IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line

IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line
Borough Hall (Brooklyn branch)
Stations	44
Service
Type	Rapid transit
System	New York City Subway
Operator(s)	New York City Transit Authority
Daily ridership	621,064 (2022, weekday)[a]
History
Opened	1904–1919
Technical
Number of tracks	1–4
Character	Underground (Brooklyn and most of Manhattan) Elevated (125th Street and North of Inwood)
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Electrification	625V DC third rail
Route map Legend Van Cortlandt Park–242nd Street 240th Street Yard 238th Street 231st Street Marble Hill–225th Street Metro-North Hudson Line Harlem River via Broadway Bridge 215th Street 207th Street Yard 207th Street Dyckman Street 191st Street 181st Street Eighth Avenue Line 168th Street 157th Street 145th Street 137th Street Yard 137th Street–City College 125th Street 116th Street–Columbia University Cathedral Parkway–110th Street 103rd Street Lenox Avenue Line 96th Street 91st Street (closed 1959) 86th Street 79th Street 72nd Street 66th Street–Lincoln Center Eighth Avenue Line 59th Street–Columbus Circle Sixth Avenue Line 53rd Street Line 50th Street (Broadway Line) 42nd Street Shuttle Flushing Line Times Square–42nd Street 34th Street–Penn Station Penn Station (Northeast Corridor ) 28th Street 23rd Street 18th Street 14th Street Canarsie Line Sixth Avenue Line Eighth Avenue Line Christopher Street–Sheridan Square Houston Street Canal Street Franklin Street Chambers Street Chambers Street Park Place World Trade Center Broadway Line Lexington Avenue Line Nassau Street Line WTC Cortlandt Rector Street Eighth Avenue Line Fulton Street Wall Street South Ferry loops South Ferry (Staten Island) South Ferry (closed 2017) Clark Street Tunnel under the East River Clark Street Borough Hall Eastern Parkway Line Legend Express station Local station Closed station This diagram: view talk edit

The IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line (also known as the IRT Seventh Avenue Line or the IRT West Side Line) is a

Also known as the IRT West Side Line,

Train services that use the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line are colored red on subway signage and literature.[9] The line is served by the 1, ​2, and ​3 trains, which operate together over much of the line. Between 1989 and 2005, the 1 train operated as a skip-stop service in Upper Manhattan in tandem with the 9. The 1 and 9 alternated skipping stops along the line, with some stops having both trains stop. This was intended to speed commutes without having to have express service run down the line. This service was discontinued after May 27, 2005; from 1994 onward, this skip-stop separation existed only during rush hours.^[10][11]

A third track along much of the line north of

Where the Brooklyn Branch ends at its southern end is unclear. In a 1981 list of "most deteriorated subway stations", the MTA listed Borough Hall and Clark Street stations as part of the IRT New Lots Line.^[14] However, as of 2007, emergency exit signs label Borough Hall as an IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line station, and the two parts of Borough Hall are signed as being along the Broadway–Seventh Avenue and IRT Eastern Parkway Lines. At Borough Hall, the chaining designations, "K" (Clark Street Tunnel) and "M" (Joralemon Street Tunnel), which are used to precisely specify locations in the system, join and become "E" (Eastern Parkway Line) at Borough Hall.^[13]

Clark Street Tunnel

The Clark Street Tunnel carries the 2 and ​3 trains under the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. It was opened for revenue service on Tuesday, April 15, 1919, relieving crowding on the Joralemon Street Tunnel and providing passengers with a direct route between Brooklyn and the west side of Manhattan.^[15][16] It is about 5,900 feet (1,800 m) long, with about 3,100 feet (940 m) underwater.^[17]

Booth & Flinn Ltd. and the O'Rourke Engineering Construction Company received a $6.47 million contract in July 1914 to build a tunnel between Old Slip in Manhattan and Clark Street in Brooklyn.

