June 24, 2004
Subway Track Weirdness
How come certain stations at 34th St (A/C/E and 2/3) have it set up so that you can't cross the platform to get from the express line to the local? You actually have to go down and up stairs to get to the express line from the local. It doesn't make sense.
-Renee
As regular riders of the A, we always see confused people at the Penn Station subway platform, especially late at night, when the express stops running, and misguided people stand on the express track and begin panicking as the A goes by on the local track.
The Straphangers come to the rescue by explaining that the platform design at 34th Street is to control crowds. Anticipating crowds from LIRR traffic, the express and local trains are on separate tracks to avoid overcrowding. (The west 34th Street station is the 3rd busiest station in the system.) NYCsubway.org confirms:
Four tracks, two side and one island platforms. The two side platforms are used by the local trains and the center island by the express trains. This arrangement was planned to discourage transfer between local and express due to anticipated high volume.
Interesting trivia: New York's four track system (one in each direction for express and local) was the first of its kind, and back in the early days the express could traverse the length of Manhattan in 26 minutes, with trains going about 45 miles per hour. We think now the trip on the A from 207th St. to Fulton St. (one end of Manhattan to the other) would take about 50 minutes. The A is also the longest line in the system, and have been told that going from one end to the other takes about an hour and a half (although we haven't actually tested this, so we don't know first-hand).
Related: All kinds of subway weirdness and ephemera at Forgotten-NY.
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What about stations that have an extra platform nestled between the funtional ones - such as Hoyt/Schmerhorn?
Regarding the unused platform at Hoyt/Schermerhorn (according to NYCSubway.org):
"The outer pair are used solely to connect to the NY Transit Museum, but have been used in the past for the "HH" local and shuttle service to Court Street."
[link]
Whereas, the unused platform at 59th St./Columbus Circle (IND):
"The center island was originally used for unloading of passengers and is no longer used due to difficulty in opening doors on both sides of the train. It is occasionally used for fan trips, for instance the Summer 2000 Nostalgia Train trips."
[link]
Ooh...the middle unused platform is like what the modern airport shuttle is like - one side is where the passengers exit, and then after a few moments, the other side of doors opens for new passengers. I think they should bring that back!
Does any one know what that extra set of tracks on the F line in Brooklyn is for? They appear from below at the Carrol Gdns stop and continue on to at least the 4th and 9th stop (where I get off). They appear to be express or something, and judging by the amount of rust, not generally used.
The set of "extra tracks" on the F/G line in Brooklyn actually starts underneath Bergen St (there's an abandoned station underneath the current Bergen St. station--see Satan's Laundromat or callalillie for photos). There was a moment in time when the F-train ran express from Bergen St. (stopping on the that lower level) all the way to 7th Avenue (Park Slope), which explains why these tracks seem to be just "extra" ones now.
These tracks are still used today every now and then when there's a Service Change along the F-line (i.e. "F-trains run express from Jay St. Borough Hall to 7th Ave")--and sometimes you can even catch a glimpse of the Bergen St. lower level.
Joseph Brennan has more on why this station was abandoned and how service on this line ran before it was abandoned.