Proposed expansion of the New York City Subway

In 2017, a further extension of the 7 train to New Jersey was suggested once again, this time as an alternative to constructing a replacement for the Port Authority Bus Terminal.[21] An alternative would include a new terminal at Secaucus Junction in conjunction with the 7 extension.^[22] In February 2018, it was revealed that the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey had advertised for consultants to write a feasibility study for such an extension, and that it had received bids from several companies. This extension was being planned along with the Gateway Project and, if built, would be able to accommodate a projected 38% increase in the number of people commuting between the two states. The 18-month study would include input from the Port Authority, the MTA, and NJ Transit.^[23] If the New Jersey subway extension were to be constructed, it could complement the Gateway Project, which might become overcrowded by 2040.^[24][25]

1929–1939 plans

Before unification in 1940, the government of New York City made plans for expanding the subway system, under a plan referred to in contemporary newspaper articles as the IND Second System (due to the fact that most of the expansion was to include new IND lines, as opposed to BMT/IRT lines). The first one, conceived in 1929, was to be part of the city-operated Independent Subway System (IND). By 1939, with unification planned, all three systems were included. Very few of these far-reaching lines were built, though provisions were made for future expansion on lines that intersect the proposals.^[26]

The core Manhattan lines of the expansion were the

The first plan was made on September 15, 1929 (before the IND even opened), and is detailed in the table below.[26] Cost is only for construction, and does not include land acquisition or other items.^[27]

Other plans during the same time

Revised 1932 plan

The IND expansion plan was revised in 1932. It differs from the 1929 plan, but there are 60.93 route‑miles (98.06 km), of which 12.49 miles (20.10 km) are in Manhattan, 12.09 miles (19.46 km) in the Bronx, 13.14 miles (21.15 km) in Brooklyn, and 23.21 miles (37.35 km) in Queens. It would include a new

The plan would also take over the local tracks of the New York, Westchester and Boston Railway, and the Rockaway Beach Branch of the Long Island Rail Road.^[28]

The table of route miles is as follows:^[28]

Smaller plans

Other plans, proposed during the same time as the IND Second System plans, included the following:

• (1931 plan) A line splitting from the Second Avenue Line north of Houston Street, running southeast under East 16th St, turning southwest under Avenue C, merging with the Houston Street Line, and crossing the East River from Stanton Street towards the huge line under South Fourth Street.
• (1931 plan) A line splitting from the Crosstown Line where it turns from Lafayette Avenue to Marcy Avenue, continuing under Lafayette Avenue and Stanhope Street to a junction with the line under Myrtle Avenue.
• (1932 plan) A rapid transit shuttle operating from a terminal adjacent to the
  Whitestone Landing operating over the Long Island Rail Road's Whitestone Branch. The line would have been under private operation and would have had a 5 cent fare.^[29]
• (1939 plan) A line splitting from the South Brooklyn (Culver) Line at
  Westervelt Avenue around Hamilton Avenue, and the south branch ending at Grant Street around St. Pauls Street. It was presumably designed this way to provide future service to both the Main Line and North Shore Staten Island Railway lines.^[30][31] The Staten Island Tunnel commenced construction in 1923 to serve the BMT Fourth Avenue Line, but was not completed.^[32][33]
• (1940 plan, revised 1945) The IND Fulton Street Line would connect to what is now the IND Rockaway Line. A branch of the IND Fulton Street Line would run to a stub-end terminal at 105th Street. The line, east of Euclid Avenue, would be 4 tracks until Cross Bay Boulevard, where the two branches would split.^[34]
• (unknown date) A third 2-track tunnel under the East River, from the north side of the South Fourth Street/Union Avenue station (as built for six tracks) west to Delancey Street.
• (unknown date) A line splitting from the Stuyvesant Avenue line, going southeast under Broadway.
• (unknown date) A line under Flushing Avenue from the huge line under Beaver Street to Horace Harding Boulevard (Long Island Expressway).
• (unknown date) A 4 track subway under Bedford Ave in Brooklyn connecting to the Worth St Subway and 2nd Ave Subway.

An earlier plan in 1920 had an even more expansive plan, with several dozen subway lines going across all five boroughs.^[35]

Provisions for new lines

The following provisions were made for connections and transfers to the new lines. It is of note that only four of these provisions were completed.

