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Joey Hadden. New York City's subway system has plans to add a new fleet in with wider doors and high-tech features. Since the early s, NYC's subway system has become an iconic feature of the city. These photos show what the first subways looked like and chart the evolution of the transit system New Yorkers ride today.
Visit Insider's homepage for more stories. New York City's first trains were above ground in the s, according to a blog post from the New York Public Library.
Then, towards the end of the 19th century, they went from being at street level to elevated, according to the same post. This reflected dramatically in the debt service for rapid transit paid by the City. So looking only at the financial constraints on building a second Independent system, the City was ill-prepared to acquire enormous additional debt at a time when it was beginning its long upward spiral of social service spending.
Of the routes approved by the Board of Transportation in the s, only the 6th Avenue trunk route was still unfinished as of In , the city reached an agreement with the Hudson and Manhattan to relocate its midtown terminal to 33rd Street and close the 28th Street station.
Construction began on March 15th, During construction, streetcar service along 6th Avenue was terminated, with the city having the option to restore it upon termination of construction, or outright abandon it. The city wanted to tear down the 6th Ave. El right away and save on the costs of shoring it up while construction proceeded underneath it. Its remnants were sold to Japan. The 6th Avenue trunk line, consisting of two tracks, opened for business on December 15th, It would be 28 years later that full express service would begin under 6th Avenue.
About 6 months before construction began on the 6th Ave. El, on September 22nd, , an "announcement" was made that New York City would hold a World's Fair in , an idea that became very popular very quickly.
The Fair would be held in Flushing Meadows Park, a swampy marshland used as a deposit site for coal ashes. And, as luck would have it, the IND was being extended to th St, Jamaica, and would be opened by On the southern fringe of the park, there just "happened to be" the Jamaica Yard , planned even before the idea of a World's Fair took shape.
In early , construction on the "World's Fair Railroad" began. It would run from the Queens Blvd. Local stops were considered along the new route, and indeed had these been built, perhaps the line would have become permanent, but as constructed, it was a non-stop ride to the Fair.
The line consisted of two tracks ending in a stub-end terminal with two tracks and three platforms. It was built on a wooden trestle across the marshy swampland, which was then filled in. The World's Fair Railroad ran test trains on the line starting April 22nd, , and a full schedule was simulated the day before the Fair opened. On April 30th, at AM, the line opened. Service generally ran until am. The World's Fair had one season in , before unification, and one in , after unification.
The World's Fair Railroad did not run at all between seasons, and at the close of the Fair, the line was to be demolished. The last train ran on October 28th, and on January 15th, , demolition of the line began. Hindsight being what it is, the spur could have served another World's Fair in and , at the very same location!
It may have also been used to provide new service to a new Ebbets Field that was also proposed near that site in the '50s. But instead of rebuilding the World's Fair Railroad, rapid transit was decisively out of vogue in the '50s and '60s.
In late and early , unification negotiations continued in earnest. Nearly 15 years after John Hylan's administration ended, his wish came true, but he was not alive to see it; Hylan died in Unification of the privately owned transit lines with the Independent System occurred in June of The Fulton Street El made its final run on May 31st.
The last train left Rockaway Avenue, Brooklyn at pm, stopping only at Borough Hall to pick up an official party, then ran to Park Row. Then, the train left Park Row shortly after 11pm. As the last train traveled through stations in Brooklyn, station lights were dimmed in memoriam. There was no official trip for the 5th Ave El; there was a funeral procession for this El consisting of city workers that took part in a motorcade that traveled along the route. It ran to Canal Street. Later than day, ceremonies marked the transfer of Contract 4 dated March 19th, back to the City, as well as the signing of a "closing agreement".
With these ceremonies, the City also took over the Williamsburgh power plant, miles of subway and elevated trackage, miles of street railway and miles of bus routes. The mayor's remarks were broadcast over city-owned radio station WNYC. There were no special ceremonies held for the closing of these lines, even though the 9th Ave El was the first elevated rapid transit line in the world, starting service on July 1st, between Cortlandt Street and Battery Place.
The last train on the 9th Ave El, a 7-car train filled with people, left South Ferry at pm, arriving at th Street at am. The last train on the 2nd Ave El, a 3 car train filled with people, left South Ferry shortly after at pm, arriving at th St at pm. With the 6th Ave El having been torn down as a result of the building of the Independent's 6th Ave subway, only the 3rd Ave El remained in service.