On December 28, 1990, an electrical fire in the Clark Street Tunnel trapped passengers on a subway train for over half an hour. The fire killed two people and injured 149 others.[26]

History

Contracts 1 and 2

Operation of the

Once the line was extended to 225th Street on January 14, 1907, the 221st Street platforms were dismantled and moved to 230th Street for a new temporary terminus.

The Dual Contracts, which were signed on March 19, 1913, were contracts for the construction and/or rehabilitation and operation of rapid transit lines in the City of New York. The contracts were "dual" in that they were signed between the City and two separate private companies (the Interborough Rapid Transit Company and the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company), all working together to make the construction of the Dual Contracts possible. The Dual Contracts promised the construction of several lines in Brooklyn. As part of Contract 3, the IRT agreed to build a branch of the original subway line south down Seventh Avenue, Varick Street, and West Broadway to serve the West Side of Manhattan.^[44][45][46]

The construction of this line, in conjunction with the construction of the Lexington Avenue Line, would change the operations of the IRT system. Instead of having trains go via Broadway, turning onto 42nd Street, before finally turning onto Park Avenue, there would be two trunk lines connected by the 42nd Street Shuttle. The system would be changed from looking like a "Z" system on a map to an "H" system. One trunk would run via the new Lexington Avenue Line down Park Avenue, and the other trunk would run via the new Seventh Avenue Line up Broadway. In order for the line to continue down Varick Street and West Broadway, these streets needed to be widened, and two new streets were built, the Seventh Avenue Extension and the Varick Street Extension.^[17] It was predicted that the subway extension would lead to the growth of the Lower West Side, and to neighborhoods such as Chelsea and Greenwich Village.^[47][48]

Originally, there were to be no express stops between 34th Street–Penn Station to the north and Chambers Street to the south. By late 1912, local merchants were advocating for the construction of an express station at 14th Street and Seventh Avenue.^[49]

Construction started on the extension in 1914. To allow for the extension of the line south from Times Square, the entire western wall of the subway between 43rd Street and 44th Street was removed, all while service continued uninterrupted. The line was mostly built in an open-cut, excluding the segments within the limits of Battery Park, the widened portions of Varick Street, and the new Varick and Seventh Avenue Extensions. Filled in ground was found south of Varick Street along Greenwich Street, which approximately marked the old shore line of the Hudson River during the time of the American Revolution. Many buildings had to be underpinned during the construction of the line, especially those on the lower sections through Greenwich Street.^[17]

South of Chambers Street, there were to be two branches constructed. The first of the two would run to the Battery via Greenwich Street, while the second branch would turn eastward under Park Place and Beekman Street and down William Street and Old Slip. After going through Lower Manhattan, the second branch would go through a tunnel under the East River before running under Clark and Fulton Streets until a junction at Borough Hall with the existing Contract 2 IRT Brooklyn Line.^[47][48] In order to pass under the Broadway and Park Row subway lines, this branch has grades as steep as 3%, being located 60 feet (18 m) below surface level. As a result, the Park Place station was built with escalators. Because William Street is so narrow (40 feet (12 m) wide), every building along the line had to be underpinned. The entire line, consisting of eight sections, was expected to cost $14,793,419.^[17]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 1915 Seventh Avenue subway collapse.

On September 22, 1915, there was an explosion during construction of the

The local tracks ran to South Ferry, while the express tracks used the Brooklyn branch to Wall Street, extended to Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn via the Clark Street Tunnel on April 15, 1919.

During the early 1950s, it was considered to convert the Columbus Circle station from a local stop to an express stop in order to serve the anticipated rise of ridership at the stop resulting from the proposed New York Coliseum and the expected redevelopment of the area.^[6] In 1955, the firm Edwards, Kelcey and Beck was hired as Consulting Engineers for the construction of the express station.^[63]

