IRT Flushing Line

IRT Flushing Line
The 7 and 7 Express (<7>) trains serve the entire IRT Flushing Line.
Overview
Owner	City of New York
Termini	Flushing – Main Street Times Square (current) 34th Street (by April 2015)
Stations	21 (current) 22 (by April 2015)
Service
Type	Rapid transit
System	New York City Subway
Operator(s)	New York City Transit Authority
History
Opened	1915-1928 (between Times Square and Flushing – Main Street) April–July 2015 (between 34th Street and Times Square)
Technical
Character	Underground (Manhattan, Western Queens and Main Street) Elevated (Rest of Queens)
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)

The Flushing Line is a rapid transit route of the New York City Subway system, operated as part of the IRT Division and designated the 7. It runs from Flushing in Queens to Times Square in Manhattan, carrying trains of the 7 local service (as well as the express <7> rush hours in the peak direction). An unopened western extension runs to Hudson Yards in western Manhattan. It is shown in the color purple on station signs, the official subway map, internal route maps in R188 cars, and route signs on the front and sides of R62A subway cars. 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 BMT 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 06:00 am to 10:00 am (6:00 to 10:00 ET) and from Manhattan from 3:00 pm to 9:30 pm (15:00 to 21:30 ET). Express service is also provided during New York Mets games and U.S. Open matches.

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.

Extent and service

Queens Boulevard viaduct

Services that use the Flushing Line are colored purple. The following services use part or all of the Flushing Line:

Service	Time period
	Rush hours, peak direction	Other times
Template:NYCS-bull-small Local	Full line
Template:NYCS-bull-small Express	Full line	No service

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 Flushing – Main Street. It quickly leaves the ground onto a steel elevated structure above Roosevelt Avenue, passing Citi Field and the USTA National Tennis Center. A flying junction between Mets – Willets Point 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 IRT and the BMT; 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 BMT trains are wider than IRT 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 42nd Street Shuttle (S train), before angling towards 41st Street and ending at the huge Times Square – 42nd Street station, with no track connections to other lines.

The extension of the Flushing Line west to Manhattan's Far West Side is scheduled to open to the public in late 2014 or early 2015, delayed from the scheduled opening of June 2014. A decommissioned lower level at the IND Eighth Avenue Line's 42nd Street – Port Authority Bus Terminal station formerly blocked the way; it had been rumored that the IND built it to keep the IRT 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, the city pursued it as a means to enable the redevelopment of the far West Side. As of August 2013, the extension was 90% complete.

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 L service. Because of this, there are plans to automate the line with new trains using communication-based train control (CBTC), similar to the Canarsie Line.

The IRT Flushing Line has the distinction of running the longest trains on the New York City Subway, by number of cars. Flushing Line trains are eleven cars long; most other New York City Subway services run ten or eight-car trains. The trains are not the longest by total length, however. An IND/BMT train of ten 60-foot (18 m)-long cars, which is 600 feet (180 m) long, is still 35 feet (11 m) longer than an IRT train of eleven 51.4-foot (15.7 m)-long cars, which is 565 feet (172 m) long.

History

Origins

IRT Flushing Line
LIRR Port Washington Branch Flushing–Main Street (LIRR) former LIRR Whitestone Branch Mets–Willets Point (LIRR) Corona Yard 111th Street 103rd Street–Corona Plaza Junction Boulevard 90th Street–Elmhurst Avenue 82nd Street–Jackson Heights LIRR Main Line 74th Street–Broadway (Queens Boulevard Line) 69th Street Woodside (LIRR) 61st Street–Woodside 52nd Street 46th Street–Bliss Street 40th Street–Lowery Street 33rd Street–Rawson Street LIRR Main Line Queens Boulevard Line Queens Plaza Astoria Line Queensboro Plaza 60th Street Tunnel Connection to Broadway Line former connection to IRT Second Avenue Line 53rd Street Line Court Square former inspection track (1917–1928) Hunters Point Avenue 21st Street Crosstown Line Vernon Boulevard–Jackson Avenue Steinway Tunnel (East River) Queens Manhattan Grand Central– 42nd Street (Lexington Avenue Line) Fifth Avenue (Sixth Avenue Line) Broadway Line Times Square– 42nd Street (Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line) Eighth Avenue Line 7 Subway Extension ↓ Tenth Avenue (unbuilt, proposed) 34th Street–Hudson Yards
Legend
Express station Local station