Free transfers at th St, Manhattan, and st St in the Bronx, were made available to the Independent's Concourse line. The Els were torn down because the city felt the Els would run under a huge deficit, and they could not afford that. With the Independent subway providing redundant service nearby, there was no need for the elevateds anymore. The 3rd Ave. El survived until May 12th, , because the intent was to replace it with the Second Avenue subway, proposed back in On June 12th, , municipal operation of the IRT commenced.
The ceremony basically was the surrender of Contracts 1, 2 and 3 to the City. LaGuardia called Contract 3 the contract specifying the 5-cent fare "the most famous football in history". He couldn't find "the father of the 5 cent fare"; no-one was willing to admit, or knew, who's idea it was. Not everyone was unhappy to see the Manhattan Els go. A party celebrating the razing of the 9th Ave El was held at the American Woman's Club on 57th St, celebrating the "silence" after midnight.
The last train left South Ferry at pm and arrived at Astoria at pm. Some people wonder why the Second Avenue El was torn down before the Third Avenue El because it was more strongly built.
The City knew the Second Avenue subway was years in the future. Knowledgeable people have accused the City of intentionally shutting the Second Avenue El first because the City knew the inferior Third Avenue El would have to come down sooner or later because of its condition--a backward way of forcing complete elevated removal on the East Side. The initials were retained because a better name for the divisions could not be thought of at the time.
In the late '70s and early '80s, mostly from the effects of the Chrystie Street connection project, the New York City Transit Authority tried to delete the separate identities of each division, dropping them from maps and no longer using these terms in station announcements.
While you won't find references to these divisions on maps anymore, you will still hear references to them in some station announcements as well as by conductors-- and at some stations the "IRT" station at Cortlandt St. In addition, at the front and rear of virtually every underground station in New York City, you will find a red sign identifying to emergency personnel the current location, where the next emergency exits are, and what division IRT, BMT, IND of the subway you're currently in.
In the years before Unification and after Unification , the Board of Transportation put forth revised plans for additional lines. Finally, the local tracks of the 8th Avenue subway would be extended crosstown via Worth St to the Bowery and then to Driggs Avenue in Brooklyn. The South 4th Street junction, partially built, could live again.
The implication is that the Liberty Ave El would be demolished, though this is not certain. Finally, Staten Island was not forgotten, although this portion of the plan wasn't really new. Amid all the proposals, funding was appropriated for extension of the Bronx Concourse Line beyond its current th Street terminal.
However, Bronx residents favored rehabilitation of the New York, Westchester and Boston line from the city limits at Dyre Ave, abandoned since December 31st, Collection of: Frank Pfuhler. World War II put a stop to any expansion plans that were put forth by the Board of Transportation in The plan was the last subway expansion plan on a grand scale until The post-war period saw some more subway expansion, but most of it was done on IND Division lines.
It wasn't until this connection was made that these cars were retrofitted with windshield wipers! Trains would roll through the connection later that afternoon. Brian J. Plans for the Second Avenue Subway were revised yet again. Instead, the Board of Transportation diverted the money to the repair of existing lines.
The newly formed New York City Transit Authority spent some of the money on improving subway car design and getting air conditioning to work in subway cars.
The Special would run until March 16th, Probably one of the longest subway mileage expansions since the inception of the IND Division, expansion to the Rockaways, occurred because the TA was given a deal that it basically couldn't pass up. The connection consisted of a ramp from the El down to the LIRR tracks on the surface of Atlantic Ave, and service ran only during the summer months.
The connection allowed both the LIRR and the Brooklyn Union to operate trains to new terminals with a minimal investment. It also enabled the LIRR to make some additional money to offset both the costs of maintaining the trestles over Jamaica Bay prone to fires and the competition for passengers from a new and very popular destination, Coney Island. Steam service continued until , because the LIRR didn't finish electrifying the Rockaway Beach branch until July 26th, , and the Chestnut Street connection wasn't electrified until the following year.
Patronage was not as high as both railroads would have liked, so to improve ridership, the BRT extended its line across the Williamsburgh Bridge to Delancey Street. It also strengthened the Broadway El between the bridge and Chestnut Street, allowing the use of steel cars. Manhattan service was extended to Chambers Street on August 4th, The opening of Pennsylvania Station and World War I caused patronage to slide, and this shared service ended on September 3rd, The concrete viaduct in the Rockaways was built to rapid transit specifications and completed in Notice how the stations are roughly every 10 blocks apart, fairly common for a rapid transit type of service.
These plans never reached fruition through the s and s. In the late 40s, the wooden trestles over Jamaica Bay seemed more prone to fires that "usual"; finally, on May 8th, , a major fire destroyed significant portions of the structure.
