The station was opened on October 13, 1925, with shuttle service between 111th Street and the previous terminal at Alburtis Avenue. Shuttle service used the Manhattan-bound track. The line was extended to Willets Point Boulevard on May 7, 1927, and to the current terminal at Flushing–Main Street on January 21, 1928. The platforms at 111th Street were extended in 1955–1956 to accommodate 11-car trains. As part of the 2015–2019 Capital Program, the MTA would renovate the 52nd, 61st, 69th, 82nd, 103rd and 111th Streets stations, a project that has been delayed for several years but is slated to begin in mid-2020. Conditions at these stations were among the worst of all stations in the subway system.
Station layout
The station has five tracks and two side platforms. The express track is located on a flyover above the other four tracks. The two center tracks are not used in passenger service, but instead are used as yard leads of the Corona Yard, where 7 trains are maintained and stored. As a result, trains that go to/from the yard often terminate or begin at this station. Stations with flyover express tracks such as this were far more common on IRT elevated lines in Manhattan during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Due to the yard tracks, an unusual layout takes place in and east of the station. The two layup tracks only have connections to the main tracks east of the station. The eastbound track rises east of the station while the express track lowers. The layup tracks dive down and cross under the eastbound track. The westbound track then rises to level out the three tracks, which continue east. This station has full windscreens except at the west end of the eastbound platform, which has a waist-high steel fence instead.
Exits
Exit is at the south end, with staircases to all four corners of 111th Street and Roosevelt Avenue. The mezzanine and stairway landings are wooden while the flooring at the fare control area is concrete. The station has a crossunder between platforms. New signs have covered the old ones. Above some of the black station signs reading "111 Street" are white signs reading "Hall of Science", identifying the nearby New York Hall of Science five blocks south.
