Second Avenue Subway
The Second Avenue Subway (internally referred to as the IND Second Avenue Line by the MTA and abbreviated to SAS) is a New York City Subway line that runs under Second Avenue on the East Side of Manhattan. The first phase of this new line, with three new stations on Manhattan's Upper East Side, opened on January 1, 2017. The full Second Avenue Line (if it will be funded) will be built in three more phases to eventually connect Harlem–125th Street in East Harlem to Hanover Square in Lower Manhattan. The proposed full line would be 8.5 miles (13.7 km) and 16 stations long, serve a projected 560,000 daily riders, and cost more than $17 billion.
"IND Second Avenue Line" redirects here. For the former elevated railway line, see IRT Second Avenue Line. For the bus line that runs on Second Avenue, see M15 (New York City bus). For the subway station at Houston Street, see Second Avenue station.Second Avenue Subway
Open from 72nd Street to 96th Street
Phase 2 to Harlem–125th Street in design
3 (13 more planned)
45,367[1]
January 1, 2017 (first phase)
8.5 miles (13.7 km)
17 miles (27 km)
2
Fully underground
4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
600 V DC third rail
The line was originally proposed in 1920 as part of a massive expansion of what would become the Independent Subway System (IND). In anticipation of the Second Avenue Subway being built to replace them, parallel elevated lines along Second Avenue and Third Avenue were demolished in 1942 and 1955, respectively, despite several factors causing plans for the Second Avenue Subway to be cancelled. Construction on the line began in 1972 as part of the Program for Action. It was halted in 1975 because of the city's fiscal crisis, leaving only a few short segments of tunnels completed. Work on the line restarted in April 2007 following the development of a financially secure construction plan. The first phase of the line, consisting of the 96th Street, 86th Street and 72nd Street stations, as well as 1.8 mi (2.9 km) of tunnel, cost $4.45 billion. A 1.5-mile (2.4 km), $6 billion second phase from 96th to 125th Streets is almost ready to start construction as of 2024.
Phase 1 is served by the Q train at all times and limited rush-hour N and R trains. Phase 2 will extend the line's northern terminus from 96th Street to Harlem–125th Street. Both the Q and limited N services will be extended to 125th Street. Phase 3 will extend the line south from 72nd Street to Houston Street in Manhattan's Lower East Side. Upon completion, a new T train will serve the entire line from Harlem to Houston Street. Phase 4 will again extend the line south from Houston Street to Hanover Square, maintaining the T designation for the entire line. The T will be colored turquoise since it will use the Second Avenue Line through Midtown Manhattan.
Design and cost[edit]
Features[edit]
The stations on the line were built to be wider than most other underground subway stations in the system.[168] Because of this, Horodniceanu likened the Second Avenue Subway stations to the stations on the Washington Metro.[90] All stations on the line feature 615-foot-long (187 m) platforms, with 800–1,400 ft (240–430 m) overall lengths to provide space for power stations and ventilation plants.[146]: 14 Tracks are built on rubber pads, which reduces noise from trains.[169]
In August 2006, the MTA revealed that all future subway stations—including stations on the Second Avenue Subway and the 7 Subway Extension, as well as the new South Ferry station—would be outfitted with air-cooling systems to reduce the temperature along platforms by as much as 10 °F (6 °C).[170] In early plans, the Second Avenue Subway was also to have platform screen doors to assist with air-cooling, energy savings, ventilation, and track safety,[171] but this plan was scrapped in 2012 as cost-prohibitive.[172] Stations constructed as part of Phase 2 may receive platform screen doors depending on the results of studies being conducted for their installation elsewhere.[145]: 15
Construction methods[edit]
The construction of the 8.5 miles (13.7 km) of the Second Avenue Subway underneath densely populated Manhattan will require the use of several construction methods, depending on the section of the line.[173][174] The line's tunnels will largely consist of twin tunnels with diameters of up to 23.5 feet (7.2 m).[146]: 1 About 90% of the tunneling is to be performed by tunnel boring machines. The rest will be done using the cut-and-cover method, or through the use of mined drill-and-blast, for sections averaging 275 meters (902 ft) in length, namely the station boxes.[173][174] The methods used to construct the sections of the line were confirmed in 2003, with a modification of the section north of 120th Street announced in 2016.[173][174]: 2 [175]: 14
Informational notes
Citations
Further reading
