158-409: [REDACTED] The Times Square–42nd Street station is a major New York City Subway station complex located under Times Square , at the intersection of 42nd Street , Seventh Avenue , and Broadway , in Midtown Manhattan . The complex allows free transfers between the IRT 42nd Street Shuttle , the BMT Broadway Line , the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line and the IRT Flushing Line , as well as to
316-527: A cross-platform interchange between local and express services. Some four-track lines with express service have two tracks each on two levels and use both island and side platforms. Since the majority of the system was built before 1990, the year the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) went into effect, many New York City Subway stations were not designed to be accessible to all. Since then, elevators have been built in newly constructed stations to comply with
474-715: A transfer station as the lines opened: first between the 42nd Street Shuttle and the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line in 1917, then the transfer was incorporated with the Flushing Line in 1927. On December 24, 1932, a 600-foot-long (180 m) passageway was opened, connecting the IND Eighth Avenue Line 's 42nd Street–Port Authority Bus Terminal station and the IRT platforms, with a new entrance at West 41st Street between Seventh Avenue and Eighth Avenue. The passageway
632-494: A Vignelli-style interactive subway map, "The Weekender", an online map that provides information about any planned work, from late Friday night to early Monday morning. In October 2020, the MTA launched a digital version of the map showing real-time service patterns and service changes, designed by Work & Co . Several privately produced schematics are available online or in printed form, such as those by Hagstrom Map . Out of
790-576: A connection between the IND Queens Boulevard and IND Crosstown lines, was expanded by adding a passageway to the IRT Flushing Line on June 3, 2011. A free transfer from Broadway–Lafayette Street to the uptown platform of Bleecker Street opened on September 25, 2012. A transfer to the downtown platform has existed since May 19, 1957. A passageway between Cortlandt Street and World Trade Center opened on December 29, 2017, along with
948-591: A connection between the two mezzanines. The PSC approved the construction of a large concourse above the BRT station in 1917. The concourse would only have cost an extra $ 1,400, but the station's general contractor refused to build the concourse because of a dispute over the price of cast-iron columns. A. W. King was hired to install finishes in the Times Square station in July 1917. The Broadway Line station opened on January 5, 1918, as
1106-648: A connection to the World Trade Center Transportation Hub . A passageway between the Times Square–42nd Street and Port Authority Bus Terminal station complex, and the Bryant Park station complex, was built in 2021, along with a new platform at the shuttle station (both the platform and passageway are closed during late nights). When the elevated IRT Third Avenue Line closed from Chatham Square to South Ferry on December 22, 1950,
1264-764: A letter or a number and "lines" have names. Trains display their route designation. There are 28 train services in the subway system, including three short shuttles . Each route has a color and a local or express designation representing the Manhattan trunk line of the service. New York City residents seldom refer to services by color (e.g., "blue line" or "green line") but out-of-towners and tourists often do. The 1 , C , G , L , M , R , and W trains are fully local and make all stops. The 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , A , B , D , E , F , N , and Q trains have portions of express and local service. J , Z , 6 , and 7 trains vary by direction, day, or time of day. The letter S
1422-446: A lower level than the two existing stations at Times Square. It would have two upper mezzanines connected by passageways: a mezzanine east of Seventh Avenue extending to Broadway, and one west of Seventh Avenue. Escalators would connect these upper mezzanines with the lower mezzanine, and a provision would be made to permit the installation of an escalator to the east of Seventh Avenue. There would be two entrances at street level at each of
1580-446: A main entrance on the south side of 42nd Street between Seventh Avenue and Broadway. The site of the new entrance was occupied at the time by an "interim" retail space. Originally, the MTA had proposed consolidating 11 separate entrances to the complex into one full-time main entrance and four part-time entrances. The new main entrance opened in July 1997. It features a bright neon and colored glass flashing sign with train route symbols and
1738-516: A mezzanine from 12 to 60 feet (3.7 to 18.3 m); razing a 120-foot-long (37 m) passageway that contained a "mixing bowl" of stairs and elevators; and refurbishing the 700-foot-long (210 m) passageway leading from the IND station to the rest of the complex. The cost of renovating the station had exceeded $ 257.3 million by 2004. The mezzanine above the BMT Broadway Line , which formerly housed
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#17328528326781896-540: A minor overhaul in the late 1970s when the MTA fixed the station's structure and the overall appearance, and it repaired staircases and platform edges, removed pedestrian ramps, and replaced lighting. By the 1970s, city officials planned to raise funds for a renovation of the Times Square station complex, using sales-tax revenue from materials used in the construction of the New York Marriott Marquis hotel. As part of
2054-431: A new entrance with a 15 foot (4.6 m) wide stairway covered by a canopy. The staircase would lead from the shuttle mezzanine to street level, blocking portions of the station's original finishes. A new control area would be installed at the bottom of the stairway. To further increase capacity, 21 columns were eliminated; other columns at the station were thinned, requiring the underpinning of roof beams; and 142 columns in
2212-531: A paper transfer was given to the M15 bus route. The Third Avenue Line was closed in Manhattan on May 12, 1955, removing this transfer. When the new "H" system was implemented on August 1, 1918, the Public Service Commission was unprepared for the heavy traffic using the 42nd Street Shuttle . The shuttle was closed for rebuilding at the end of August 3, and a paper transfer was added between Rector Street on
2370-620: A physical connection with the IND Eighth Avenue Line were underway. On March 1, 1927, the opening of the line was set for March 15, the third time an opening date was set for the line. Work had been postponed given the amount of work that remained to be completed. The opening of the line was about a year behind the April 29, 1926, date specified in the contract. The delay was the result of surprisingly difficult construction. The Board of Transportation had withheld retained percentages, as allowed in
2528-687: A pilot program to reduce high crime in the New York City Subway system, in May 1981, the MTA spent $ 500,000 to install CCTV screens at the Columbus Circle subway station. The MTA expanded the experiment to the Times Square–42nd Street station in 1983. The cameras were deactivated in 1985 after further tests showed that their presence did not help reduce crime. The MTA considered transferring 220 CCTV cameras from these stations to token booths at
2686-536: A pilot program, the BOT installed three-dimensional advertisements at the Times Square station in late 1948. The New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA), the BOT's successor, announced plans in 1956 to add fluorescent lights across the entire Times Square station complex. The Flushing Line platforms at Times Square, as well as platforms at all other stations on the Flushing Line with the exception of Queensboro Plaza , were extended in 1955–1956 to accommodate 11-car trains. One of
2844-406: A portion of West 42nd Street in 1981. As part of the redevelopment, in 1988, the state and NYCTA announced that they would spend $ 125 million on renovating the Times Square subway complex. The project would have included an underground rotunda with stores, connecting several office buildings; new subway entrances inside these buildings; and elevators. The project excluded renovation of the platforms or
3002-483: A public authority presided by New York City, was created in 1953 to take over subway, bus, and streetcar operations from the city, and placed under control of the state-level Metropolitan Transportation Authority in 1968. Organized in 1934 by transit workers of the BRT, IRT, and IND, the Transport Workers Union of America Local 100 remains the largest and most influential local of the labor unions. Since
