IRT Flushing Line

IRT Flushing Line
The 7 and 7 Express, which use the Flushing Line through Midtown Manhattan, are colored purple.
Overview
Owner	City of New York
Termini	Flushing–Main Street 34th Street–Hudson Yards
Stations	22
Service
Type	Rapid transit
System	New York City Subway
Operator(s)	New York City Transit Authority
Daily ridership	425,688[1]
History
Opened	1915–1928 (between Times Square and Flushing–Main Street) September 13, 2015 (between 34th Street and Times Square)
Technical
Number of tracks	2–5
Character	Underground (Manhattan, Western Queens and Main Street) Elevated (east of Hunters Point Avenue and west of Main Street, exclusive)
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Electrification	625 V DC third rail
Route map Legend LIRR Port Washington Branch Flushing–Main Street (LIRR) former LIRR Whitestone Branch Mets–Willets Point (LIRR) Corona Yard 111th Street 103rd Street–Corona Plaza Junction Boulevard 90th Street–Elmhurst Avenue 82nd Street–Jackson Heights LIRR Main Line 74th Street–Broadway (Queens Boulevard Line) 69th Street Woodside (LIRR) 61st Street–Woodside 52nd Street 46th Street–Bliss Street 40th Street–Lowery Street 33rd Street–Rawson Street LIRR Main Line Queens Boulevard Line Queens Plaza Astoria Line Queensboro Plaza 60th Street Tunnel Connection to Broadway Line former connection to IRT Second Avenue Line 53rd Street Line Court Square former inspection track (1917–1928) Hunters Point Avenue 21st Street Crosstown Line Vernon Boulevard–Jackson Avenue Steinway Tunnel (East River) Queens Manhattan Grand Central (Lexington Avenue Line) Fifth Avenue (Sixth Avenue Line) Broadway Line Times Square– 42nd Street (Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line) Eighth Avenue Line 7 Subway Extension ↓ Tenth Avenue (unbuilt, proposed) 34th Street–Hudson Yards Legend Express station Local station This diagram: view talk edit

The IRT Flushing Line is a rapid transit route of the New York City Subway system, named for its eastern terminal in Flushing, Queens. It is operated as part of the A Division. The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), a private operator, had constructed the section of the line from Flushing, Queens, to Times Square, Manhattan between 1915 and 1928. A western extension was opened to Hudson Yards in western Manhattan in 2015, and the line now stretches from Flushing to Chelsea, Manhattan. It carries trains of the 7 local service, as well as the express <7> during rush hours in the peak direction.^[2] It is the only currently operational IRT line to serve Queens.

It is shown in the color purple on station signs, the official subway map, and internal route maps in R188 cars. Before the line was opened all the way to Flushing in 1928, it was known as the Corona Line or Woodside and Corona Line. Prior to the discontinuation of BMT services in 1949, the portion of the IRT Flushing Line between Times Square and Queensboro Plaza was known as the Queensboro Line. Since the mid-2010s, the line's signal system has been converted to an automated system.

The Flushing Line has various styles of architecture, which range from steel girder elevated structures to European-style concrete viaducts. The underground stations have some unique designs as well. The designs include Hunters Point Avenue, which is in an Italianate style; Grand Central–42nd Street, which is a single round tube similar to a London Underground station; and 34th Street–Hudson Yards, which, with its deep vault and spacious interior, resembles a Washington Metro station.