The earliest origins of the Flushing Line emerged on February 25, 1885, with the construction of the East River Tunnel Railroad, with an objective to connect the Long Island Rail Road with the New York Central railroads. Although a such a plan was studied, no action was taken upon the plan, and the railroad was redesignated as the New York and Long Island Railroad Company in 1887. To run from West 42nd Street and Tenth Avenue to Van Alst Avenue after crossing under the East River, the remainder of the line was planned to be constructed on private lands; as such, numerous alterations were made to the proposal. In 1890, William Steinway advised the company to utilize electricity to power the tunnels, believing that the construction of the tunnel would increase the value of his properties within the vicinity. On June 3, 1892, building of the tunnel commenced near the intersection of 50th Avenue and Vernon and Jackson Avenues; however, several failures and hindrances, which included an underground spring preventing the extraction of rubble, resulted in the termination of the project on February 2, 1893. Several calls for the resumption of the project between 1893 and 1896, in addition to a proposed extension to New Jersey, were futile.

Construction under Dual Contracts

7 train of R36 "Redbird" cars at 33rd Street – Rawson Street northbound; prior to their retirement

At Queensboro Plaza, the line met the BMT'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 IRT lines on which the BMT 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, using elevated cars, that alternated between the Astoria – Ditmars Boulevard and Flushing – Main Street 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.

The line was opened from Queensboro Plaza to 103rd Street – Corona Plaza on April 21, 1917. BMT 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 reports that service began on May 7 to what is now the Mets – Willets Point station, and mentions delays due to the structure sinking. Articles from May 13 and May 15 cover a celebration to coincide with the opening to the Willets Point stop on May 14. Finally, a January 22, 1928 article reports that the line had ended at 103rd Street–Corona Plaza until January 21; the extension had been finished over a year earlier but had to be strengthened due to structural problems.

Flushing – Main Street was not originally intended 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 a large system expansion, were never built.

Currently and historically, IRT subway services on the Flushing Line were assigned the number 7, though this did not appear 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 42nd Street Shuttle:

• Grand Central to Fifth Avenue on March 22, 1926
• west to Times Square on March 14, 1927

The eastern extension to Flushing – Main Street opened on January 2, 1928 and was the last extension to open on the Flushing Line in 84 years.

For the 1939 New York World's Fair, the Willets Point Boulevard station was rebuilt and centered on 123rd Street, just west of where the station originally lay. 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 in use today, and the ramp used during two World's Fairs still exists, but is only used during special events, such as the US Open for 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.

Service curtailments

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 Grand Central from June 13, 1942 (when Second Avenue Line service ended, including the Queensboro Bridge connection) until May 12, 1955 (when Third Avenue Line service ended). In the fall of 1949, the joint BMT/IRT service arrangement ended. The Flushing Line became the responsibility of IRT. The 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 later 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.

Decline and rehabilitation

As with the rest of the system, the IRT Flushing Line was allowed to deteriorate throughout the 1970s to the late 1980s. Structural defects in the subway that required immediate attention at the time were labeled as "Code Red" defects or "Red Tag" areas; these Code Red defects were numerous on the Flushing Line. Some columns that supported elevated structures on the Flushing Line were so shaky that trains would not run if the wind exceeded 65 miles per hour (105 km/h). This was particularly widespread on the Flushing Line, as well as the BMT Jamaica Line.