3160-604: A record shop named Record Mart, was renovated with a large oval balcony looking over the trackway. In 2004, four unisex stall bathrooms were opened on the mezzanine between the IRT and BMT lines; they are staffed and maintained by employees of the Times Square Alliance, the local Business Improvement District . Record Mart reopened in 2007 on the south side of the IRT/BMT corridor, and when it closed permanently in 2020, it had been Manhattan's oldest operating record store. During
3318-510: A roughly H-shaped system. The original alignment under 42nd Street would become a shuttle service, and a new set of platforms would be built for the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line. In December 1913, the PSC began soliciting bids for the construction of the Seventh Avenue Line tunnel between 42nd and 30th Streets, including two express stations at 34th and 42nd Streets. The new IRT line was to cross
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#17328528326783476-447: A single fare to enter the subway system and may transfer between trains at no extra cost until they exit via station turnstiles; the fare is a flat rate regardless of how far or how long the rider travels. Thus, riders must swipe their MetroCard or tap a contactless payment card or smartphone on an OMNY reader upon entering the subway system, but not a second time upon leaving. List of New York City Subway transfer stations In
3634-482: A station, passengers may use station booths (formerly known as token booths) or vending machines to buy their fare, which is currently stored in a MetroCard or OMNY card. Each station has at least one booth, typically located at the busiest entrance. After swiping the card at a turnstile, customers enter the fare-controlled area of the station and continue to the platforms. Inside fare control are "Off-Hours Waiting Areas", which consist of benches and are identified by
3792-431: A subway. The tunnel was never extended for political and financial reasons. Today, no part of this line remains as the tunnel was completely within the limits of the present-day City Hall station under Broadway. The Great Blizzard of 1888 helped demonstrate the benefits of an underground transportation system. A plan for the construction of the subway was approved in 1894, and construction began in 1900. Even though
3950-707: A transfer passageway (used by the New York, Westchester and Boston Railway when the Dyre Avenue Line tracks were part of its operation) was placed inside fare control . A direct connection to the White Plains Road Line north of the station opened on May 6, 1957, and the old NYW&B station was closed. On October 30, 1954, a connection between the IND Brooklyn Line and the BMT Culver Line opened, and
4108-522: A transfer when boarding the Myrtle Avenue Line west of Broadway , but Brooklyn-bound passengers could only get one when entering at Broadway – Nassau Street , near Park Row. In addition, similar trolley transfers were provided at High Street – Brooklyn Bridge, at the Brooklyn end of the bridge. The Myrtle Avenue Line west of Broadway closed on October 3, 1969, and the transfer was replaced with one to
4266-489: A yellow sign. A typical subway station has waiting platforms ranging from 480 to 600 feet (150 to 180 m) long. Some are longer. Platforms of former commuter rail stations—such as those on the IND Rockaway Line , are even longer. With the many different lines in the system, one platform often serves more than one service. Passengers need to look at the overhead signs to see which trains stop there and when, and at
4424-415: Is 60 feet (18 m) below street level and runs roughly west–east under 41st Street. The Times Square–42nd Street and 42nd Street–Port Authority Bus Terminal stations are both fully wheelchair-accessible. However, the ramp between the two parts of the complex is not wheelchair-accessible. There are several mezzanines throughout the complex, connected by several ramps and stairs. The primary, upper mezzanine
4582-480: Is approximately 8 feet 9 inches (2.67 m) wide and 51 feet 4 inches (15.65 m) long, whereas B Division equipment is about 10 feet (3.05 m) wide and either 60 feet 6 inches (18.44 m) or 75 feet (22.86 m) long. The different lengths for the B Division fleet are necessary because 75-foot cars can not be used over the BMT Eastern Division . Cars purchased by
4740-663: Is near the level of the shuttle platforms and consists of four passageways in a trapezoidal layout, arranged under 42nd Street, Broadway, 41st Street, and Seventh Avenue. An oval-shaped cut is on the Broadway side of the main mezzanine, below which are the northern ends of the BMT platforms. A pair of escalators to the Flushing Line is at the southwestern corner of this mezzanine. Some parts of the mezzanine have glass-tiled walls, while other parts are clad with white ceramic tile topped by mosaic bands. " Music Under New York " controls various spots within
4898-406: Is no nightly system shutdown for maintenance, tracks and stations must be maintained while the system is operating. This work sometimes necessitates service changes during midday, overnight hours, and weekends. When parts of lines are temporarily shut down for construction purposes, the transit authority can substitute free shuttle buses (using MTA Regional Bus Operations bus fleet ) to replace
Times Square–42nd Street station - Misplaced Pages Continue
5056-427: Is smaller than the peak of the system. In addition to the demolition of former elevated lines, which collectively have resulted in the demolition of over a hundred stations, other closed stations and unused portions of existing stations remain in parts of the system. Many stations in the subway system have mezzanines . Mezzanines allow for passengers to enter from multiple locations at an intersection and proceed to
5214-421: Is the 42nd Street Shuttle platform, which runs in a northwest–southeast direction under 42nd Street east of Broadway, and is 20 feet (6.1 m) below street level. The IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line station runs 40 feet (12 m) under Seventh Avenue. The BMT Broadway Line station runs in a true north–south alignment 50 feet (15 m) under Broadway. The deepest station, serving the IRT Flushing Line ,
5372-547: Is used for three shuttle services: Franklin Avenue Shuttle , Rockaway Park Shuttle , and 42nd Street Shuttle . Though the subway system operates on a 24-hour basis , during late night hours some of the designated routes do not run, run as a shorter route (often referred to as the "shuttle train" version of its full-length counterpart) or run with a different stopping pattern. These are usually indicated by smaller, secondary route signage on station platforms. Because there
5530-490: The 7 , <7> , B , D , F , <F> , and M trains, is open during the day from 6 a.m. to 12 a.m. The present shuttle platforms were built for the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) as a local station on the city's first subway line , which was approved in 1900. The station opened on October 27, 1904, as one of
5688-464: The New York City Subway there are several types of transfer stations : Transfers are not limited to enclosed passageways. The New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA), manager of the New York City Subway, also offers limited free transfers between subway lines that allow passengers to reenter the system's fare control . This was originally done through a paper ticketing system before it
5846-567: The 142nd Street and Myrtle Avenue junctions, whose tracks intersect at the same level, as well as the same-direction pairs of tracks on the IRT Eastern Parkway Line at Rogers Junction . The 7,700 workers who built the original subway lines were mostly immigrants living in Manhattan. More recent projects use tunnel boring machines , which increase the cost. However, they minimize disruption at street level and avoid already existing utilities. Examples of such projects include
6004-600: The 472 stations , 470 are served 24 hours a day. Underground stations in the New York City Subway are typically accessed by staircases going down from street level. Many of these staircases are painted in a common shade of green, with slight or significant variations in design. Other stations have unique entrances reflective of their location or date of construction. Several station entrance stairs, for example, are built into adjacent buildings. Nearly all station entrances feature color-coded globe or square lamps signifying their status as an entrance. The current number of stations
6162-532: The 63rd Street Lines , opened in 1989. The new South Ferry station was built and connected to the existing Whitehall Street–South Ferry station in 2009. The one-stop 7 Subway Extension to the west side of Manhattan, consisting of the 34th Street–Hudson Yards station, was opened in 2015, and three stations on the Second Avenue Subway in the Upper East Side were opened as part of Phase 1 of