• At
  IND Second Avenue Line
  . The future Second Avenue Line will not utilize this provision; it will instead be built under the station, if a transfer station is ever built.
• At
  mezzanine
  , with a small unused section blocked by a door.
• At
  Broadway on the IND Crosstown Line
  , traces of passageways are visible going towards a six-track station on the line to Utica Avenue, as well as a stair to an upper mezzanine on top of the unfinished station.
• At
  Utica Avenue on the IND Fulton Street Line, a four-track station above can be seen in the ceiling of the existing station. This portion of the Utica Avenue Line was built with the construction of the Fulton Street Line. Ramps were built from the mezzanine to the platforms because the normal vertical distance of ten feet from the mezzanine floor to the platforms was increased to 25 feet in anticipation of the Utica Avenue Line. The existing mezzanine passes over the unused space.^[36][37]
• At
  Roosevelt Avenue on the IND Queens Boulevard Line
  , a two-track upper level was built for the Winfield Spur towards the line to the Rockaways. Unlike the other stations, this one was completed, except for track.
• median. This section was widened in the 1930s to accommodate construction of the proposed eastern terminus of the IND Queens Boulevard Line at Springfield Boulevard and Rocky Hill Road (Braddock Avenue) and to accommodate an underpass for Hillside Avenue underneath Springfield Boulevard and Braddock Avenue.^[38][39][40] Six station entrances would have been provided at Springfield Boulevard and Braddock Avenue. The station would have stretched as far east as 88th Avenue. The two tracks would have continued to 229th Street.^[41]
• The center tracks on the IND Sixth Avenue Line dead end at the curve from Houston Street to Essex Street; these were planned to continue through a new East River tunnel to Williamsburg and south to the proposed Utica Avenue line towards Sheepshead Bay.
• The tracks that the
  IND 63rd Street Line uses to split from the IND Sixth Avenue Line were built for a similar proposed line under 61st Street, connecting to the Second Avenue Subway
  .
• The
  Lexington Avenue–63rd Street subway station has two island platforms, which were originally built with now-demolished walls on their northern sides. The platforms were designed to provide a cross-platform interchange
  to the Second Avenue Subway.
• The upper level relay tracks east of
  Floral Park, and the tunnel is designed to allow for such a future extension.^[42]
  ^: 123
• The relay tracks east of
  Euclid Avenue on the IND Fulton Street Line were intended to continue toward Cambria Heights
  in Queens.
• The
  Nevins Street station on the IRT Eastern Parkway Line
  has an unused center trackway and an unused lower level intended for expansion into northern or southern Brooklyn.
• South of the
  36th Street station on the BMT Fourth Avenue Line, there are three trackways that diverge from the line at a flying junction
  . These trackways end under the eastern curb of Fourth Avenue.
• The BMT Fourth Avenue Line has provisions for two more tracks south of 59th Street, where the line becomes double-tracked:
  1. There are four trackways on the BMT Fourth Avenue Line bridge over the LIRR Bay Ridge Branch despite the fact that only the northernmost two tracks are in use.
  2. The
     86th Street station on the BMT Fourth Avenue Line appears to have "escapes" in the wall bricked over along the Manhattan-bound track, for the never-built fourth tracks.^[9]
  3. The northbound
     77th Street
     do not have platform pillars because the platforms were supposed to be temporary; the southbound platforms do have pillars, however.
• Woodhaven Boulevard
  :
  1. East of
     IND 63rd Street Line connects to the IND Queens Boulevard Line, the tracks veer left while the tunnel wall goes straight. The bellmouths were part of a proposed super-express bypass running under the LIRR mainline between Queens Boulevard and Forest Hills. This plan was not in the original Second System plan, but rather, as part of the Program for Action plan that had the tracks from 21st Street–Queensbridge go straight to Forest Hills.^[43]
  2. There are bellmouths and space for two additional trackways (for a total of six) on the BMT Fourth Avenue Line south of
     59th Street. These provisions were for the Staten Island Tunnel, which would have intersected with the line south of 59th Street.^[9]
  3. East of
     63rd Drive–Rego Park on the IND Queens Boulevard Line, bellmouths were built for a proposed connection to the LIRR's Rockaway Beach Branch
     . They may be used if the Rockaway Beach Branch were ever reused for subway service.
  4. A line to the Rockaways would have split from the
     World Trade Center. The branch to the Rockaways was completed and connected to the IND Fulton Street Line
     in 1956.
• Two bellmouths have since been completed, but were previously unused.
  1. The completed
     <F> train uses to cross the East River
     , was designed and built with bellmouths to allow for the construction of connections to the planned Second Avenue Subway for service to/from the north and south along Second Avenue. These bellmouths were completed and opened in 2017.
  2. A junction was built on the IND Queens Boulevard Line for the line under Van Wyck Boulevard. The junction was completed and has been connected to the
     IND Archer Avenue Line
     .

Another plan for the South Fourth Street shell was simpler (and was the plan that was partially completed):

The Utica Avenue station shell, if complete, would be in the standard local-express-express-local platform configuration.

The

After World War II and up until the late 1990s, the New York City Subway did not expand much. Only 28 stations opened in that time, compared to the remaining 393 stations, which opened from the 1880s to before World War II. As such, there have been many plans to expand the system during this time period.

1938–1940

The New York City Board of Transportation revised its plans for subway expansion, and released them in 1938 and 1940.

