View source for 60th Street Tunnel Connection

{{short description|New York City Subway track connection}}
{{Use American English|date=February 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=November 2019}}
{{60th Street Tunnel Connection}}
The '''60th Street Tunnel Connection'''<ref>[[New York City Transit Authority]], Rapid Transit Construction Program, Map, File No. 72, Dwg. No. 699, dated June 14, 1954</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Tunnel in Queens to Speed Transit |first=Charles G. |last=Bennett |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1952/10/13/archives/tunnel-in-queens-to-speed-transit-long-island-city-link-for-the-bmt.html |newspaper=[[The New York Times]] |date=October 13, 1952 |page=23 |access-date=February 13, 2010}}</ref> or '''11th Street Cut'''<ref>Gene Sansone, New York Subways: An Illustrated History of New York City's Transit Cars, {{ISBN|0-8018-6886-6}}, pp. 184<!--60th--> and 292<!--11th--></ref> is a short [[rapid transit line]] of the [[New York City Subway]], within the [[Long Island City]] neighborhood in [[Queens]]. It connects the [[60th Street Tunnel]] under the [[East River]] (which connects to the [[BMT Broadway Line]] in [[Manhattan]]) with the [[IND Queens Boulevard Line]] west of [[Queens Plaza (IND Queens Boulevard Line)|Queens Plaza]]. The 11th Street Connection name comes from the street above the split from the 60th Street Tunnel. The line does not have any stations, and carries {{NYCS 60th Connection}} trains at all times but late nights.

== History ==
The connection opened on December 1, 1955,<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fg4KAQAAMAAJ&q=1977|title=A History of the New York City Subway System|last1=Cunningham|first1=Joseph|last2=DeHart|first2=Leonard O.|date=1993-01-01|publisher=J. Schmidt, R. Giglio, and K. Lang|language=en}}</ref> and permitted BMT trains from Brooklyn to use the IND Queens Boulevard Line; the first service to do so was the ''Brighton Beach Local via Tunnel'' ([[1 (BMT)|1]], now [[Q (New York City Subway service)|Q]]).<ref>{{cite news |title=Straphangers Sit As Tunnel Opens |url=https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0613FB345E1A7493C0A91789D95F418585F9 |newspaper=The New York Times |date=December 2, 1955 |page=29 |access-date=February 13, 2010}}</ref> This connection allowed for an increase of 20 trains per hour on Queens Boulevard.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=mTMxAAAAMAAJ&q=%22Queens+Line%22|title=Proceedings|date=1948|publisher=New York (N Y. ) Board of Transportation|pages=1198|language=en}}</ref> Unlike the later [[Chrystie Street Connection]], this was of the nature of a [[trackage rights]] operation, without the mixing of BMT and IND equipment or crews, as opposed to a true operating integration.

===Service history===
The first service to use the connection was the daytime [[1 (BMT)|1]] local via [[Montague Street Tunnel]], which became the [[QT (New York City Subway service)|QT]] in the early 1960s. The QT was rerouted to [[Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard (BMT Astoria Line)|Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard]] on January 1, 1961, and the [[RR (New York City Subway service)|RR]] was sent through the connection during daytime hours. The [[EE (Broadway Local)|EE]] was created on November 26, 1967, when the [[Chrystie Street Connection]] opened and the RR moved back to Astoria. On August 27, 1976, the [[N (New York City Subway service)|N]] was extended through the connection, absorbing the EE; this change sent late night and weekend trains through the tunnel for the first time. The N and [[R (New York City Subway service)|R]] were swapped in Queens on May 24, 1987, taking the R through the connection in a move that reassigned a former BMT route (the R) to the IND's Jamaica Yard (it had heretofore used the Coney Island Yard).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.subwaynut.com/brochures/nrswitch/index.html|title=Announcing Service Changes on the N and R Routes Advertising Supplement to The New York Times, The New York Daily News, and Newsday, © 1987 New York City Transit Authority|author=New York City Transit Authority|work=Subway Nut|access-date=March 27, 2007|archive-date=August 19, 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160819105802/http://www.subwaynut.com/brochures/nrswitch/index.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> Late night service was later truncated to [[36th Street (BMT Fourth Avenue Line)|36th Street]] in Brooklyn,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.subwaynut.com/brochures/1990servicechanges.pdf|title=Service Changes September 30, 1990|date=September 30, 1990|website=subwaynut.com|publisher=New York City Transit Authority|access-date=May 1, 2016|archive-date=October 26, 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141026015324/http://www.subwaynut.com/brochures/1990servicechanges.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> then later extended to [[Whitehall Street (BMT Broadway Line)|Whitehall Street]] in Manhattan.<ref>*{{Cite web|url=https://progressiveaction.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/sub-division-b-general-distribution-fall-2016-wp-book.pdf|title=SUB-DIVISION B TRAIN OPERATOR/CONDUCTOR ROAD & NON-ROAD WORK PROGRAMS IN EFFECT: NOVEMBER 6, 2016|date=July 29, 2016|website=progressiveaction.info|publisher=New York City Transit|access-date=August 19, 2016}}
*{{Cite web |url=http://web.mta.info/mta/news/books/pdf/160620_1000_Transit&BUS.pdf |title=Transit & Bus Committee Meeting June 2016 |date=June 17, 2016 |website=www.mta.info |publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority |access-date=June 17, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160807195510/http://web.mta.info/mta/news/books/pdf/160620_1000_Transit%26BUS.pdf |archive-date=2016-08-07 |url-status=dead }}
*{{Cite web|url=http://pix11.com/2016/10/23/mta-flyers-spotted-for-w-trains-return-in-november/|title=MTA flyers spotted for W train's return in November|last=Lam|first=Katherine|date=October 23, 2016|publisher=PIX11|access-date=October 24, 2016}}
*{{cite web|url=http://web.mta.info/nyct/service/nqrw/|title=New NQRW Service|date=October 2016|website=mta.info|publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority|access-date=October 26, 2016}}</ref> The connection is not being used during late nights {{as of|2022|May|lc=y}}.<ref>{{NYCS const|serviceguide}}</ref>

==Routing==
{{NYCS service legend
| allexceptnights = show
| alltimes        = show
| weekdaysonly    = show
}}
{| class="wikitable"
!{{Access icon}}
!Station
!Tracks
!Services
!Opened
!Notes
|-
!colspan=6 style="background-color: silver;"|begins as a split from the [[IND Queens Boulevard Line]] local tracks south of [[Queens Plaza (IND Queens Boulevard Line)|Queens Plaza]]
|-
|
|(no stations)
|local
|{{NYCS 60th Connection|time=show}}
|December 1, 1955
|
|-
!colspan=6 style="background-color: silver;"|merges with the [[BMT Astoria Line]] ({{NYCS Astoria|time=show}}) south of [[Queensboro Plaza (BMT Astoria Line)|Queensboro Plaza]]<br>and enters the [[60th Street Tunnel]] as the [[BMT Broadway Line]] local tracks
|}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

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[[Category:Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation]]
[[Category:New York City Subway lines]]