6320-626: The B54 bus route, which ran under the line. The transfers at High Street – Brooklyn Bridge were discontinued at some point, but the B54 transfer remained for a long time. When the Broadway Elevated spur to Broadway Ferry closed to passengers on July 2, 1916, a paper transfer was added to the Broadway Ferry Shuttle streetcar line . The shuttle was moved from Broadway Ferry to Lorimer Street when
6478-746: The BMT Canarsie Line ( L train) offers a transfer to the B42 bus within the station's fare control , the only such transfer within the NYCTA. The system was created from the consolidation of three separate companies that merged in 1940: the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT), and the Independent Subway System (IND). The earliest transfer stations were between lines of
Times Square–42nd Street station - Misplaced Pages Continue
6636-526: The BMT Canarsie Line opened through Williamsburg on June 30, 1924, and Broadway Line streetcars were rerouted to the ferry. Later the transfer was to the Meeker Avenue Line , now part of the B24 bus route. A paper transfer was added at Rockaway Avenue between the temporary east end of the underground IND Fulton Street Line and the new west end of the elevated BMT Fulton Street Line , immediately after
6794-684: The Chicago "L" plans all stations to be accessible in the 2030s, the Toronto subway will be fully accessible by 2025, and Montreal Metro plans all stations to be accessible by 2038. Both the Boston and Chicago systems are as old or older than the New York City Subway, though all of these systems have fewer stations than the New York City Subway. Newer systems like the Washington Metro and Bay Area Rapid Transit have been fully accessible from their opening in
6952-451: The IND Eighth Avenue Line a block west at 42nd Street–Port Authority Bus Terminal . The complex is served by the 1 , 2 , 3 , 7 , N and Q trains at all times, the W train during weekdays; the R and 42nd Street Shuttle (S) trains at all times except late nights; and <7> trains during rush hours in the peak direction. A free passageway from the shuttle platform to the 42nd Street–Bryant Park/Fifth Avenue station, served by
7110-531: The IND Sixth Avenue Line was completed in 1940, the city went into great debt , and only 33 new stations have been added to the system since, nineteen of which were part of defunct railways that already existed. Five stations were on the abandoned New York, Westchester and Boston Railway , which was incorporated into the system in 1941 as the IRT Dyre Avenue Line . Fourteen more stations were on
7268-621: The IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line and Wall Street on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line (the only one of the two lines to go to Brooklyn at that time). Shuttle service resumed on September 28, 1918, but the transfer remained, and was expanded to allow transfers from Wall Street on the Brooklyn Branch of the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line, its temporary end. After the Brooklyn Branch was completed on April 15, 1919,
7426-623: The IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line , which ran directly underneath the World Trade Center . Sections of the tunnel, as well as the Cortlandt Street station, which was directly underneath the Twin Towers, were severely damaged. Rebuilding required the suspension of service on that line south of Chambers Street. Ten other nearby stations were closed for cleanup. By March 2002, seven of those stations had reopened. Except for Cortlandt Street,
7584-707: The IRT Jerome Avenue Line in the Bronx to use the IND Concourse Line and IND Eighth Avenue Line . The Polo Grounds Shuttle and the transfer were discontinued on August 31, 1958. The first portion of the IRT White Plains Road Line opened on November 26, 1904 as a branch from the elevated IRT Third Avenue Line north of 149th Street to 180th Street–Bronx Park in West Farms . It was connected into
7742-717: The IRT subway debuted in 1904, the typical tunnel construction method was cut-and-cover . The street was torn up to dig the tunnel below before being rebuilt from above. Traffic on the street above would be interrupted due to the digging up of the street. Temporary steel and wooden bridges carried surface traffic above the construction. Contractors in this type of construction faced many obstacles, both natural and human made. They had to deal with rock formations and groundwater, which required pumps. Twelve miles of sewers, as well as water and gas mains, electric conduits, and steam pipes had to be rerouted. Street railways had to be torn up to allow
7900-444: The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) in April 1902 to operate the subway. The present shuttle station at Times Square–42nd Street was constructed as part of the route segment underneath 42nd Street and Times Square, which extended from Park Avenue and 41st Street to Broadway and 47th Street. Construction on this section of the line began on February 25, 1901. Work for that section had been awarded to Degnon-McLean. By late 1903,
8058-617: The Junius Street ( 2 , 3 , 4 , and 5 trains) and Livonia Avenue ( L train) stations in Brooklyn. The contactless OMNY fare payment system installed in 2019-2020 supports the same free transfers as the MetroCard does. Some paper transfers between specific subway stations and bus routes also existed prior to July 4, 1997, when the MetroCard allowed free system-wide subway–bus transfers with fewer restrictions. The Rockaway Parkway station on
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#17328528326788216-550: The New York City Board of Transportation informed the New York State Transit Commission that work on the Times Square station was sufficiently completed to enable the start of train service beginning on February 19, 1927, with the completion of work to a point between Eighth Avenue and Seventh Avenue. Plans for the construction of an extension of the line to between Eighth Avenue and Ninth Avenue to provide
8374-535: The New York Public Service Commission (PSC) proposed lengthening the platforms at stations along the original IRT subway. As part of a modification to the IRT's construction contracts made on January 18, 1910, the company was to lengthen station platforms to accommodate ten-car express and six-car local trains. In addition to $ 1.5 million (equivalent to $ 49.1 million in 2023) spent on platform lengthening, $ 500,000 (equivalent to $ 16.4 million in 2023)
8532-603: The R142 , R142A , R143 , R160 , R179 and R188 were placed into service. These cars are collectively known as New Technology Trains (NTTs) due to modern innovations such as LED and LCD route signs and information screens, as well as recorded train announcements and the ability to facilitate Communication-Based Train Control (CBTC) . As part of the 2017–2020 MTA Financial Plan, 600 subway cars will have electronic display signs installed to improve customer experience. Riders pay
8690-664: The city's first subway line started in 1894, when the New York State Legislature passed the Rapid Transit Act. The subway plans were drawn up by a team of engineers led by William Barclay Parsons , the Rapid Transit Commission's chief engineer. It called for a subway line from New York City Hall in lower Manhattan to the Upper West Side , where two branches would lead north into the Bronx . A plan
8848-626: The extension of the IRT Flushing Line and the IND Second Avenue Line . Since the opening of the original New York City Subway line in 1904, multiple official and planning agencies have proposed numerous extensions to the subway system. One of the more expansive proposals was the " IND Second System", part of a plan to construct new subway lines in addition to taking over existing subway lines and railroad rights-of-way. The most grandiose IND Second Subway plan, conceived in 1929,
9006-517: The original IRT subway on July 10, 1905, and Third Avenue service was ended. Transfers were given at 149th Street for passengers who wanted to change to Third Avenue, and transfers were added between the Manhattan-bound subway and the Third Avenue Line to the north on July 13 due to the "congestion and confusion" at that point. These transfers originally only applied to trains continuing in
9164-410: The 1970s. In November 2016, the New York City Subway had 6712 cars on the roster. A typical New York City Subway train consists of 8 to 11 cars, although shuttles can have as few as two, and the train can range from 150 to 600 feet (46 to 183 m) in length. The system maintains two separate fleets of cars, one for the A Division routes and another for the B Division routes. A Division equipment
9322-450: The 1980s, make the current fleet of subway cars graffiti-free, as well as order 1,775 new subway cars. By the early 1990s, conditions had improved significantly, although maintenance backlogs accumulated during those 20 years are still being fixed today. Entering the 21st century, progress continued despite several disasters. The September 11 attacks resulted in service disruptions on lines running through Lower Manhattan, particularly
