IRT Flushing Line
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Services that use the IRT Flushing Line through midtown have been colored purple since 1979. The original IRT numbering system provided for and on the line. |
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Elevated flushing line station in Queens with 7 train arriving |
The
Flushing Line is a
rapid transit route of the
New York City Subway system, operated as part of the Division and designated the route. It runs from
Flushing in
Queens to
Times Square in
Manhattan, carrying trains of the local service (as well as the express rush hours in the peak direction), and is assigned the color purple. Before the line was opened all the way to Flushing, it was known as the
Corona Line or
Woodside and Corona Line. Prior to the discontinuance of services in
1949, the portion of the IRT Flushing Line between Times Square and Queensboro Plaza was known as the
Queensboro Line. Express trains run to Manhattan from 06:30 to 12:30 and from Manhattan from 12:30 to 22:00. Some express trains run especially for
New York Mets and
U.S. Open games.
The 8 mile (12.9 km) line runs through some of the most ethnically diverse areas in the world. The line's Flushing terminus in large
Chinatown and
Koreatown areas has, at one time, earned it the nickname of the
Orient Express, after the
famed Paris-Istanbul train. It is now nicknamed the "International Express" because of the diversity of the population of the communities it serves. It is also famous for being the official train of the
New York Mets and the
US Open (
tennis) as both are located at
Willets Point-Shea Stadium station, which serves
Shea Stadium,
Louis Armstrong Stadium and
Arthur Ashe Stadium in
Flushing Meadows-Corona Park. The line also serves
Little India in the neighborhood of Jackson Heights and the
P.S.1 Contemporary Art Center in
Long Island City.
In
1999, the Flushing Line was designated a
National Millennium Trail (along with the
Appalachian Trail and 14 others) by a joint program of the
White House Millennium Council, the
United States Department of Transportation, and the
Rails-to-Trails Conservancy. It was chosen as a representative of the
immigrant experience, and because the approximate path of the Flushing Line has been in continuous use as a transportation route since the
17th century.
In
2000,
Atlanta Braves baseball pitcher
John Rocker was quoted by
Sports Illustrated to have said:
"It's [New York City] the most hectic, nerve-racking city. Imagine having to take the 7 train to the ballpark, looking like you're riding through Beirut next to some kid with purple hair next to some queer with AIDS right next to some dude who just got out of jail for the fourth time right next to some twenty-year-old mom with four kids. It's depressing."
When it became clear that Rocker was serious,
New York Mets fans — and fans nationwide — booed Rocker so consistently that it affected his performance. After brief stints with other teams, he was out of the major leagues.
The Flushing Line has various styles of
architecture, which range from
steel girder elevated structures to
European-style
concrete viaducts. The underground stations have some unique designs as well, such as
Hunters Point Avenue, which is in an
Italianate style and
Grand Central-42nd Street, which is a single round tube similar to a
London Underground station.
The line has two distinct sections, split by the
Queensboro Plaza station. It begins as a three-track subway, with the center track used for express service, at
Main Street–Flushing. It quickly leaves the ground onto a
steel elevated structure above Roosevelt Avenue, passing
Shea Stadium and the
USTA National Tennis Center. A
flying junction between
Willets Point-Shea Stadium and
111th Street provides access to
Corona Yard from the local tracks. At 48th Street in
Sunnyside, the line switches to
Queens Boulevard and an ornate
concrete viaduct begins. The express track ends between
33rd Street-Rawson Street and
Queensboro Plaza.
At
Queensboro Plaza, the eastbound track (
railroad north) is above the westbound track, with both Flushing Line tracks on the south side of the island platforms. On the north side of these platforms is the
BMT Astoria Line. East of this point, both the Flushing Line and the Astoria Line were operated by the and the ; details on that dual operation are in the
Background section. Connections still exist between the eastbound tracks just east of the platforms, but they cannot be used for revenue service because trains are wider than trains. This is the only track connection between the Flushing Line and the rest of the subway system.
