History of the #7 Line
On March 19, 1913, the City of New York entered into separate contracts with the existing Interborough Rapid Transit Company and the New York Municipal Railway Corporation for the construction, equipment and operation of what became known as the Dual System of Rapid Transit or Dual Contracts. The Dual System would then be operated in two divisions.
One division was the Interborough Rapid Transit Company or IRT, which operated elevated railroads in Manhattan and The Bronx. The other division, operated by the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company or BMT, controlled elevated railroads in Brooklyn. The eventual result of this huge capital improvement project would be the #7 line inaugurated on April 21, 1917; it was to be jointly operated by the IRT and BMT. Prior to the #7 line, Queens had no rapid transit connection with Manhattan. The only rail-like connection was by trolley cars that travelled over the Queensboro Bridge and the trains of the Long Island Railroad. The result of this project was that Queens was connected to Manhattan via the 2nd Avenue El and by a new tunnel.
The East River tunnel, or Steinway Tunnel, was actually started by the East River Tunnel Railroad in February 1885. The original intent of the line was to connect the LIRR and the New York Central railroads, but an engineering survey of the East River at the tunnel site was the only part of the project completed. The Steinway Tunnel was planned to run from approximately West 42nd St and 10th Ave. into Queens.
Similar to transportation projects of today, numerous issues caused delays and budget overruns during the construction of the tunnel. William Steinway, the piano company founder and New York City’s second Subway Commissioner, became involved in 1890 and the project was eventually named for him. On June 3rd, 1892, groundbreaking occurred at 50th Ave between Vernon and Jackson Avenues. A laundry list of mishaps including unexpected underground springs, a series of lawsuits as a result of an accidental explosion of dynamite and the financial panic stopped the project in early1893. Attempts to renew the project and extend the line to New Jersey all failed through to the end of 1896.
In February 1902, August Belmont became involved with the project. He was slightly more successful and by August 1907, both the north and south tubes were broken through and the official opening of the Steinway Tunnel finally occurred on September 24th, 1907. Unfortunately, because Mr. Belmont did not have a franchise to operate the line, nor a company to run it, he was forced to close the completed tunnel and it remained closed until 1915. On April 3rd, 1913, New York City purchased the tunnel from Mr. Belmont for $3 million and the tunnel became part of the IRT. With some modifications, the tunnel accommodated subway trains, but because of the steep grade of the tunnels, special "Steinway" cars were built for the line.
The first phase of the #7 line, inaugurated on April 21, 1917, included stations from Queensboro Plaza to 103rd Street (aka Alburtis Avenue). Extensions were created to 5th Ave and 42nd St. in March 1926. The Times Square station was added March 1927 and on January 21, 1928 the #7 line was extended to Main Street in Flushing. The City of New York had plans to extend the line beyond Flushing, but that work was never started. Historically the IRT Flushing Line was assigned the number 7, but the designation did not appear on equipment until 1948.
The joint operation by the BMT and IRT created significant operating problems because the BMT used wooden cars and the IRT used both steel and wooden cars. Different platform clearances were required because the BMT trains were wider than IRT trains. Therefore, the trains terminated at different points with the junction at Queensboro Plaza.
Under the terms of the Dual System agreement the Steinway Tunnel, which runs under the East River to 4th Street in Long Island City, extended on both sides of the river and operated as a part of the subway. The tunnel became part of a two-track subway from Times Square to 4th Street. The extension in Queens became part of a two and three track subway and elevated line. The original terminus at 4th street is now 50th Avenue near the 108th Precinct.
At the same time, two elevated railroads would be built connecting the Queensboro Bridge Plaza with the Steinway Tunnel Extension. One railroad would travel to Ditmars Avenue in Astoria from 2nd Avenue in Manhattan. The other would be an elevated line through Queens Boulevard, Greenpoint Avenue and Roosevelt Avenue to Corona. In the early 1920s when money was very tight, the only way to transfer between the IRT and the BMT lines was to go many miles out of the way to Queensboro Plaza from Manhattan. At the time, this was the only track connection between the Flushing Line and the rest of the subway system.
Free transfers to the 3rd Avenue El were offered at 42nd St starting June 13, 1942 when the 2nd Ave El service ended. This service continued until May 1955 when the 3rd Ave El service ended. In the fall of 1949, the joint BMT/IRT service also ended and the Flushing Line joined the IRT. The Astoria Line had its platforms reduced and became BMT-only. The eight-track Queensboro Plaza station was realigned and the northern half of the structure was eventually torn down. The ironwork at the station still reveals evidence of where those platforms were.
The 7 line is currently an 8 mile line and because it runs through some of the most ethnically diverse areas in New York City it earned the nicknames Orient Express, and now the International Express.
In 1999 the Flushing Line was designated a National Millennium Trail because it has been such a symbol of immigrant culture and because it has been a transportation route since the 17th century. President Clinton established the National Millennium Trail for the Flushing Line, Appalachian Trail and Iditarod as well as 13 other visionary projects of national significance.
Construction began in late 2007 to extend the IRT Flushing Line to 34th street and 11th Avenue to help give easier access to Jacob Javits Convention Center. The extension is expected to be completed in 2013. This is 128 years after it was first considered. This extension, however, will include only the one new station at 34th street.
The MTA has been working since 2008 to convert the 7 line to Communication-Based Train Control (“CBTC”). CBTC is a modern successor of the traditional railway signaling systems. Basically, an off board computer tracks all trains operating on track linked to the computer. This allows trains to be spaced closer together than on a manually controlled line. This $585.9 million capital improvement will enable the line to accommodate two additional trains per hour, or a 7% increase in capacity. Train cars with this capability will be delivered in 2016 to the city.
114 years after it was first considered, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced in late 2010 an extension of service on the 7 line to Secaucus, New Jersey.
The information provided above, while meant to give a history of the 7 line, is an abridged version. Please refer to the bibliography below for more information.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Feinman, Mark S., and Peggy Darlington. “IRT Corona/Flushing Line.” http://www.nycsubway.org/lines/flushing.html
Rogoff, David. “Electric Railroads.” Electric Railroads #29. April 1960
http://www.nycsubway.org/articles/steinwaytunnels.html
Roleke, John. “Queens, NY Guide.” http://queens.about.com/od/thingtodo/ss/7-subway-tour.htm
“The Dual System of Rapid Transit.” State of New York, Public Service Commission. June1913
http://www.nycsubway.org/articles/newsubways1.html