• The remnant of the
  Anderson–Jerome Avenues tunnel section to accommodate new subway cars.^[9]
• The New York, Westchester and Boston Railway's abandoned right-of-way would have been rehabilitated and connected to the IRT Pelham Line.^[9]
• The
  Gun Hill Road from 205th Street.^[9]
• The
  Court Street station in Brooklyn as a two-track and four-track line.^[9] A yard would have been constructed to store the line's equipment.^[46]: 703 The first phase would end the line at East 139th Street. The Main Line and its connections to other subway lines was to have cost $213.95 million, while the future Bronx extension would have cost $130.16 million.^[47]
  ^: 212
• An extension of the IRT Lenox Avenue Line would have been built so it could connect with the IRT Ninth Avenue Line.^[48]
• Two express tracks would be built on the IND Sixth Avenue Line between West 9th Street and West 31st Street for $19.27 million. This was viewed as a requirement for a Second Avenue Line.^[49]: 371
• The Seventh Avenue Line Extension would extend the Broadway Line north from 59th Street via a tunnel under Central Park to 72nd Street, before turning east into Queens via Northern Boulevard to Jackson Heights. It was to have been built as a two-track and four-track line, and it would have cost $89 million. The second phase would extend the line as a two-track line along Corona Avenue and Horace Harding Boulevard from Jackson Heights to Marathon Parkway. A storage yard would be built. This phase would have cost $51.82 million. A connection between the new line and the Crosstown Line was to have been built at 23rd Street (Ely Avenue) for $10.95 million.^{[48][49]: 371}
• A connection between the Seventh Avenue Extension and the Rockaway Line would be built at 99th Street, costing $9.2 million.^[49]: 371The Rockaway Beach Branch of the LIRR would be purchased and converted for subway operation. Service to the Rockaway would be provided through a connection to the IND Queens Boulevard Line. The extension would have cost $42.38 million. In addition, $2.55 million would be spent on a two-track subway an open-cut connection between the Rockaway Line and the Fulton Street Line.^[47]: 213 Only the portion south of Liberty Avenue was completed.^[9]
• An extension of the
  57th Street–Seventh Avenue to 145th Street, would run via Central Park and Morningside Drive.^[9]
• A crosstown line via Worth Street would serve as a branch of the IND Eighth Avenue Line's local tracks. The line would have branched off at Church Street, from where it would run via Worth Street and East Broadway to Lewis Street. This two-tracks segment would have cost $15.2 million.^[49]: 371 The line would then tunnel under the East River between Lewis Street to Driggs Avenue. This section would have cost $18.5 million.^[49]: 372 The South Fourth Street junction would be completed.^[9]
• The IND Queens Boulevard Line and BMT Broadway Line would be connected through the construction of a
  Queens Plaza and the BMT 60th Street Tunnel.^[9]
• The IND Queens Boulevard Line would be extended from
  178th to 184th Streets.^[48]
• The IRT Flushing Line would be extended from Main Street to Bell Boulevard, as a two-track and a four-track line, along Roosevelt Avenue. The line would be constructed in a tunnel, embankment, and an open cut, costing $12.07 million. An additional extension would be constructed to College Point, running along 149th Street and 11th Avenue as an elevated line from Roosevelt Avenue to 122nd Street, costing $14.1 million.^{[9][49]: 371}
• Subway service would be extended eastward along Hillside Avenue to Little Neck Parkway. The line would be an extension of the IND Queens Boulevard Line as a four-track line to 212th Street, and then as a 2-track line to its terminus at Little Neck Parkway.^{[9][49]: 371} The segment to 184th Street was to have cost $3.455 million, while the segment to 212th Street was to have cost $16.355 million.^[50]
• The provision at
  Van Wyck Boulevard for a future line would be completed, and a new two-track line would be built to Rockaway Boulevard.^[9]
• The
  Cross Bay Boulevard.^[34] In May 2004, this idea resurfaced, with an attached track map drawn up.^[52] If the line were ever built, Pitkin Avenue would have been routed to the east rather than to the southeast at 80th Street, and Linden Boulevard
  between Conduit and Rockaway Boulevards would have been built to facilitate the line.
• A new IND line would run from the Lower East Side to Avenue U in Brooklyn, with a possible extension to Floyd Bennett Field.^[48] The new line would run via Houston Street and Essex Street in Manhattan, and via Utica Avenue and Flatbush Avenue.^[9]
• Service on the IRT Nostrand Avenue Line would be extended down Nostrand Avenue to Voorhies Avenue in Sheepshead Bay as a two-track line. The extension would be constructed as a subway until Avenue T, where it would emerge as an elevated line to Voorhies Avenue.^[9] It would have cost $22.7 million.^[49]: 372
• The IND would be extended to South Brooklyn with a connection at Cortelyou Road between its
  Culver Line. This was the only completed Brooklyn proposal.^[9]
• Dyker Heights would get service with the construction of a branch of the
  BMT Culver Line via 37th Street, Fort Hamilton Parkway and 10th Avenue to 86th Street. In the vicinity of Fort Hamilton Parkway, a connection would be constructed between the BMT West End Line and the IND South Brooklyn Line.^[9] Extension work was approved sometime before 1940, and plans were drawn up.^[53]
• A connection between the BMT Franklin Avenue Line and the IND Crosstown Line would be built through the construction of a line under Lafayette Avenue.^[9]
• Subway service would be provided to
  Tompkinsville.^[9]

In 1942, Mayor Benjamin F. Barnes of Yonkers proposed that the Getty Square Branch of the New York Central's Putnam Division be acquired for an extension of the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line from Van Cortlandt Park. This service would replace the service operated by the New York Central, which was slated to be discontinued by the New York Central.[54]

A rail link to

In 1946, the Board of Transportation issued a $1 billion plan that would extend the subway to the farthest reaches of the outer boroughs.[57]^[58]

• A branch of the BMT Fourth Avenue Line at 59th Street under the Narrows to Saint Nicholas Street and Grent Street in Staten Island.
• A branch of the IND Fulton Street Line running via Utica Avenue to Avenue U.
• An extension of the IRT Nostrand Avenue Line from Flatbush Avenue to Voohries Avenue.
• A line branching off of the IND Crosstown Line running via Franklin Avenue connecting with the BMT Brighton Line. This would have replaced the BMT Franklin Avenue Line.
• The extension of the IND Fulton Street Line to Euclid Avenue would continue to be built, and would be extended to 229th Street and Linden Boulevard.
• The completion of the Culver Ramp, connecting the IND Culver Line with the BMT Culver Line.
• A branch of the IND Culver Line running via Tenth Avenue and Fort Hamilton Parkway to 86th Street, with a connection to the BMT West End Line. West End service would run via the Culver Line and would alleviate congestion at DeKalb Avenue Junction. In order to provide access to the BMT Fourth Avenue Line, the Culver Shuttle would be extended to 36th Street.

Even though the Board of Transportation did not approve these ideas, they were still proposed.

• A line branching off of the IND Eighth Avenue Line running via Worth Street and East Broadway and running under the East River to Driggs Avenue.
• A new trunk line built along
  Court Street to the IND Fulton Street Line
  .
• Lines in Queens to the Rockaways, LaGuardia Airport, Idlewild Airport (now called JFK Airport), College Point, Bayside, Little Neck, Douglaston, Saint Albans and Bellerose.