West of Queensboro Plaza, the line immediately turns south onto an elevated structure over 23rd Street. It heads into the west end of
Amtrak's
Sunnyside Yard, and passes through two underground stations before entering
Manhattan via the
Steinway Tunnel under the
East River. In Manhattan, the line runs under
42nd Street, with part directly underneath the
Times Square–42nd Street Shuttle (), before angling towards 41st Street and ending at the huge
Times Square-42nd Street station, with no track connections to other lines.
Plans are underway to extend the Flushing Line west to Manhattan's far
West Side. A decommissioned lower level at the
IND Eighth Avenue Line's
42nd Street–Port Authority Bus Terminal station blocks the way; it has been rumored that the built it to keep the from extending the Flushing Line, although all initial blueprints indicate that the IRT never planned such an expansion. While some have questioned the necessity of the plan, with
London receiving the
2012 Summer Olympics, as of mid-2006 the plan is still going forward, with bids for tunneling contracts to commence before the end of 2006.
The Flushing Line is one of only two
New York City non-
shuttle subway lines that hosts only a single service and does not share operating trackage with any other line or service; the other is the
BMT Canarsie Line, carrying the service. Because of this, there are plans to use new trains with
Communication Based Train Control on the line, similar to the current project on the
BMT Canarsie Line.
The IRT Flushing Line has the distinction of running the longest trains on the New York subway, by number of cars. Flushing Line trains are 11 cars long; most other New York City subway lines run 10-car or 8-car trains. The trains are not the longest by total length, however, as an IND/BMT 10-car train is still 39 feet longer than an 11-car IRT train.
Since
2002, a major rehabilitation project has been taking place over the entire line. Because of this, the
7 has been subject to off-peak service changes. This includes express service in one direction—skipping certain local stations in that direction while serving them in the other—as well as suspension of service either south of Queensboro Plaza or north of 61st Street. During the latter change (typically on rotating weekends), shuttle buses and the
42nd Street Shuttle serve closed stations.
No General Orders are scheduled during games at
Shea Stadium or the
U.S. Open.
Even though subway service started in
1915, construction on the portion of the line that ran under the
East River was originally started by the
East River Tunnel Railroad on
February 25,
1885. The original intent of the line was to connect the
Long Island Rail Road with the
New York Central Railroad, one end of the tunnel being at the terminal of each railroad. Other than an engineering survey of the East River at the tunnel site, nothing else was done, and in
1887, the company reorganized as the
New York and Long Island Railroad. The tunnel was planned to run from approximately
42nd Street and
Tenth Avenue, under 42nd Street, then under the East River to Van Alst Avenue. The rest of the line in
Queens would be on private
right-of-way, and various mappings were planned and revised for this section of route.
Various problems occurred and caused extensive delays and cost overruns.
William Steinway, founder of the
Steinway & Sons, became involved in
1890, and the tunnel was popularly known as the
Steinway Tunnel. He felt that controlling operations of the tunnel company would boost the value of his real estate and envisioned operating the tunnels using electricity. On
June 3,
1892, groundbreaking occurred at 50th Avenue between Vernon and Jackson Avenues in Queens. However, a series of mishaps, such as an underground water spring that hampered debris removal, followed by lawsuits by property owners along the line, forced the company to board up the tunnel on
February 2,
1893. Various attempts to restart the project between 1893 and
1896 (when Steinway died), and proposals to extend the line into
New Jersey, all failed.
In February
1902,
August Belmont, Jr. became interested in the project, which became known as the
Belmont Tunnel, although Belmont preferred the project be known as the Steinway Tunnel. By
May 16,
1907, the north (westbound) tube was broken through, and the south tunnel was broken through on
August 7 of the same year. The landfill from the tunnel excavations had been used to construct nearby Belmont Island, later called
U Thant Island, on an existing outcrop in the East River.
