Times Square–42nd Street Port Authority Bus Terminal (New York City Subway)

Station layout

The IRT platforms have been connected to each other as a transfer station as the lines opened: first between the 42nd Street Shuttle and the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line in 1917, then the transfer was incorporated with the Flushing Line in 1927. On December 24, 1932, a 600-foot-long (180 m) passageway was opened, connecting the IND Eighth Avenue Line station and the IRT platforms, with a new entrance at West 41st Street between Seventh Avenue and Eighth Avenue. The passageway was not located within a fare control, and passengers had to pay an extra fare to transfer between the IND and the IRT station. The free transfer between the IRT and BMT was added on July 1, 1948. The block-long passageway that runs west to the 42nd Street–Port Authority Bus Terminal station on the IND Eighth Avenue Line was reopened within fare control on December 11, 1988.

Since 1991, this passageway has contained a piece of public art inspired by the Burma-Shave ads; Norman B. Colp's The Commuter's Lament, or A Close Shave consists of a series of signs attached to the roof of the passageway, reading:

The last panel is a picture of a bed. The panels were part of an art project that was supposed to last only one year, but was never removed.

This station underwent total reconstruction in stages starting in 1994. Phase 1 rebuilt the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line platforms with a new mezzanine, stairs, and elevators, and was completed in 2002. Phase 2, finished in 2006, rebuilt the Broadway Line, Flushing Line, and Eighth Avenue Line portions of the station. Phase 3, for the shuttle platforms, has yet to be started but will be funded as part of the 2015–2019 MTA Capital Program. The reconstruction included a new entryway on the south side of 42nd Street between Seventh Avenue and Broadway, featuring a bright neon and colored glass flashing sign with the train route symbols and the word "Subway". The street level fare control at this site features restored original "Times Square" mosaics from the Contract I station walls (now used by the shuttle), and both escalators and stairs lead into the complex. There are also similar renovated entrances on the northwest and southwest corners of Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street, the latter of which has both escalators and stairs, while the former has only stairs.

In 1999, a US$44 million renovation of the complex began. The goal was to reduce congestion and improve rider access, comfort and safety by improving visual lines and increasing pedestrian capacity. The main corridor was widened 15 feet (4.6 m), and the number of sharp corners reduced; ADA accessibility was introduced with elevators; new escalators; and other corridors were widened. The mezzanine above the BMT Broadway Line, formerly a record shop, now features a large oval balcony looking over the trackway and has reduced the sense of claustrophobia described by many riders. In 2004, four unisex stall bathrooms were opened on the mezzanine between the IRT and BMT lines; they are staffed and maintained by employees of the Times Square Alliance, the local Business Improvement District. The record shop re-opened in 2007 on the south side of the IRT/BMT corridor.

The mezzanine has been a major featured spot for subway performers ever since the opening of the station. "Music Under New York" controls the spot, which is located by the escalators, opposite the shuttle to Grand Central. Musicians of all types, from musical saw to a brass band, perform there daily.

Exits

Exits and entrances are located from two main areas: under Eighth Avenue and under Times Square itself.

From the Eighth Avenue portion of the complex:

From the Times Square portion of the complex:

Relative depths

The relative depths of the station's platforms are:

IRT 42nd Street Shuttle platforms

When it first opened on October 27, 1904, Times Square was a local station on New York City's first subway, so named by IRT president August Belmont because it was located directly under the Times Building, headquarters of The New York Times. Three shuttle tracks have served it since 1918; the southbound express track was removed and replaced by a temporary wooden platform for access to the original northbound express track. The former southbound platform (serving track 1) still has a vestiges of a doorway to the Knickerbocker Hotel, while the northbound platform (serving track 4) retains a former doorway to the Times Building.

On both sides platforms are located (at the old local platforms) and where the southbound express track was; all three platforms connect on the west (railroad north) side. This walkway crosses the northbound local track (track 4) on a bridge that can be lifted for the only access to that track, via a merge into the northbound IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line local track along the original subway alignment (north of the current Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line station). This track merge is only used for overnight swaps and special railfan excursion trains. The other three tracks once curved parallel to this.

Two of the three tracks end at bumper blocks at the west end of the platforms. Between the northbound local and the other tracks anywhere along the shuttle there is no track connection.

Because of the curvature on the platforms, gap fillers are used to bridge the gap between train and platform; however, the gap fillers, which are under the platform rather than flush with the platform, are not suitable for wheelchair passengers, making the shuttle platforms virtually inaccessible to wheelchair users. Such passengers who need service to Grand Central must use the IRT Flushing Line platforms. An underpass that formerly connected the original side platforms lies between the downtown local track and the other three tracks of the BMT Broadway Line, which runs perpendicular to the shuttle.

