- 8 (New York City Subway service)
8 was a designation given to several IRT services of the
New York City Subway .Astoria Line
The 8 label was first used for the Astoria Line, which opened on
February 1 ,1917 as an extension of theQueensboro Line (now part of theFlushing Line ) from Queensboro Plaza. The Corona Line (now also part of theFlushing Line ) had already been built as another branch from Queensboro Plaza; when the Astoria Line opened half the trains ran to each terminal. At the time, the Queensboro Line ended on the other side of theSteinway Tunnel at 42nd Street–Grand Central.Tracks opened over the
Queensboro Bridge onJuly 23 ,1917 , allowing elevated trains of theIRT Second Avenue Line to operate to Queensborough Plaza and then over either the Astoria or Corona line. Once this link opened, all elevated trains went to Astoria, and all subway trains to Corona, but this was modified by1923 , with both divisions running on each line. OnMarch 22 ,1926 , the Queensborough Line (and Astoria service) was extended west to Fifth Avenue–Bryant Park, and it was completed west to Times Square–42nd Street onMarch 14 ,1927 .BMT
shuttle s (coincidentally also labeled 8) began using the Astoria Line onApril 8 ,1923 , with a transfer to their Broadway Line at Queensborough Plaza. This joint operation ended onOctober 17 ,1949 , and all IRT trains started operating to Flushing (where the Corona Line had been extended in1928 ) and all BMT trains operated to Astoria. The numbers were only publicly used starting in1948 , so the public only knew the Astoria Line's IRT services as the 8 for about a year.Third Avenue Line
When the
Chrystie Street Connection opened in late1967 , the TA assigned labels to all services. The only remaining IRT elevated line, theIRT Third Avenue Line inthe Bronx , was too long to be a shuttle, so was assigned the number 8, unused since1949 . This service, running between 149th Street and Gun Hill Road, last ran onApril 28 ,1973 , when the Third Avenue Line closed, and was replaced by the Bx55 bus route. The 8 bullet was only marked on maps and station signs, never on cars. Cars instead displayed SHUTTLE and the destination. [http://groups-beta.google.com/group/nyc.transit/browse_thread/thread/a7065eeb80591602/b80df6369f787ab3?q=%22lenox+shuttle&rnum=3#b80df6369f787ab3]Present status
Current
rollsign s have an 8 (as well as a 10 and a 12) in a green circle, the same color as the 4, 5 and 6 and the diamond services of the 5 and 6. SeeUnused New York City Subway service labels for more information.Today, the 8 designation is not in external use but is instead used internally when NYCT Rapid Transit Operations are referring to the
IRT 42nd Street Shuttle .The 8 is also a proposed redesignation of the express
6 (New York City Subway service) .ee also
*
BMT 8 , the BMT service that operated in tandem with this service until1949 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
*Additional Subway Service to Borough of Queens,New York Times April 8 ,1923 page RE1
*Fifth Av. Station of Subway Opened,New York Times March 23 ,1926 page 29
*New Queens Subway Opened to Times Sq.,New York Times March 15 ,1927 page 1
*Direct Subway Runs to Flushing, Astoria,New York Times October 15 ,1949 page 17
*Third Ave. El Reaches the End of Its Long, Blighted, Nostalgic Line,New York Times April 29 ,1973 page 24
*http://members.aol.com/bdmnqr2/linehistory.html - Line By Line History
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