34th Street–Penn Station (IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line)

34th Street–Penn Station is an express station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of 34th Street and Seventh Avenue, it is served by the 1 and 2 trains at all times, and the 3 train at all times except late nights. Connections are available to the LIRR, NJ Transit and Amtrak at Pennsylvania Station.

 34 Street–Penn Station
 
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Northbound local platform
Station statistics
AddressWest 34th Street & Seventh Avenue
New York, NY 10001
BoroughManhattan
LocaleMidtown
Coordinates40.751°N 73.991°W / 40.751; -73.991
DivisionA (IRT)
Line   IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line
Services   1  (all times)
   2  (all times)
   3  (all except late nights)
Transit NYCT Bus: M4, M7, M20, M34 SBS, M34A SBS, Q32,
MTA Bus: BxM2
Amtrak, LIRR, NJT Rail (at Penn Station)
PATH: JSQ–33, HOB–33, JSQ–33 (via HOB) (at 33rd Street)
StructureUnderground
Platforms2 side platforms (local)
1 island platform (express)
Tracks4
Other information
OpenedJune 3, 1917 (1917-06-03)[1]
Station code318[2]
Accessible ADA-accessible
Opposite-
direction
transfer
Yes
Traffic
201925,967,676[3] 0%
Rank6 out of 424[3]
Station succession
Next northTimes Square–42nd Street: 1  2  3 
Next south28th Street (local): 1  2 
14th Street (express): 2  3 

History

Name on trim line

34th Street–Penn Station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line was opened on June 3, 1917, as part of an extension of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, the dominant subway in Manhattan at the time, from Times Square–42nd Street to South Ferry.[1] It was served by a shuttle train to Times Square until the rest of the extension opened a year later on July 1, 1918.[4] This meant that the subway would be expanded down the Lower West Side to neighborhoods such as Greenwich Village and the western portion of the Financial District.

As part of this and the northern IRT Lexington Avenue Line extension, the IRT network would be radically changed from an S-shaped line connecting the eastern side of Lower Manhattan to the Upper West Side to an H-shaped network with two parallel lines, the East and West Side Lines, and a shuttle at 42nd Street connecting them.[4][5]

On August 23, 1985, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) awarded a $2.24 million contract to rebuild the station and to double the width of the passageway to Penn Station. The project was scheduled to be completed in spring 1987.[6]

Under the 2015–2019 MTA Capital Program, the station, along with thirty-two other New York City Subway stations, underwent a complete overhaul as part of the Enhanced Station Initiative. Updates included cellular service, Wi-Fi, charging stations, improved signage, and improved station lighting. Unlike other stations that were renovated under the initiative, 34th Street–Penn Station was not completely closed during construction.[7] In January 2018, the NYCT and Bus Committee recommended that Judlau Contracting receive the $125 million contract for the renovations of 57th and 23rd Streets on the IND Sixth Avenue Line; 28th Street on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line, and 34th Street–Penn Station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line and IND Eighth Avenue Line.[8] However, the MTA Board temporarily deferred the vote for these packages after city representatives refused to vote to award the contracts.[9][10] The contract was put back for a vote in February, where it was ultimately approved.[11] These improvements were substantially completed by May 2019.[12]

Station layout

G Street level Entrances/exits
Elevator on south side of 34th Street west of Seventh Avenue at LIRR entrance
B1
Platform level
Side platform
Northbound local toward 242nd Street (Times Square–42nd Street)
toward 241st Street late nights (Times Square–42nd Street)
Northbound express toward 241st Street (Times Square–42nd Street)
toward 148th Street (Times Square–42nd Street)
Island platform
Southbound express toward Flatbush Avenue (14th Street)
toward New Lots Avenue (14th Street)
Southbound local toward South Ferry (28th Street)
toward Flatbush Avenue late nights (28th Street)
Side platform
B2 Mezzanine Connector between platforms, connection to Penn Station
Trim line tablets

Like 34th Street–Penn Station on the IND Eighth Avenue Line and Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center on the IRT Eastern Parkway Line, this station has two side platforms for local service and a center island platform for express service. This is due to the expected increase in ridership and to encourage riders to switch at the next stop northbound, Times Square–42nd Street, as it is set up in the usual island platform manner for cross-platform interchanges.[13]