9480-415: The 2020–2024 Capital Program. This would allow one of every two to four stations on every line to be accessible, so that all non-accessible stops would be a maximum of two stops from an accessible station. In 2022, the MTA agreed in a settlement to make 95 percent of subway and Staten Island Railway stations accessible by 2055. By comparison, all but one of Boston's MBTA subway stations are accessible,
9638-417: The 41st Street passageway. Times Square was named for The New York Times . The Times headquarters , built by Times owner Adolph S. Ochs , housed the original subway station (now the shuttle platforms) in its basement. Four separate stations comprise the Times Square complex, which is connected to the 42nd Street–Port Authority Bus Terminal station of the IND Eighth Avenue Line. The shallowest station
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#17328528326789796-493: The 42nd Street–Bryant Park station opened on September 7, 2021, along with a new platform at the shuttle station. The new passageway is closed during late nights, when the shuttle doesn't operate. A MetroCard out-of-system transfer to the IND 63rd Street Line was added on December 16, 2001, when the Queens section of that line was completed. Since the F had moved to the new line, there
9954-521: The ADA. (Most grade-level stations required little modification to meet ADA standards.) Many accessible stations have AutoGate access. In addition, the MTA identified "key stations", high-traffic and/or geographically important stations, which must conform to the ADA when they are extensively renovated. Under plans from the MTA in 2016, the number of ADA accessible stations would go up to 144 by 2020. As of May 2024 , there were 145 ADA-accessible stations. Over
10112-761: The BMT Centre Street Loop Subway's (now BMT Nassau Street Line ) Chambers Street station. On July 1, 1948, post-unification, many free transfers between the former systems were created coincident with the doubling of the fare from five to ten cents. The most recently created station complex is the Jay Street–MetroTech complex in Brooklyn on the IND Culver Line , IND Fulton Street Line and BMT Fourth Avenue Line ; opened on December 8, 2010. The Court Square complex in Queens, which opened in 1988 as
10270-446: The BMT Fulton Street Line was closed west of Rockaway Avenue on June 1, 1940. When the BMT Fulton Street Line was closed east of Rockaway Avenue on April 27, 1956, these transfers were discontinued. The lower level, serving the Jamaica Line, opened in 1888. The station became a transfer station when the Myrtle Avenue Elevated platform on the upper level opened in 1889. When Myrtle Avenue Line service west of this station ended in 1969,
10428-431: The BMT platform. The MTA started soliciting bids from platform-door manufacturers in mid-2022; the doors are planned to be installed starting in December 2023 at a cost of $ 6 million. Designs for the platform doors were being finalized by June 2023. As part of a pilot program, a Knightscope K5 robotic police officer was deployed at the station in September 2023; the NYPD had removed the robot by February 2024. A bombing at
10586-425: The BMT tracks hidden behind a now demolished wall with orange tiles. A paper transfer at the Polo Grounds (155th Street), between the IND Concourse Line and Polo Grounds Shuttle , was created on June 12, 1940, immediately after the IRT Ninth Avenue Line was closed south of 155th Street. It, along with the new transfer at 161st Street–Yankee Stadium , allowed passengers who had taken the Ninth Avenue Line from
10744-487: The Broadway Line and Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line have two island platforms and four tracks. All platforms and most of the station complex is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 , except for the IND passageway, which has steep ramps at both ends. The Times Square–42nd Street complex, including the Eighth Avenue Line, is the busiest station complex in the system, serving 65,020,294 passengers in 2019. The IRT platforms have been connected to each other as
10902-527: The Bronx . It is owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority , an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 27, 1904, the New York City Subway is one of the world's oldest public transit systems, one of the most-used, and the one with the most stations, with 472 stations in operation (423, if stations connected by transfers are counted as single stations). The system has operated 24/7 service every day of
11060-493: The City of New York since the inception of the IND and the other divisions beginning in 1948 are identified by the letter "R" followed by a number; e.g.: R32 . This number is the contract number under which the cars were purchased. Cars with nearby contract numbers (e.g.: R1 through R9 , or R26 through R29 , or R143 through R179 ) may be relatively identical, despite being purchased under different contracts and possibly built by different manufacturers. From 1999 to 2019,
11218-424: The Contract I station walls (now used by the shuttle). One street stair rises to the southeast corner of Broadway and 42nd Street. A block to the south, one stair goes into a building at the northwest corner of 41st Street and Seventh Avenue, and two street stairs go to the southeast corner. An exit-only stair rises to the southwest corner of 41st Street and Broadway. Two sets of exits on 40th Street are separate from
11376-656: The Culver Line was transferred from BMT to IND control. Service through the new connection commenced, and the BMT Culver Shuttle was instituted between Ditmas Avenue and Ninth Avenue , making Ditmas Avenue an inter-division transfer station. When the BMT Culver Shuttle ceased on May 11, 1975, the station was left to be served by the IND Culver Line only. On March 5, 1944, when the elevated BMT Myrtle Avenue Line
11534-456: The Dual Contracts' "H system" was put into service, and the former main line platforms became part of the 42nd Street Shuttle. Initially, a temporary wooden platform was placed over track 2 of the original subway, and black bands were painted on the walls to guide passengers to the shuttle platforms. The Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line station was the site of a 1928 wreck that killed 16 people,
11692-403: The IND station with the rest of the complex. The passageway is located above the mezzanines at either end. It is stair-free but contains steep ramps at both ends, which are not ADA-compliant. Exits to the 42nd Street–Port Authority Bus Terminal station, on Eighth Avenue between 40th and 44th Street, are signed as serving the A, C, E, and 7 trains. Several exits are signed as serving most or all of
11850-796: The Knickerbocker Hotel entrance. The Dual Contracts were formalized in March 1913, specifying new lines or expansions to be built by the IRT and the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT). As part of the Dual Contracts, the Public Service Commission planned to split the original IRT system into three segments: two north–south lines, carrying through trains over the Lexington Avenue and Broadway–Seventh Avenue Lines, and an east–west shuttle under 42nd Street. This would form
12008-454: The New York State Transit Commission opened up the contract for the extension for bidding. The extension would take a slightly different route than the one specified in the Dual Contracts. The original proposal had the line constructed under 42nd Street to a point just to the east of Broadway, which would have forced riders transferring to the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line to walk a long distance. The Times Square station would be designed at
12166-595: The abandoned LIRR Rockaway Beach Branch (now the IND Rockaway Line ), which opened in 1955. Two stations ( 57th Street and Grand Street ) were part of the Chrystie Street Connection , and opened in 1968; the Harlem–148th Street terminal opened that same year in an unrelated project. Six were built as part of a 1968 plan : three on the Archer Avenue Lines , opened in 1988, and three on
12324-481: The adverse effects of the station renovation. To further mitigate damage done to portions of the original station, certain features were repaired and restored, including the original southwest platform and control area wall finishes, the original cast iron columns, the ceiling plaster ornamentation, and the cast iron guard rails. In addition, the east platform walls that were located within back-of-house space were protected. The damaged Knickerbocker marble lintel located at
12482-526: The arriving train to identify it. There are several common platform configurations. On a double track line, a station may have one center island platform used for trains in both directions, or two side platforms , one for each direction. For lines with three or four tracks with express service, local stops will have side platforms and the middle one or two tracks will not stop at the station. On these lines, express stations typically have two island platforms, one for each direction. Each island platform provides
