IRT White Plains Road Line
IRT White Plains Road Line | |
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Overview | |
Type | Rapid transit |
System | New York City Subway |
Termini | Wakefield – 241st Street 149th Street – Grand Concourse |
Stations | 20 |
Daily ridership | 307,666[1] |
Operation | |
Opened | 1904-1920 |
Owner | City of New York |
Operator(s) | New York City Transit Authority |
Character | Elevated (Most of the line) Underground (3rd Ave and Grand Concourse stations only) |
Technical | |
No. of tracks | 2-3 |
Track gauge | 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) |
Electrification | 600V DC third rail |
The White Plains Road Line (sometimes referred to as WPR Line) is a rapid transit line of the IRT division of the New York City Subway serving the central Bronx. It is mostly elevated and served both subway and elevated trains until 1952.[2]
It is currently being used by the 2 as the local at all times and the 5 as the local at all times except rush hours in peak direction (when it runs express between East 180th Street and Third Avenue – 149th Street) and late nights (when it runs as a shuttle between Eastchester – Dyre Avenue and East 180th Street).
Extent and service
The following services use part or all of the White Plains Road Line:
Route | Services | |||||
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Time period | West of E 149 St |
Between E 149 St and E 180 St |
E 180 St | Between E 180 St and Nereid Ave |
241 St | |
2 |
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5 |
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(except nights) |
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IRT White Plains Road Line
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The IRT White Plains Road Line begins at the Wakefield – 241st Street terminal, with two tracks, one island platform, and two closed side platforms. Crossovers just south of the station take trains to the correct tracks and a center express track comes out of those crossovers. Between Wakefield – 241st Street and Nereid Avenue, a connection comes in from the 239th Street Yard.
Just north of Gun Hill Road, the now demolished IRT Third Avenue Line split from the local tracks (with crossovers to the express tracks just to the north). The line went to a lower level of Gun Hill Road and then turned west.
The IRT Dyre Avenue Line merges to the local tracks just north of East 180th Street, and then crossovers allow those trains to reach the express tracks. The 5 late-night Dyre Avenue Shuttle uses the center track to end its run, and rush hour 5 trains in the peak direction change to the express track here. On the west side of this junction is the East 180th Street Yard while the Unionport Yard is to the east.
The now-gone three-track Bronx Park Spur merged from the west after East 180th Street with one track into each of the mainline tracks. Just after this on the east side was a connection to the West Farms Yard, also gone.
The express track ends north of Third Avenue – 149th Street, and from there to the end the line has two tracks. Formerly in that area there was a connection just to the north to the local tracks of the IRT Third Avenue Line, and a connection to the south, bypassing 149th Street on the Third Avenue Line. Just past those former connections, the White Plains Road Line goes underground.
Just after 149th Street – Grand Concourse, the tracks split off and the two currently used by the 5 train turn south to merge with the local tracks of the IRT Jerome Avenue Line. The other tracks, currently used by the 2 train, pass under the Harlem River via the 149th Street Tunnel and end at the at-grade 142nd Street Junction, connecting to the IRT Lenox Avenue Line.
History
The part of the line from the IRT Lenox Avenue Line to 180th Street – Bronx Park was built as part of Contract 1. Service on the IRT White Plains Road Line was extended from East 177th Street – East Tremont Avenue to East 219th Street – White Plains Road beginning on March 3, 1917.[3] Service on the new portion of the line was operated as a four-car shuttle from 177th Street due to the power conditions at the time. Service was extended to East 238th Street on March 31, 1917[4] The part of the line from the S-curve north of West Farms Square – East Tremont Avenue to the terminal at 241st Street was built as a part of the Dual Contracts.[5]
A 1929 proposal included a spur off the line that would have run from Van Nest to Baychester. The spur was to begin near Garfield Street as an elevated line then run underground beneath Morris Park Avenue and Wilson Avenue, finally terminating at Boston Road, where it was to connect to the formerly proposed Concourse Line extension. This proposal was never carried out, however the IRT acquired the former New York, Westchester and Boston Railway right-of-way to create the IRT Dyre Avenue Line instead.