Tracks 1 and 3 have gap fillers. Track 4 does not have gap fillers because of the convex curve of the platform. Track 4 can barely fit the three cars of the shuttle; it originally ended at a wall but now has a small extension for alighting passengers, so the last pair of doors of the train keep one panel disabled for added safety. Track 3 can accommodate trains with four cars as well as space for half a fifth.

This is the only station in the station complex that does not have ADA-accessibility, but the MTA is scheduling some improvements to make it accessible under the guidelines of the Americans With Disabilities Act of 1990 as part of the 2015–2019 MTA Capital Program. As part of the program, the 42nd Street Shuttle will become ADA accessible, and the shuttle will be reconfigured from three tracks to two tracks, and the trains will become six cars long. The whole project will cost $235.41 million. The Times Square shuttle platform will be extended to allow for a second point of entry, this one being at Sixth Avenue, with a connection to the IND Sixth Avenue Line. The Times Square station will be rehabilitated with congestion mitigation measures. A wider stairway would be installed from the shuttle mezzanine to street level, a new control area would be installed at the bottom of the stairway, and 21 columns would be removed. The connection to the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line would probably be removed with the elimination of Track 4. The cost of this part of the project is $28.93 million. The project is currently delayed as their is not enough funding for the project.

IND Eighth Avenue Line platforms

42nd Street–Port Authority Bus Terminal is an express station on the IND Eighth Avenue Line. It is partly underneath the Port Authority Bus Terminal. It has one platform level, two offset island platforms, and a long mezzanine. Formerly, it also had a lower level with a single side platform. The upper level opened on September 10, 1932, and the lower level opened on August 25, 1952.

Platform level

The platform level of the station contains four tracks and two island platforms; the northbound platform extends from 42nd to 44th Streets, while the southbound platform extends from 40th to 42nd Streets. The station's mezzanine extends four blocks from 40th to 44th Streets, and connects with the rest of the complex by a long passageway underneath 41st Street.

Former lower level

In addition to the level currently in use, there was formerly a lower platform on the southbound side (one track underneath the downtown local track on the upper level, and one side platform underneath the island platform above). The lower level was built together with the upper level platforms in the late 1920s/early 1930s, but existed as an unfinished shell until it was completed and opened in August 1952 to serve rush hour E trains. For most of its existence, the lower level platform was only used for occasional service specials, including summer "Rockaway Special" trains to Beach 98th Street at the Rockaways' Playland beginning in 1958, the Aqueduct Racetrack special fare trains from 1959 to 1981, and rush hour E trains in the 1970s, beginning on March 23, 1970.

The lower level featured two high-speed escalators to the mezzanine, and three staircases to the upper-level platform. The walls featured 1950s-era cream tiles, a purple and black tile band, and white mosaic name plates with black "42ND ST" text.

Theories differ on why the lower level platform was built. The platform could only be reached by trains originating from Queens via the IND Queens Boulevard Line, and 53rd Street (the current E service). Some commentators have speculated that this was meant to allow Manhattan-bound E trains from Queens to hold at 42nd Street without slowing down service on trains traveling from Central Park West, while the reported purpose of the platform upon its opening was to allow E trains to load and unload passengers without having to wait for one of the two upper level tracks to clear. Others have suggested that the lower level platform was built to prevent the IRT Flushing Line from being extended westward. The IND lower level platform was located just beyond the tail tracks on the IRT Flushing Line platform.

Film producers have used the lower level platform for several films, most notably Ghost (1990), starring Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore.

In the late 2000s, the MTA began construction on a planned extension of the IRT Flushing Line to 34th Street, which would require demolishing the IND Eighth Avenue lower level platform. As of January 2010, the lower level platform was being demolished as part of the Flushing Line extension. Transit blogger Benjamin Kabak, who was invited to tour the Flushing Line extension and view construction progress, reported in February 2012 that the lower level platform had been "bisected" by the Flushing Line extension. The tunnels slope down through where the old lower level platform was.

IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line platforms

Times Square–42nd Street is an express station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line, with four tracks and two island platforms. Access to the other lines is provided at the northern end and in the center of each platform. An elevator leads from each platform to the mezzanine; the southbound elevator also leads to the Flushing Line platform.

Just south of the station, a fifth center track begins, formed by a connection from each express track. This track merges back into the two express tracks just before 34th Street–Penn Station. This center track was used in the past for turning rush hour "Gap Trains", which would head back up north. It is currently used for short turning 3 trains during nights.

