subway
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$30.00 – $80.00What today is the Blue Line started in 1895 as the Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad with service from Canal St to Logan Sq. Soon branches were added to Garfield Park, Humboldt Park, and Douglas Park. The Met, as it was known, has seen the most dramatic changes of all the Chicago “L” lines: the Humboldt Park and Logan Sq branches were removed when service was rerouted through the new Milwaukee-Dearborn Subway in 1951 and subsequently extended along the Kennedy Expressway to Jefferson Park in 1970 and then to O’Hare Airport in 1984. The Garfield Park branch was completely rebuilt along the median of Interstate 290 in 1958. In 2008 the Douglas Branch was rerouted along the Paulina Connector (a left over section of track from the old Logan Sq branch) to connect to the Loop and rebranded as the Pink Line.
The modern sections of the Blue Line were the first examples of rapid transit running along a high median in the US. The Blue Line, along with the Red Line, are the only two services of the CTA which run 24 hours a day.
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$30.00 – $80.00The Brown Line began as the Northwestern Elevated in 1907 and runs from its terminal at Kimball to the Loop and back, making a zig-zag through the northwest section of the city. At the terminal at Kimball trains run at street level with third-rail power which is rare for transit in the US and extremely dangerous for pedestrians. Brown Line trains run local with Red Line trains from Belmont to Fullerton. Recently the stations of the Brown Line were expanded and upgraded to be ADA compliant to deal with rapid population growth on the north side.
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$30.00 – $80.00The Green Line is the modern combination of two of the oldest sections of the Chicago “L”. The South Side elevated opened in 1892 to serve the Columbian Exposition in 1893 and led to a building boom on the south side of Chicago. A number of branches were added to the line, to Englewood, Normal Park, Kenwood, and the Stock Yards. Today only the Englewood and Jackson Park branches remain while a number of stations have been closed due to low ridership.
The Lake St elevated was Chicago’s second elevated line opening in 1893. When the State St Subway opened in 1947 it was originally used by the South Side trains to connect to the north side and when the Dan Ryan Branch opened in 1969 it was used by the Lake St Line. In 1993 the CTA reorganized routings and color coded the new Lake St-South Side Lines as the Green Line.
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$30.00 – $80.00First proposed in the 1930s but only opened in 1993 the Orange Line serves the southwest section of Chicago and terminates at Midway Airport. Funding for the line was secured after the cancellation of the controversial Crosstown Expressway. For much of the route the Orange Line runs parallel to CSX and Conrail tracks but connects to the Loop in downtown Chicago. The original terminal at Ford City Mall was cut back due to cost savings but current studies are underway to extend the Orange Line past Midway to the mall.
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$30.00 – $80.00The Pink Line is the most recent addition to the CTA but uses some of the original tracks of the old Metropolitan West Side elevated. The Douglas Park branch opened in 1896 and ran as far west as Oak Park Ave until it was cut back to 54th Ave in Cicero. When the Garfield Park branch of the Met was removed and replaced by the Congress Line (running in the median of Interstate 290) the Douglas Park branch was connected to it and routed through the Milwaukee-Dearborn Subway.
The Congress-Douglas Lines operated a skip-stop service with stations being designated as A, B, or A/B. The Douglas branch ran B trains exclusively until this service was discontinued. In 2005 the CTA began studies looking at making the Douglas branch a separate line, originally known as the Silver Line. In 2006 a contest found that pink was the preferred choice. The CTA rehabilitated a section of track known as the Paulina Connector which was part of the original Metropolitan elevated but was connected to the Lake St Line. This allows Douglas branch trains to run over the Loop for the first time in half a century.
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$30.00 – $80.00The Purple Line began as part of the Northwestern elevated, a bit of a misnomer as the line ran mostly at street level until it was expanded onto a 4 track elevated embankment in 1928. The line was extended to Evanston in 1908 and Wilmette in 1912. After 1928 the line began running express from Howard station to the Loop. In 1949 when the CTA took over operations the line was rerouted through the State St Subway as part of a new north-south route. This service was eventually replaced by the Red Line. Today the Purple Line runs from Linden to Howard days and express to the Loop at rush hour.
The Yellow Line, formerly known as the Skokie Swift, began as an interurban high speed line from Howard terminal to Dempster St in Niles Center (now known as Skokie). The line ceased operations in 1963 but was bought by the CTA and service restarted in 1964 with intermediate stations closed. The Yellow Line is the only line in the CTA which doesn’t run to downtown Chicago. In 2012 an infill station at Oakton was opened and a northern extension to Old Orchard Mall is being studied.
