South Ferry
Lines:
IRT Lexington Ave Line
IRT Seventh Ave Line
List of closed areas:
South Ferry was built an important terminal station, with connections to ferries at the south end of Manhattan. It was eventually connected to the nearby Whitehall Street/South Ferry station on the Broadway Line.
The original station consisted of two side platforms situated on two one-way, counterclockwise loop tracks, the outer of which allowed Seventh Avenue Line trains to turn around south of Rector Street station, and the inner of which allowed Lexington Avenue Line trains to turn around south of Bowling Green station.
Before July 1918, Lexington Avenue Line trains terminating at South Ferry used the outer loop, which opened in July 1905. It was not until the Seventh Avenue Line opened in July 1918 that such trains were rerouted onto a platform on the inner loop that opened at the same time. This was the norm until the introduction of newer subway cars in the late 1940s, which could not easily have only the center doors opened like in older subway cars. As a result, most Lexington Avenue Line trains terminating at the station once again used the outer loop platform (along with Seventh Avenue Line trains) starting in the 1950s. From that time, the only service to use the inner loop platform was a shuttle between Bowling Green and South Ferry, which used newer subway cars with the ability to have only the center doors opened. However, the shuttle was discontinued on February 13, 1977 because of low ridership and the station's proximity to Bowling Green, which led to the inner loop platform being closed. In recent times, the inner loop platform has become home to HVAC equipment, likely for the new platform.
The outer loop, which could only allow passengers in the first five cars of modern-day 10-car trains to disembark, was seen as destructive to capacity because of the sharp curve and the use of gap fillers, which forced trains to slow down to align with the gap fillers when arriving and to prevent damaging them by traveling too fast when leaving. As a result, the station was planned to be replaced with a new platform that could allow for more train throughput and for passengers in all ten cars of modern-day 10-car trains to disembark at the station. The outer loop platform was initially closed on March 16, 2009, when the new platform opened. However, flood damage to the new platform caused the outer loop platform to temporarily reopen on April 4, 2013. The platform remained open until June 27, 2017, when the new platform was repaired.
The outer loop platform had an entrance inside the Staten Island Ferry terminal, while the inner loop platform had an entrance at the west side of Peter Minuit Plaza. When the outer loop platform first closed, much of its fare control area was repurposed into restaurants; the small amount of fare control area remaining was used as a temporary entrance until the platform closed again. The entrance to the inner loop platform now serves as an employee entrance to the many equipment rooms occupying the platform.
Pictures of the station and entrances can be viewed in the gallery below:
IRT Lexington Ave Line
IRT Seventh Ave Line
List of closed areas:
- Closed loop platforms, with exits to
- Staten Island Ferry terminal (outer loop only)
- West side of Peter Minuit Plaza, at bus drop-off stop (inner loop only)
South Ferry was built an important terminal station, with connections to ferries at the south end of Manhattan. It was eventually connected to the nearby Whitehall Street/South Ferry station on the Broadway Line.
The original station consisted of two side platforms situated on two one-way, counterclockwise loop tracks, the outer of which allowed Seventh Avenue Line trains to turn around south of Rector Street station, and the inner of which allowed Lexington Avenue Line trains to turn around south of Bowling Green station.
Before July 1918, Lexington Avenue Line trains terminating at South Ferry used the outer loop, which opened in July 1905. It was not until the Seventh Avenue Line opened in July 1918 that such trains were rerouted onto a platform on the inner loop that opened at the same time. This was the norm until the introduction of newer subway cars in the late 1940s, which could not easily have only the center doors opened like in older subway cars. As a result, most Lexington Avenue Line trains terminating at the station once again used the outer loop platform (along with Seventh Avenue Line trains) starting in the 1950s. From that time, the only service to use the inner loop platform was a shuttle between Bowling Green and South Ferry, which used newer subway cars with the ability to have only the center doors opened. However, the shuttle was discontinued on February 13, 1977 because of low ridership and the station's proximity to Bowling Green, which led to the inner loop platform being closed. In recent times, the inner loop platform has become home to HVAC equipment, likely for the new platform.
The outer loop, which could only allow passengers in the first five cars of modern-day 10-car trains to disembark, was seen as destructive to capacity because of the sharp curve and the use of gap fillers, which forced trains to slow down to align with the gap fillers when arriving and to prevent damaging them by traveling too fast when leaving. As a result, the station was planned to be replaced with a new platform that could allow for more train throughput and for passengers in all ten cars of modern-day 10-car trains to disembark at the station. The outer loop platform was initially closed on March 16, 2009, when the new platform opened. However, flood damage to the new platform caused the outer loop platform to temporarily reopen on April 4, 2013. The platform remained open until June 27, 2017, when the new platform was repaired.
The outer loop platform had an entrance inside the Staten Island Ferry terminal, while the inner loop platform had an entrance at the west side of Peter Minuit Plaza. When the outer loop platform first closed, much of its fare control area was repurposed into restaurants; the small amount of fare control area remaining was used as a temporary entrance until the platform closed again. The entrance to the inner loop platform now serves as an employee entrance to the many equipment rooms occupying the platform.
Pictures of the station and entrances can be viewed in the gallery below: