| Independent Subway System | |||
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| Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) | ||
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The Independent Subway System (IND or ISS), formerly known as the Independent City-Owned Subway System (ICOS) or the Independent City-Owned Rapid Transit Railroad, was a rapid transit rail system in New York City that is now part of the New York City Subway. It was first constructed as the "Eighth Avenue Line" in Manhattan in 1932.
One of three rail networks that became part of the modern New York City subway, the IND was intended to be fully owned and operated by the municipal government, in contrast to the privately operated or jointly-funded Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) and Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT) companies. It was merged with these two networks in 1940.
The original IND service lines are the modern subway's A, B, C, D, E, F and G services. In addition, the BMT's M and R now run partly on IND trackage. The Rockaway Park Shuttle supplements the A service. For operational purposes, the IND and BMT lines and services are referred to jointly as the B Division.
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Initially it was known as the Independent City-Owned Subway System (ICOS), Independent Subway System (ISS), or Independent City-Owned Rapid Transit Railroad. It became known as the IND after unification of the subway lines in 1940; the name IND was assigned to match the three-letter initialisms of the IRT and BMT.
The first IND line was the Eighth Avenue Line in Manhattan, opened on September 10, 1932; for a while the whole system was colloquially known as the Eighth Avenue Subway. The original IND system was entirely underground in the four boroughs that it served, with the exception of a short section of the IND Culver Line containing two stations spanning the Gowanus Canal in the Gowanus section of Brooklyn.
In the early 1920s, Mayor John Hylan proposed a complex series of city-owned and operated rapid transit lines to compete with the BMT and IRT, especially their elevated lines. The New York City Transit Commission was formed in 1921 to develop a plan to reduce overcrowding on the subways. The original plans included:
These lines were completely built as planned. All but a short portion of the Culver Line (over the Gowanus Canal) are underground.
On September 10, 1932, the Eighth Avenue Line opened from 207th Street to Chambers Street, inaugurating the IND. In February 1933 the Cranberry Street Tunnel opened, along with the Eighth Avenue Line from Chambers Street to Jay Street – Borough Hall. On the northern end of the construction, in the Bronx, the connecting Concourse Line opened on July 1, 1933 from 205th Street to 145th Street.
The following month, the Queens Boulevard Line opened from Jackson Heights – Roosevelt Avenue to the lower level of 50th Street on the Eighth Avenue Line, connecting the Queens and Manhattan lines. In Queens, the Crosstown Line opened from Queens Plaza to Nassau Avenue.
Finally, on October 7, 1933, the Culver Line opened from Jay Street to Church Avenue.
On January 1, 1936, the Sixth Avenue Line opened from West Fourth Street (where it splits from the Eighth Avenue Line) to East Broadway.
On April 9, 1936 the Fulton Street Line opened from Court Street to Rockaway Avenue, along with connecting tracks from Jay Street. The Sixth Avenue Line and Rutgers Street Tunnel opened from East Broadway to Jay Street.
On December 31, 1936, the Queens Boulevard Line was extended from Roosevelt Avenue to Kew Gardens – Union Turnpike. In 1937, service was extended again to 169th Street.
On July 1, 1937, the Crosstown Line opened from Nassau Avenue to Bergen Street.
A major expansion of the IND was first planned in 1929. It would have added over 100 miles of new routes in Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx, merging with, intersecting or extending the existing IND rights-of way. It was claimed that this expansion, combined with the operating IRT, BMT, and IND lines, would provide subway service within a half mile of anyone's doorstep. Pricing—excluding acquisition and equipment costs—was estimated at US$438 million; the entire first phase had only cost US$338 million (including acquisition and equipment costs). Not long after these plans were unveiled, the Wall Street Crash of 1929 occurred and the Great Depression was ushered in. The plans essentially became history overnight. Various forms of the expansion resurfaced in 1931, 1939, 1940, 1968, and 1972 but were never realized. This was the time when the IND had planned widespread elevated construction.
The Second Avenue Subway, one of the main parts of the plan, is under construction as of 2007.
On December 15, 1940, the local tracks of the Sixth Avenue Line opened from its connection to the Eighth Avenue Line at 59th Street – Columbus Circle to West Fourth Street – Washington Square, along with the express tracks north of 34th Street – Herald Square.
In the 1950s, the IND was extended over two pieces of elevated line that were disconnected from the original BMT system: the BMT Culver Line in 1954, and the Liberty Avenue extension of the BMT Fulton Street Line in 1956.
The following extra extensions and connections were built after unification in 1940:
Pre-Chrystie Street Connection service is shown here; for more details, see the individual service pages. Terminals shown are the furthest the service reached.
| Line | Routing | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|
| A | Washington Heights Express | 207th Street – Lefferts Boulevard or Far Rockaway or Rockaway Park (via Eighth Avenue) | still in use |
| AA | Washington Heights Local | 168th Street – Hudson Terminal (via Eighth Avenue) | became K (no longer operative) |
| BB | Washington Heights Local | 168th Street – 34th Street (via Sixth Avenue) | became B (now continues to Brighton Beach) |
| C | Bronx Concourse Express | 205th Street – Utica Avenue (via Eighth Avenue) | no longer operated; Combined into A and D trains |
| CC | Bronx Concourse Local | Bedford Park Boulevard – Hudson Terminal (via Eighth Avenue) | became C |
| D | Bronx Concourse Express | 205th Street – Coney Island (via Sixth Avenue) | still in use |
| E | Queens–Manhattan Express | 179th Street – Rockaway Park or Hudson Terminal (via Eighth Avenue and Houston Street) | still in use, though trains only go to Hudson Terminal (now called World Trade Center) |
| F | Queens–Manhattan Express | 179th Street – Hudson Terminal or Coney Island (via Sixth Avenue) | still in use, though trains only go to Coney Island |
| GG | Queens Brooklyn Local | Forest Hills – Church Avenue (via Crosstown Line) | became G, though trains only go to Court Square |
| HH | Court Street Shuttle | Court Street – Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets | no longer operated |
| HH | Rockaway Local | Euclid Avenue – Rockaway Park or Far Rockaway | became H, then S, though trains only go to Rockaway Park |
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