IND Concourse Line

IND Concourse Line

The B train serves the IND Concourse Line south of Bedford Park Boulevard during weekday rush hours only while the D train serves the entire line at all times.
Overview
Type Rapid transit
System New York City Subway
Locale Manhattan and The Bronx
Termini Norwood – 205th Street
145th Street
Stations 12
Daily ridership 223,492[1]
Operation
Opening 1933[2]
Owner City of New York
Operator(s) New York City Transit Authority
Character Underground
Technical
No. of tracks 2-3
Track gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Electrification 600V DC third rail

IND Concourse Line

Legend
IRT Jerome Avenue Line
provision for White Plains Road extension
Norwood – 205th Street

Concourse Yard

Bedford Park Boulevard
Kingsbridge Road
Fordham Road
 182nd–183rd Streets
 Tremont Avenue
 174th–175th Streets
 170th Street

167th Street

161st Street – Yankee Stadium
IRT Jerome Avenue Line
MNR Hudson Line
Concourse Tunnel under Harlem River
155th Street

145th Street
Eighth Avenue on upper level
Concourse line on lower level
IND Eighth Avenue Line

The Concourse Line is an IND rapid transit line of the New York City Subway system. It runs from 205th Street in Norwood, Bronx to 145th Street in Harlem, Manhattan. It is the only B Division line in the Bronx, as well as the only fully underground line in the Bronx.

Description and service

  Time period Section of line
rush hours other times
B local no service south of Bedford Park Blvd
D express local entire line

The Concourse Line begins as a two-track line at Norwood – 205th Street. As it travels west, a center track forms which leads to the Concourse Yard. The line then curves south to the Grand Concourse, from which it derives its name. Two tracks from the Concourse Yard arrive between the two revenue tracks with switches and diamond crossovers between all four of them before the yard tracks merge to form the center track at Bedford Park Boulevard.

Passing over 175th Street

South of this station, the two outer tracks merge into a single center express track while the center track splits to become the local tracks. The line then runs south with diamond crossovers at Tremont Avenue. Due to the terrain, the vicinity of 174th–175th Street station is uniquely built both underground and over 175th Street. Between 170th Street and 167th Street are more switches and crossovers, with a lay-up track adjacent to the Manhattan-bound local track.

The line curves west before 161st Street – Yankee Stadium and crosses the Harlem River into Manhattan via the Concourse Tunnel. There is one more stop, 155th Street, before the line curves south and joins the IND Eighth Avenue Line at the lower level of 145th Street.

History

The Concourse Line opened on July 1, 1933,[3] less than ten months after the IND's first line, the Eighth Avenue Line, opened for service. Initial service was provided by the C train, at that time an express train, between 205th Street, then via the IND Eighth Avenue Line, Cranberry Street Tunnel and the IND South Brooklyn Line (now Culver Line) to Bergen Street. The CC provided local service between Bedford Park Boulevard and Hudson Terminal (now World Trade Center).

On December 15, 1940, with the opening of the IND Sixth Avenue Line, the D train began serving the IND Concourse Line with the C and CC. It made express stops in peak during rush hours and Saturdays and local stops at all other times. C service was discontinued in 1949-51, but reinstated in 1985 when double letters used to indicate local service was discontinued. The D made local stops along the Concourse Line at all times except rush hours, when the C ran local to Bedford Park Boulevard. On March 1, 1998, the B train replaced the C as the rush-hour local on the Concourse Line.

Except for minor maintenance work and a station rehabilitation at 161st Street – Yankee Stadium, stations on the Concourse Line have largely been untouched since its opening in 1933, except for entrance closings and other reductions in service areas.

It is of note that the line was originally intended to be four tracks, rather than three tracks, to Bedford Park Boulevard. This is the only IND line with three tracks (all other IND lines have either two or four tracks), and the 145th Street station was originally provisioned for four tracks. Additionally, the line is mostly straight north of 161st Street – Yankee Stadium, but makes a slight right turn to end at Norwood – 205th Street, with a provision to extend to Baychester Avenue and Boston Road. When the line was opened in 1933, a proposed expansion of the New York City Subway had multiple IND lines criss-crossing the five boroughs; however, the country was in the midst of the Great Depression, and the city had neither the money nor the need to either extend the line east of 205th Street or make the line four tracks. The city found it easier and less expensive to purchase the IRT Dyre Avenue Line, extinguishing the plans for the IND Concourse Line to extend to Baychester Avenue.

Station listing

Station service legend
Stops all times
Stops all times except late nights
Stops weekdays only
Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction
Stops rush hours only
Time period details


Neighborhood
(approximate)		 Station Tracks Services Opened Transfers and notes
Norwood Norwood – 205th Street all D  July 1, 1933
Center track begins from connection to Concourse Yard
Bedford Park Bedford Park Boulevard all B  D  July 1, 1933 Northern Terminal of B 
Complex trackwork (Center track and Local tracks switch places) Track Map
Kingsbridge Road all B  D  July 1, 1933
Fordham Fordham Road all B  D  July 1, 1933 Bx12 Select Bus Service
Connection to Metro-North Railroad (Harlem and New Haven Lines at Fordham)
182nd–183rd Streets local B  D  July 1, 1933
Tremont Tremont Avenue all B  D  July 1, 1933
174th–175th Streets local B  D  July 1, 1933
Highbridge 170th Street local B  D  July 1, 1933
167th Street local B  D  July 1, 1933
161st Street – Yankee Stadium local B  D  July 1, 1933 IRT Jerome Avenue Line (4 )
Connection to Metro-North Railroad (Hudson Line at Yankees – East 153rd Street)
Crosses Harlem River into Manhattan via the Concourse Tunnel
Harlem 155th Street local B  D  July 1, 1933
145th Street all B  D  September 10, 1932 IND Eighth Avenue Line (A  C )
Merges with IND Eighth Avenue Line (B  D )


References

  1. ↑ MTA. "Average weekday subway ridership". Retrieved 21 August 2012.
  2. ↑ nycsubway.org—The Independent's Expansion in the 1930s
  3. ↑ "New Bronx Subway Starts Operation". The New York Times. July 1, 1933. Retrieved 2010-02-13.

External links

Media related to IND Concourse Line at Wikimedia Commons