Because the
Pennsylvania Railroad planned to build a very large station at 32nd and 33rd Streets on the
West Side, and also planned to tunnel under the
Hudson and East Rivers, the motive power for the tunnels was changed to interurban trolley cars. However, because of the low clearance of the tunnels, typical trolley wire could not be used; instead, overhead
third rail was hung from the roof of the tunnel using special brackets. The
Van Alst Avenue station was originally on a loop at the end of a 50-foot (15-meter) radius curve located near 50th Avenue and Van Alst Avenue. At
42nd Street–Grand Central, there was another loop located under
Park Avenue and
42nd Street. The tunnel officially opened on
September 24 for Belmont, the Mayor and other officials. However, because Belmont did not have a
franchise to operate the line, or a company to run it (because of litigation with New York City), he was forced to board up the tunnel. From
October 23,
1907 until
1915, the completed tunnel was idle of traffic.
On
April 3,
1913, the City of New York purchased the tunnels from Belmont as part of the
Dual Contracts for $3 million, and the tunnels were placed under operation. With minor modifications, the tunnel could accommodate subway trains. Because of the steep grade of the tunnels, special "Steinway" cars were built to run on the line. With the conversion to rapid transit, the loops on both ends of the Steinway tunnels were abandoned. No vestiges of the Queens loop remain today as the
Hunters Point Avenue station occupies the site. Remnants of the Manhattan loop still exist, but are occupied by machinery and not accessible by passengers. The Manhattan loop is just west of the current
42nd Street–Grand Central station. IRT "Steinway" cars made the first test trip on
June 13,
1915. Regularly scheduled subway service began on the line, then known as the Queensboro Tunnel, from Grand Central to
Vernon Boulevard–Jackson Avenue at noon on
June 22,
1915.
Extensions soon opened east to
Hunters Point Avenue on
February 15,
1916, and further east to
Queensboro Plaza on
November 5,
1916.
At Queensboro Plaza, the line met the 's
60th Street Tunnel, as well as a spur from the
elevated IRT Second Avenue Line on the
Queensboro Bridge. From this point east, the Flushing and
Astoria Lines were built by the City of New York as part of the
Dual Contracts. They were officially lines on which the held irrevocable and equal
trackage rights. Because BMT trains were wider, and the platforms had been built for the IRT, normal BMT trains ran only to
Queensboro Plaza, with a transfer to
shuttles that alternated between the
Ditmars Boulevard–Astoria and
Main Street–Flushing terminals. IRT trains simply continued from the Queensboro Line and Queensboro Bridge onto the lines to Astoria and Flushing, originally called the Corona Line or Woodside and Corona Line before it was completed to
Flushing–Main Street.
The line was opened from
Queensboro Plaza to
103rd Street-Corona Plaza on
April 21,
1917. shuttles began to use the line (and the
BMT Astoria Line) on
April 8,
1923. East of there, sources conflict on when each section opened. A
New York Times article from
May 8 says that service began on
May 7 to
Willets Point–Shea Stadium, and talks about delays due to the structure sinking. Articles from
May 13 and
May 15 talk about a celebration to coincide with the opening to Willets Point-Shea Stadium on
May 14. Finally, a
January 22,
1928 article says that the line had ended at 103rd Street-Corona Plaza until
January 21; the extension had been finished over a year ago but had to be strengthened due to structural problems.
Main Street–Flushing was never meant to be the end of the line. The Public Service Commission, in June
1913, was actively engaged in considering extensions of the line beyond Flushing, but these extensions, later planned as part of the
IND Second System, were never built.
Currently and historically, IRT subway services on the Flushing Line were assigned the number , though this was not shown on any equipment until the introduction of the
R12 class cars in
1948. The BMT services were assigned the BMT number
9, used on maps but not trains.