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$30.00 – $80.00The Red Line is the busiest of all the Chicago “L” lines. The oldest section opened in 1900 as part of the North Side Main Line and starts at Howard station. One of the few lines in the United States which runs 24 hours a day it is also part of the only 4 track express subway in the US outside of New York City. In 1947 the State St Subway opened and allowed North Side trains to connect to the South Side elevated which is part of the Green Line today.
In 1969 the Dan Ryan Branch opened along the Dan Ryan Expressway but originally was connected to the Lake St elevated. In 1993 the CTA reorganized their lines with a new color code and the Dan Ryan Branch was shifted to the Red Line for a true north-south line. The CTA is currently studying plans to extend the Red Line south to 130th St.
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$30.00 – $80.00The 6th Ave Line was the second half of the original IND system in Manhattan. The subway was built to replace the old 6th Ave elevated trains and, unlike the 8th Ave Line, was opened in sections between 1936 and 1968. The original sections expanded on the recently opened 8th Ave Line along Houston St to East Broadway, then under 6th Ave from West 4th St to 53rd St. The main trunk subway along 6th Ave was originally built with only two local tracks because of the existing PATH running under 6th Ave. Express tracks were not built until 1967.
B trains run only weekdays from 145th St in Manhattan to Brighton Beach via the Manhattan Bridge and the Brighton Line. At peak times B trains are extended into the Bronx to Bedford Park Blvd. D trains run all times from Norwood-205th St in the Bronx to Coney Island via the Manhattan Bridge, 4th Ave subway, and West End line (elevated). At peak times D trains run express along the Concourse subway. Both B and D trains run express in Manhattan, though B trains make all local stops from 59th St-Columbus Circle to 145th St.
F trains run express along the Queens Blvd subway and enter Manhattan via the 63rd St subway built in the 1960s as a part of the 2nd Ave subway. In Manhattan and Brooklyn F trains run local at all times. In Brooklyn the F shares part of its route with the IND G Crosstown line to Church Ave. After Church Ave the subway becomes elevated to Coney Island.
M trains once ran along the BMT Jamaica line to downtown Manhattan but in 2010 were rerouted along 6th Ave to Forest Hills replacing the short lived V train (which ran from Forest Hills to 2nd Ave). Elevated in Brooklyn, the M train runs through a section of tunnel, built in the 1960s but rarely used, to connect the 6th Ave line to the Williamsburg Bridge. M trains run all local weekdays and as a shuttle from Myrtle Ave to Middle Village nights and weekends.
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$30.00 – $80.00The 8th Ave Line was the first section to open as part of the Independent Subway (IND), a new system built and operated by the City of New York to compete with the privately run IRT in Manhattan and the Bronx and the BMT in Brooklyn and under Broadway. The first major section opened in September 1932 with express and local service from Washington Heights to Chambers St.
The 8th Ave Line shares its tracks with the 6th Ave trains along Central Park West and 53rd St. The A train (made famous by Billy Strayhorn’s Take the A Train) runs from 207th St in Inwood to Fulton St in downtown Manhattan as express while the C train runs all local from 168th St in Washington Heights to Fulton St. From there the line enters Brooklyn and runs out to Ozone Park along the Fulton St subway (not to be confused with Fulton St in Manhattan). The C train terminates at Euclid Ave while the A train continues on to one of three termini: Lefferts Blvd, Rockaway Park and Far Rockaway. The A is the only train with multiple, regular service, termini.
The E train runs local in Manhattan from World Trade Center to 50th St where it splits from 8th Ave under 53rd St heading east into Long Island City and Queens Plaza. The E train is one of the two workhorse express trains running along the Queens Blvd subway to Forest Hills and Jamaica. The E splits from the Queens Blvd subway at Van Wyck Ave and terminates in Jamaica Center.
The majority of the 8th Ave Line is underground and was built specifically for the IND system. The sections of elevated track after Euclid Ave to Lefferts Blvd were recaptured from the existing Fulton St elevated line in the 1940s and the tracks out to the Rockaways where added in the 1950s after being purchased from the Long Island Rail Road.
