South Ferry (New York City Subway)

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South Ferry
New York City Subway station
Station information
Line	IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line
Services	1  (all times)
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	1 balloon loop
Passengers (2006)	3.463 million ▼ 3%
Other
Borough	Manhattan
Opened	July 10, 1905
Connection	Staten Island Ferry at South Ferry
Next north	Rector Street: 1
Next south	(Terminal)

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.

In mid-2005, construction commenced on a new South Ferry station, which will be located underneath the present one. It will be built as an 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 also have a free transfer to the Whitehall Street–South Ferry station (N R W) on the BMT Broadway Line. It is anticipated that the new station will be completed in February 2009. 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. In November and December 2005, centuries-old walls were discovered in two places in the proposed right-of-way. The walls will be placed on display in the park, and in the new terminal when construction is completed.[1]

As a temporary measure, direct access is available to the adjacent South Ferry, including the Staten Island Ferry.

Newly renovated entrance. May 2005.

[edit] Inner platform

Track map (closed platforms in pink)

Station information
Line	IRT Lexington Avenue Line
Services	None (track is used to turn 5  trains)
Platforms	1 side platform
Tracks	1 balloon loop
Other
Borough	Manhattan
Opened	July 1, 1918
Closed	February 12, 1977
Next north	Bowling Green
Next south	(Terminal)

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).

[edit] Bus connections

• M1
• M6
• M9
• M15

[edit] In popular culture

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

[edit] 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