In 1949, the Board of Transportation issued a $504 million plan to increase capacity on several subway lines through the construction of a new trunk line under Second Avenue.[59]

• The rebuilding of
  DeKalb Avenue that would remove the bottleneck and increase capacity by 18 tph.^[59]
• IND Sixth Avenue Line express tracks between West Fourth Street and 34th Street.^[59]
• A new subway line under 57th Street connecting the IND Sixth Avenue Line and the proposed Second Avenue trunk line.^[59]
• A four-track
  Broad Street. There would be a passageway built from Grand Central via 43rd Street to Second Avenue to permit transfers.^[59]
• The IRT Pelham Line would be rebuilt to accommodate the wider BMT-IND cars to operate via the Second Avenue Line. The connection would provide the Pelham Line with direct service to Sixth Avenue, Second Avenue and Brooklyn.
  Westchester Yard would have been expanded to accommodate the additional trains added to the line. Since trains to the Pelham Line would no longer use the Lexington Avenue Line, there would be additional capacity for trains to run via the IRT White Plains Road Line and the IRT Jerome Avenue Line. Improved service on the Pelham Line was projected to stimulate growth in the areas of the East Bronx served by the line. The East Bronx was seen to have great potential for industrial growth and other areas suitable for development as residential and recreational areas.^[59]
• An improved connection between the IRT Lexington Avenue Line and the IRT White Plains Road Line would be built using the tunnel under the Harlem River used by the IRT Pelham Line, and would allow for the full use of the capacity on the White Plains Road Line and the Jerome Avenue Line. Eight additional trains per hour would be added to the White Plains Road Line and fourteen additional trains per hour would be added to the Jerome Avenue Line. The additional service on the Jerome Avenue Line would make use of the third track for express service.[59]
• The Second Avenue Line trunk would be extended to 149th Street to allow for a transfer to the Third Avenue Elevated. This would permit the demolition of the Third Avenue Elevated south of 149th Street, which was seen as uneconomical to operate, ugly and a hindrance of the avenue below it.^[59]
• Connection of the IRT Dyre Avenue Line to the IRT White Plains Road Line. The direct service was predicted to stimulate growth along its route.^[59]
• Connections would be made to the BMT Nassau Street Line, the Williamsburg Bridge, and the Manhattan Bridge. The Sixth Avenue Line would also be connected to the Williamsburg and Manhattan Bridges. The connection between the Nassau Street Line and the Manhattan Bridge south tracks would be eliminated. This would allow for thirty additional trains to operate between Midtown Manhattan and Brooklyn.^[59]
• The lengthening of platforms on the BMT lines in Brooklyn would increase capacity and would allow 10-car trains from Second Avenue to run over any section of the BMT and IND.^[59]
• Increase in capacity on the
  Ditmas Avenue. The additional capacity would result from the fact that trains operating via the former BMT Culver Line would not run through DeKalb Avenue Junction.^[59]
• A
  Queens Plaza to the BMT 60th Street Tunnel that would increase capacity between Queens and Manhattan by 20 tph. This connection would permit the full use of the capacity of the Queens Boulevard local tracks.^[59]
• The construction of a ramp connecting the IND Fulton Street Line with the Fulton Street Elevated on Liberty Avenue. Six stations on the elevated would have their platforms extended to accommodate 10-car trains. This would make possible the demolition of the BMT Fulton Street Line between Grant Avenue and Rockaway Avenue and the demolition of the BMT Lexington Avenue Line.^[59]

1950–1951

On June 21, 1950, a plan was created by the Board of Transportation and sent to Mayor O'Dwyer concerning rapid transit expansions in Queens. The total cost of the plan would have been $134.5 million. Many things were planned:^[61]

• The rebuilding of
  DeKalb Avenue
  that would increase capacity by 18 tph.
• IND Sixth Avenue Line express tracks
• A four-track Second Avenue Subway between 149th Street, the Bronx, to Grand Street, Manhattan.
• Connections would be made to the BMT Nassau Street Line, the Williamsburg Bridge, and the Manhattan Bridge. The Sixth Avenue Line would also be connected to the Williamsburg and Manhattan Bridges.
• The Rockaway Beach Branch of the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) would be acquired by the City and an embankment would be created with two bridges for the right-of-way over Jamaica Bay. To provide a connection to the rest of the subway system, a track connection would be built to the IND Fulton Street Line.
• The Rockaway Beach Branch would run alongside the LIRR main line tracks as a super-express bypass. Once in Woodside, the line would go underground running under
  Sunnyside Yards and Long Island City to the East River
  . It would then go under the East River and 76th Street in Manhattan to the Second Avenue Line.
• The bypass would also have a connection to the LIRR's Port Washington Branch with subway service running to Bayside.
  • Connections to the
    Third Avenue–149th Street
    .

On September 13, 1951, the Board of Estimate approved a plan put forth by the New York Board of Transportation that would cost $500 million.^[62][63] Many things were planned:

• A six-track Second Avenue Subway between 149th Street, the Bronx, to Grand Street, Manhattan. This line would handle 68 trains per hour (tph) (34 tph on the express tracks and 34 tph on the local tracks).^[62]
  • The line would have a track connection to the
    Third Avenue–149th Street
    to permit a transfer to the Third Avenue Elevated in the Bronx. This would allow for the elimination of the Third Avenue Elevated south of 149th Street.
  • A tunnel to the
    57th Street
    .
  • A super-express bypass line to the LIRR Rockaway Beach Branch with a new tunnel under the East River.
    • A connection from the IND Queens Boulevard Line to the Rockaway Beach Branch and IND Rockaway Line.
• Various Bronx IRT projects:^[62]
  • Increase in capacity on the IRT Pelham Line.
  • Connection of the IRT Dyre Avenue Line to the IRT White Plains Road Line.
  • Increase in capacity on the IRT White Plains Road Line north of
    Gun Hill Road by 8 trains per hour. (At the time, the IRT Third Avenue Line
    still connected to the IRT White Plains Road Line at Gun Hill Road.)
  • Increase in capacity on the IRT Jerome Avenue Line by 9 trains per hour.
• The Chrystie Street Connection:^[62]
  • IND Sixth Avenue Line express tracks.
  • Myrtle Avenue
    station. This would increase capacity by 18 tph.
    • Increase in capacity on the BMT Fourth Avenue Line's local tracks by 4 tph.
    • Increase in capacity on the BMT Sea Beach Line by 9 tph.
    • Increase in capacity on the BMT West End Line by 5 tph.
  • Connection of the IND Second Avenue and IND Sixth Avenue Lines to the BMT Jamaica Line and to the Manhattan Bridge.
• Increase in capacity on the
  Ditmas Avenue.^[62]
• 60th Street Tunnel Connection.^[62]
• Extension of the IRT Nostrand Avenue Line to Voorhies Avenue.^[62]
• Construction of the IRT Utica Avenue Line from
  Crown Heights–Utica Avenue to Kings Plaza.^[62]

The Board of Estimate requested that the Board of Transportation evaluate a spur of the IRT Pelham Line to Throggs Neck in the Bronx.