Under a $100 million rebuilding program, increased and lengthened service was implemented during peak hours on the 1 train. To the north of 96th Street, delays occurred as some trains from the Lenox Avenue Line switched from the express to the local tracks, while some trains from the Broadway Branch switched from the local to the express tracks. This bottleneck was removed on February 6, 1959. All Broadway trains became locals, and all Lenox Avenue trains became expresses, eliminating the need to switch tracks. All 3 trains began to run express south of 96th Street on that date running to Brooklyn. 1 trains began to run between 242nd Street and South Ferry at all times. Trains began to be branded as Hi-Speed Locals, being as fast as the old express service was, with 8-car trains consisting of new R21 and R22 subway cars from the St. Louis Car Company.^[64][65] During rush hour in the peak direction, alternate trains, those running from 242nd Street, made no stops except 168th Street between Dyckman and 137th Streets in the direction of heavy traffic. The bypassed stations were served by locals originating from Dyckman Street.^[66]

The improved service could not be implemented until the platform extensions at all stations on the line were completed. The original IRT stations north of Times Square could barely fit five or six car locals based on whether the trains had one or two ends with cars that had manually operated doors. In 1958, the platform extensions at the local stations were nearly completed, but there were more problems with the platform extensions at the two express stations, 72nd Street and 96th Street. To make room for the platform extension at 72nd Street, the track layout was changed. However, in order to fit the platform extension at 96th Street, the local tracks and the outside walls had to be moved. A new mezzanine with stairways to the street was built between West 93rd Street and West 94th Street. Since the

In 1986, the NYCTA launched a study to determine whether to close 79 stations on 11 routes, including the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line north of 215th Street, due to low ridership and high repair costs.[72]^[73] Numerous figures, including New York City Council member Carol Greitzer, criticized the plans.^[73][74]

On August 21, 1989, the 1/

In June 2002, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) announced that ten subway stations citywide, including 103rd Street, 110th Street, 116th Street, 125th Street, and 231st Street on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line, would receive renovations. As part of the project, fare control areas would be redesigned, flooring, and electrical and communication systems would be upgraded, and new lighting, public address systems and stairways would be installed. In addition, since 110th Street, 116th Street, and 125th Street had landmark status, historical elements would be replaced or restored, including their white wall tiles. At the ends of the station platforms at 103rd Street, 110th Street, and 116th Street, a small section of station wall, which would look identical to the existing station walls, would be added to provide space for scrubber rooms.^[80][81] Work on the ten citywide renovation projects was estimated to cost almost $146 million, and was scheduled to start later that year, and be completed in April 2004, in time for the 100th anniversary of the station's opening, and the 250th anniversary of Columbia University.^[82][83]

Columbia University agreed to contribute $1 million to the renovation of the 103rd Street station following its announcement in April that it would purchase a building adjacent to that station. In September 2002, the university was in negotiations to provide funding for the renovation of the 110th Street station. As a condition of the funding allocation for the station renovation at 103rd Street, the university wanted work on the project to be expedited. Residents of Morningside Heights approved of the renovations plans, but were concerned that the expedited repairs would come at the cost of damaging the stations' historic elements. Block associations near the 103rd Street station contracted a firm to develop a plan to renovate the station quickly while maintaining its historic elements. A similar plan was already completed for the 110th Street station. The MTA was expected to decide whether preservation or speed would be prioritized in the station renovation projects by the end of the year.^[80]

The design of the station renovations at the 110th Street and 116th Street was met with controversy as local community activists believed that the plan to include artwork from the MTA's

Columbia University contributed $1 million to the station renovation project at 116th Street after the MTA said it would have to put off the renovation projects in Manhattan due to funding issues. Columbia also provided funding to cover a portion of the cost of renovating the 125th Street station, and funded the substitution of the station's aluminum vents with glass windows to reflect the station's original design. Due to concerns expressed by community groups, the addition of art to the 110th Street and 116th Street stations was dropped.[83]^[84] From May 31 to July 12, 2003, the uptown platforms at 116th Street station and 103rd Street were closed at all times for their renovations.^[85] The station renovation project at 116th Street began in January 2003.^[80] Between October 5 and November 17, 2003, the downtown platforms at 110th Street and 125th Street were closed to expedite work on their renovations.^[86]

Wikinews has related news:

• New York City Subway's skip-stop 9 service to make its last run May 27

On May 27, 2005, the 9 train was discontinued and all 1 trains began to make all stops.

