33rd Street station (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)


33rd Street is a local station on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Park Avenue and 33rd Street in the Murray Hill neighborhood of Manhattan, it is served by trains at all times, <6> trains during weekdays in the peak direction, and trains during late night hours.

History

Construction started on the first IRT line in 1900. The part of the line from City Hall to just south of 42nd Street was part of the original IRT line, opened on October 27, 1904 including a local station at 33rd Street.
On April 13, 1948, the platform extensions to accommodate ten-car trains at this station along with those at 23rd Street, and 28th Street were opened for use.
On December 27, 1948, a new entrance to the station at 32nd Street opened for use.

Express stop proposals

It has been proposed several times–by the IRT and members of the public–that this station be rebuilt as an express stop to reduce overcrowding at the Grand Central–42nd Street station one stop to the north. It was estimated that the extra time spent by express trains at 33rd Street would be offset by the reduced dwell times at Grand Central.

Station layout

There are four tracks and two side platforms, with the express tracks in the middle. The express tracks stay level, while the local tracks slowly incline from south to north to allow for the easier deceleration of local trains. This results in a layout similar to Houston Street on the IRT Broadway-Seventh Avenue Line, the express tracks are at a lower elevation than the local tracks in the northern half of the station. North of the station, the two pairs of tracks in each direction separate into different tunnels because of the presence of the Murray Hill Tunnel, which runs under the center of this section of Park Avenue. The station was renovated in the late 1990s or early 2000s, and contains eagle plaques similar to those at Brooklyn Bridge–City Hall. The plaques contain the numerals "33". Fare control is at the platform level. The station has been on the National Register of Historic Places since 2004.

Exits

Image gallery