12640-480: The complex's entrances on 43rd Street was closed in 1957 to make way for a Times Square visitor center. This entrance was rebuilt next to the information center after numerous protests, and it reopened in July 1958. A new entrance at the southwest corner of Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street opened in 1964, and a shopping arcade within the basement of the Rialto Building was closed in July 1967. The BMT station received
12798-410: The complexity of the system (Manhattan being the smallest borough, but having the most services), but they do show major city streets as an aid to navigation. The newest edition took effect on June 27, 2010, and makes Manhattan bigger and Staten Island smaller, with minor tweaks happening to the map when more permanent changes occur. Earlier diagrams of the subway, the first being produced in 1958, had
12956-581: The concourse area were relocated away from the car doors. The cost of this project was estimated to be $ 28.93 million. The new control area provided an additional 5,000 square feet in mezzanine space, while the new entrance provided an additional 450 square feet of space. The entrance's canopy has 238 triangular glass frames that replicate the crystals part of the New Year's Eve Crystal Ball. Eighteen new CCTV cameras, ten new turnstiles, two emergency exit gates, and four new digital information screens were installed in
13114-405: The construction of that section, Despite protests from IRT officials, who said their bid was more expensive because it included additional safety measures, the commission refused to re-award the contract to the IRT. The construction of the new junction included rebuilding the roof, moving pillars, and demolishing part of the original subway tunnel's wall. The new tunnel had been excavated northward to
13272-457: The construction of these buildings. The station underwent total reconstruction in stages starting in 1994. Phase 1 rebuilt the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line platforms with a new mezzanine, stairs, and elevators, and was completed in 2002. Phase 2, finished in 2006, rebuilt the Broadway Line, Flushing Line, and Eighth Avenue Line portions of the station. In 1995, the MTA announced it would build
13430-422: The contract, penalizing the contractor, and trying to incentivize it to speed up work. No retained percentages were provided to the contractor until February 1927. The Flushing Line was extended to Times Square on March 14, 1927. A pedestrian passageway under 41st Street, connecting the Independent Subway System (IND)'s 42nd Street station with the IRT and BMT stations at Times Square, opened on December 24, 1932;
13588-425: The correct platform without having to cross the street before entering. Inside mezzanines are fare control areas, where passengers physically pay their fare to enter the subway system. In many older stations, the fare control area is at platform level with no mezzanine crossovers. Many elevated stations also have platform-level fare control with no common station house between directions of service. Upon entering
13746-478: The day before the subway was scheduled to open, the walls and ceilings were incomplete. The Times Square station opened on October 27, 1904, as one of the original 28 stations of the New York City Subway from City Hall to 145th Street on the West Side Branch. Prior to the subway station's opening, Times Square had been renamed from Long Acre Square to give the station a distinctive name. Within three years of
13904-475: The end of 1899. The Rapid Transit Construction Company, organized by John B. McDonald and funded by August Belmont Jr. , signed the initial Contract 1 with the Rapid Transit Commission in February 1900, in which it would construct the subway and maintain a 50-year operating lease from the opening of the line. In 1901, the firm of Heins & LaFarge was hired to design the underground stations. Belmont incorporated
14062-565: The exceptions being the G train, the Franklin Avenue Shuttle , and the Rockaway Park Shuttle . Large portions of the subway outside Manhattan are elevated, on embankments , or in open cuts , and a few stretches of track run at ground level; 40% of track is above ground. Many lines and stations have both express and local services. These lines have three or four tracks. Normally, the outer two are used by local trains, while
14220-417: The existing IRT line by June 1915, and workers were laying tracks for the new tunnel by 1916. The Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line station opened on June 3, 1917, as part of an extension of the IRT to South Ferry . A shuttle service ran between Times Square and Penn Station until the rest of the extension opened a year later on July 1, 1918. Afterward, the shuttle ran from Times Square to South Ferry. On August 1,
14378-482: The five-cent fare of the time, or 10¢ ($ 3 in 2023 dollars ). In 1940, the city bought the two private systems. Some elevated lines ceased service immediately while others closed soon after. Integration was slow, but several connections were built between the IND and BMT. These now operate as one division, called the B Division . Since the former IRT tunnels are narrower, have sharper curves, and shorter station platforms, they cannot accommodate B Division cars, and
14536-400: The former IRT remains its own division, the A Division . Many passenger transfers between stations of all three former companies have been created, allowing the entire network to be treated as a single unit. During the late 1940s, the system recorded high ridership, and on December 23, 1946, the system-wide record of 8,872,249 fares was set. The New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA),
14694-471: The guidelines of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. The 42nd Street Shuttle became ADA-accessible, the shuttle was reconfigured from three tracks to two tracks, and the trains became six cars long. A new platform, 28 feet (8.5 m) wide and located between tracks 1 and 4, was built along the section of the shuttle that runs under 42nd Street, which is located within a straight tunnel. The whole project
14852-544: The hurricane included the restoration of the new South Ferry station from 2012 to 2017; the full closure of the Montague Street Tunnel from 2013 to 2014; and the partial 14th Street Tunnel shutdown from 2019 to 2020. Annual ridership on the New York City Subway system, which totaled nearly 1.7 billion in 2019, declined dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic and did not surpass one billion again until 2022. When
15010-755: The inner one or two are used by express trains. As of 2018 , the New York City Subway's budgetary burden for expenditures was $ 8.7 billion, supported by collection of fares, bridge tolls, and earmarked regional taxes and fees, as well as direct funding from state and local governments. Alfred Ely Beach built the first demonstration for an underground transit system in New York City in 1869 and opened it in February 1870. His Beach Pneumatic Transit only extended 312 feet (95 m) under Broadway in Lower Manhattan operating from Warren Street to Murray Street and exhibited his idea for an atmospheric railway as
15168-463: The line at the beginning of 2017. Many rapid transit systems run relatively static routings, so that a train "line" is more or less synonymous with a train "route". In New York City, routings change often, for various reasons. Within the nomenclature of the subway , the "line" describes the physical railroad track or series of tracks that a train "route" uses on its way from one terminal to another. "Routes" (also called "services") are distinguished by
15326-770: The line's opening, the Times Square station was the city's third-busiest subway station, and its busiest local station, with 30,000 daily riders. After the first subway line was completed in 1908, the station was served by local trains along both the West Side (now the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line to Van Cortlandt Park–242nd Street ) and East Side (now the Lenox Avenue Line ). West Side local trains had their southern terminus at City Hall during rush hours and South Ferry at other times, and had their northern terminus at 242nd Street. East Side local trains ran from City Hall to Lenox Avenue (145th Street) . To address overcrowding, in 1909,
15484-403: The lines and leased them to the companies. The first line of the city-owned and operated Independent Subway System (IND) opened in 1932. This system was intended to compete with the private systems and allow some of the elevated railways to be torn down but stayed within the core of the city due to its small startup capital. This required it to be run 'at cost', necessitating fares up to double