Western extensions were also built, with part underneath the
Times Square-Grand Central Shuttle:
*
42nd Street–Grand Central to
Fifth Avenue on
March 22,
1926*west to
Times Square–42nd Street on
March 14,
1927For the
1939 New York World's Fair, the
Willets Point–Shea Stadium station was rebuilt and centered on 123rd Street, just west of where the station used to be. Some remnants of the old station are still visible; ironwork tends to indicate where the older outside-platform stations were, and the remains of the fare entry area can be seen east of the current station. The original Willets Point Boulevard station was a "minor" stop on the Flushing Line; it had only two stairways and short station canopies at platform level. It was rebuilt into the much larger station seen today, and the ramp used during two World's Fairs is still in existence, but is only used during special events, such as the
US Open (
tennis). Express service to the World's Fair began on the Flushing Line on
April 24,
1939. This was the first time the middle express track had been used for revenue service; prior to the fair, the express track had only been used for non-revenue moves and re-routes during construction.
In 1938, an order of all-new World's Fair cars was placed with the
St. Louis Car Company. These cars broke from "tradition" in that they did not have vestibules at each car end. In addition, because the IRT was
bankrupt at the time, the cars were built as single ended cars, with train controls for the motorman on one side and door controls for the conductor on the other. These cars spent their last days on the
elevated IRT Third Avenue Line in
The Bronx.
Not to be outdone, rebuilt 90 open gate cars into closed-end cars that became known as the "Q" Types (named because they operated in
Queens). The Q Types were built as three car sets, and only the cars at the ends were fitted with traction motors and motorman controls. For the World's Fair, the equipment was repainted in the now famous blue and orange, the World's Fair colors. Nine years after the closing of the Fair, in
1949, the BMT "Q" Types were moved to the
elevated IRT Third Avenue Line in
Manhattan using old IRT Composite car trucks, and ran only as expresses, because their weight was a bit too high for the older, local tracks. Therefore, the last BMT-designed car ran on the last elevated in Manhattan.
Like BMT Q-types replacing the older gate cars that rode on the line for the opening of the
1939 New York World's Fair, the procedure would be repeated again when, in
1964, the picture window
R36 cars replaced the older
R15's for the
1964 New York World's Fair. In 1942, when
IRT Second Avenue Line service ended, major overhauls for the Corona fleet were transferred to the Coney Island shop. In addition, free transfers to the
IRT Third Avenue Line were offered at
42nd Street–Grand Central from
June 13,
1942 (when
IRT Second Avenue Line service ended, including the
Queensboro Bridge connection) until
May 12,
1955 (when
IRT Third Avenue Line service ended). In the fall of
1949, the joint / service arrangement ended. The Flushing Line became the responsibility of IRT, and the
BMT Astoria Line had its platforms shaved back, and became BMT-only. Because of this, routes through the then eight-track
Queensboro Plaza station were consolidated and the northern half of the structure was torn down. Evidence of where the torn-down platforms were, as well as the trackways that approached this area, can still be seen in the ironwork at the station. The Flushing Line's extra-long platforms, which allow for 11-car operation, are also a remnant of the joint service period.
R33/R36 World's Fair cars have served the Flushing Line exclusively since
1964. However, most have been scrapped and placed in the
Atlantic Ocean as artificial barrier and coral
reefs. On
November 3,
2003, the last
Redbird train made its final scheduled trip on this line, making all stops between
Times Square and
Shea Stadium. Replacing these cars on this line are the
Bombardier built
R62As.
