C (New York City Subway service)

The C Eighth Avenue Local is a rapid transit service of the New York City Subway. It is colored blue on route signs, station signs, and the official subway map, since it runs on the IND Eighth Avenue Line through Manhattan.

The C service operates at all times except late nights making all stops from 168th Street in Washington Heights, Manhattan, to Euclid Avenue in City Line, Brooklyn via Central Park West and Eighth Avenue in Manhattan and Fulton Street in Brooklyn. During late night hours, the A train, which runs express along the entire C route during daytime hours, makes all stops. The C train has no elevated stations, running underground for its entire route.

Maintenance and rider issues

In August 2011, the Straphangers Campaign rated the C train the worst of the city's subway services for the third straight year. The group found that the service performed worst in three of the six categories in its annual State of the Subways Report Card: amount of scheduled service, in-car announcement quality, and breakdown rate. Trains arrive only once every ten minutes at peak periods and break down three times more often than average. However, the C tied with the E for the system's cleanest trains and performed above average in crowding and service regularity.^[1][2]The New York Times called the C the "least loved of New York City subway lines," citing its fleet of R32s, which, at 47-48 years of age, are the oldest cars in the system.^[1]

History

• The C and CC services began operation on July 1, 1933 over the then-new IND Concourse Line. The CC local provided continuous service between Bedford Park Boulevard and Hudson Terminal, while the C express ran express, from 205th Street to Bergen Street in Brooklyn.
• Beginning December 15, 1940, the D train entered service with the opening of the IND Sixth Avenue Line. It joined the C as the peak direction Concourse Express. CC trains now ran between Hudson Terminal and Bedford Park during rush hours and on Saturdays as well. Other times, the D made local stops in the Bronx.

• Beginning October 10, 1944, C trains no longer ran on Saturdays and limited morning rush hour service began between 205th Street, Bronx and Utica Avenue, Brooklyn, making local stops on the IND Fulton Street Line.
• On October 24, 1949, C service was discontinued and during rush hours, CC trains terminated at Broadway – Lafayette Street. Two years later, CC trains were discontinued on Saturdays and in 1954, it returned to the Hudson Terminal.
• On August 27, 1976, the C train replaced the E train as the local along Fulton Street and to Rockaway Park. It became the only subway train to run through all four boroughs served by the subway. It ran from Bedford Park Boulevard in the Bronx, though Manhattan via Central Park West and Eighth Avenue, into Brooklyn via the Cranberry Street Tunnel, and then on the Fulton Street Line and Jamaica Bay Crossing to Rockaway Park.
• In May 1985, the IND practice of using double letters to indicate local service was discontinued. The CC service was renamed the C.
• In 1988, the K train was discontinued, and the C train was extended to run at all times except late nights. It ran local to Euclid Avenue midday and rush hours (the A ran express in Brooklyn during this time), and to World Trade Center during evenings and weekends. During rush hours, it ran to Bedford Park Boulevard and other times, to 145th Street.
• On October 23, 1992, rush hour C service was cut back from Rockaway Park – Beach 116th Street to Euclid Avenue.
• Beginning April 1995, C service ran to 168th Street – Washington Heights during midday and weekends. In November of that year, midday service was cut back to 145th Street.
• On March 1, 1998, the B and C trains switched northern terminals, with C terminating at 168th Street whenever it operates.
• Starting in 1999, C trains ran local to Euclid Avenue on the weekends and A trains ran express in Brooklyn at all times except late nights.
• In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, C service was suspended until September 24, 2001. Local service along Central Park West was replaced by the A and D, and the E was extended from Canal Street to Euclid Avenue.
• On January 23, 2005, a fire at the Chambers Street signal room crippled A and C service. Initial assessments suggested that it would take several years to restore normal service, but the damaged equipment was replaced with available spare parts, and normal service resumed on April 21.

Route

Service pattern

The following table shows the lines used by the C service:

Stations

For a more detailed station listing, see the articles on the lines listed above.

References

External links

• MTA NYC Transit – C Eighth Avenue Local
• MTA NYC Transit – C train timetablePDF – Effective December 4, 2011