15642-427: The main mezzanine areas and are signed as only serving certain services. At 40th Street and Seventh Avenue, one stair goes into a building at the southwest corner, and one street stair goes to the southeast corner. These serve a mezzanine above the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line platforms and are signed as serving the 1, 2, 3, 7, and S trains. One street stair rises to each of the corners of 40th Street and Broadway, serving
15800-538: The mezzanine for performers. Near the south end of the BMT platforms, there is a smaller mezzanine overhead, which leads to exits at 40th Street. Under the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line platforms, but above the Flushing Line platforms, is a lower mezzanine level extending from west to east. This mezzanine connects to a steep ramp that leads to the passageway to the IND Eighth Avenue Line platforms. A 600-foot-long passageway under 41st Street connects
15958-473: The new control area. Two new mosaics by Nick Cave, titled "Equal All" and "Each One", were installed as part of the project. The northern section of the original west platform wall dating from 1904 was removed, and One Times Square 's owner Jamestown Properties built elevators connecting the station to the street. The wall was broken into sections and moved to the New York Transit Museum to mitigate
16116-421: The new staircase entrance and Jamestown paid $ 10 million for the elevator. In the late 2000s, the MTA began construction on an extension of the IRT Flushing Line to 34th Street, which would require demolishing the lower level of the 42nd Street–Port Authority Bus Terminal station. By January 2010, the lower level platform was being demolished as part of the Flushing Line extension, which slopes down through where
16274-557: The northern terminal of a shuttle service running south to Rector Street . Through service began operating in July 1919 when the line was extended northward. The Dual Contracts also included completing and opening the Steinway Tunnel as part of the new Flushing subway line . The tunnel, running under the East River with trolley loops on both the Manhattan and Queens sides, had sat unused since 1907, when test runs had been performed in
16432-536: The northwest and southwest corners of Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street. The southwest-corner entrance at 5 Times Square has both escalators and stairs . The northwest-corner entrance in 3 Times Square only has stairs because the MTA allowed the building's developer Rudin Management to pay $ 1.3 million instead of adding two escalators. The second phase cost $ 91 million. This phase included converting 7,000 sq ft (650 m) of storage rooms to offices; widening
16590-460: The northwestern corner of Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street through the Rialto Building, on the site of the Rialto Theatre . The city government took over the BMT's operations on June 1, 1940. At midnight, a ceremony commemorating the transfer, with five hundred people in attendance, was held at the Times Square station. The last BMT train had left the 57th Street station five minutes earlier. When
16748-420: The number of sharp corners would be reduced. In addition, there would be new elevators to make the station compliant with the for Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 , new escalators , and wider corridors and stairs. William Nicholas Bodouva & Associates designed the materials for the renovation. Slattery Skanska, a firm owned by Slattery Associates and Skanska , received an $ 82.8 million contract for
16906-428: The old lower level platform was. On September 13, 2015, the Flushing Line was extended one stop west from Times Square to 34th Street–Hudson Yards . In February 2022, the MTA announced that the IRT Flushing Line platforms would receive platform screen doors as part of a pilot program. The announcement came after several people had been shoved onto tracks, including one incident that led to the death of Michelle Go on
17064-484: The original 28 stations of the New York City Subway. As part of the Dual Contracts between the IRT and the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT), the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line platforms opened in 1917, followed by the Broadway Line platforms in 1918 and the Flushing Line platforms in 1928. The original platforms were also reconfigured to serve the shuttle. The complex has been reconstructed numerous times over
17222-552: The original line from Vanderbilt to Fifth Avenue. The contractors had completed the tunnels to Fifth Avenue by May 1923, and the Fifth Avenue station opened on March 22, 1926, as the temporary western terminus of the line. In fall 1926, it was announced that the line would be completed by January 1, 1927. In June 1926, the Ascher Company was awarded a contract to complete the Flushing Line's Times Square station. On February 8, 1927,
17380-448: The original subway tunnel at a flat junction near 45th Street, necessitating that the new station be placed between 40th and 42nd Streets. The PSC awarded a $ 2.2 million contract to an IRT subsidiary, and the Board of Estimate approved the contract the next month. The next contract to be awarded was for the section between 42nd and 44th Streets. The Oscar Daniels Company submitted a low bid for
17538-412: The passageway included an entrance on 41st Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues. Passengers had to pay an additional fare to transfer to and from the IND. In Fiscal Year 1937, the express-track side of the southbound Broadway–Seventh Avenue platform was extended 6.5 feet (2.0 m) to the south to provide ample space at the center door of ten-car trains. In addition, the IRT opened a new entrance to
17696-545: The passageway under 41st Street. Park Tower Realty, which had committed to developing four buildings in the redevelopment, would have paid for 60 percent of the project's cost, while the New York City Transit Authority would have provided $ 45 million and the city would have provided $ 10 million. The project was canceled in August 1992 after Prudential Insurance and Park Tower Realty was given permission to postpone
17854-404: The perception of being more geographically inaccurate than the diagrams today. The design of the subway map by Massimo Vignelli , published by the MTA between 1972 and 1979, has become a modern classic but the MTA deemed the map flawed due to its placement of geographical elements. A late night-only version of the map was introduced on January 30, 2012. On September 16, 2011, the MTA introduced
18012-560: The plan said it would cause large amounts of confusion, as Times Square was a "natural" transfer point. In February 1914, the PSC ordered the BRT to make the Broadway Line's 42nd Street station an express station. The change was made at the insistence of Brooklynites who wanted an express station in the Theater District of Manhattan. The BRT station was to have two small mezzanines above the platforms, one each at 40th and 42nd Streets, but local civic group Broadway Association advocated for
18170-482: The project was originally scheduled to be awarded in June 2018. This was delayed by several months because of changes to the project schedule and cost. The construction duration was expected to be extended by three months, and the cost would increase by $ 25 million, because of additions to the original construction plan. A construction contract was awarded in March 2019, with an estimated completion date of March 2022. The shuttle
18328-534: The proposed IND Eighth Avenue Line . On November 22, 1921, the Powers-Kennedy Contracting Corporation was awarded a contract to construct the extension on a low bid of $ 3,867,138, below the estimated cost of over $ 4 million. This low bid was the narrowest margin ever recorded for any large city contract, beating out the next highest bidder by 0.7 percent. While the contractor was provided four years to complete work, engineers expected to reduce
18486-437: The record, over 6.2 million, was set on October 29, 2015. The system is also one of the world's longest. Overall, the system contains 248 miles (399 km) of routes, translating into 665 miles (1,070 km) of revenue track and a total of 850 miles (1,370 km) including non-revenue trackage . Of the system's 28 routes or "services" (which usually share track or "lines" with other services), 25 pass through Manhattan,
18644-446: The rest of the station complex, and was closed in 1989 due to very low usage. A street stair to the northeastern corner of 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue, by One Times Square , was closed around 1998–2000. Two stairs to the northeastern corner of 41st Street and Seventh Avenue were closed during the same time, as were stairs to both western corners of that intersection. In 2019, a stair to the southwestern corner of 43rd Street and Broadway
18802-499: The rest reopened in September 2002, along with service south of Chambers Street. Cortlandt Street reopened in September 2018. In October 2012, Hurricane Sandy flooded several underwater tunnels and other facilities near New York Harbor , as well as trackage over Jamaica Bay . The immediate damage was fixed within six months, but long-term resiliency and rehabilitation projects continued for several years. The recovery projects after
