New York City Subway

Overview
Annual ridership:1,727,366,607 (2017)
Website: mta.info/nyct

Operation
Began operation October 27, 1904
(Original subway)

July 3, 1868
(first elevated, rapid transit operation)

October 9, 1863
(first railroad operation)

Operator(s): New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA)
Track gauge: 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge[10]
Electrification: 600–650 V (DC) third rail; normally 625V[10][11]

The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the City of New York and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, a subsidiary agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened in 1904, the New York City Subway is one of the world's oldest public transit systems, one of the most-used, and the one with the most stations. The New York City Subway is the largest rapid transit system in the world by number of stations, with 472 stations in operation (424 if stations connected by transfers are counted as single stations). Stations are located throughout the boroughs of Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx.

IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line

Opened: 1904-1919
Owner: City of New York
Operator(s): New York City Transit Authority

Track gauge: 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Electrification: 625V DC third rail

The IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line (also known as the IRT Seventh Avenue Line or the IRT West Side Line) is a New York City Subway line. It is one of several lines that serves the A Division, stretching from South Ferry in Lower Manhattan north to Van Cortlandt Park–242nd Street in Riverdale, Bronx. The Brooklyn Branch, known as the Wall and William Streets Branch during construction, from the main line at Chambers Street southeast through the Clark Street Tunnel to Borough Hall in Downtown Brooklyn, is also part of the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line.

The line was constructed in two main portions by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), a private operator. The first portion, north of 42nd Street, was opened between 1904 and 1908, and is part of the first subway line in the city. The line ran from City Hall, up the Lexington Avenue Line, across 42nd Street, and up Seventh Avenue and Broadway, before splitting into the Broadway Branch and the Lenox Avenue Line. The second portion of the line, that south of 42nd Street, was constructed as part of the Dual Contracts, which were signed between the IRT, the New York Municipal Railway (a subsidiary of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company), and the City of New York. Among the various subway lines that were to be constructed as part of the contracts, the West Side Line was to be extended south along Seventh Avenue to serve Manhattan's West Side.
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History

Contracts 1 and 2

Operation of the first subway began on October 27, 1904, with the opening of all stations from City Hall to 145th Street on the West Side Branch. Service was extended to 157th Street on November 12, 1904, as that station's opening had been delayed because of painting and plastering work. The West Side Branch was extended northward to a temporary terminus at 221st Street and Broadway on March 12, 1906 served by shuttle trains operating between 157th Street and 221st Street. However, only the Dyckman Street, 215th Street, and 221st Street stations opened on that date as the other stations were not yet completed. The 168th Street station opened on April 14, 1906. The 181st Street station opened on May 30, 1906, and on that date express trains on the Broadway branch began running through to 221st Street, eliminating the need to transfer at 157th Street to shuttles. The station at 207th Street was completed in 1906, but since it was located in a sparsely occupied area, it did not open until April 1, 1907. The original system as included in Contract 1 was completed on January 14, 1907, when trains started running across the Harlem Ship Canal on the Broadway Bridge to 225th Street, and the nearby 221st Street station was closed.