This section was the site of a 1928 wreck that killed 16 people, the second worst in New York City history (the worst being the Malbone Street Wreck in Brooklyn, which killed at least 93).

BMT Broadway Line platforms

Times Square–42nd Street is an express station on the BMT Broadway Line that has four tracks and two island platforms. Connections to the other lines are at the northern end of the platforms. This station received a minor overhaul in the late 1970s when MTA fixed the station's structure and the overall appearance, and it repaired staircases and platform edges, removed pedestrian ramps, and replaced lighting. In 2004-2006, the station received a major overhaul and repairs, including upgrading the station for ADA compliance and restoring the original late 1910s tiling. MTA repaired the staircases, retiled the walls, added new tiling on the floors, upgraded the station's lights and the public address system, installed ADA yellow safety treads along the platform edge, and installed new signs and new trackbeds in both directions.

The express tracks north of the station spread out to pass around a crossunder in the Times Square shuttle platforms. This crossunder was sealed off in the 1960s.

On June 1, 1940, the title of the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation was transferred to the City of New York, signifying the first phase of unification of New York's subway system with the Independent Subway System as well as eventual public operation of the entire system. (The Interborough Rapid Transit Company would be merged on June 15 of the same year.) At midnight, a ceremony commemorating the transfer, with five hundred people in attendance, was held at the Times Square station. The last BMT train had left the 57th Street station five minutes earlier. When the train arrived at Times Square, BMT president William S. Menden handed over his company's properties to Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia, who then gave them to New York City Board of Transportation chairman John H. Delaney. The Board of Transportation operated the New York City Transit System until the creation of the New York City Transit Authority in 1953.

IRT Flushing Line platform

Times Square (signed as and announced on trains as Times Square–42nd Street) on the IRT Flushing Line has one island platform and two tracks, located deep below West 41st Street.

History

The Times Square station opened on March 14, 1927, extending the Flushing Line westward from its previous terminus at Fifth Avenue. This station served as the terminus for 7 <7> trains from its opening on March 14, 1927, until September 13, 2015, when the next station west (railroad south), 34th Street–Hudson Yards, opened. The platforms at Times Square and all other stations on the Flushing Line with the exception of Queensboro Plaza were extended in 1955–1956 to accommodate 11-car trains.

Layout

Stairs, escalators, and an elevator along the platform lead to various mezzanines. There are "TS" tile mosaics along the station walls. An office is located at the north (compass east) end of the platform. An elevator was recently installed and connects with the Downtown IRT Seventh Avenue platform and then the mezzanine. The elevators make this platform, along with the platform at Grand Central accessible to wheelchair passengers (unlike the shuttle platforms, which are not accessible to wheelchairs).

The tracks continue south (compass west) beyond the station to the 34th Street station. These tracks formerly led to an unused storage and layover area, but the extension of the Flushing Line, whose trackwork was completed in 2013, included the addition of third rails to the layover tracks, as well as the inspection and replacement of these tracks. The closed lower level platform at 42nd Street–Port Authority Bus Terminal on the IND Eighth Avenue Line was blocking the line but since removed. Currently, all Flushing-bound service is on the eastbound track, labeled Track 2, and 34th Street-bound service is on the westbound track, labeled Track 1.

Artwork

George Lewis Heins and Christopher Grant LaFarge were the first commissioned architects of the IRT. They designed the original Times Square Station, which was located at the current Grand Central Shuttle stop.

In many of their stations, Heins and LaFarge use symbolic imagery to honor a neighborhood or its namesake. When Squire Vickers took over as chief designer and architect of the IRT in 1906, he continued this tradition of using symbolism to speak to a station's history.

The colored tile trim of the IRT portions of the station closely resembles the Confederate flag. Scholars believe that Vickers and his colleagues unmistakably reference the symbol of the South to pay homage to New York Times owner Adolph S. Ochs. The Confederacy was a significant part of Ochs' heritage, and the eccentric Vickers relished literary and historical imagery. Times Square was named for the New York Times, whose headquarters, built by Ochs, housed the original subway station (now the shuttle platforms) in its basement.

Modern artwork installed in the complex includes the following:

New York in Transit was Lawrence's last public work before his 2000 death. Lichtenstein completed Times Square Mural in 1994, but installation was delayed until after the station complex's renovation, during which Lichtenstein died in 1997.

Foiled terrorist attack

Najibullah Zazi and alleged co-conspirators were arrested in September 2009 as part of an al-Qaeda Islamist plan to engage in suicide bombings on trains in the New York City subway system, including near the Times Square station, during rush hour that month, and Zazi has pleaded guilty.