1954

The Board of Estimate accepted the following items into its 1954 budget from the New York City Transit Authority:

• The elimination of the
  DeKalb Avenue bottleneck on the BMT.^[64]
• The construction of the Nostrand Avenue extension to Avenue U. It would have cost $51.7 million.^[64]
• The extension of the IND Fulton Street Line to the
  BMT Liberty Avenue Elevated.^[64]
• A start on the Second Avenue Subway in Chrystie Street.^[64]
• Adding express tracks to the IND Sixth Avenue Line.^[64]

In March 1954, the Transit Authority issued a $658 million construction program including the following projects:^[65]

• A Second Avenue trunk line, which would have allowed 34 more trains to midtown per hour.^[65]
• A tunnel at 76th Street that would connect to the Second Avenue Line that would run under the East River and connect with the existing Long Island Rail Road main line.^[65]
• An increase of service on the IRT White Plains Road Line by eight trains per hour due to the construction of the Second Avenue Line.^[65]
• The connection of the IRT White Plains Road Line and the IRT Dyre Avenue Line was nearing completion and would provide direct service to Manhattan and Brooklyn.^[65]
• Fourteen additional trains per hour would be able to operate on the IRT Jerome Avenue Line if the IRT Pelham Line was connected to the Second Avenue Subway. Service would have been tripled on the Pelham Line.^[65]
• The completion of the 60th Street Tunnel Connection, which was under construction, would increase service to Jamaica by fifteen trains per hour.^[65]
• The addition of two tracks to the IND Sixth Avenue Line would allow express service.^[65]
• The elimination of the DeKalb Avenue bottleneck on the BMT, which would allow eighteen more trains to be operated per hour.^[65]
• The construction of the Nostrand Avenue exension to Avenue U.^[65]
• The construction of the Chrystie Street Connection.^[65]
• The connection of the
  Ditmas Avenue would be opened in the spring, and would have allowed eight more trains to run per hour on the BMT Brighton Line.^[65]
• Bottlenecks would be removed at
  IRT West Side Line.^[65]

In July 1962, the NYCTA announced that it had asked the city for money to build a $190 million high-speed, non-stop subway line from Midtown to the Bronx. The line would have only operated during rush hours. It was estimated that if the funds were given to the project, it would be completed in 1970. The line would be a two-track line running from 59th Street between Fifth and Seventh Avenues to the Bronx, running under Central Park. Running non-stop for 6.5 miles, it would have been the longest continuous run in the subway system. The line, on its southern end, would connect to the BMT Broadway Line at Seventh Avenue near 59th Street and to the IND Sixth Avenue Line near 58th Street and Sixth Avenue.[67]

The line would then run through a deep tunnel under Central Park until 110th Street. There would be provisions for a future crosstown line under 76th Street to Queens. The line would then turn east and run along Madison Avenue to 138th Street. One branch would connect to the express track of the IRT Pelham Line, which would be converted to accommodate larger B Division trains. In the morning rush hour, trains from Pelham Park would only make express stops. A new stop would be built at 138th Street and Grand Concourse where transfers would have been available to the IRT White Plains Road and IRT Jerome Avenue Line trains.^[68]

The second branch would continue under the Grand Concourse until 161st Street where it would connect to the IND Concourse Line at 161st Street. This connection would allow for the diversion of Concourse Line express trains onto the new line, allowing for the addition of an equal number of trains to the IND Central Park West express service and provide relief to that line. The construction of this line was viewed as necessary to relieve the IRT Lexington Avenue Line.^[69]

In February 1963, the New York City Transit Authority issued a preliminary proposal for rapid transit expansion in the borough of Queens. The plan was designed to relieve congestion on the IRT Flushing Line and IND Queens Boulevard, to deal with expected population growth, and to provide service to areas of the borough without transit service. To expand service to other areas of the borough a new trunk line would be built to provide the necessary capacity. The planned extensions were expected to relieve crowding on the IRT Flushing Line by 22 percent and on the IND Queens Boulevard Line by 19 percent.^[70]

The first phase of the transit expansion would build a trunk line connecting the IND Queens Boulevard Line's local tracks at Steinway Street and Broadway using existing provisions with the IND Sixth Avenue Line and BMT Broadway Line in Manhattan. The new line would have run under 34th Avenue, a new tunnel under the East River, and 76th Street before turning south under Central Park. Connections would be made to the IND Sixth Avenue Line at 58th Street and to the BMT Broadway Line's stub tracks at 59th Street and Seventh Avenue. In Manhattan, there would have been a transfer connection to the 77th Street station on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line and a station in Central Park at 70th Street.^[70]

Provisions would be built for a planned extension to the Bronx. At Steinway Street, switches would be constructed to all GG trains from Brooklyn to terminate there. The new 4.5 miles (7.2 km) line would have provided an additional 30 trains per hour between Queens and Manhattan with a future northern extension. Initially, the line would be used for 15 trains per hour running to the IND Sixth Avenue Line from the IND Queens Boulevard Line. The construction of the trunk line was expected to cost $138.6 million, of which $37.4 million would be spent for the section south of 76th Street. The earliest possible date for the completion of the line would have been 1970.^[70]

