Information about 5 (new York City Subway Service)

For the former BMT service, see 5 (BMT).

The 5 Lexington Avenue Express is a service of the New York City Subway. It is colored green on station signs, the New York City Subway map and on most IRT rolling stock equipment since it uses the Lexington Avenue Line through Manhattan.

During rush hours 5 trains operate between Eastchester–Dyre Avenue or Nereid Avenue, the Bronx and Brooklyn College–Flatbush Avenue, Brooklyn and operates express in the Bronx (in the peak direction), Manhattan and Brooklyn, with limited rush hour service to Crown Heights–Utica Avenue or New Lots Avenue due to space limitations along the Nostrand Avenue segment south of Franklin Avenue.

During middays, evenings and weekdays, 5 trains operate between Eastchester–Dyre Avenue and Bowling Green, with express service in Manhattan and local service in the Bronx. During late nights, 5 trains provide local shuttle service between Eastchester–Dyre Avenue and East 180th Street, the Bronx, where the 2 train provides through service to the South Bronx and Manhattan.

The following lines are used by the 5 service:

Line	Tracks	When
IRT White Plains Road Line from Nereid Avenue–238th Street to East 180th Street	local	rush hours in the peak direction
IRT Dyre Avenue Line (full line)	N/A	always
IRT White Plains Road Line from East 180th Street to 149th Street–Grand Concourse	local (express rush hours in the peak direction)	all but late nights
IRT Jerome Avenue Line south of 149th Street–Grand Concourse	local	all but late nights
IRT Lexington Avenue Line (full line)	express	all but late nights
IRT Joralemon Street Tunnel	N/A	rush hours only
IRT Eastern Parkway Line north of Franklin Avenue	express	rush hours only
IRT Nostrand Avenue Line (full line)	N/A	rush hours only
IRT Eastern Parkway Line south of Franklin Avenue	express	some rush-hour trips

Dyre Avenue Shuttle

The East 180th Street-Dyre Avenue Shuttle or Dyre Avenue Shuttle was established as a new subway service and full-time shuttle in 1941 between the former East 180th Street station of the New York, Westchester and Boston Railway and Dyre Avenue, which was the last station but one of the NYW&B within New York City. Passengers had to make a walking transfer between the Dyre Avenue Line and the IRT White Plains Road Line at East 180th Street as the two lines did not share a common station and there was no track connection between the lines.

In 1957 a flyover connection opened between the East 180th Street station of the White Plains Road Line and the Dyre Avenue Line, enabling through service by trains of the 2 from Manhattan to Dyre Avenue. At the same time, the former NYW&B station was closed and off-hours Dyre Avenue Shuttles rerouted to the White Plains Road Line station. These shuttles were initially labeled 2 like the full-time service but were later signed 9, a number used for IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line skip-stop service.

The off-hours Dyre Avenue shuttle still operates, but trains on the line are signed 5, the same as the through service that now serves the line.

Service History

The section from East 180th Street to Dyre Avenue was once the mainline of the New York, Westchester and Boston Railway, a standard gauge electric commuter railroad built by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad. Upon its closure in 1937, the entire property was put up for sale.

In 1940, the City of New York purchased the section and began integrating the line into the system. The railroad north of the city line to White Plains and Port Chester was quickly dismantled. The section below East 180th Street to Greens Farm Junction was once used to interchange with the New Haven (and later Penn Central and Conrail) to bring subway cars and other equipment on and off the system. This section has since been removed, isolating this part of the subway from interchange.

Beginning 1934, trains normally ran from Wakefield-241st Street or East 180th Street to Atlantic Avenue. During rush hours, they were extended to Utica Avenue.

From 1938 to 1950, weekend trains ran to Utica Avenue. Over the years, they were extended to New Lots Avenue every once in a while.

Beginning May 3, 1957, limited rush hour trains ran to Flatbush Avenue. This was discontinued on April 8, 1960.

From May 24, 1976 to 1980, midday trains terminated at Bowling Green.

Beginning July 10, 1983, all rush hour service ran to Flatbush Avenue, with limited service to/from Utica or New Lots Avenue.

On January 18, 1988, midday trains permanently terminated at Bowling Green.