The LIRR was not in solid financial shape at that time, and decided not to rebuild the line. On June 12th, , replacement of the wooden trestles over Jamaica Bay began.
The TA gave a target date of July 1st, , for the opening day. The original plan for the connection with the Queens Line at 63rd Drive would not come to pass. Between October 3rd, and June 8th, , the elevated trackage in the Rockaways was converted for operation by the IND.
Photo by: Frank Pfuhler, June 28, Despite a strike at Westinghouse that threatened late delivery of electrical equipment, the TA met its milestone. The electrical equipment was borrowed from the Dyre Ave line. It was not of the standard R types; for this occasion, the first train would consist of newer equipment, the Rs , even though they didn't provide normal service on the line. Until the mids, an extra fare of 15 cents was collected at Broad Channel. While the E train provided service on the line, it was the longest rapid transit run in New York City over 36 miles ; in the late 50s, some said this was the world's longest rapid transit run.
The extra fare was required until September 1st, , when the fare became 50 cents anywhere on the transit system.
Mott Avenue opened in June of The DeKalb Avenue junction modifications were completed in Also part of this project was the lengthening of BMT platforms to 10 car lengths for lines that would be affected by the Chrystie Street connection. In November of , a bond issue passed that enabled this work, as well as the completion of the IND 6th Avenue express tracks between West 4th and 34th Street, to begin.
This project became known as the Chrystie Street connection. Before this connection opened, between the hours of am and am, 65 trains consisting of cars with a capacity of , passengers passed through DeKalb Ave; after its opening, the capacity increased to 80 trains of cars with , passengers.
Meanwhile, plans for the 2nd Avenue subway ground to a halt yet again. But this didn't stop the TA from cutting back service on the 3rd Ave El. The Board of Transportation, in , cut back 3rd Ave El service below th St to weekday service only. Promises were made to resurrect the 2nd Ave subway project in exchange for demolition of the El. Nothing happened for nearly 15 years, and what was started was eventually stopped due to fiscal problems. East Side subway service has never been the same since.
The date was November 18, Service would begin one week later on the 26th. Collection of: David Pirmann. But it was almost delayed at the last minute yet again. Mayor John Lindsay wanted the route changes through Chrystie Street delayed because he received complaints about them and wanted to discuss them with TA officials first.
The number of trains that were proposed to run through DeKalb Avenue was questioned. He also inquired as to why these changes were being made by the TA, knowing that the TA was to become part of the larger Metropolitan Transportation Authority in March By this point, the plans were too far advanced to delay them any further; the TA agreed to "study" the service changes and make adjustments as needed. The first train affected by the vast subway service changes was a RR local leaving 95th Street at am, initiating a new weekend service.
The D route used to travel the Culver Line. The NX super-express began the next day; 5 trains were scheduled in each direction during rush hours. Later increased to 7 trains in the morning rush, the NX was supposed to provide service for an influx of new residents at public housing projects in Coney Island. The first few weekdays of the revised services caused massive confusion for both riders and train crews.
The power outages began at pm; full power was back on-line at pm. Princeton Architectural Press, One issue that the underground system faced was the eventual connection of all of the rail lines and companies, which lead to overcrowding and eventually lead to the subway system the way it is today.
From the system was expanded, and this made the system go to There was a rival company at this time that began buying existing rail lines and Brooklyn and created a monopoly on the transit in By stores started to open in the subway stations. On October 5, , the Gimbel brothers opened a department store in a subway station, named the Subway Store [9] Parsons, William Barclay, et al. Core Library, an imprint of Abdo Publishing, , The city eventually opened the Independent Subway System in , which the city both owned and operated.
This system was developed to compete with the private companies running the other subways in the city and expanded the subway system significantly. Several years later, the city decided to buy back the leased systems, and combine all of the subways into one extensive system. The merge would prove to be difficult as the integration between the two systems was slow; however, once the systems were connected, it began to work. The New York City subway has a rich history and has played an essential role throughout the city since its opening in This guidebook article will focus on the opening and early years of the subway, and the impact it had on the town along with the changes that it brought to the city.
When the subway was opened, it was hailed as the solution to traffic in the city. The system continues to grow as it gained popularity throughout the city.
As the subway system grew in popularity and size, the IRTC reduced the prices of riding the subway to Manhattan. People were also able to travel throughout the city at a much quicker rate. In the early years of the subway, some accidents resulted in changes made to the subway so people would still ride the system [11] Museum of the City of New York, Contemplating and Commemorating Rapid Transit in New York City, … Continue reading.
The subway has become one of the most important modes of transportation throughout the city and still one of the fastest ways to move around.
It is one of the oldest
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