South Ferry loops (New York City Subway)

This redirect is about the modern New York City Subway station. For other uses, see South Ferry (disambiguation).

South Ferry
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Station statistics
Borough	Manhattan
Division
Line	IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line
Services	1  (all times)
System transfers	R, W (When new South Ferry Station opens)
Transit	Staten Island Ferry at South Ferry
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	1 balloon loop
Other information
Opened	July 10, 1905
Opposite- direction transfer	Yes
Traffic
2023
Rank	out of 423
Next south	(Terminal)
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops in station at all times Stops all times except late nights Stops late nights only Stops late nights and weekends only Stops weekdays during the day Stops weekends during the day Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction Stops all times except weekdays in the peak direction Stops all times except nights and rush hours in the peak direction Stops rush hours only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only Station is closed (Details about time periods)

South Ferry is a station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. It is the southern terminal of the 1 service. The single platform is on the outside of the outer track of a two-track loop. This platform is short (rear five cars cannot load or unload). Gap fillers are used to bridge the gap between the platform and the doors. Spray nozzles lubricate the track to reduce the friction caused by the tight curve. The sharp curvature slows train operation and generates loud metallic scraping noise.

New South Ferry station

In mid-2005, construction commenced on a new South Ferry station, which is located underneath the present one. It is designed as a ADA-compliant, two-track terminal, which will allow all ten cars of the train to platform so that all the doors can be opened. The new station will offer three street entrances (the current station has only one) and will also have a free transfer to the Whitehall Street–South Ferry station (N  ​R  ​W ) on the BMT Broadway Line. According to the latest update from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, the new station will be opened for passengers in January 2009, and landscaping for Peter Minuit Plaza will be completed by February 2009.

On December 11, 2008, the New York Times and the cable news channel NY1 reported that the new station was essentially finished. It features glass panels, and a stainless steel fence. A mosaic by Doug and Mike Starns depicting Manhattan topography is installed in the mezzanine. In November and December 2005, centuries-old walls were discovered in two places in the proposed right-of-way. The walls are on display in the park, and in the new terminal. The new South Ferry terminal will be used for Broadway–Seventh Avenue trains only; it will not serve Lexington Avenue trains. The current loop platforms will be disused when the new terminal opens, however, both the inner and outer tracks will still be used for train storage and turn arounds. As a temporary measure, direct access is available to the adjacent South Ferry, including the Staten Island Ferry.

Originally budgeted at $400 million, the new South Ferry station cost a total of $530 million, with most of the money being a grant from the Federal Transit Administration earmarked for World Trade Center reconstruction.

Inner platform

Track map (closed platforms in pink)

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New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Station statistics
Borough	Manhattan
Division
Line	IRT Lexington Avenue Line
Services	None (track is used to turn 5  trains)
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	1 balloon loop
Other information
Opened	July 1, 1918
Closed	February 12, 1977
Opposite- direction transfer	Yes
Traffic
2023
Rank	out of 423
Next north	Bowling Green
Next south	(Terminal)
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops in station at all times Stops all times except late nights Stops late nights only Stops late nights and weekends only Stops weekdays during the day Stops weekends during the day Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction Stops all times except weekdays in the peak direction Stops all times except nights and rush hours in the peak direction Stops rush hours only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only Station is closed (Details about time periods)

The outer platform is used by IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line trains, but it was originally built for the IRT Lexington Avenue Line. When the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line opened in 1918, it started using the outer platform, and the Lexington Avenue Line was moved to a new inner track and inner platform. This platform has an even sharper curve, and only the center doors opened at South Ferry, with special arched openings in a wall between the platform and track at the locations of the doors.

In the late 1950s, the IRT division began to use mostly R-type cars, which could not have only the center doors opened, and 5 trains (which ended at South Ferry evenings and weekends only) and 6 trains (which ended at South Ferry late nights) were rerouted to the outer loop. The Bowling Green–South Ferry Shuttle, which ran weekdays and at first also late nights, continued to use the inner loop, running to the west platform at Bowling Green until 1977, when the inner platform was closed and Lexington Avenue trains stopped using the outer loop. A pair of specially modified R12 cars were used starting in the late 1960s until the service ended. These cars had two different door controls; the first opened the outer two sets of doors while the second opened the center set of doors only.

There was never a free transfer between the two platforms. The inner track is now used to turn 5 trains at all times except rush hours (when they are extended into Brooklyn) and late nights (when they don't run into Manhattan at all).

Bus connections

• M1
• M6
• M9
• M15

In popular culture

The South Ferry loop plays an important role in the movie The Taking of Pelham One Two Three.

• 
  Newly renovated entrance. May 2005
• 
  The closed inner platform as seen from the outer platform
• 
  Mezzanine

External links

• South Ferry Terminal Project - Official MTA South Ferry Station Project Page
• nycsubway.org – IRT West Side Line: South Ferry
• Abandoned Stations - Bowling Green & South Ferry platforms