To provide service to unserved areas of Queens, three additional routes were considered. The first route would have served northern and northeastern Queens, running along 34th Avenue, Northern Bouelvard, Main Street, Kissena Boulevard, Parsons Boulevard, and one of the Horace Harding Expressway service roads to Springfield Boulevard. The 10.3 miles (16.6 km)-line would have consisted of two tracks and would have cost $219.4 million. The second route would be a branch of the IND Fulton Street Line heading under Linden Boulevard and Merrick Boulevard to Springield Boulevard.^[70]

Two options were considered for this line. The first option would have branched off of the Fulton Street Line near Pitkin Avenue and Euclid Avenue using existing provisions in the tunnel. The second option would have extended the Liberty Avenue Elevated from Lefferts Boulevard. This option would have required the acquisition of private property to widen Liberty Avenue so that the line could transition from an elevated line to a subway line and to make the turn from Liberty Avenue and Linden Boulevard. The subway option would have been 6.6 miles (10.6 km) long and would have cost $116 million while the elevated/subway option would have been 4.5 miles (7.2 km) and would have cost $80.8 million.^[70]

The third route would have connected the IND Rockaway Line to the IND Queens Boulevard Line using the Rockaway Beach Branch and an existing provision in the tunnel east of 63rd Drive. The Rockaway Beach Line had been abandoned by the Long Island Rail Road on June 8, 1962. A new stop would be built at Linden Boulevard to connect with a new subway line. This line was expected to cost $39.9 million.^[70]

In addition to expanding service to Queens, service to the Bronx would have been expanded as well. The new trunk line connecting the BMT Broadway Line and IND Sixth Avenue Line to Queens south of 76th Street would have been used for the new line to the Bronx. This line would have run under the center of Central Park and then running via Fifth Avenue once out of the park at 110th Street, and would continue under the East River with a branch connecting to the IRT Pelham Line, which would have been modified in order to fit B Division subway cars, and a branch continuing up the Grand Concourse and then connecting to the IND Concourse Line.^[71][72]

In May 1963, the

• An implementation of skip-stop service on the BMT Jamaica Line.^[71]
• An extension of a proposed Madison Avenue Line and the
  Jamaica, where it would continue via the Atlantic Branch until Rosedale, staying within city limits.^[71][72] The report claims that its proposed routes would serve up to twice as many people as the NYCTA's proposed routes.^[71][72]

• A two-track Madison Avenue Line would have run from the proposed 59th Street tunnel via Madison Avenue and would have tied into the then-underutilized BMT Broadway Line in the vicinity of Madison Square.^[71][72]
• In the vicinity of City Hall Park in Lower Manhattan, a connection between the BMT Nassau Street and Broadway Lines would have carried the Madison Avenue service through the financial district at Wall Street and Broad Street.^[71][72] Another connection in Lower Manhattan would have been built connecting the IND Eighth Avenue Line and the BMT Broadway Line in the area of the former Hudson Terminal (today's World Trade Center).^[71][72]

1968

Proposed lines

Similar plans were made by the New York City Transit Authority in 1968.^[73][74] They included:

• The
  IND Second Avenue Line with connections to IRT Dyre Avenue Line at East 180th Street, and the IRT Pelham Line at Whitlock Avenue^[75]
• A crosstown line under 34th Street from 12th Avenue to 1st Avenue^[75]
• IND/BMT
  63rd Street Line
• A new line running along Park Avenue in the Bronx to replace the Third Avenue Elevated^[75]
• Super-express bypass of IND Queens Boulevard Line^[75]
• New line splitting from the IND Queens Boulevard Line under the
  Long Island Expressway to Kissena Boulevard in Phase I and to Springfield Boulevard in Phase II^[76]
• Archer Avenue Line to Springfield Boulevard branching off of the BMT Jamaica Line at 127th Street and off of the Queens Boulevard Line at bellmouths railroad north of the Van Wyck Boulevard station.^[75]
• Sheepshead Bay.^[75]
  This was by then the fifth time that the Nostrand Avenue extension was proposed.
• A new line branching off of the IRT Eastern Parkway Line and running under Utica Avenue to Avenue U^[75]
• Extension of the
  JFK Airport
• Extension of the IRT New Lots Line to Linwood Street and Flatlands Avenue
• Extension of the
  White Plains Road

Completed lines

The

In Lower Manhattan, plans were made for the following:[81]^: 7

• A new terminal for
  South Ferry
• A track connection between the
  Cortlandt Street on the BMT Broadway Line
  , both in Manhattan.
  • Bay Ridge–95th Street
    would be replaced by two other services.
  • 59th Street
    in Brooklyn.
  • JJ
    trains would operate via the Montague Street Tunnel and Fourth Avenue line, with an extension to Bay Ridge–95th Street.
• A Second Avenue Subway would operate along Second Avenue in Manhattan, connecting New Jersey with both Queens and the Bronx.
  • T and Y would run the entire length of the Second Avenue line from New Jersey, then run toward Queens and the Bronx respectively.
  • EE trains would be rerouted onto the southernmost section of the subway into New Jersey via the BMT Broadway express tracks, which turn eastward toward the Manhattan Bridge. The EE would then diverge southward, merging with the Second Avenue main line.

1986

In 1986, the Regional Plan Association suggested extending the IRT Flushing Line across the Hudson River to the Meadowlands Sports Complex in East Rutherford, New Jersey.^[16]

In 1986, the MTA issued a study on expanding transit options on the west side of Manhattan. It was proposed to use the

In 1998, an extension of the BMT Astoria Line to LaGuardia Airport was planned, but the plan was canceled in 2003 following community opposition.^[84][85]

In 1999, the Regional Plan Association considered a full-length Second Avenue Subway from Broad Street to 125th Street, along with the LIRR East Side Access. It also planned the following extensions:^[86]

