Station: 42nd Street-Port Authority Bus Terminal (8th Avenue)
From nycsubway.org
| IND 8th Avenue/Fulton Street/Rockaway Line Court Street |
Contents |
Overview
Opened: 9/10/1932
Transfer here to: IRT Flushing Line, BMT Broadway Line, IRT West Side Line, IRT Times Square-Grand Central Shuttle
Express station with four tracks and two island platforms in use; abandoned lower level with one track and one side platform on the downtown side. The Times Square/42nd Street complex is the busiest in the system and consequently the platforms here are extra wide to accommodate passenger volume. In order to fit the wider platforms, they are offset from north to south; the southbound platform extends between 40th and 42nd Sts. and the northbound between 42nd and 44th Sts., approximately. The mezzanine of this station extends from 40th to 44th Street. Ramps are in place for access to the mezzanine, which is somewhat unique in that there are retail stores within the fare control (including a record store), as well as various NYCT offices. The tile color is dark purple with black border and there is no IND-style tile name tablet.
Some relative depths of stations in the Times Square complex are as follows, +/- 10 feet.
- 7th Ave./West Side IRT, 40 feet below street
- Flushing/#7 IRT, 60 feet below street
- Broadway BMT, 50 feet below street
- Shuttle, 20 feet below street
- 8th Ave. IND, 30 feet below street
In addition to the platforms described above, there is an abandoned lower platform on the southbound side (one track, underneath the downtown local track on the upper level, and one side platform underneath the island platform above). The lower level platform was built along with the rest of the station in 1932, but it was only used from 1959 to 1981 for odd services like the Aqueduct Racetrack special fare trains, and for rush hour E trains for a period during the 1970s. For many years, a crossunder was open between the upper level platforms using a passageway at the northern end of the lower level. Rearrangement of the mezzanine a few years ago allowed passengers to crossover using the mezzanine within the fare control.
It isn't really clear why this lower level was even built. It can only be used by trains running from Queens via 53rd Street (today's E service). Heading downtown on the track from the lower level of 50th Street, switches allow access to the downtown local, downtown express, or lower level of 42nd St. Departing 42nd Street on the lower level, trains can become local or express prior to entering 34th Street; however, trains departing 42nd Street on the upper level cannot cross over until reaching Canal Street. It is likely, therefore, that the extra platform was built to allow some operational flexibility, by permitting trains from 53rd Street to have access to both downtown local and express. Perhaps there was no other suitable location for a crossover switch, or it was thought an extra platform face could allow increased dwell time or time for switches to line up.
An oft-repeated story offers this as a reason the lower level was built: The Independent subway was being built by the city to compete directly with routes owned by the IRT and BMT companies. The #7 crosstown IRT line terminates at Times Square; it is said that the bumper blocks of the #7 are directly against or very close to the eastern wall of the lower level of the 42nd St. IND station. The construction of the lower level therefore blocked any potential extension of the #7 line to the west side of Manhattan. If this is true, it would have been done only in the spirit of crushing the competition, for the IND had no plans to construct a competing crosstown line.
In 1998 and 1999 all but one remaining entrance to the lower level was sealed (the remaining one is under a lift-up trap door at the south end of the southbound platform). A report in the September, 1999 Bulletin of the New York Division ERA reports that the lower level track D-3 from north of 42nd St. all the way to 34th St. is now permanently out of service. Occasionally the existence of the lower level is mentioned as an excuse for why the IRT #7 cannot be extended westward; this new development now renders the lower level useless and it should not pose a problem to run the #7 extension directly through the lower level.
A detailed track map of this area is available, which shows the lower level track and switches described above quite clearly.
Artwork
Losing My Marbles, Lisa Dinhofer (2003)
The Commuter's Lament/A Close Shave, Norman B. Colp (1991)
Photo Gallery - Upper Level
 Image 31818 (171k, 1044x701) Photo by: David Pirmann Location: 42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal |
 Image 31819 (151k, 754x1044) Photo by: David Pirmann Location: 42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal |
 Image 31820 (149k, 662x1044) Photo by: David Pirmann Location: 42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal |
 Image 45885 (89k, 640x480) Photo by: Bruce Fedow Location: 42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal |
 Image 50295 (153k, 1044x705) Photo by: Richard Panse Location: 42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal |
 Image 50297 (151k, 1044x705) Photo by: Richard Panse Location: 42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal |
 Image 50298 (150k, 1044x705) Photo by: Richard Panse Location: 42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal |
 Image 50299 (161k, 1044x705) Photo by: Richard Panse Location: 42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal |
 Image 85990 (152k, 820x620) Photo by: Bill E. Location: 42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal |
 Image 99897 (244k, 1044x701) Photo by: David Pirmann Location: 42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal |
 Image 101483 (235k, 1044x788) Photo by: Emmanuel Robinson Location: 42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal |
 Image 101618 (245k, 1044x788) Photo by: Zach Summer Location: 42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal |
 Image 110260 (228k, 1044x705) Photo by: Robert Taylor Location: 42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal |
 Image 115522 (262k, 1024x685) Collection of: Collection of nycsubway.org Location: 42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal |
 Image 131727 (439k, 1024x667) Photo by: John Dooley Location: 42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal |
Photo Gallery - Lower Level
 Image 768 (151k, 1008x672) Photo by: Peter Dougherty Location: 42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal (Lower Level) |
 Image 769 (138k, 1008x672) Photo by: Peter Dougherty Location: 42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal (Lower Level) |
 Image 770 (107k, 1008x672) Photo by: Peter Dougherty Location: 42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal (Lower Level) |
 Image 1424 (113k, 1024x616) Photo by: Chris Leverett Location: 42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal (Lower Level) |
 Image 1998 (145k, 1024x668) Photo by: Joe Testagrose Location: 42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal (Lower Level) |
 Image 2055 (165k, 1024x698) Photo by: Joe Testagrose Location: 42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal (Lower Level) |
 Image 6676 (153k, 1024x592) Photo by: Chris Leverett Location: 42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal (Lower Level) |
 Image 95435 (195k, 1024x768) Location: 42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal (Lower Level) |
 Image 95442 (184k, 1024x768) Location: 42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal (Lower Level) |
 Image 95445 (152k, 1024x768) Location: 42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal (Lower Level) |
 Image 95446 (138k, 1024x768) Location: 42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal (Lower Level) |
 Image 95447 (225k, 1024x768) Location: 42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal (Lower Level) |
 Image 95451 (176k, 1024x768) Location: 42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal (Lower Level) |
 Image 95454 (192k, 1024x768) Location: 42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal (Lower Level) |
 Image 95464 (190k, 1024x768) Location: 42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal (Lower Level) |