BMT Myrtle Avenue Line

BMT Myrtle Avenue Line
The M train serves the entire operating BMT Myrtle Avenue Line at all times, north of Broadway
Overview
Type	Rapid transit
System	New York City Subway
Termini	Metropolitan Avenue west of Central Avenue
Stations	7
Operation
Opened	1889–1915
Closed	1969 (segment west of Central Avenue)
Owner	City of New York
Operator(s)	New York City Transit Authority
Character	Street level (Metropolitan Avenue only) Elevated
Technical
Number of tracks	2
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Electrification	600V DC third rail

The Myrtle Avenue Line, also called the Myrtle Avenue Elevated, is a fully elevated line of the New York City Subway as part of the BMT division. The line is the last surviving remnant of one of the original Brooklyn elevated railroads. The remnant line operates as a spur branch from the Jamaica Line to Bushwick, Ridgewood and Middle Village, terminating at its original Eastern terminal across the street from Lutheran Cemetery. Until 1969, the line continued west into Downtown Brooklyn and until 1944, over the Brooklyn Bridge to a terminal at Park Row in Manhattan.

The Myrtle Avenue Line is currently served by the M service. The line begins at Metropolitan Avenue in Middle Village, Queens. It heads southwest along a private right-of-way, eventually joining an elevated structure above Palmetto Street in Ridgewood and Myrtle Avenue in the Brooklyn neighborhood of Bushwick. Just before reaching Broadway (on which the BMT Jamaica Line operates), the line curves to the left and merges into the Jamaica Line tracks just east of the Myrtle Avenue station. The still-existing upper level of the station, which was called "Broadway", opened in 1889 and closed on October 4, 1969.