 1972, the off-hour SS shuttle was renamed as part of the M.

Effective January 2, 1973, the daytime QJ was truncated to Broad Street as the , and the M was extended beyond Broad Street during the day along the 's former route to Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue, via the Montague Street Tunnel and Brighton Line local tracks. With the extension of the M onto the Brighton Line, there were also changes to D service. 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 from the previous span of QJ service to cover local stops. Two M trains began service at Brighton Beach in the morning rush hour, and in the early morning, three M trains entered service at Brighton Beach, and six entered service at Kings Highway. In addition, the final nine southbound M trains of the evening terminated at Brighton Beach. On May 13, 1974, two of the three northbound early morning trains that were placed into service at Brighton Beach were moved to enter service at Kings Highway.

The local K (renamed from KK in 1973) was eliminated on August 27, 1976, and M express service between Myrtle Avenue and Marcy Avenue ended.

On December 3, 1979, four northbound weekday morning rush hour trains that had been put into service at Kings Highway began service at Brighton Beach.

1986–2004 A six-month reconstruction project on the Brighton Line began on April 26, 1986, and to reduce congestion and delays, weekday daytime M service was shifted to the Fourth Avenue Line's express tracks south of DeKalb Avenue and the BMT West End Line. Service began terminating at Ninth Avenue during middays, and at Bay Parkway during rush hours. This service duplicated a pattern that had last been operated as the until late 1967. Manhattan-bound M trains operated from Bay Parkway between about 7:00 and 8:20 a.m., operating every 12 to 15 minutes. Bay Parkway-bound M trains left Chambers Street between 4:20 and 5:30 p.m. In 1991, M trains began running with fewer cars at all times except weekdays from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m. in order to increase passenger security during overnight hours.*

M service along Fourth Avenue, operating between 6:30 a.m. and 8:00 p.m., was switched to the local tracks on May 31, 1994, switching with the , which had run local since the M was moved in 1987. The change was implemented on a six-month trial, and was made permanent afterwards. This change was made as part of New York City Transit's Fare Deal, which sought to increase transit ridership by improving service. The change was proposed in November 1993, and public hearings on the change were held. The change reduced travel times by minutes for 26,000 people, a majority of the riders on the corridor. As a result of the change, some riders shifted from using stations on the BMT West End Line to the BMT Sea Beach Line, and from Fourth Avenue local stops to Fourth Avenue express stops.*

Market research found that 44% of M riders felt that crowding decreased, that 35% of M and 30% of N riders used their service more frequently, that 58% of riders thought the change was a good idea, and that only riders at the 45th Street and 53rd Street stations, which received less frequent service, viewed the changes negatively. This change increased operating costs by $245,000.*

The midday M (between 9:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m.) was temporarily truncated to Chambers Street on April 30, 1995, from Ninth Avenue in Brooklyn due to the closure of the Manhattan Bridge during weekday middays for structural repairs.*

The change was made to provide capacity in the Montague Street Tunnel for the Q, which was rerouted from the Manhattan Bridge. To replace M local service in Brooklyn, midday N trains began making local stops in Brooklyn. In addition, the span of M service to Brooklyn was reduced by fifteen minutes in the early morning and in the late evening by 25 minutes.*

The elimination of midday service to Brooklyn was made permanent on November 12, 1995, after the six-month repair project was completed, as part of a series of service cuts made by New York City Transit to make up a shortfall in its budget. It had been expecting a $160 million surplus in 1995, but due to reductions in state and federal contributions, it was left with a deficit which could reach $172 million. The elimination of midday M service to Brooklyn was part of a larger plan to reduce spending in order to avert a fare increase, which Governor George Pataki and Mayor Rudy Giuliani had pressured the MTA to avoid. Only 4,200 riders used M service to Brooklyn during middays, with fewer than 20 passengers per car, or 80 passengers per train (the M used four-car trains during middays). Because of the low cost effectiveness of operating service to Brooklyn and because of the existence of alternate service on the N and R, it was decided to cut the service. This service cut saved $664,000 annually. Three alternative operating plans were considered: maintaining existing midday service, terminating midday service at Broad Street, and operating service as a shuttle like weekend and late night service. It was decided not to terminate service at Broad Street because it negated a large portion of the crew savings due to the need for personnel to relay trains at the Broad Street terminal, longer running times, and because it had the potential to delay J service, which already terminated there. The shuttle option was dismissed because it would inconvenience a far larger number of M riders.*

Truncation of midday M service was proposed as early as January 1991 for an October implementation of that year, subject to approval from the MTA board.

From May 1 to September 1, 1999, the Williamsburg Bridge subway tracks were closed for reconstruction, splitting M service in two sections. One service ran at all times between Middle Village–Metropolitan Avenue and Marcy Avenue. The other ran rush hours only between Bay Parkway and Chambers Street. A shuttle provided service on the BMT Nassau Street Line. Fares on the B39 bus crossing the Williamsburg Bridge were eliminated and free subway-bus transfers were given at Marcy Avenue and at Delancey Street. The closure was anticipated to last until October 1999, but subway service was restored one month ahead of schedule. The project cost $130 million, including replacing the tracks' support structure, signal systems and other equipment.