The Astoria Line is a rapid transit line of the division of the New York City Subway, serving the neighborhood of Astoria, Queens.

Extent and service

The Astoria Line is served by two services, the and . The N runs all the time, and the W runs from morning rush hour through early evening. No services use the center express track.

The north end of the Astoria Line is a two-track terminal at Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard, with one island platform. South of the station, the center express track begins (with crossovers to allow trains relaying at Astoria-Ditmars Boulevard 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 set up 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/ and . 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 part of the IRT Flushing Line (which didn't open to the north until April 21, 1917). The whole Astoria Line north of Queensboro Plaza opened on February 1, 1917, and was used by trains between Grand Central and Astoria.

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 (now the Flushing Line), though this was later changed with trains alternating between branches.

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 specs, which the BMT cars were too wide for. Thus the BMT trains terminated at Queensboro Plaza. On April 8, 1923, the BMT started running shuttles along the Astoria Line (numbered BMT 8 in 1924) and the Corona Line (BMT 9 ). The IRT lines were numbered in 1948, being assigned to the Flushing Line (former Corona Line) and the Astoria Line.

Only a year later, on October 17, 1949, the Flushing Line became IRT-only, and 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). (The IRT Second Avenue Line spur to Queensboro Plaza closed on June 13, 1942.) Since then, the Astoria Line has hosted the "other end" of various services running from Brooklyn through Manhattan; see , N, , , and W for details.

Station listing

Every station is served by the N and W, the latter of which runs only from morning rush hour through early evening.

External links

• nycsubway.org - IND Brooklyn/Queens Crosstown Line

References

• New Astoria Line Opened, New York Times February 2, 1917 page 14
• Subway Link Over Queensboro Bridge, New York Times July 22, 1917 page 31
• New Subway Link Opens, New York Times August 1, 1920 page 12
• Additional Subway Service to Borough of Queens, New York Times April 8, 1923 page RE1
• Direct Subway Runs to Flushing, Astoria, New York Times October 15, 1949 page 17