On May 13, 1985, a 41⁄2-year long project to overhaul the IRT Flushing Line commenced. It forced single-tracking on much of the line during weekends, and the complete elimination of express service for the duration of the project. Consequently, the MTA advertised this change by putting leaflets in the New York Times, the Staten Island Advance, the Daily News and Newsday. The project would lay new track, replace or repair concrete and steel structures, replace wooden station canopies with aluminum ones, improve lighting, improve signage, and install new ventilation and pumping equipment. Expanded service would be provided when the Mets played home games or when there were sporting events in Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. Paradoxically, Flushing local trains had better on-time performance during the construction than before it started.

The $60 million rehabilitation project on the Queens Boulevard concrete viaduct ended on August 21, 1989. When Flushing express service was restored, trains no longer stopped at 61st Street – Woodside. This led to protests to get express service back at 61st Street station. The reason for the stop's discontinuance on the Flushing express was because the MTA felt it took too long to transfer between locals and expresses. The service was also due to fears of delays on the line when locals and expresses would merge after 33rd Street – Rawson Street. The change was supposed to enable local trains to stop at 61st Street every four minutes (15 trains per hour (tph)) during rush hours, but the trains really arrived every 8–10 minutes (or 6–8 tph), according to riders. The community opposition led to service changes, and expresses began stopping at Woodside a few months later.

Automation of the line

In January 2012, the MTA selected Thales to set up a communications-based train control (CBTC) system as part of the plan to automate the line. This was the second installation of CBTC following the BMT Canarsie Line.

The Flushing Line was chosen for the next implementation of CBTC because it is also a self-contained line with no direct connections to other subway lines currently in use. Funding was allocated in the 2010–2014 capital budget for CBTC installation on the Flushing Line, with scheduled installation completion in 2016. The R188 cars were ordered to equip the line with compatible rolling stock. CBTC on the line will allow the 7 and <7>​ services to run 2 more trains per hour (tph) during peak hours (it currently runs 27 tph). However, the system is currently retrofitted to operate at 33 tph even without CBTC.

The first train of R188 cars began operating in passenger service on November 9, 2013.

Extension westward

Construction of the 7 Subway Extension

Main article: 7 Subway Extension

The IRT Flushing Line is being extended westward and southward in Manhattan, expected to be opened in late 2014. There will be only one new station at 34th Street and Eleventh Avenue to serve Hudson Yards; formerly there was another station proposed at Tenth Avenue and 41st Street. Funding is in place and construction began in late 2007. The extension's opening was delayed from December 2013 to June 2014, then it was delayed three more times, most recently to as late as February 2015.

Rolling stock on the line

The Steinway Low-V was built between 1915 and 1925 specifically for use on the current 7 train. They had special gear ratios to climb the steep grades (4.5%) in the Steinway Tunnel, something standard Interborough equipment could not do.

In 1938, an order of all-new World's Fair cars was placed with the St. Louis Car Company. These cars broke from IRT "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.

In 1964, the picture window R33/R36 World's Fair cars replaced the older R15s for the 1964 New York World's Fair. The 7 was the last stronghold for the "Redbird" cars. Until December 2001, the entire fleet was dominated by the R33/R36 WF "Bluebird" cars. In 2001, with the arrival of the R142/R142A cars, the Transit Authority announced the retirement of all Redbird cars, which were replaced with R62A cars formerly used on the 3 and 6 trains gradually replaced all of the R33/36 WF cars on the 7. On November 3, 2003, the last Redbird train made its final trip on the line.

By 2003, the R62As were all delivered to the Flushing Line. They will be replaced by R188 subway cars through 2016, and the displaced R62As are being placed on the 6 service.

By 2016, R188 cars equipped with communications-based train control (CBTC) will run on the 7, outfitted for the automation of the Flushing Line. The first train of R188 cars began operating in passenger service on November 9, 2013.

