BMT Astoria Line

The Astoria Line is a rapid transit line of the BMT division of the New York City Subway, serving the neighborhood of Astoria, Queens. It runs from Ditmars Boulevard to 39th Avenue along 31st Street. It then serves Queensboro Plaza along 27th Street. It was built as part of the Dual Contracts and jointly operated by the IRT and BMT using IRT-sized cars until 1949. In 1949, the platforms were shaved to accept the wider BMT cars and joint service was discontinued.

Extent and service

The Astoria Line is served by two services, the N and Q. The N runs all the time, and the Q runs weekdays only from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. No services use the center express track, but some trains use this track to layup before the AM Rush Hour before starting service. During the middays, some trains lay up on the center track as well.

The north end of the Astoria Line is a two-track terminal at Ditmars Boulevard, with one island platform. South of the station, the center express track begins (with crossovers to allow terminating trains to reach the correct track). The next station, Astoria Boulevard, is the only express station on the three-track section.

North of Queensboro Plaza, the express track ends. Queensboro Plaza is a dual-level station with northbound trains on the upper level, southbound trains on the lower level, and cross-platform transfers to the IRT Flushing Line. Crossover tracks exist between the upper level tracks just north of the station, one of a few connections between the BMT / IND and IRT. After Queensboro Plaza, the line turns west and merges with the 60th Street Tunnel Connection to become the BMT Broadway Line via the 60th Street Tunnel.

History

The Astoria Line was originally part of the IRT, as a spur off the IRT Queensboro Line, now the IRT Flushing Line. The whole Astoria Line north of Queensboro Plaza opened on February 1, 1917, and was used by trains between Grand Central and Astoria. Through IRT service to the Corona Line (now the Flushing Line) opened two months later on April 21, 1917.^[1]

On July 23, 1917, the Queensboro Bridge spur of the elevated IRT Second Avenue Line opened. At that time, all elevated trains to Queensboro Plaza used the Astoria Line, and all subway trains used the Corona Line, though this was later changed with trains alternating between branches.^[2]

The 60th Street Tunnel opened on August 1, 1920, allowing BMT trains to reach Queensboro Plaza. However, the stations on the Astoria and Corona Lines were built to IRT specifications, which were too narrow for BMT rolling stock. Those BMT subway trains terminated at Queensboro Plaza using a relay track east of the station to turn around for the return trip to Manhattan.^[3]

On April 8, 1923, the BMT, using elevated cars, started running shuttles along the Astoria Line (numbered BMT 8 in 1924) and the Corona Line (BMT 9) in addition to the existing IRT service. On June 23, 1942, the IRT Second Avenue Line spur to Queensboro Plaza closed.^[4]

The IRT services were numbered in 1948, with 7 being assigned to the Flushing Line and 8 to the Astoria Line. Only a year later on October 17, 1949, the Flushing Line became IRT-only. The platforms on the Astoria Line were shaved back to allow through BMT trains to operate on it, the first being the Brighton Local (BMT 1). Since then, the Astoria Line has hosted the "other end" of various services running from Brooklyn through Manhattan; see B, N, Q, R, T and W for details.^[5]

In the early 2000s, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority considered extending the Astoria Line to LaGuardia Airport, but this was scrapped in July 2003 due to heavy opposition from residents.^[6]

Station listing

References

External links

• nycsubway.org - BMT Astoria Line