User:PrecipiceofDuck/sandbox 4

T/TT
T and TT rollsigns on the R27
Overview
Status	Ceased operations
Owner	City of New York
Locale	New York City, United States
Service
Type	Rapid transit
System	New York City Subway
Operator(s)	New York City Transit Authority
History
Opened	June 24, 1916
Closed	November 26, 1967 (T through service) July 1, 1968 (TT shuttle service)
Technical
Character	Underground
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Electrification	625V DC third rail

The T and TT were two former rapid transit services in the New York City Subway, operated by the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT). They provided service on the BMT West End Line after it opened in 1916, running in Manhattan on the BMT Broadway Line and BMT Nassau Street Line. The T and TT services were discontinued after the Chrystie Street Connection opened in 1967 and 1968, when B trains running via the IND Sixth Avenue Line in Manhattan were extended to Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue, taking over all service on the West End Line. Today, service on the West End Line is provided by the D train.

History

Original service

Original 3 designation for the West End Line

The elevated BMT West End Line, opened in 1916, replaced the original West End surface Line that opened in 1863 and branched off of the former Fifth Avenue Elevated. The BMT West End Line connected to the recently-opened BMT Fourth Avenue Line subway. The new elevated line's service would later be labeled 3 by the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT). On June 24, 1916, 3 service began running between 18th Avenue and Chambers Street on the BMT Nassau Street Line via the Manhattan Bridge and the Nassau Street Loop. This service was extended to 25th Avenue on July 29, 1916.

On September 4, 1917, the first part of the BMT Broadway Line opened, and 3 service ran to 14th Street – Union Square. Chambers Street service was probably suspended until the remainder of the Nassau Street loop was completed. Service began running to the newly opened Times Square – 42nd Street station on January 15, 1918. Service began running part-time to 57th Street–Seventh Avenue on July 10, 1919, and this extension was probably axed in 1920.

The BMT Nassau Street Line and the Nassau Loop were completed on May 31, 1931. Weekday AM and PM service and Saturday AM local resumed service from Bay Parkway or 62nd Street to Chambers Street running via the Montague Tunnel, and returning via the Manhattan Bridge south tracks.

The Saturday local service to Chambers Street, on June 24, 1950, was discontinued. All express trains began running to 57th Street on May 2, 1957. On October 24, 1957, late night service was replaced by locals to Chambers Street, running via the tunnel in both directions, and terminating at Coney Island – Stillwell Avenue. Express service was eliminated during middays, being replaced by locals extended to Coney Island on May 28, 1959. At this time all locals to Chambers Street began running via the tunnel in both directions.

Letters began appearing in the summer of 1961, when R27 subway cars began running on the line. Express trains were given the label of T, and the locals were given the label of TT, in accordance with the Independent Subway System's old system labeling local trains with single letters and express trains with double letters. On January 1, 1961, rush hour T expresses began running to Astoria – Ditmars Boulevard in along the BMT Astoria Line in Queens, and until April 2, 1962 so did Saturday service. TT local service on January 1 began running between Bay Parkway and Chambers Street. During middays, local service only ran between Coney Island and Chambers Street. After April 2, 1962, T service began running to 57th Street during evenings and Saturdays; on nights and Sundays TT shuttle service ran to 36th Street.

Post-Chrystie Street Connection

Bullet for the TT, used briefly from 1967-1968

The T was discontinued on November 26, 1967, after the Chrystie Street Connection opened. This connection linked the new express tracks of the IND Sixth Avenue Line to the Manhattan Bridge, allowing for increased subway service between Brooklyn and Midtown Manhattan. As a consequence, the connection between the Nassau Street Line and the Manhattan Bridge was severed, ending the Nassau Street Loop in Lower Manahttan. The BB, a Sixth Avenue Line service which formerly operated solely in Manhattan, was now extended to Brooklyn via the Manhattan Bridge, running along the BMT Fourth Avenue Line and BMT West End Line to Coney Island. This new B service replaced T and TT service into Manhattan. However, late-night and Sunday shuttle service between Coney Island and 36th Street was still labeled TT. The new color scheme for subway routes introduced that day included a blue TT bullet. On July 1, 1968, the TT designation was discontinued entirely with late-night/Sunday shuttle service being labeled B instead.

In the the 40 or so years after the opening of the Chrystie Street Connection, a series of service changes caused by construction work led to service patterns temporarily mimicking those of the original T and TT services. From April 26, 1986 to November 12, 1988, the northern tracks of the Manhattan Bridge, leading to the Sixth Avenue Line, closed for repairs, akin to the conditions of the subway prior to the opening of the Chrystie Street Connection. During this time, the T's old service pattern was almost exactly recreated, with B service running via Broadway Express from Coney Island to Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard during rush hours, and during middays, evenings and weekends to to Queensboro Plaza. The TT's route via the BMT Nassau Street Line was replicated in 1987, when the M was rerouted from the Brighton Line to the West End Line running to Bay Parkway. The M ran on the BMT Nassau Street and West End Lines on weekdays until June 25, 2010.

The Manhattan Bridge's north side tracks closed for repairs again on July 22, 2001; B service in Brooklyn via the Sixth Avenue Line was replaced by the new W service, running via Broadway express to Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard, essentially recreating the T route once again. This lasted until February 22, 2004, when, following the completion of repairs to the Manhattan Bridge, the D was rerouted over the West End Line, providing full-time service via Sixth Avenue Express, which continues today.

T currently appears on R32 rollsigns as a black letter on a white circle. The T was programmed into R44 and R46 side signs as a West End route, with various Broadway, Sixth Avenue and Nassau Street designations.