1 service was affected by Hurricane Sandy in October 2012, following serious flood damage at South Ferry. Rector Street served as a temporary terminal until April 4, 2013,^[93][94] when the 1 returned to the reopened old loop station.^[95][96][97] Hurricane Sandy also damaged the Clark Street Tubes, necessitating a full closure on weekends from June 27, 2017, to June 24, 2018, thus affecting 2, 3, 4, and 5 service. In addition, as a result of the closure for repairs of the Clark Street Tubes, the stations on the Brooklyn Branch of the line (Park Place to Borough Hall, as well as Hoyt Street on the Eastern Parkway Line) saw closures on weekends as well (2 trains continued to operate to Brooklyn on weekdays and weekday late nights as did 3 trains on weekdays except late nights).^[98] The new South Ferry station reopened on June 27, 2017, in time to accommodate the Clark Street closures.^[99][100] Throughout the duration of the Clark Street tunnel closures, a free out-of-system MetroCard transfer was provided between South Ferry (where 2 trains were rerouted from 11:45pm Fridays to 5:00am Mondays), and Bowling Green (where 4 and 5 trains ran local in Brooklyn in place of the 2 and 3 trains during those same times).^[101] Normal service on the Brooklyn Branch resumed on June 25, 2018.^[102] The Cortlandt Street station reopened on September 8, 2018.^[103]

Extent and service

The following services use part or all of the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line,^[104] whose services' bullets are colored red:^[9]

Route	Time period	Section of line
		Between 96 St	Between 96 St and 42 St	Between 42 St and Chambers St	Between Chambers St and Borough Hall	Between Chambers St and South Ferry
	All times	local			no service	local
	All times except late nights	no service	express			no service
	Late nights	no service	local			no service
	All times except late nights	no service	express			no service
	Late nights	no service	express	no service

Station listing

Station service legend
	Stops all times
	Stops all times except late nights
	Stops late nights only
	Stops weekdays during the day
	Stops rush hours only
	Stops rush hours in the peak direction only
Time period details
	Station is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act
↑	Station is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act in the indicated direction only
↓
	Elevator access to mezzanine only

