West Fourth Street – Washington Square (New York City Subway)

West Fourth Street – Washington Square
New York City Subway rapid transit station
Station statistics
Address West Third Street & Sixth Avenue
New York, NY 10014
(main station entrance)
Borough Manhattan
Locale Greenwich Village
Division B (IND)
Line IND Eighth Avenue Line
IND Sixth Avenue Line
Services       A  (all times)
      B  (weekdays at all hours except late evenings and nights)
      C  (all times except late nights)
      D  (all times)
      E  (all times)
      F  (all times)
      M  (weekdays at all hours except late nights)
Connection
Structure Underground
Levels 2
Platforms 4 island platforms (2 on each level)
cross-platform interchange
Tracks 8 (4 on each level)
Other information
Opened September 10, 1932; 79 years ago (September 10, 1932)[1] (upper level)
December 15, 1940; 71 years ago (December 15, 1940) (lower level)
Accessible
Traffic
Passengers (2010) 12,295,023[2]  0%
Rank 19 out of 422
Station succession
Next north 14th Street (8th Ave): A  C  E 
14th Street (6th Ave local): F  M 
34th Street – Herald Square (6th Ave express): B  D 
Next south Spring Street (8th Ave local): A  C  E 
Canal Street (8th Ave express): A 
Broadway – Lafayette Street (6th Ave): B  D  F  M 
Next north 14th Street (8th Ave): A  C  E 
34th Street – Herald Square (6th Ave): B  D  F  M 
Next south Jay Street – MetroTech (Fulton St & Culver): A  C  F 
DeKalb Avenue (Manhattan Bridge local): B  D 
Atlantic Avenue – Pacific Street (Manhattan Bridge express): D 
Marcy Avenue (Jamaica): M 

West Fourth Street – Washington Square is an express station and transfer stop on the IND Sixth Avenue and IND Eighth Avenue Lines of the New York City Subway, located at the intersection of West Fourth Street and Sixth Avenue in Greenwich Village, Manhattan. It is served by:

Contents

History

West Fourth Street opened on September 10, 1932, as part of the first line of the Independent Subway System (IND), the Eighth Avenue Line, from Chambers Street to Inwood – 207th Street. At the time, only the upper level was used, with service on the lower level beginning in January 1936 with a shuttle service to Second Avenue; through service on the Sixth Avenue local tracks began in December 1940. The Sixth Avenue express tracks were built later and were put into through service on July 1, 1968; prior to then, the express tracks here and at 34th Street – Herald Square were used as terminal tracks only.

The station was named West Fourth Street as opposed to merely Fourth Street because the planners of the Independent Subway System believed there would be confusion between this station and a proposed station on the never-built IND Second System at South Fourth Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.[3]

Station layout

West Fourth Street station was built by the IND as the major transfer point between its two Manhattan trunk lines. It can be considered the "heart" of the IND system as it is the location of the zero point on the IND chaining. It is a bi-level station with a connecting concourse between the two platform levels. The Eighth Avenue Line occupies the upper level, while the Sixth Avenue Line uses the lower level. Both levels use identical platform arrangements – two island platforms between four tracks, allowing for cross-platform interchanges between local and express trains in each direction.

There are two fare control areas, one at each end of the station. Both lead directly to the Eighth Avenue Line on the upper level platforms; access to the Sixth Avenue Line on the lower level is via stairs or elevators from the upper level only. Recent renovations have added ADA-accessible elevators, providing access to both levels and to the mezzanine. Curiously, this massive station has unexpectedly few exits, and those that do exist are relatively small. This illustrates the station's main purpose as a major transfer point between trains on both IND trunk lines. Furthermore, the station does not actually have an exit to Fourth Street itself. The north exit is at Waverly Place and the south exit is at West Third Street.

South of this station, at the curve from under Houston Street to Sixth Avenue on the IND Sixth Avenue Line (lower level), a bellmouth merges with the Queens-bound local track.[4] It is not known why this was built.

Nearby points of interest

Gallery

References

  1. ^ New York Times, List of the 28 Stations on the New Eighth Ave Line, September 10, 1932, page 6
  2. ^ "Facts and Figures: 2010 Annual Subway Ridership". New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority. http://mta.info/nyct/facts/ridership/ridership_sub_annual.htm. Retrieved 2011-05-18. 
  3. ^ Pollak, Michael (2008-09-12). "F. Y. I.". The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/nyregion/thecity/14fyi.html. Retrieved 2009-08-05. 
  4. ^ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q0Es5eOJe0E The provision for a line that was never built can be seen towards the left, at the 2:40 mark into the video, just before the train enters the West Fourth Street station.

External links

Media related to [//commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:West_Fourth_Street_%E2%80%93_Washington_Square_(New_York_City_Subway) West Fourth Street – Washington Square (New York City Subway)] at Wikimedia Commons
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