8 (New York City Subway service)

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8 was a designation given to two

Astoria Line

v t e 8 (BMT)
Legend
Astoria Line (1917–1949)
Ditmars Avenue Hoyt Avenue Grand Avenue Broadway Washington Avenue Beebe Avenue Queensboro Bridge Plaza Queensboro Line

R12 end rollsign

The 8 label was first used for the

Tracks opened over the

Third Avenue Line

New York City Subway service

Third Avenue Local
Gun Hill Road in 1984
Northern end	Gun Hill Road
Southern end	149th Street
Stations	15
Started service	November 26, 1967; 56 years ago (1967-11-26)
Discontinued	April 28, 1973; 50 years ago (1973-04-28)
Route map Legend Gun Hill Road IRT White Plains Road Line 210th Street–Williamsbridge 204th Street 200th Street Fordham Road–190th Street 183rd Street 180th Street Tremont Avenue–177th Street (Bronx Borough Hall) 174th Street Claremont Parkway 169th Street 166th Street 161st Street 156th Street 149th Street IRT White Plains Road Line

When the

In 2020, the MTA used a hypothetical 8 designation as an express service on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line in a simulation of proposed infrastructure improvements to reduce the impact of the bottleneck that is Nostrand Avenue Junction as part of the IRT Capacity Study. As part of the hybrid operating plan, 3 and 5 trains would switch termini in Brooklyn, though the 5 would run express on the IRT Eastern Parkway Line to Crown Heights–Utica Avenue. This change would eliminate the need for 5 trains from the Eastern Parkway Line express tracks to merge onto the local tracks to go to or from the Nostrand Avenue Line, allowing for reduced congestion and increased service. To cover local service between Franklin Avenue and Utica Avenue, a new service, the 8, would be operated, running between Wakefield–241st Street in the Bronx and New Lots Avenue in Brooklyn, with a headway of ten minutes during the peak. The study recommended the infrastructure be built that would allow for the service's creation, including the installation of new crossovers north of Utica Avenue, but did not explicitly propose the new service.^[4]

The MTA's 20-year needs assessment in 2023 further studied the recommended service changes for the Nostrand Avenue Junction, including the creation of an 8 service, and concluded that their implementation would yield "significant benefits."^[5]

See also

• BMT
  service that operated in tandem with this service until 1949
• Unused New York City Subway service labels

References

• "New Astoria Line Opened". The New York Times. February 2, 1917. p. 14.
• "Subway Link over Queensboro Bridge". The New York Times. July 22, 1917. p. 31.
• "Additional Subway Service to Borough of Queens". The New York Times. April 8, 1923. p. RE1.
• "Fifth Av. Station of Subway Opened". The New York Times. March 23, 1926. p. 29.
• "New Queens Subway Opened to Times Sq". The New York Times. March 15, 1927. p. 1.
• "Direct Subway Runs to Flushing, Astoria". The New York Times. October 15, 1949. p. 17.
• "Third Ave. El Reaches the End of Its Long, Blighted, Nostalgic Line". The New York Times. April 29, 1973. p. 24.