IRT Lenox Avenue Line

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IRT Lenox Avenue Line
Legend Harlem–148th Street 148th Street Yard 145th Street IRT White Plains Road Line 135th Street 125th Street 116th Street Central Park North (110th Street) IRT Broadway-Seventh Avenue Line

The Lenox Avenue Line is one of the IRT lines in the New York City Subway, mostly built as part of the first subway system. It is a rather short line, only serving upper Manhattan.

The line has two of the four stations in the system that are not open all the time — 145th Street and Harlem–148th Street (the other two are on the BMT Nassau Street Line). During late nights, they are served by a free transfer to the M7 or M102 bus from 135th Street, which is served 24 hours.

[edit] Extent and service

The following services use part or all of the Lenox Avenue Line:

The Lenox Avenue Line begins at the Harlem–148th Street (also known as 148th Street–Lenox Terminal). After the terminal, a track merges from the Lenox Avenue Yard, and the line heads south under Lenox Avenue. At 142nd Street Junction, the IRT White Plains Road Line merges (with an at-grade crossing between the northbound Lenox track and the southbound White Plains track), carrying through service from the Bronx.

At the north border of Central Park is the final stop on the line, 110th Street-Central Park North. From there the line curves southwest and west under Central Park (one of three lines to do so, the other two being the IND 63rd Street Line and the BMT 63rd Street Line), and heads west under 104th Street. The line turns southwest and south to run underneath the IRT Broadway-Seventh Avenue Line, passing under part of the northbound platform at 103rd Street. After the center express track on the Broadway-Seventh Avenue Line ends by connecting to the two local tracks, the Lenox Avenue Line rises to become two express tracks, with double crossovers to each local direction. The four-track Broadway-Seventh Avenue line then continues south through 96th Street, an express station and transfer point.

[edit] History

The line opened south of 145th Street just after midnight on November 23, 1904, as part of the IRT's original system. It was known as the East Side Subway or East Side Branch at the time, as it was the spur of the main line to the east side. The first train ran from the line onto the IRT White Plains Road Line (known as the West Farms Branch or the West Farms Extension) just after midnight on July 10, 1905.

The Harlem–148th Street station was opened on May 13, 1968 on land that had been part of the Lenox Avenue Yard; the station was originally called Lenox Terminal-148th Street.

The line has always carried trains of two service patterns, designated 2 and 3; see those articles for details.

[edit] Station listing

Station service legend
	Stops all times
	Stops all times except late nights
Time period details

	Station	Services	Opened	Notes
	Harlem-148th Street	3	May 13, 1968	Formerly 148th Street–Lenox Terminal closed late nights
	145th Street	3	November 23, 1904	No northbound entrance closed late nights
Merge from IRT White Plains Road Line (2 )
	135th Street	2  3	November 23, 1904
	125th Street	2  3	November 23, 1904
	116th Street	2  3	November 23, 1904
	Central Park North (110th Street)	2  3	November 23, 1904
Merges with the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line (2  3 )

[edit] External links

• nycsubway.org - IRT Lenox/White Plains Line

[edit] References

• "East Side Subway Open", New York Times, November 23, 1904, p. 1. 
• "Subway Trains Running from Bronx to Battery", New York Times, July 10, 1905, p. 1. 
• "IRT Passengers Get New 148th St. Station", New York Times, May 14, 1968, p. 95.