In 1995, rush hour service to 241st Street was cut back to Nereid Avenue.

Stations

Station service legend
	Stops all times
	Stops all times except late nights
	Stops late nights only
	Stops weekdays only
	Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction
	Stops rush hours only
	Stops rush hours in the peak direction only
Time period details

Note: New York City Transit eliminated the diamond 5 service from the official map in 2005, but there remain two distinct service patterns in the Bronx. In the table below, the first column (headed by a 5 inside a circle) documents the non-rush hour pattern, and the second column (headed by a 5 inside a diamond) documents the rush hour pattern.

		Station		Subway transfers	Connections
	The Bronx
Dyre Avenue Line service
		Eastchester–Dyre Avenue
		Baychester Avenue
		Gun Hill Road
		Pelham Parkway
		Morris Park
White Plains Road Line service from Nereid Avenue to East 180th Street
		Nereid Avenue		2
		233rd Street		2	Metro-North Railroad Harlem Line at Woodlawn (.3 miles)
		225th Street		2
		219th Street		2
		Gun Hill Road		2
		Burke Avenue		2
		Allerton Avenue		2
		Pelham Parkway		2
		Bronx Park East		2
Dyre Avenue Line and White Plains Road Line services merge
		East 180th Street		2
		West Farms Square–East Tremont Avenue		2
		174th Street		2
		Freeman Street		2
		Simpson Street		2
		Intervale Avenue		2
		Prospect Avenue		2
		Jackson Avenue		2
		Third Avenue–149th Street		2
		149th Street–Grand Concourse		2  4  (IRT Jerome Avenue Line)
		138th Street–Grand Concourse		4
Manhattan
		125th Street		4  6  <6>	Metro-North Railroad at Harlem–125th Street M60 bus to LaGuardia Airport
		86th Street		4  6  <6>
		59th Street		4  6  <6> N  R  W  (BMT Broadway Line) F  (IND 63rd Street Line at Lexington Avenue; out-of-system MetroCard transfer)	Roosevelt Island Tramway
		42nd Street–Grand Central		4  6  <6> 7  <7> (IRT Flushing Line S  (42nd Street Shuttle)	Metro-North Railroad at Grand Central Terminal
		14th Street–Union Square		4  6  <6> L  (BMT Canarsie Line) N  Q  R  W  (BMT Broadway Line)
		Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall		4  6  <6> J  M  Z  (BMT Nassau Street Line at Chambers Street)
		Fulton Street		4  2  3  (IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line) A  C  (IND Eighth Avenue Line) J  M  Z  (BMT Nassau Street Line)
		Wall Street		4
		Bowling Green		4	Staten Island Ferry at South Ferry
Brooklyn
		Borough Hall	*	4  2  3  (IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line) (BMT Fourth Avenue Line)
		Nevins Street		2  3  4
		Atlantic Avenue		2  3  4  B  Q  (BMT Brighton Line) D  M  N  R  (BMT Fourth Avenue Line)	LIRR Atlantic Branch at Flatbush Avenue
		Franklin Avenue		2  3  4  S  (Franklin Avenue Shuttle)
Nostrand Avenue Line service
		President Street		2
		Sterling Street		2
		Winthrop Street		2
		Church Avenue		2
		Beverly Road		2
		Newkirk Avenue		2
		Brooklyn College–Flatbush Avenue		2
New Lots Line service (occasional rush hour trips)
		Nostrand Avenue'''
		Kingston Avenue
		Crown Heights–Utica Avenue		2  3  4
		Sutter Avenue–Rutland Road			B15 bus to JFK Airport
		Saratoga Avenue
		Rockaway Avenue
		Junius Street
		Pennsylvania Avenue
		Van Siclen Avenue
		New Lots Avenue			B15 bus to JFK Airport

* Borough Hall is accessible in the northbound direction only. Atlantic Avenue is accessible only from two doors nearest to conductor.

References

• Line By Line History

External links

• MTA NYC Transit - 5 Lexington Avenue Express (normal circle service)
• MTA NYC Transit - 5 Eastern Parkway/Lexington Avenue/Bronx Thru Express (rush-hour diamond service)
• MTA NYC Transit - 5 schedulePDF (283 KiB)
• New York, Westchester & Boston Railway history

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