• a Co-op City extension of the Second Avenue Subway via the Amtrak right-of-way through the northeast Bronx
• a Grand Central Terminal spur of the Second Avenue Subway
• a super-express bypass from the Atlantic Terminal via the LIRR Atlantic Branch
• an extension to JFK Airport via the Van Wyck Expressway
• an extension to Laurelton via the LIRR Atlantic Branch
• a branch off the Second Avenue Subway at 14th Street to Avenue C, to merge with the IND Sixth Avenue Line at Essex Street
• a connection to the BMT Nassau Street Line near Delancey Street
• a super-express bypass of the Queens Boulevard Line from east of
  Forest Hills–71st Avenue
• a new interlocking at
  Prince Street
  to allow easy switching of trains between local and express tracks

The new set of extensions proposed by the RPA, dubbed "MetroLink", would make use of existing commuter rail infrastructure, so as to make it interoperable with the New York City Subway. Nine hundred fifty "Rx" hybrid railcars would be ordered, with yard expansions and new yards being built. MetroLink, consisting of 31 new metro stations (not counting three recycled commuter rail stations) and 19 new route‑miles of track (31 km) (not including existing commuter rail and then-under construction AirTrain JFK route miles) would have reduced the load on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line, the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line, and the IND Queens Boulevard Line. Two of these stations would be in Brooklyn, three in Queens, nine in the Bronx, and twenty in Manhattan. Five services would be run:^[86]

1. The Co-op City–Second Avenue–Broadway–Whitehall Street service
2. The 125th Street–Second Avenue–Atlantic Terminal Bypass–Jamaica Center service
3. The Grand Central–Second Avenue–Atlantic Terminal Bypass–JFK Airport service
4. The Grand Central–Second Avenue–Fourth Avenue–West End Line to Coney Island service
5. The Laurelton–Jamaica Center–Queens Bypass–Second Avenue–Lower East Side–Culver Express to Avenue X service

Stations would have been located at:

• New Second Avenue Subway (15 stations):^[86]
  • Lexington Avenue at
    <6>
    trains)
  • <7>​​, and S
    trains)
  • Second Avenue at 116th, 106th,
    Houston
    Streets
  • Bowery/Canal Street
  • Water Street at Wall/Fulton Streets and at Whitehall/Broad Streets
• New Lower East Side Line (4 stations):[86]
  • First Avenue at 14th Street (transfer with L
    train)
  • Avenue C at 8th Street and at Houston Street
  • East Broadway at Pitt Street
• New Co-op City Line (9 stations):[86]
  • Co-op City North, Central, and South stations
  • Bronx Municipal Hospital Center
  • East Tremont Avenue at White Plains Road and at
    West Farms Square (transfer with 2 and ​5
    trains at the latter)
  • Boston Road at 169th Street
  • Third Avenue at 161st and 149th Street (transfer with 2 train at the latter)
• Atlantic Branch (5 stations):^[86]
  • <F>​​, N, R, and ​W
    trains)
  • Atlantic Terminal (transfer with 2, ​3, ​4, ​5​, B, ​D, N, ​Q​, R and ​W​ trains)
  • Linden Boulevard
  • Locust Manor
  • Laurelton

The AirTrain JFK,

The

As proposed under the RPA's Fourth Regional Plan,

14th Street/Eighth Avenue station.^[98]

Second Avenue Subway

IND Second Avenue Line

in January 2012.

Main articles: Second Avenue Subway and Construction of the Second Avenue Subway

The

63rd Street Line and 96th Street and Second Avenue.^[102] The total cost of the 8.5-mile (13.7 km) line is expected to top $17 billion.^[103]

A ceremonial ground-breaking for the Second Avenue Subway was held in April 2007.[104] The tunnel boring machine (TBM) began digging the tunnels for Phase I in May 2010^{[105][106][107]} and completed its excavations in September 2011.^[108] Phase I, consisting of two miles (3.2 km) of tunnel and three stations, was opened in January 2017.^{[109][110][111]} It cost $4.45 billion.^[112] A 1.5-mile (2.4 km), $6 billion second phase is in planning;^[113] land acquisition for Phase 2 started in April 2022.^[114] As of October 2023^[update], Phase 2 was set to open in early 2032.^[115][116]

The RPA's Fourth Regional Plan proposed two northward extensions. Phase 2B would be an extension of Phase 2 under

Third Avenue–149th Street, connecting with the IND Concourse Line.^[98]

Proposals

Triboro RX

See also: New York Connecting Railroad and Bay Ridge Branch

A proposal for the LIRR Bay Ridge Branch would have the New York City Subway use the tracks to link Brooklyn, Queens (both already linked by the G train) and the Bronx via the Hell Gate Bridge. Based on Paris's RER commuter rail system, the Triboro RX proposal would create a partial loop around the city.^[117] In 1996, the Regional Plan Association conducted a study to determine the feasibility of the rail link.^[118] The original proposal would have terminated at Yankee Stadium.^[119] The proposed line, discussion of which was revived in 2012, would connect to all non-shuttle subway services at 12 stations.^[119][120]

The line in this proposal would have terminated at Hunts Point.^[117] The line was brought back in the 2015 report "The Overlooked Boroughs" by the Regional Plan Association. The line would be 24 miles (39 km) long and would consist of 22 stations, would cost $1 billion and is projected to have more than 100,000 daily riders.^[121][122] Plans for the line date back to 1995.^[123]

Obstacles for the proposal include the proposed

single-tracking in some parts of the line. The current iteration of the plan would have its northern terminus be Co-Op City South using the Hell Gate Branch.^[124] The LIRR Bay Ridge Branch and the New York Connecting Railroad have freight operating along them, and are regulated by the Federal Railroad Administration (FRA). FRA rules require a certain distance between freight and passenger trains that share rights-of-way, and as a result it is uncertain whether the right-of-way is wide enough or if more durable train cars are needed to be able to share the same tracks.^[119] The RPA's 2015 plan considered having FRA compliant light rail vehicles run over the line. In addition to providing transfer opportunities, the line would provide transit access to areas without it in Glendale and Middle Village in Queens, as well as in Flatlands and Canarsie in Brooklyn.^[125]