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$30.00 – $80.00The IND Crosstown line holds the distinction of being the only subway line to never enter Manhattan. Running local between Court Sq in Long Island City, Queens and Church Ave in Kensington, Brooklyn, the G train was opened in segments from 1933 to 1937 to connect the IND Queens Blvd subway to the IND Fulton St and IND South Brooklyn subway. Original plans for a Brooklyn-Queens crosstown line were floated in the 1920s with a line going from Astoria to Bedford-Stuyvesant with a branch going west to downtown Brooklyn and another branch running south along Bedford Ave to Coney Island.
The G train is one of the shortest and least traveled lines in the system and runs through mostly residential areas like Fort Green, Bedford-Stuyvesant, Williamsburg, and Greenpoint. Originally the G served as the only local train along the Queens Blvd line and commuters had to switch at Queens Plaza for express trains into Manhattan. This service proved unpopular and the G was cut back over the years as other trains were rerouted along Queens Blvd.
On the southern section of the line the G train shares tracks with the F along the IND Culver line from Bergen St to Church Ave. Express tracks were built along this section for F trains but, as with service along Queens Blvd, commuters didn’t like having to switch trains so the express tracks remain unused.
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$375.00 – $500.00The Independent City-owned Subway System, IND, was created as alternative to the private traction companies, Interborough Rapid Transit Co., IRT, and the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Co., BMT. The IND broke ground on the 8th Ave Line in 1925 with plans for lines to Queens, Brooklyn, and the Bronx. In 1929 the IND released an ambitious plan for expanding the initial system. This plan became known as the IND Second System. In 1940 the City of New York was able to purchase the private companies and combine all three systems under the NYC Board of Transportation. In 1953 this evolved into the NY Transit Authority and in 1968 the state took control of the subways as part of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
The purpose of this map is the show the history of official subway expansion plans which can be broadly broken down into four phases: the 1929 Second System plan, the 1939 Second System plan, post-World War II plans, and the 1968 MTA Plan for Action.
The map acts as a “choose your own adventure” where by each variant of every plan is drawn. The reader can pick and choose which lines they think could have been built and what the system might have looked like today if they had.
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For more information about the map see the original blog post here.
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$30.00 – $80.00The IRT 7th Ave line is one-half of the original Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT) subway which opened in 1904. Running from 145th St/Broadway to Times Sq at 42nd St/Broadway the original subway swung east under 42nd St and then south at Park Ave to City Hall. When this subway was expanded in 1918 service was rerouted south along 7th Ave to South Ferry and into Brooklyn to Borough Hall and Atlantic Ave.
The 1 train runs all local from Van Cortlandt Park-242nd St in the Bronx to South Ferry at the tip of lower Manhattan. From 1989 to 2005 there was an additional train, the 9, which ran as a “skip-stop” service after 96th St to speed up travel for commuters coming from upper Manhattan. Between 181st and 191st Sts the subway was dug through some of the hardest bedrock in the city and these sections are some of the deepest in the entire system.
2 and 3 trains run express from 96th St to Chambers St at which point they veer east into Brooklyn. After 96th St 2 and 3 trains swing northeast and run under Lenox Ave in Harlem. When this service opened in 1905 it helped Harlem explode with development. 3 trains terminate at 148th St while 2 trains travel into the Bronx where they run up to Wakefield-241st St along the elevated White Plains line.
In Brooklyn the 2 and 3 trains share a subway with IRT Lexington Ave 4 and 5 trains which runs through Borough Hall to Atlantic Ave, under Flatbush Ave to Eastern Parkway and out to Nostrand Ave where 3 trains continue east to New Lots Ave (elevated after Utica Ave). 2 trains run south to Flatbush Ave.
While 2 and 3 trains run express in Manhattan they only run local in Brooklyn.
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$30.00 – $80.00The IRT Flushing line caries the 7 line (local and express service) from Times Sq-42nd St to Flushing Main St and runs from Midtown Manhattan through Long Island City, Sunnyside, Woodside, Elmhurst, Corona, and Flushing, Queens. Because of the high concentration of so many diverse ethnic enclaves though which the Flushing line runs it is colloquially known as the “International Line”.
The line has its origins well before the New York City subway opened (in 1904). Originally conceived as a commuter rail tunnel to bring Long Island trains into midtown from Long Island City the tunnel broke ground in 1892 but was shut a year later after a series of accidents. August Belmont stepped in a decade later and financed the tunnel himself as a way to run trolley cars as shuttle service. Opened in 1907, the city purchased the tunnel in 1913 to retrofit it for the expanding subway system.
The Flushing line runs elevated from Hunts Point Ave to Mets-Willets Point Ave where it dives into a short tunnel before terminating at Main St. The elevated sections of track are built with a third track for express service which only makes stops at Queensboro Plaza, Woodside-61st St, Junction Blvd, Mets-Willets Point, and Flushing-Main St. The elevated section through Sunnyside is famous for its ornately designed concrete viaduct along Queens Blvd.
In 2015 an extension west was opened to a new terminal at 34th St-Hudson Yards to serve the new mini-city growing above the LIRR train yards behind Penn Station.
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$30.00 – $80.00The IRT Lexington Ave line is one half of the original Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT) subway which opened in 1904 running from City Hall to Grand Central along Lafayette St and Park Ave South where it swung west under 42nd St to Times Sq. When the subway was expanded in 1918 service was rerouted north along Lexington Ave and into Brooklyn to Borough Hall and Atlantic Ave.
The IRT Lexington Ave line is the only subway to serve the East Side of Manhattan and averages 1.3 million riders a day, “more than the combined ridership of San Francisco and Boston’s entire transit systems”. Because of this overcrowding is a major issue and has led to the construction of a new subway under 2nd Ave. In Manhattan and Brooklyn Lexington Ave trains run exclusively underground but in the Bronx each line fans out and runs mostly elevated. The 6 train runs along the Pelham Line, a mix of elevated and subway track, and runs local and express service out through Hunts Point, Unionport, Parkchester, and terminating at Pelham Park. The 6 runs all local in Manhattan terminating at Brooklyn Bridge-City Hall.
4 trains run up to Yankee Stadium and north, elevated, along Jerome Ave to Woodlawn. 4 trains run local in the Bronx all times express in Manhattan and all times express in Brooklyn out to Utica Ave/Eastern Parkway. 5 trains join the IRT White Plains line at 149th St-Grand Concourse and shares the elevated line out to 180th St. Here service alternates between using the IRT Dyer Ave line to Eastchester and continuing with the IRT White Plains line to Nereid Ave during rush periods. 5 trains operate local in the Bronx except for rush periods when they run express from 180th St to 3rd Ave-149th St, all express in Manhattan to Bowling Green, and rush periods express to Flatbush Ave in Brooklyn.
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$30.00 – $80.00The Blue Line started off as a trolley tunnel to connect Scollay Sq. in downtown Boston to Maverick Sq. in East Boston. It holds the distinction as the first underwater transit tunnel (under a major body of water) opening in 1904. Initial plans called for it to be connected to the Green Line to form a subway trolley network connection all points north, east, south, and west. However, in 1924, the line was converted to heavy rail and extended to Bowdoin Sq. The Blue Line diverted traffic away from East Boston ferries which, ironically, helped bring the demise to the Atlantic Ave elevated line.
Until the 1950s the Blue Line was connected to the Red Line at Charles St so that Blue Line trains could be serviced at the Red Line train shops in Harvard Sq. In 1952 the Blue Line was extended to Suffolk Downs along the abandoned Boston, Revere Beach and Lynn Railroad and two years later extended to Revere where it still terminates at Wonderland.
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$30.00 – $80.00The Green Line is part of the oldest subway in the United States. The short section between Boylston St and Park St opened in 1897 as a way to divert heavy trolley traffic which came downtown from Allston, Brighton, Brookline, Jamaica Plane, Roxbury, and Dorchester. It was quickly expanded to North Station to serve trolley traffic from the northern suburbs.
As commuting patterns changed due in part to the success of the subway the Green Line was extended west to Kenmore Sq and in the 1940s southwest along Huntington Ave. As more and more commuters chose to travel in private automobiles ridership on the trolleys dropped. In 1959 the Riverside branch was opened along a former commuter rail line through Newton. A rebranding of the MBTA system in 1967 renamed the branches that were left as the A, B, C, D, and E branches. The A branch to Watertown Sq. only lasted two more years before finally being axed in 1969.
Boston College B Branch trains run along Commonwealth Ave to Government Center; Cleveland Cirlce C Branch trains run along Beacon St to North Station; Riverside D Branch trains run along the Riverside line through Newton to Government Center; Heath St E Branch trains run along Huntington Ave to Lechemere. Construction has begun on a long planned extension northwest through Somerville which will bring the E branch to Union Sq and the D to College Ave-Tufts University.
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