Station listing

Station service legend
	Stops all times
	Stops all times except late nights
	Stops late nights and weekends only
	Stops weekdays during the day
	Stops rush hours in the peak direction only
Time period details
	Station is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act
↑	Station is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act in the indicated direction only
↓
	Elevator access to mezzanine only

Neighborhood (approximate)		Station	Tracks	Services	Opened	Transfers and notes
Begins as a three track line
Flushing		Flushing – Main Street	all	7  <7> ​	January 21, 1928	Connection to LIRR at Flushing – Main Street originally Main Street
Willets Point		Mets – Willets Point	all	7  <7> ​	January 21, 1928	Connection to LIRR at Mets – Willets Point (special events only) formerly Willets Point–Shea Stadium originally Willets Point Boulevard
Corona	connecting tracks to Corona Yard
		111th Street	local	7	January 21, 1928
		103rd Street – Corona Plaza	local	7	April 21, 1917	originally Alburtis Avenue
		Junction Boulevard	all	7  <7> ​	April 21, 1917	originally Junction Avenue
Elmhurst		90th Street – Elmhurst Avenue	local	7	April 21, 1917	originally Elmhurst Avenue
Jackson Heights		82nd Street – Jackson Heights	local	7	April 21, 1917	originally 25th Street–Jackson Heights
		74th Street – Broadway	local	7	April 21, 1917	E  ​F  <F> ​M  ​R  (IND Queens Boulevard Line at Jackson Heights – Roosevelt Avenue) originally Broadway
Woodside		69th Street	local	7	April 21, 1917	originally Fisk Avenue
		61st Street – Woodside	all	7  <7> ​	April 21, 1917	originally Woodside Connection to LIRR at Woodside
		52nd Street	local	7	April 21, 1917	originally Lincoln Avenue
Sunnyside		46th Street – Bliss Street	local	7	April 21, 1917	originally Bliss Street
		40th Street – Lowery Street	local	7	April 21, 1917	originally Lowery Street
		33rd Street – Rawson Street	local	7	April 21, 1917	originally Rawson Street
Center Express track ends
connecting tracks to BMT Astoria Line (No regular service)
Long Island City / Astoria		Queensboro Plaza	all	7  <7> ​	November 5, 1916	N  ​W  (BMT Astoria Line)
Long Island City		Court Square	all	7  <7> ​	November 5, 1916	originally 45th Road – Court House Square G  (IND Crosstown Line) E  ​M  (IND Queens Boulevard Line)
		Hunters Point Avenue	all	7  <7> ​	February 15, 1916	Connection to LIRR at Hunterspoint Avenue
		Vernon Boulevard – Jackson Avenue	all	7  <7> ​	June 22, 1915	originally Vernon-Jackson Avenues Connection to LIRR at Long Island City
Steinway Tunnel under the East River
Midtown Manhattan		Grand Central	all	7  <7> ​	June 22, 1915	4  ​5  ​6  <6> (IRT Lexington Avenue Line) S  (IRT 42nd Street Shuttle) Connection to Metro-North Railroad at Grand Central Terminal
		Fifth Avenue	all	7  <7> ​	March 22, 1926	B  ​D  ​F  <F> ​M  (IND Sixth Avenue Line at 42nd Street – Bryant Park)
Midtown Manhattan (Times Square)		Times Square	all	7  <7> ​	March 14, 1927	N  ​Q  ​R  ​W  (BMT Broadway Line) 1  ​2  ​3  (IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line) A  ​C  ​E  (IND Eighth Avenue Line at 42nd Street – Port Authority Bus Terminal) S  (IRT 42nd Street Shuttle) Port Authority Bus Terminal
7 Subway Extension (opens early 2015)
Hell's Kitchen /Hudson Yards / Chelsea		34th Street – Hudson Yards			under construction (expected to open February 2015)

External links

• 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
• "Flushing Extension of Corona Subway Ready to Open". The New York Times. January 8, 1928. p. 189. Retrieved 2011-10-02.