On April 23, 1953, express service began on the White Plains Road line; it skipped all stops between East 180th Street and Third Avenue – 149th Street.[6]
In 1956, 180th Street – Bronx Park was closed and was demolished. Former trackways of this station can still be seen north of the current West Farms Square – East Tremont Avenue Station.[7]
The Dyre Avenue Line was connected directly to the White Plains Road Line north of East 180th Street for $3 million and through service began on May 6, 1957. Night service would continue to be operated by a shuttle.[8] Through service was operated by Seventh Avenue express trains between 5:30 AM and 8:30 PM. Between 8:30 and 1:15 shuttle trains operated from East 180th Street to Dyre Avenue, and in the early morning hours no trains operated over the line.[9]
Due to rehabilitation of East 180th Street and signal replacements along the line, rush hour peak direction 5 express service was suspended from March 29 to September 3, 2010. PM northbound express service was suspended again on March 28, 2011 to allow for the second phase of the signal replacement project. Normal service was restored on August 8, 2011.
Station listing
Station service legend | |
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Stops all times |
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Stops all times except late nights |
Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction | Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction |
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Stops rush hours in the peak direction only |
Time period details |
Neighborhood (approximate) |
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Station | Tracks | Services | Opened | Transfers and notes |
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Wakefield | Wakefield – 241st Street | 2 ![]() |
December 13, 1920 | originally East 241st Street Connection to Metro-North Railroad (Harlem Line at Wakefield) |
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Center Express track begins (no regular service) | ||||||
connecting tracks to 239th Street Yard | ||||||
Nereid Avenue | local | 2 ![]() ![]() |
March 31, 1917 | originally East 238th Street | ||
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233rd Street | local | 2 ![]() ![]() |
March 31, 1917 | originally East 233rd Street Connection to Metro-North Railroad (Harlem Line at Woodlawn) |
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225th Street | local | 2 ![]() ![]() |
March 31, 1917 | originally East 225th Street | ||
Williamsbridge | 219th Street | local | 2 ![]() ![]() |
March 3, 1917 | originally East 219th Street | |
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Gun Hill Road | all | 2 ![]() ![]() |
March 3, 1917 | Connection to Metro-North Railroad (Harlem Line at Williams Bridge) | |
Allerton | Burke Avenue | local | 2 ![]() ![]() |
March 3, 1917 | ||
Allerton Avenue | local | 2 ![]() ![]() |
March 3, 1917 | |||
Pelham Parkway | ![]() |
Pelham Parkway | local | 2 ![]() ![]() |
March 3, 1917 | Bx12 Select Bus Service |
Van Nest | Bronx Park East | local | 2 ![]() ![]() |
March 3, 1917 | ||
Merge from IRT Dyre Avenue Line (5 ![]() |
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connecting tracks to Unionport Yard (east of the line) | ||||||
connecting tracks to East 180th Street Yard (west of the line) | ||||||
West Farms | ![]() |
East 180th Street | all | 2 ![]() ![]() |
March 3, 1917 | |
180th Street – Bronx Park | Bronx Park spur | November 26, 1904 | Closed August 4, 1952; later demolished. | |||
West Farms Square – East Tremont Avenue | local | 2 ![]() |
November 26, 1904 | originally 177th Street, then East Tremont Avenue–Boston Road Q44 Select Bus Service |
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Crotona Park East | 174th Street | local | 2 ![]() |
November 26, 1904 | ||
Freeman Street | local | 2 ![]() |
November 26, 1904 | |||
Longwood | ![]() |
Simpson Street | local | 2 ![]() |
November 26, 1904 | Elevators are temporarily out of service for repairs until June 2016. |
Intervale Avenue | local | 2 ![]() |
November 26, 1904 | originally Intervale Avenue–163rd Street | ||
Prospect Avenue | local | 2 ![]() |
November 26, 1904 | |||
Mott Haven | Jackson Avenue | local | 2 ![]() |
November 26, 1904 | ||
Center Express track ends | ||||||
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Third Avenue – 149th Street | all | 2 ![]() ![]() |
July 10, 1905 | originally Third Avenue | |
149th Street – Grand Concourse | all | 2 ![]() ![]() |
July 10, 1905 | 4 ![]() originally Mott Avenue |
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Split with connection to IRT Jerome Avenue Line (5 ![]() |
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149th Street Tunnel | ||||||
Merge with IRT Lenox Avenue Line (2 ![]() |
Gallery
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An R142
train at Allerton Avenue Station in the Bronx
References
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External links
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Wikimedia Commons has media related to IRT White Plains Road Line. |