Archer Avenue Line

BMT/IND Archer Avenue Lines
The E, J, and Z trains serve the Archer Avenue Lines.
Overview
Type	Rapid transit
System	New York City Subway
Locale	Queens
Termini	Parsons/Archer (north) west of Jamaica–Van Wyck (south, upper level) south of Sutphin Boulevard–Archer Avenue–JFK Airport (south, lower level)
Stations	3
Operation
Opened	December 11,1988
Owner	City of New York
Operator(s)	New York City Transit Authority
Character	Underground
Technical
Number of tracks	2-4
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Electrification	600V DC third rail

The Archer Avenue Lines are two rapid transit lines of the New York City Subway, mostly running under Archer Avenue in the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens. Conceived as part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority's 1968 expansion plans, they opened on December 11, 1988.

The two lines are built on separate levels, served by trains from the IND Queens Boulevard Line (E train) on the upper level, and the BMT Jamaica Line (J Z trains) on the lower. Since the two levels share no track connections and have different chainings and radio frequencies, they are two separate lines—the B2 (IND) Division Archer Avenue Line (upper level) and the B1 (BMT) Division Archer Avenue Line (lower level).

The following services use the Archer Avenue Line:

The two Archer Avenue Lines begin at a northern (geographic eastern) terminal, Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer (E J Z trains), as a bi-level subway, each level having two tracks. The two lines run compass west along Archer Avenue to another station at Sutphin Boulevard–Archer Avenue–JFK Airport, where connections can be made to the Long Island Rail Road and AirTrain JFK. West of this station, the two levels diverge. The lower level tracks (J Z trains) continue roughly compass northwest, emerging from a portal near 89th Road and 130th Street and paralleling the Main Line of the LIRR before turning west onto the elevated structure of the BMT Jamaica Line at about 127th Street. The upper level tracks (E train) turn compass north under the Van Wyck Expressway, with another station at Jamaica Avenue. Just north of Hillside Avenue, they meet the four tracks of the IND Queens Boulevard Line at a flying junction, with connections to both the local and express tracks.