| Station | Tracks | Services | Opened!Notes | | Main Street-Flushing | all | always, rush hours in peak direction | January 21, 1928 | connection to Long Island Rail Road at Flushing-Main Street
originally Main Street |
| Willets Point-Shea Stadium | all | always, rush hours in peak direction | January 21, 1928 | connection to Long Island Rail Road at Shea Stadium
originally Willets Point Boulevard |
| 111th Street | local | always | January 21, 1928 |
| 103rd Street-Corona Plaza | local | always | April 21, 1917 | originally Alburtis Avenue |
| Junction Boulevard | all | always, rush hours in peak direction | April 21, 1917 | originally Junction Avenue |
| 90th Street-Elmhurst Avenue | local | always | April 21, 1917 | originally Elmhurst Avenue |
| 82nd Street-Jackson Heights | local | always | April 21, 1917 | originally 25th Street-Jackson Heights |
| 74th Street-Broadway | local | always | April 21, 1917 | free transfer to (Queens Boulevard Line)
originally Broadway |
| 69th Street-Fisk Avenue | local | always | April 21, 1917 | originally Fisk Avenue |
| 61st Street-Woodside | all | always, rush hours in peak direction | April 21, 1917 | transfer to Long Island Rail Road at Woodside
originally Woodside |
| 52nd Street-Lincoln Avenue | local | always | April 21, 1917 | originally Lincoln Avenue |
| 46th Street-Bliss Street | local | always | April 21, 1917 | originally Bliss Street |
| 40th Street-Lowery Street | local | always | April 21, 1917 | originally Lowery Street |
| 33rd Street-Rawson Street | local | always | April 21, 1917 | originally Rawson Street |
| Queensboro Plaza | all | always, rush hours in peak direction | November 5, 1916 | free transfer to (Astoria Line) |
| 45th Road-Court House Square | all | always, rush hours in peak direction | November 5, 1916 | free MetroCard-only transfer to (Crosstown Line)
free MetroCard-only transfer to (Queens Boulevard Line) |
| Hunters Point Avenue | all | always, rush hours in peak direction | February 15, 1916 | connection to Long Island Rail Road at Hunterspoint Avenue
originally 49th Avenue |
| Vernon Boulevard-Jackson Avenue | all | always, rush hours in peak direction | June 22, 1915 | connection to Long Island Rail Road at Long Island City station (for Lower Montauk Branch trains) |
| 42nd Street-Grand Central | all | always, rush hours in peak direction | June 22, 1915 | free transfer to (Lexington Avenue Line)
free transfer to (Times Square-Grand Central Shuttle)
connection to Metro-North Railroad at Grand Central Terminal
originally Grand Central |
| Fifth Avenue-Bryant Park | all | always, rush hours in peak direction | March 22, 1926 | free transfer to (Sixth Avenue Line) |
| Times Square-42nd Street | all | always, rush hours in peak direction | March 14, 1927 | free transfer to (Broadway-BMT Line)
free transfer to (Broadway-Seventh Avenue Line)
free transfer to (Eighth Avenue Line)
free transfer to (Times Square-Grand Central Shuttle)
connection to Port Authority Bus Terminal
originally Times Square |
*
NYCsubway.org - IRT Corona/Flushing Line (text used with permission)
*
Corona Yard-unofficial page dedicated to the 7 Train*
Barry Popik on origin of "Orient Express" nickname*
BMT and IRT Joint Operation on the Flushing Line
*Queensboro Tunnel Officially Opened,
New York Times June 23, 1915 page 22
*Subway Extension Open,
New York Times February 16, 1916 page 22
*New Subway Link,
New York Times November 5, 1916 page XX4
*Transit Service on Corona Extension of Dual Subway System Opened to the Public,
New York Times April 22, 1917 page RE1
*Additional Subway Service to Borough of Queens,
New York Times April 8, 1923 page RE1
*Fifth Av. Station of Subway Opened,
New York Times March 23, 1926 page 29
*New Queens Subway Opened to Times Sq,
New York Times March 15, 1927 page 1
*Corona Subway Extended,
New York Times May 8, 1927 page 26
*Flushing to Celebrate,
New York Times May 13, 1927 page 8
*Dual Queens Celebration,
New York Times May 15, 1927 page 3
*Flushing Extension of Corona Subway Ready to Open,
New York Times January 8, 1928 page 189
*Flushing Line Opens Jan. 21,
New York Times January 12, 1928 page 12
*Flushing Rejoices as Subway Opens,
New York Times January 22, 1928 page 28
