Under Times Square
One of my main subway-foaming goals on my last visit to New York (in hindsight, perfectly timed before the COVID-19 outbreak) was to ride and shoot the IRT Times Square/Grand Central Shuttle line. Running a short distance under 42nd Street between two of the busiest and most important spots in all of New York City, the shuttle is a vital part of the subway system, linking the 1, 2, 3, 7, A, C, E, N, R, and Q train services at the enormous 42nd St - Times Square station complex to the 4, 5, 6, and 7 trains at Grand Central- and of course Metro-North's busy Hudson, Harlem and New Haven lines at Grand Central Terminal itself. The shuttle is especially historic, as for the first 14 years of its existence from 1904 to 1918, when services were reconfigured, it was an integral part of New York's "First Subway", the Interborough Rapid Transit line from City Hall to northern Manhattan. As such, there are many remnants of that era, mainly regarding Track 2, which was removed sometime after 1918- hence, for over a century the Shuttle has only, and officially, had Tracks 1, 3, and 4.
At the time of my visit, the shuttle line was about to undergo its greatest change in slightly over a century of existence, (other than a brief but revolutionary experiment with automated operation from 1959-1964) with both endpoint stations being rebuilt to smooth passenger flow, and the line simplified from its current 3-track arrangement to two tracks. This will involve complicated underground construction work that will ultimately improve and streamline service, but will significantly change the look and feel of the Shuttle.
Here at the Times Square end of the line, where the platforms curve along the 1904 alignment of the original Interborough main line, a train of R-62A equipment waits to depart for Grand Central on Track 3 while, in the IRT West Side Line tunnel (here under Broadway), a northbound [1] local train blurs by towards 242nd St in The Bronx. As part of the shuttle's reconfiguration, this view into the Broadway tunnel will, unfortunately, no longer be possible.
Under Times Square
One of my main subway-foaming goals on my last visit to New York (in hindsight, perfectly timed before the COVID-19 outbreak) was to ride and shoot the IRT Times Square/Grand Central Shuttle line. Running a short distance under 42nd Street between two of the busiest and most important spots in all of New York City, the shuttle is a vital part of the subway system, linking the 1, 2, 3, 7, A, C, E, N, R, and Q train services at the enormous 42nd St - Times Square station complex to the 4, 5, 6, and 7 trains at Grand Central- and of course Metro-North's busy Hudson, Harlem and New Haven lines at Grand Central Terminal itself. The shuttle is especially historic, as for the first 14 years of its existence from 1904 to 1918, when services were reconfigured, it was an integral part of New York's "First Subway", the Interborough Rapid Transit line from City Hall to northern Manhattan. As such, there are many remnants of that era, mainly regarding Track 2, which was removed sometime after 1918- hence, for over a century the Shuttle has only, and officially, had Tracks 1, 3, and 4.
At the time of my visit, the shuttle line was about to undergo its greatest change in slightly over a century of existence, (other than a brief but revolutionary experiment with automated operation from 1959-1964) with both endpoint stations being rebuilt to smooth passenger flow, and the line simplified from its current 3-track arrangement to two tracks. This will involve complicated underground construction work that will ultimately improve and streamline service, but will significantly change the look and feel of the Shuttle.
Here at the Times Square end of the line, where the platforms curve along the 1904 alignment of the original Interborough main line, a train of R-62A equipment waits to depart for Grand Central on Track 3 while, in the IRT West Side Line tunnel (here under Broadway), a northbound [1] local train blurs by towards 242nd St in The Bronx. As part of the shuttle's reconfiguration, this view into the Broadway tunnel will, unfortunately, no longer be possible.