Neighborhood (approximate)		Station	Tracks	Services	Opened	Transfers and notes
The Bronx
Riverdale		Van Cortlandt Park–242nd Street		1	August 1, 1908[38]
Center Express track begins (no regular service)
Connecting Tracks to 240th Street Yard
Kingsbridge and Riverdale		238th Street	local	1	August 1, 1908[38]
		231st Street	local	1	August 1, 1908[38]
Manhattan
Marble Hill		Marble Hill–225th Street	local	1	January 14, 1907[33]	Connection to Metro-North Railroad (Hudson Line) at Marble Hill
Broadway Bridge
Inwood		221st Street	local		March 12, 1906[32]	Closed January 14, 1907
		215th Street	local	1	March 12, 1906[32]
	Connecting Track to 207th Street Yard
		207th Street	local	1	April 1, 1907[33][36]	Bx12 Select Bus Service
	Center Express track ends
		Dyckman Street		1	March 12, 1906[32]
Washington Heights		191st Street		1	January 14, 1911[41]
		181st Street		1	May 30, 1906[35]
		168th Street		1	April 14, 1906[34]	IND Eighth Avenue Line (A  ​C )
		157th Street		1	November 12, 1904[105]	Bx6 Select Bus Service
Center Express track begins (No Regular Service)
Harlem		145th Street	local	1	October 27, 1904[28]
	137th Street Yard tracks surround Main Line
		137th Street–City College	local	1	October 27, 1904[28]
		125th Street	local	1	October 27, 1904[28]
Morningside Heights		116th Street–Columbia University	local	1	October 27, 1904[28]	M60 Select Bus Service to LaGuardia Airport
		Cathedral Parkway–110th Street	local	1	October 27, 1904[28]
Upper West Side		103rd Street	local	1	October 27, 1904[28]
	Center Express track ends
	IRT Lenox Avenue Line joins as the express tracks (2  ​3 )
		96th Street	all	1  ​2  ​3	October 27, 1904[28]
		91st Street	local		October 27, 1904[28]	Closed February 2, 1959
		86th Street	local	1  ​2	October 27, 1904[28]	M86 Select Bus Service
		79th Street	local	1  ​2	October 27, 1904[28]	M79 Select Bus Service
		72nd Street	all	1  ​2  ​3	October 27, 1904[28]
		66th Street–Lincoln Center	local	1  ​2	October 27, 1904[28]
Midtown		59th Street–Columbus Circle	local	1  ​2	October 27, 1904[28]	IND Eighth Avenue Line (A  ​B  ​C  ​D )
		50th Street	local	1  ​2	October 27, 1904[28]
	merge on northbound local track to IRT 42nd Street Line (no regular service)
		Times Square–42nd Street	all	1  ​2  ​3	June 3, 1917[51]	<F> ​M ) at 42nd Street–Bryant Park, daytime only Port Authority Bus Terminal
		34th Street–Penn Station	all	1  ​2  ​3	June 3, 1917[51]	Connection to M34 / M34A Select Bus Service
Chelsea		28th Street	local	1  ​2	July 1, 1918[54]
		23rd Street	local	1  ​2	July 1, 1918[54]	M23 Select Bus Service
		18th Street	local	1  ​2	July 1, 1918[54]
		14th Street	all	1  ​2  ​3	July 1, 1918[54]	Out-of-system transfers with PATH at 14th Street M14A / M14D Select Bus Service
Greenwich Village		Christopher Street–Sheridan Square	local	1  ​2	July 1, 1918[54]
		Houston Street	local	1  ​2	July 1, 1918[54]
TriBeCa		Canal Street	local	1  ​2	July 1, 1918[54]
		Franklin Street	local	1  ​2	July 1, 1918[54]
Financial District		Chambers Street	all	1  ​2  ​3	July 1, 1918[54]
	Express tracks split to Brooklyn Branch (2  ​3 ); Local tracks continue as Main line (1 )
		WTC Cortlandt	local	1	July 1, 1918[54]	Closed from September 11, 2001, to September 8, 2018, due to damage sustained in the September 11 attacks Connection to PATH at World Trade Center
		Rector Street	local	1	July 1, 1918[54]
	Split between Main line and Outer loop at South Ferry
		South Ferry (Loop Platform)	outer loop		July 1, 1918[54]	Closed on March 16, 2009, with the opening of the new terminal Reopened on April 4, 2013, as temporary terminal; closed again on June 27, 2017
		South Ferry (New Platform)	local	1	March 16, 2009[88]	Closed November 2012 due to damage caused by Hurricane Sandy; reopened on June 27, 2017 M15 Select Bus Service Staten Island Ferry at South Ferry
Main line terminates (1 )
Brooklyn Branch (2  ​3 )
Financial District		Park Place	express	2  ​3	July 1, 1918[54]	PATH at World Trade Center
		Fulton Street	express	2  ​3	July 1, 1918[54]	PATH at World Trade Center
		Wall Street	express	2  ​3	July 1, 1918[54]
Brooklyn
Clark Street Tunnel
Brooklyn Heights		Clark Street	express	2  ​3	April 15, 1919[57]
Downtown Brooklyn		Borough Hall	express	2  ​3	April 15, 1919[57]	IRT Eastern Parkway Line (4  ​5 ) BMT Fourth Avenue Line (N  R  ​W ) at Court Street
becomes the local tracks of the IRT Eastern Parkway Line (2  ​3 )

Notes

References

External links

KML file (edit • help)

Template:Attached KML/IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line

KML is from Wikidata

Wikimedia Commons has media related to IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line.

• nycsubway.org — IRT West Side Line