6d (New York City Subway service)

The 6 Lexington Avenue and Pelham Local and <6> Lexington Avenue Local and Pelham Express are two rapid transit services in the A Division of the New York City Subway. The sign for the 6 local has a circle shape while the <6> express has a diamond shape. Both are colored on station signs, route signs, and the official subway map, since they provide service on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line in Manhattan.

The 6 local service operates at all times while the <6> express service operates during middays and rush hours in the peak direction. At all times except middays and rush hours in the peak direction, the 6 local operates between Pelham Bay Park in the Bronx and Brooklyn Bridge – City Hall in Civic Center, Manhattan. During middays and rush hours in the peak direction, the 6 local operates to/from Parkchester in the Bronx. The <6> express replaces the 6 local north of Parkchester and operates as an express between that station and Third Avenue – 138th Street.

Weekdays from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m., some Manhattan-bound <6> trains operate local from Parkchester to Hunts Point Avenue while some Parkchester-bound 6 trains operate express in that section.

Service history

On October 27, 1904, local and express service opened on the original subway in Manhattan, following the route of the present IRT Lexington Avenue Line from City Hall to Grand Central – 42nd Street. From there, the service traveled west on 42nd Street on the route of the present 42nd Street Shuttle, and then north on the present IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line to 145th Street.

The current "H" configuration—with separate services along Lexington Avenue and Broadway – Seventh Avenue—was introduced in 1917.^[1] Full Lexington Avenue local service from City Hall to 125th Street opened on July 17, 1918.

On August 1, 1918, 138th Street – 3rd Avenue opened. Over the next two years, the IRT Pelham Line was extended piece by piece to Pelham Bay Park.

From that point on, the current 6 service was formed. All trains ran local between Pelham Bay Park and Brooklyn Bridge – City Hall, with some trains terminating at the City Hall loop. On weekdays, there was peak direction express service between Parkchester – East 177th Street and Third Avenue – 138th Street. During this time, local trains terminated at Parkchester instead.

On December 31, 1945, City Hall station closed, making the former Brooklyn Bridge station (renamed Brooklyn Bridge – City Hall) the permanent southern terminal. However, 6 trains today use the loop to get from the southbound to the northbound local track at Brooklyn Bridge - City Hall. Passengers are required to get off at Brooklyn Bridge station per MTA rules; however, this rule is rarely enforced and passengers can usually stay on the 6 train going through the loop.^[2]

During the 1970s, rush hour trains were extended to the inner loop at South Ferry. Due to poor condition, lack of ridership, and lack of track capacity along that segment of the Lexington Avenue line, this was discontinued and a shuttle ran between Bowling Green and South Ferry until 1977.

Beginning in 1979, late night service terminated at 125th Street in Manhattan with the 4 running as a local in Manhattan.

During Spring and Summer 1985, there was one 6 train per day that ran to/from Atlantic Avenue, during rush hours only. This was the only 6 service to run in Brooklyn.

In 1999, late night service returned to Brooklyn Bridge, but the 4 still runs local.

In popular culture

• Justin Townes Earle's "Working for the MTA" describes the 6 train from the perspective of the driver.
• In the novel The Taking of Pelham One Two Three and the films based on it, a 6 train that originated in Pelham Bay Park Station was hijacked, and hostages were held inside a subway car.
• After his first visit to NYC in 1969, Rubén Blades wrote the song "El número seis" about waiting for the 6 train. He never recorded it, but it was recorded in 1975 by Bobby Rodríguez y la Compañía in 1975, Los Soneros del Barrio in 1999, and Jimmy Sabater with Son Boricua in 2002.
• When she was growing up, Jennifer Lopez regularly rode a 6 train into Manhattan to go to her dance studio. Her debut 1999 album is called On the 6, a reference to the train.
• Mark Wahlberg rides the 6 (R29/36 cars) in the movie The Yards.
• On January 22, 2006, eight members of the Improv Everywhere comedy troupe were arrested on a 6 train after participating in a city-wide prank dubbed "No Pants". They have before and since performed several other pranks on the 6 train.
• In the 2000 movie, Boiler Room, the main character, Seth, mentions that the brokers at his firm act like they "just got off the 6 train to Fulton Street." The 6 train, however, does not stop at Fulton Street.
• A scene in Kids takes place on the 6 train, including shots of a legless panhandler on a skateboard.
• In the How I Met Your Mother episode "Lucky Penny", Barney Stinson gets stuck on a 6 train when he becomes unable to move his legs.
• In the 1984 film The Pope of Greenwich Village, the bar and tow truck scenes take place beneath the 6 train tracks and the Castle Hill Station on Westchester Avenue.

Route

Service pattern

The following table shows the lines used by 6 and <6> trains, with shaded boxes indicating the route at the specified times:

Stations

For a more detailed station listing, see the articles on the lines listed above.

		Stations		Subway transfers	Connections/Other Notes
The Bronx
		Pelham Bay Park			Bx12 Select Bus Service
		Buhre Avenue
		Middletown Road			Closed for rehabilitation until May 2014.
		Westchester Square – East Tremont Avenue
		Zerega Avenue
		Castle Hill Avenue			Closed for rehabilitation until May 2014.
		Parkchester
		St. Lawrence Avenue
		Morrison Avenue – Soundview
		Elder Avenue
		Whitlock Avenue
		Hunts Point Avenue
		Longwood Avenue
		East 149th Street
		East 143rd Street – St. Mary's Street
		Cypress Avenue
		Brook Avenue
		Third Avenue – 138th Street
Manhattan
		125th Street		4  5	Metro-North Railroad at Harlem – 125th Street M60 bus to LaGuardia Airport
		116th Street		4
		110th Street		4
		103rd Street		4
		96th Street		4
		86th Street		4  5
		77th Street		4
		68th Street – Hunter College		4
		59th Street		4  5  N  Q  R  (BMT Broadway Line at Lexington Avenue / 59th Street) F  (IND 63rd Street Line at Lexington Avenue – 63rd Street; out-of-system MetroCard transfer)	Roosevelt Island Tramway
		51st Street		4  E  M  (IND Queens Boulevard Line at Lexington Avenue – 53rd Street)
		Grand Central – 42nd Street		4  5  (IRT Flushing Line) S  (42nd Street Shuttle)	Metro-North Railroad at Grand Central Terminal
		33rd Street		4	M34 / M34A Select Bus Service
		28th Street		4
		23rd Street		4
		14th Street – Union Square		4  5  L  (BMT Canarsie Line) N  Q  R  (BMT Broadway Line)
		Astor Place		4
		Bleecker Street		4  B  D  F  M  (IND Sixth Avenue Line at Broadway – Lafayette Street)
		Spring Street		4
		Canal Street		4  N  Q  R  (BMT Broadway Line) J  Z  (BMT Nassau Street Line)
		Brooklyn Bridge – City Hall		4  5  J  Z  (BMT Nassau Street Line at Chambers Street)

• Rush hours and middays, Bronx express trains begin/terminate at Pelham Bay Park; Bronx local trains begin/terminate at Parkchester.

References

External links

• MTA NYC Transit – 6 Lexington Avenue Local
• MTA NYC Transit – 6 Lexington Avenue Local / Pelham Express