103rd Street (IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line)

103rd Street
New York City Subway rapid transit station
Northbound platform
Station statistics
Address	West 103rd Street & Broadway New York, NY 10025
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	Upper West Side, Manhattan Valley
Coordinates	40°47′58″N 73°58′05″W / 40.799419°N 73.968158°WCoordinates: 40°47′58″N 73°58′05″W / 40.799419°N 73.968158°W
Division	A (IRT)
Line	IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line
Services	1  (all times)
Transit connections	NYCT Bus: M104
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	3 (2 in regular service)
Other information
Opened	October 27, 1904[1]
Wireless service	[2]
Traffic
Passengers (2015)	4,258,632[3]  1.4%
Rank	115 out of 422
Station succession
Next north	Cathedral Parkway–110th Street: 1
Next south	96th Street: 1
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times
Location

103rd Street is a local station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of 103rd Street and Broadway on the Upper West Side of Manhattan, within Manhattan Valley, it is served by the 1 train at all times.

History

Track layout
Legend
to 110 St to 96 St

Operation of the first subway began on October 27, 1904, with the opening of the original 28 stations of the New York City Subway from City Hall to 145th Street on the West Side Branch including the 103rd Street station.^[4][5]

In 1948, platforms on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line from 103rd Street to 238th Street were lengthened to 514 feet to allow full ten-car express trains to platform. Previously the stations could only platform six car local trains. The platform extensions were opened in stages. On April 6, 1948, the stations from 103rd Street to Dyckman Street had their platform extensions opened, with the exception of the 125th Street, which had its opened on June 11, 1948.^[6][7]

Station layout

G	Street Level	Exit/Entrance
P Platform level	Side platform, doors will open on the right
	Northbound local	← toward Van Cortlandt Park–242nd Street (110th Street)
	Peak-direction express	→ No regular service
	Southbound local	→ toward South Ferry (96th Street) →
	Side platform, doors will open on the right

Mosaic name tablet

Cartouche by Grueby

This station as part of the original subway, has two side platforms and three tracks, the center one being an unused express track.^[8] The southbound local track is technically known as BB1 and the northbound one is BB4; the BB designation is used for chaining purposes along the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line from 96th Street to 242nd Street. Although it cannot be accessed at 103rd Street, the center track is designated as M. These designations are rarely, if ever, used in everyday speech.

This is the southernmost 3-track station on the line. South of the station, there are switches that connect the express track to either local track with trains then being able to crossover to the rising express tracks, which joined from the IRT Lenox Avenue Line. Under 103rd Street, the dual express tracks serving the southern part of the line descend and curve to the east to form the IRT Lenox Avenue Line. They turn off of Broadway and onto 104th Street directly underneath this station. An emergency exit from the Lenox Avenue Line is located in the middle of the northbound platform.

In popular culture

The 103rd Street station was one of the settings in the William S. Burroughs book Junkie and was briefly featured in the film Black Swan.

References

1. "Our Subway Open: 150,000 Try It". nycsubway.org. New York Times. October 28, 1904. Retrieved 2012-04-02.
2. "NYC Subway Wireless – Active Stations". Transit Wireless Wifi. Retrieved 2016-05-18.
3. "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership". New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved 2016-04-19.
4. James Blaine Walker, Fifty Years of Rapid Transit, 1864-1917, published 1918, pp. 162-191
5. "New York City subway opens - Oct 27, 1904". HISTORY.com. 1904-10-27. Retrieved 2015-10-25.
6. Report for the three and one-half years ending June 30, 1949. New York City Board of Transportation. 1949.
7. "MORE LONG PLATFORMS; Five Subway Stations on IRT to Accommodate 10-Car Trains". The New York Times. 1948-07-10. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2016-03-27.
8. 103rd Street NYCSubway Retrieved 2009-06-24

Further reading

• Lee Stokey. Subway Ceramics : A History and Iconography. 1994. ISBN 978-0-9635486-1-0

External links

NW corner stairs

• nycsubway.org – IRT West Side Line: 103rd Street
• Station Reporter – 1 Train
• Forgotten NY – "Original 28 - NYC's First 28 Subway Stations". forgotten-ny.com. Archived from the original on 2006-12-24. Retrieved 2012-04-02.
• 103rd Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Platforms from Google Maps Street View