Resumption of R line service via the Montague Street Tunnel coincided with the 100th anniversary of this transportation asset. The original construction of this tunnel by the old private Brooklyn Manhattan Rapid Transit (BMT) company under a franchise agreement with New York City at a cost slightly less than $10 million began on October 12, 1914.
Sixty-five thousand riders from Bay Ridge, Sunset Park, Park Slope, Brooklyn Heights and other Brooklyn neighborhoods now benefit by a restored direct subway connection with their neighbors in Manhattan along Broadway in downtown and midtown Manhattan, along with those from Queens Plaza to Forest Hills and many other communities along Queens Blvd in Queens.
It is the hard working men and women of both the NYC Transit and private contractors who made all of this possible ahead of schedule and under budget.