57th Street (IND Sixth Avenue Line) - History

History

57th Street opened on 1 July 1968 as one of two stations added during construction of the Chrystie Street Connection, the other being Grand Street. Upon its opening, the station acted as the terminus of two services, the B and KK, the former during rush hour and the latter during off-peak hours. The B ran to Coney Island via the Manhattan Bridge and the West End Line while the KK ran to 168th Street via the Williamsburg Bridge and Jamaica Line. The KK was renamed as the K and truncated to Broadway Junction in 1972 and eliminated in 1976 altogether. In 1978, the MTA created the JFK Express service to the eponymous airport, with 57th Street acting as the northern terminal of the route.

The reconstruction of the Manhattan Bridge caused radical services changes at the station. The B was re-routed to its current route down Central Park West via the Seventh Avenue station to the Sixth Avenue Line and was replaced by the S to Grand Street. In 1988, the Q became a Sixth Avenue service and ran via the Manhattan Bridge to the Brighton Line, acting as an express in Brooklyn; when the 63rd Street Tunnel opened in 1989, the Q was simultaneously extended to the new terminal at 21st Street – Queensbridge. The B, and eventually the F, replaced the Q in 1990.

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