Interborough Express

Main article: Interborough Express

In mid-October 2019, the MTA announced that it would study the feasibility of restoring passenger service on the Bay Ridge Branch portion of the route.^[126] In early January 2022, as part of her State of the State address New York governor Kathy Hochul announced that the state would move forward with the Bay Ridge Branch Line by conducting an environmental study on the Interborough Express (IBX), a 14-mile (23 km) corridor using the existing Bay Ridge Branch and Fremont Secondary from Bay Ridge, Brooklyn, to Jackson Heights, Queens.^[127] End-to-end travel times are expected to be less than 40 minutes, and weekday ridership is projected to be 115,000.^[128] The route would connect up to 17 subway lines and the Long Island Rail Road.^{[129][130][131]} The MTA indicated in September 2022 that it wanted to construct the IBX as a light rail line,^[132] and Hochul announced in January 2023 that the project would proceed as a light rail corridor.^[133][134]

Rockaway Line

The Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) abandoned the Rockaway Beach Branch in 1962; ever since it has been sought after for reactivation for train service. The line has not been reactivated due to local opposition, specifically the homeowners who live along the right-of-way. One group, QueensLink, wants the line to be reactivated between the 63rd Drive–Rego Park station on the IND Queens Boulevard Line to the north and the IND Rockaway Line to the south, providing a north-south connection in Queens.^[135] A second group would use the right-of-way as a linear park, known as the Queensway, a proposal inspired by the success of the High Line in Manhattan. A third group consists of homeowners who would have nothing done, keeping the line as is.^[136]

Talks of reactivating the line were publicly endorsed in February 2012 by Assemblymen

Phillip Goldfeder and Michael G. Miller. Goldfeder commented "The commute for people here is only going to go from bad to worse. You can't talk about a convention center without talking about transportation." Goldfeder and Miller said they are not opposed to turning sections of the line into a park, but said people who live in the Rockaways, Ozone Park and other areas have no quick or easy way to get into Manhattan. The Genting Group, which operates Resorts World casino and have been asked to construct the convention center, are evaluating several plans to increase transportation access. Genting is committed to paying for part of the transportation improvements. Advocates of the Queensway, a proposed public park along the branch's route, are against resumption of rail service, stating that current bus service fills current transportation needs in the area.^[137] U.S. Representatives Hakeem Jeffries and Gregory Meeks added their support for the project in March 2013. Both representatives will push to allocate federal transportation subsidies to study a plan for restored passenger service.^[138]

The line would cost $1 billion, if build in its full length with a connection to the

Lower Montauk Branch of the LIRR running through underserved Maspeth and Glendale and then meeting up with the Rockaway Beach Branch in Rego Park.^[125]

LaGuardia Airport extension

See also: LaGuardia Airport subway extension and AirTrain LaGuardia

The

Willets Point.^[144]

Utica Avenue and Nostrand Avenue Lines

In April 2015, New York City Mayor

Crown Heights–Utica Avenue. The new line being proposed is part of de Blasio's "One New York" plan, which aims to improve transit, reduce emissions, and fight poverty. If built, the line would go to Flatbush Avenue, near Kings Plaza. Since the Metropolitan Transportation Authority had budget shortages as of April 2015^[update], however, it is unclear how the line would be funded or built.^[145][146]

The MTA Board allocated $5 million for a feasibility study, the Utica Avenue Subway Extension Study, for this proposal in the MTA's 2015–2019 Capital Program.

Marine Park, which would allow trains to serve Kings Plaza.^[148] Both the Utica Avenue and Nostrand Avenue proposals for extensions to Kings Plaza have been proposed since the 1910s.^[6] Planning on the Utica Avenue Line stalled^[149][150] because it was no longer viewed as a priority by the MTA.^[151] Planning resumed in April 2019 when New York City Transit joined city agencies in launching the Utica Avenue Transit Improvement Study. The study will look into a subway extension, improved bus rapid transit, and a new light rail line.^[152] Since the study occurred concurrently with the 2020 redesign of Brooklyn bus routes, the MTA decided to prioritize the Utica Avenue transit study.^[153]

In November 2017, the RPA suggested building both lines as part of its fourth plan. The Nostrand Line was envisioned as a three-stop extension to Avenue Z, while the Utica Line was planned as a five-stop spur to Kings Plaza.[98]

RPA plans

The

14th Street and Eighth Avenue.^[98]

Both the

Northern Boulevard to Flushing or College Point and one along Jewel Avenue to Alley Pond Park. A one-stop extension of the Astoria Line would be built to serve western Astoria.^[98] Ultimately, the plan included eight extensions with at least 40 stations in total.^[98]

Subway station in Red Hook

In January 2018, Governor

South Ferry in Lower Manhattan with a station at Governors Island possible, but unlikely due to cost and benefit.^[155][156]

As of 2022[update], a potential extension of the BMT Broadway Line to Red Hook (to be served by the W train) is being evaluated as part of the MTA's 2025–2044 20-Year Needs Assessment.^[157]

Other proposals

As of 2022^[update], a potential extension of the IRT New Lots Line (to be served by the 3 train) to Spring Creek, Brooklyn, is being evaluated as part of the 2025–2044 20-Year Needs Assessment.^[157]

As part of the 2025–2044 20-Year Needs Assessment, the MTA is also evaluating the possibility of extending the Second Avenue Subway westward under

135th Street, merging with the IND Eighth Avenue Line.^[157]

Discontinued plans

PATH-Lexington Avenue connection

After the

Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall station on the New York City Subway's IRT Lexington Avenue Line.^[81]: 6 The benefits of this connection, called PATH-Lex by its supporters, would have consisted of a one-seat ride from Newark and Jersey City through Lower Manhattan, the East Side of Manhattan, and the Bronx.^[81]: 5 While the Metropolitan Transportation Authority was interested in the plan, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey dismissed the idea altogether, due to the complexity of connecting the two separate systems.^[158][159]

References