18960-468: The routes proposed over the decades have never seen construction, discussion remains strong to develop some of these lines, to alleviate existing subway capacity constraints and overcrowding, the most notable being the proposals for the Second Avenue Subway . Plans for new lines date back to the early 1910s, and expansion plans have been proposed during many years of the system's existence. After
19118-403: The routes that would normally run on these lines. The Transit Authority announces planned service changes through its website, via placards that are posted on station and interior subway-car walls, and through its Twitter page. Current official transit maps of the New York City Subway are based on a 1979 design by Michael Hertz Associates . The maps are not geographically accurate due to
19276-426: The same direction; by the 1920s, this transfer point had become very congested. A passageway inside fare control was opened on June 1, 1927 in the triangle bounded by 148th Street, Third Avenue , and Willis Avenue . The Third Avenue Line closed on April 28, 1973, ending the transfer. The IRT Dyre Avenue Line opened on May 15, 1941. At first, it did not connect directly to the IRT White Plains Road Line , and
19434-469: The same system: either the IRT, BMT or IND. The earliest free connection between lines that remains in existence is at Grand Central–42nd Street between the IRT Flushing Line and the original IRT subway (now served by the IRT 42nd Street Shuttle ), which opened on June 22, 1915. Some stations were constructed with passageways that connected different systems, such as the original IRT subway's (now IRT Lexington Avenue Line ) Brooklyn Bridge station with
19592-559: The second worst in New York City history (the worst being the Malbone Street Wreck in Brooklyn, which killed at least 93). Also planned under the Dual Contracts was the Broadway Line of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT; after 1923, the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation or BMT). The Broadway Line station was planned as a local station, with the express station to be located between 47th and 49th Streets. Opponents of
19750-485: The services in the complex. There are two exits inside buildings on 42nd Street west of Seventh Avenue: the north side within 3 Times Square and the south side within 5 Times Square. On the south side of 42nd Street between Seventh Avenue and Broadway, there is an elevator and escalator bank inside the Times Square Tower. The street level fare control at this site features restored original "Times Square" mosaics from
19908-487: The southern mezzanine above the Broadway Line platforms. Those entrances are signed as serving the N, Q, R, W, and S trains. There are several closed exits throughout the station complex. Until 1981, there was a stair to the southeastern corner of 41st Street and 8th Avenue. Another stair rose to the south side of 41st Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues in the passageway between the Eighth Avenue Line station and
20066-480: The station on October 12, 1960, injured 33 passengers. In September 2009, Najibullah Zazi and alleged co-conspirators planned suicide bombings on subway trains near this station and the Grand Central–42nd Street station , but the plot was discovered before they could carry it out. There was also a bombing on December 11, 2017, during the morning rush hour, when a pipe bomb device partially detonated in
20224-637: The station's renovation in December 1998. Bovis Lend Lease and CTE Engineers served as construction managers for the first two phases of the project. The renovation of the complex began when the entrances at the northwest and southwest corners of 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue were temporarily closed in May 1999. Phase 1 of the project cost $ 85 million and entailed expanding the main entrance on 42nd Street by 10 feet (3.0 m); making passageways as much as 6 feet (1.8 m) wider; and constructing new entrances in nearby office buildings. New entrances were added on
20382-456: The stations with the most crime. On August 1, 1988, the passageway between the IND Eighth Avenue Line station and the IRT/BMT complex was finally placed within fare control. The two previously-separate stations had the highest crime rates in the system at the time. The Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC), an agency of the New York state government, had proposed redeveloping the area around
20540-508: The subway system runs on surface or elevated tracks, including steel or cast-iron elevated structures , concrete viaducts , embankments , open cuts and surface routes. As of 2019 , there are 168 miles (270 km) of elevated tracks. All of these construction methods are completely grade-separated from road and pedestrian crossings, and most crossings of two subway tracks are grade-separated with flying junctions . The sole exceptions of at-grade junctions of two lines in regular service are
20698-522: The subway was nearly complete, but the IRT Powerhouse and the system's electrical substations were still under construction, delaying the system's opening. After the New York City Board of Aldermen renamed Longacre Square to Times Square, in April 1904, the Rapid Transit Commission agreed to rename the subway station at Broadway and 42nd Street as the "Times Station". As late as October 26, 1904,
20856-483: The then-nearly-complete tunnel. The route, traveling under 41st and 42nd Streets in Manhattan, was to go from Times Square through the tunnel over to Long Island City and from there continue toward Flushing . The section of the tunnel between Grand Central–42nd Street and Queens had opened on June 22, 1915. In July 1920, the PSC announced it would extend the Flushing Line two stops west to Times Square, with an intermediate station under Bryant Park. On November 9, 1921,
21014-462: The third phase of the station's renovation, the shuttle platform would have been relocated 250 feet (76 m), and a new island platform for the shuttle would have been created. By 2004, the work was planned to be completed in 2006 at a cost of $ 85 million. Although planning had been completed in 2006, the project was delayed due to a lack of funding. As part of the 2015–2019 Capital Program, the MTA scheduled some improvements to make it accessible under
21172-468: The time needed to do so to as little as three years. Since work on the project had to be completed underneath the foundations of several large buildings, such as theatres, and the north end of the New York Public Library, the contractor had to provide a $ 1 million bond. Powers-Kennedy started excavating the line westward from Grand Central in May 1922. The Flushing Line extension was to run beneath
21330-451: The train arrived at Times Square, BMT president William S. Menden handed over his company's properties to Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia , who then gave them to New York City Board of Transportation chairman John H. Delaney. The city government then took over the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940. The Board of Transportation operated the New York City transit system until the creation of the New York City Transit Authority in 1953. As part of
21488-440: The transfer was no longer needed. There was never a free transfer between the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line (outer) and IRT Lexington Avenue Line (inner) platforms at South Ferry. However, by 1960, night and weekend Lexington Avenue Line service ( 5 and 6 trains) stopped at the outer platform. This unadvertised transfer existed until 1977, when Lexington Avenue Line trains stopped running to South Ferry. A passageway to
21646-598: The underground portions of the subway had yet to be built, several above-ground segments of the modern-day New York City Subway system were already in service by then. The oldest structure still in use opened in 1885 as part of the BMT Lexington Avenue Line in Brooklyn and is now part of the BMT Jamaica Line . The oldest right-of-way, which is part of the BMT West End Line near Coney Island Creek ,
21804-487: The union's founding, there have been three union strikes over contract disputes with the MTA: 12 days in 1966 , 11 days in 1980 , and three days in 2005 . By the 1970s and 1980s, the New York City Subway was at an all-time low. Ridership had dropped to 1910s levels, and graffiti and crime were rampant. Maintenance was poor, and delays and track problems were common. Still, the NYCTA managed to open six new subway stations in
21962-448: The west platform control area were replicated. To reference portions of the original tracks located at tracks 2 and 3, the granite paving for the shuttle platform was modified with a veneer steel rail. These 60 foot (18 m) long sections are located on the new platform between tracks 1 and 4. Finally, a plaque describing the history of the station was installed underneath the replicated Knickerbocker lintel. The construction contract for
