Station: 72nd Street (IRT West Side Line)
From nycsubway.org
| IRT West Side Line |
Overview
Opened: 10/27/1904
Express station with four tracks, two island platforms. This is a most peculiar station for a farsighted railroad like the IRT. It was totally inadequate from its opening day, yet it is the best preserved of the original IRT express stations. 72nd Street long suffered from narrow platforms and narrow stairways to the headhouse and fare control. To maximize the space in the headhouse, free crossover between uptown and downtown directions was artificially denied by the arrangement of the turnstiles and gates.
A renovation ending in 2002 provided a second headhouse on the north side of 72nd Street, additional stairways from the platforms, and a widened uptown platform at the north end. The widening required cutting into the sidewall of the tunnel and realigning the uptown local track. However, the platforms are still fairly narrow considering the passenger load at this station.
A 1950s plan considered converting 59th Street/Columbus Circle into an express station and 72nd Street into a local station (by walling off the platform along the express side). The express run would have then been from Times Square, to Columbus Circle, to 96th Street. While that might have alleviated some crowding at 72nd Street the vibrancy of the neighborhood around 72nd Street probably requires the express trains' stopping here.
Artwork
Verdi's Rigoletto, Robert Hickman (2005)
Photo Gallery
![]() Image 180 (78k, 820x620) Photo by: Richard Panse Location: 72nd Street |
![]() Image 2681 (161k, 1024x678) Photo by: Joe Testagrose Location: 72nd Street |
![]() Image 2777 (195k, 1024x660) Photo by: Joe Testagrose Location: 72nd Street |
![]() Image 2832 (214k, 1024x684) Photo by: Joe Testagrose Location: 72nd Street |
![]() Image 2863 (215k, 1024x676) Photo by: Joe Testagrose Location: 72nd Street |
![]() Image 3251 (165k, 1024x665) Photo by: Joe Testagrose Location: 72nd Street |
![]() Image 7875 (86k, 1024x818) Photo by: David Sagarin/Historic American Engineering Record Collection of: Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division Location: 72nd Street |
![]() Image 39046 (190k, 1024x673) Photo by: Joe Testagrose Location: 72nd Street |
![]() Image 54305 (136k, 820x615) Photo by: Steffen Petrasch Location: 72nd Street |
![]() Image 67384 (201k, 1044x788) Photo by: Roberto C. Tobar Location: 72nd Street |
![]() Image 67385 (249k, 1044x788) Photo by: Roberto C. Tobar Location: 72nd Street |
![]() Image 77637 (166k, 1024x700) Photo by: Joe Testagrose Location: 72nd Street |
![]() Image 79566 (188k, 1044x788) Photo by: John Barnes Location: 72nd Street |
![]() Image 128018 (393k, 1044x700) Photo by: David Pirmann Location: 72nd Street |
![]() Image 132092 (342k, 1024x658) Photo by: John Dooley Location: 72nd Street |