There is no free transfer between this station and the station of the same name on the IND Eighth Avenue Line, despite the fact that both connect to Penn Station. The nearest transfer location is at Times Square–42nd Street with a free transfer to 42nd Street–Port Authority Bus Terminal.[13]

 33rd St to 34th St subway cross-section
11th Av 10th & 9th Avs
are skipped
8th Av Madison Square
Garden
7th Av Storefronts 6th Av &
Broadway
5th & Madison Avs
are skipped
Park Av
mezzanine A / C / E concourse 1 / 2 / 3 Former Gimbel's
passageway
mezz PATH 6 / <6>
mezzanine mezzanine concourse mezzanine N / Q / R / W
7 / <7> Penn Station B/D/F/<F>/M

Exits

34th Street entrance

34th Street–Penn Station spans three streets (32nd, 33rd, and 34th Streets) with a set of entrances/exits at all of these streets. For the purposes of this article, entrance and exit are interchangeable.[14]

There are four entrances directly from the intersection of 34th Street and Seventh Avenue. On the local platforms the turnstiles for these exits are at platform level; passengers wishing to use the express platforms must use a passageway beneath the platforms and tracks. These entrances utilize the northern portions of the platforms. There is also a supplementary and handicapped-accessible entrance to the Penn Station complex in general from 34th Street.[14]

There are three direct entrances from the street at 33rd Street and Seventh Avenue. As a replacement for the southwestern corner's lack of an entrance, there is an underground entrance directly connecting the station with the Long Island Rail Road concourse in the Penn Station complex. The turnstiles for this entrance are located below the track level and utilize the central portions of the platforms.[14]

The main entrance to the Penn Station complex is located on the western end of 32nd Street. From there, passengers may go through the New Jersey Transit and Long Island Rail Road concourses and use the entrance to this station at the end of the latter's concourse. There is also a smaller exit from the station at the southern ends of the platforms that connects with the end of the New Jersey Transit concourse where it meets the Long Island Rail Road underneath the main corridor in the station that connects New Jersey Transit and Amtrak. There is also an entrance on the north side of 32nd Street between Seventh and Sixth Avenues.[14]

Ridership

34th Street–Penn Station on the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line is continually ranked as one of the busiest stations in the subway system. In 2016, it was the fifth-busiest subway station, with 27,741,367 riders as recorded by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority.[15] By comparison, its sister station on the Eighth Avenue Line is ranked sixth-busiest, with 25,183,869 passengers.[15] When the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line station was a shuttle stop before the rest of the South Ferry extension opened, ridership was quite low; in its first year of operation, only 78,121 boardings were recorded.[16]

References

  1. "Three New Links of the Dual Subway System Opened". New York Times. June 3, 1917. p. 33.
  2. "Station Developers' Information". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
  3. "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership 2014–2019". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
  4. "Open new subway to regular traffic". New York Times. Retrieved August 27, 2008.
  5. "Open new subway lines to traffic; called a triumph" (PDF). New York Times. Retrieved August 27, 2008.
  6. Gordy, Margaret (August 24, 1985). "MTA to fund Troubled Tunnels". Newsday.
  7. "Enhanced Station Initiative: CCM Pre-Proposal Conference" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. October 25, 2016. p. 8 (PDF page 15). Retrieved August 11, 2017.
  8. Metropolitan Transportation Authority (January 22, 2018). "NYCT/Bus Committee Meeting" (PDF). p. 135. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 27, 2018. Retrieved January 19, 2018.
  9. Barone, Vincent (January 24, 2018). "Controversial cosmetic subway improvement plan falters". am New York. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  10. Siff, Andrew (January 24, 2018). "MTA Shelves Plan to Modernize Subway Stations Amid Criticism". NBC New York. Retrieved January 25, 2018.
  11. "Foes Hit Gov's Station Fix Plan". NY Daily News. February 13, 2018. Retrieved February 23, 2018.
  12. "NYCT/Bus Committee Meeting" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. May 20, 2019. p. 168. Retrieved May 19, 2019.
  13. "34th Street-Penn Station". NYCSubway.org. Retrieved August 27, 2008.
  14. "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Pennsylvania Station / Times Square" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2015. Retrieved December 11, 2015.
  15. "1904-2006 ridership figures". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved August 28, 2008.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.