22120-503: The western corners of 41st Street and Broadway, and two entrances at the northeastern corner of 41st Street and Seventh Avenue. The project was expected to reduce crowding on the 42nd Street Shuttle by enabling riders to use the Queensboro Subway to directly access Times Square. 24,000 of the estimated 100,000 daily shuttle riders transferred to and from the Queensboro Subway. The line was to extend as far as Eighth Avenue to connect with
22278-554: The word "Subway", as well as an elevator and escalators. In July 1998, the MTA started accepting bids for the renovation of the Times Square station. The first phase would include renovating the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line platforms, part of the Broadway Line platforms, and the mezzanine, while the second phase would cover the rest of the station. The goal was to reduce congestion and improve rider access, comfort and safety by improving visual lines and increasing pedestrian capacity. The main corridor would be widened 15 feet (4.6 m) and
22436-717: The work. The foundations of tall buildings often ran near the subway construction, and in some cases needed underpinning to ensure stability. This method worked well for digging soft dirt and gravel near the street surface. Tunnelling shields were required for deeper sections, such as the Harlem and East River tunnels, which used cast-iron tubes. Rock or concrete-lined tunnels were used on segments from 33rd to 42nd streets under Park Avenue ; 116th to 120th Streets under Broadway ; 145th to Dyckman Streets (Fort George) under Broadway and St. Nicholas Avenue ; and 96th Street and Broadway to Central Park North and Lenox Avenue . About 40% of
22594-520: The year throughout most of its history, barring emergencies and disasters. By annual ridership, the New York City Subway is the busiest rapid transit system in both the Western Hemisphere and the Western world , as well as the eleventh-busiest rapid transit rail system in the world. The subway carried 2,027,286,000 unlinked, non-unique riders in 2023. Daily ridership has been calculated since 1985;
22752-538: The years, the MTA has been involved in a number of lawsuits over the lack of accessibility in its stations. The Eastern Paralyzed Veterans Association filed what may have been the first of these suits in 1979, based on state law. The lawsuits have relied on a number of different legal bases, but most have centered around the MTA's failure to include accessibility as a part of its plans for remodeling various stations. As of January 2022 , ADA-accessibility projects are expected to be started or completed at 51 stations as part of
22910-466: The years. The free transfer between the IRT and BMT opened in 1948, while the transfer to the IND station was placed within fare control in 1988. The complex was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004. In the early 21st century, the shuttle station was reconfigured. Excluding closed platforms, the Flushing Line and shuttle stations have one island platform and two tracks, while
23068-502: Was closed as part of the shuttle modernization project. Many of the station's entrances were historically constructed within other buildings. New York City Subway July 3, 1868 ; 156 years ago ( 1868-07-03 ) (first elevated, rapid transit operation) [REDACTED] The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system in New York City serving the boroughs of Manhattan , Brooklyn , Queens , and
23226-406: Was expected to cost $ 235.41 million. The Times Square shuttle platform was extended 360 feet (110 m) east to allow for a second point of entry at Sixth Avenue, with a connection to the IND Sixth Avenue Line , as well a second connection to the IRT Flushing Line via its Fifth Avenue station . The entire Times Square station was rehabilitated with congestion mitigation measures. A wider stairway
23384-455: Was formally adopted in 1897, which called for the subway to run under several streets in lower Manhattan before running under Fourth Avenue , 42nd Street , and Broadway . A previous proposal had called for the entire length of the subway to use Broadway, but the "awkward alignment...along Forty-Second Street", as the commission put it, was necessitated by objections to using the southernmost section of Broadway. Legal challenges were resolved near
23542-908: Was in use in 1864 as a steam railroad called the Brooklyn, Bath and Coney Island Rail Road . The first underground line of the subway opened on October 27, 1904, almost 36 years after the opening of the first elevated line in New York City (which became the IRT Ninth Avenue Line ). The 9.1-mile (14.6 km) subway line, then called the "Manhattan Main Line", ran from City Hall station northward under Lafayette Street (then named Elm Street) and Park Avenue (then named Fourth Avenue) before turning westward at 42nd Street . It then curved northward again at Times Square , continuing under Broadway before terminating at 145th Street station in Harlem . Its operation
23700-481: Was installed from the shuttle mezzanine to street level, and a new control area was installed at the bottom of the stairway. The cost of this part of the project is $ 30 million. In conjunction, a second project added access to the Times Square complex. As part of the project, the eastern platform was closed to public access, and the exit to 43rd Street was closed, covered over, and turned into an emergency exit, starting on October 19, 2019. This entrance would be replaced by
23858-412: Was leased to the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), and over 150,000 passengers paid the 5-cent fare ($ 2 in 2023 dollars ) to ride it on the first day of operation. By the late 1900s and early 1910s, the lines had been consolidated into two privately owned systems, the IRT and the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT, later Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation , BMT). The city built most of
24016-446: Was located outside a fare control, and passengers had to pay an extra fare to transfer between the IND and the IRT station. The free transfer between the IRT and BMT was added on July 1, 1948. The block-long passageway that runs west to the 42nd Street–Port Authority Bus Terminal station was reopened within fare control on December 11, 1988. Planning for a subway line in New York City dates to 1864. Development of what would become
24174-476: Was no longer a direct transfer to the Lexington Avenue Line, and so this transfer was added with an above-ground walk, free for MetroCard users within two hours of the original boarding. The cross-platform transfer between both the IND and BMT 63rd Street lines opened on January 1, 2017 with the opening of the Second Avenue Subway . Lexington Avenue-63rd Street was originally a two level station with
24332-559: Was removed from the Brooklyn Bridge elevated tracks , and cut back from Park Row to Bridge–Jay Streets, a paper transfer was added at Bridge–Jay Streets to the Brooklyn Bridge trolley lines , specifically the Smith Street Line , DeKalb Avenue Line , and Seventh Avenue Line . Bridge trolleys were discontinued on March 6, 1950, and the transfer was replaced with one to the IND Sixth Avenue Line . Manhattan-bound passengers received
24490-638: Was replaced by the MetroCard . Now the only permanent MetroCard subway-to-subway transfers are between the Lexington Avenue/59th Street complex ( 4 , 5 , 6 , <6> , N , R , and W trains) and the Lexington Avenue–63rd Street station ( F , <F> , N , Q , and R trains) in Manhattan and between
24648-417: Was spent on building additional entrances and exits. It was anticipated that these improvements would increase capacity by 25 percent. Platforms at local stations, such as the Times Square station, were lengthened by between 20 and 30 feet (6.1 and 9.1 m). The northbound platform was extended to the north and south, while the southbound platform was lengthened to the south, necessitating a reconfiguration of
24806-439: Was temporarily closed in mid-2020 for this work. The new platform opened on September 7, 2021, along with the passageway to the 42nd Street–Bryant Park station. This made the shuttle station ADA-accessible; though the passageway was not yet accessible, elevators were planned for its Bryant Park end. The new $ 40 million station entrance, including the new elevator, formally opened on May 16, 2022. The MTA spent $ 30 million to construct
24964-410: Was to be part of the city-operated IND, and was to comprise almost 1 ⁄ 3 of the current subway system. By 1939, with unification planned, all three systems were included within the plan, which was ultimately never carried out. Many different plans were proposed over the years of the subway's existence, but expansion of the subway system mostly stopped during World War II . Though most of
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