The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) was the
private
Private or privates may refer to:
Music
* " In Private", by Dusty Springfield from the 1990 album ''Reputation''
* Private (band), a Denmark-based band
* "Private" (Ryōko Hirosue song), from the 1999 album ''Private'', written and also recorde ...
operator of
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
's original underground subway line that opened in 1904, as well as earlier
elevated railways and additional
rapid transit
Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be ...
lines in
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
. The IRT was purchased by the city in June 1940, along with the younger
BMT and
IND systems, to form the modern
New York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October ...
. The former IRT lines (the numbered routes in the current subway system) are now the
A Division or IRT Division of the Subway.
History
The
first IRT subway ran between
City Hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
and
145th Street at
Broadway, opening on October 27, 1904. It opened following more than twenty years of public debate on the merits of subways versus the existing
elevated rail system and on various proposed routes.
Founded on May 6, 1902, by
August Belmont, Jr., the IRT's mission was to operate New York City's initial underground rapid transit system after Belmont's and
John B. McDonald's Rapid Transit Construction Company was awarded the rights to build the railway line in 1900, outbidding
Andrew Onderdonk
Andrew Onderdonk (30 August 1848 – 21 June 1905) was an American construction contractor who worked on several major projects in the West, including the San Francisco seawall in California and the Canadian Pacific Railway in Britis ...
.
The
Manhattan Railway Company was the operator of four elevated railways in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
with an extension into
the Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New ...
. On April 1, 1903, over a year before its first subway line opened, the IRT acquired the Manhattan Railway Company by lease, gaining a monopoly on rapid transit in Manhattan. The IRT coordinated some services between what became its subway and elevated divisions, but all the lines of the former Manhattan EL have since been dismantled.
In 1913, as a result of massive expansion in the city, the IRT signed the
Dual Contracts with
Brooklyn Rapid Transit (BRT) in order to expand the subway. The agreement also locked the subway fare at 5 cents for forty-nine years. The IRT unsuccessfully attempted to raise the fare to seven cents in 1929, in a case that went to the
United States Supreme Court
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...
.
The IRT ceased to function as a privately held company on June 12, 1940, when its properties and operations were acquired by the City of New York.
Today, the IRT lines are operated as the
A Division of the subway. The remaining lines are underground in Manhattan, except for a short stretch across
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...
at
125th Street and in northernmost Manhattan. Its many lines in the Bronx are predominantly elevated, with some subway, and some railroad-style right-of-way acquired from the defunct
New York, Westchester and Boston Railway, which now constitutes the
IRT Dyre Avenue Line. Its Brooklyn lines are underground with a single elevated extension that reaches up to
New Lots Avenue, and the other reaching
Flatbush Avenue via the underground
Nostrand Avenue Line. The
Flushing Line, its sole line in
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
, is entirely elevated except for a short portion approaching its East River tunnel and its terminal at
Flushing–Main Street (the whole Manhattan portion of the line is underground). The Flushing Line has had no track connection to the rest of the IRT since 1942, when service on the
Second Avenue El was discontinued. It is connected to the
BMT and the rest of the system via the
BMT Astoria Line
The BMT Astoria Line (formerly the IRT Astoria Line) is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway, serving the Queens neighborhood of Astoria. It runs south from Ditmars Boulevard in Astoria to 39th Avenue in Long I ...
on the upper level of the
Queensboro Plaza
The Queensboro Plaza station (originally named Queensboro Bridge Plaza station or simply Bridge Plaza station) is an elevated New York City Subway station at Queens Plaza (originally called Queensboro Bridge Plaza or simply Bridge Plaza) in th ...
station.
Lines
Original IRT system (1904-1909)
Subway Division
* West Branch
** Broadway Line (
Atlantic Avenue to
242nd Street, with intermediate terminals at
South Ferry and
City Hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
)
* East Branch
**
Lenox Avenue Line (Atlantic Avenue to
145th Street, with intermediate terminals at South Ferry and City Hall)
**
Westchester Avenue Branch (
135th Street to
180th Street)
Manhattan Railway Division
* Eastern Division
**
Second Avenue Line (
South Ferry to
129th Street)
**
Third Avenue Line (South Ferry to
Bronx Park Terminal, with an intermediate terminal at
Willis Avenue)
** City Hall Branch (
City Hall
In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...
to
Chatham Square)
** 34th Street Branch (
Third Avenue
Third Avenue is a north-south thoroughfare on the East Side of the New York City borough of Manhattan, as well as in the center portion of the Bronx. Its southern end is at Astor Place and St. Mark's Place. It transitions into Cooper Squ ...
to
34th Street Ferry)
** 42nd Street Branch (
42nd Street to
Grand Central)
* Western Division
**
Sixth Avenue Line (South Ferry to
155th Street, with an intermediate terminal at
58th Street)
**
Ninth Avenue Line (South Ferry to 155th Street)
Expansion (1917-1928)
The Bronx and Manhattan
Trunk lines include:
*
Lexington Avenue Line (), under Park and Lexington Avenues, as well as under
Lafayette Street and Broadway
*
Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line (), under and over Broadway, as well as under Seventh Avenue,
Varick Street, and
West Broadway
West Broadway is a north-south street in the New York City borough of Manhattan, separated into two parts by Tribeca Park. The northern part begins at Tribeca Park, near the intersection of Avenue of the Americas (Sixth Avenue), Walker Stree ...
*
Flushing Line (), under 41st and 42nd Streets
*
42nd Street Line (), under 42nd Street
Branch lines include:
*
Lenox Avenue Line (), under
Lenox Avenue
Lenox Avenue – also named Malcolm X Boulevard; both names are officially recognized – is the primary north–south route through Harlem in the upper portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan. This two-way street runs from ...
and Central Park
*
White Plains Road Line (), under East 149th Street, and over Westchester Avenue, Southern Boulevard, Boston Road, and
White Plains Road
White Plains Road is a major north-south thoroughfare which runs the length of the New York City borough of the Bronx. It runs from Castle Hill and Clason Point in the south to Wakefield in the north, where it crosses the city line and becomes ...
*
Pelham Line (), under East 138th Street and
Southern Boulevard, and over
Westchester Avenue
*
Jerome Avenue Line (), under
Grand Concourse, over River and Jerome Avenues,
Brooklyn and Queens
There were three Brooklyn lines built by the IRT:
*
Eastern Parkway Line (), under
Fulton Street,
Flatbush Avenue, and
Eastern Parkway
*
New Lots Line (), over East 98th Street and Livonia Avenue
*
Nostrand Avenue Line (), under Nostrand Avenue
The only line in
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
is the
Flushing Line (), under 50th Avenue, and over
Queens Boulevard and
Roosevelt Avenue.
River Crossings
(of the East and Harlem Rivers, from south to north)
*
Joralemon Street Tunnel ()
*
Clark Street Tunnel ()
*
Steinway Tunnel
The Steinway Tunnel is a pair of tubes carrying the IRT Flushing Line () of the New York City Subway under the East River between 42nd Street in Manhattan and 51st Avenue in Long Island City, Queens, in New York City. It was originally designed ...
()
*
Lexington Avenue Tunnel
Lexington may refer to:
Places England
* Laxton, Nottinghamshire, formerly Lexington
Canada
* Lexington, a district in Waterloo, Ontario
United States
* Lexington, Kentucky, the largest city with this name
* Lexington, Massachusetts, the oldes ...
()
*
149th Street Tunnel ()
*
Broadway Bridge ()
After 1940
*
Dyre Avenue Line (), parallel to the Esplanade, and on the old right-of-way of the
New York, Westchester and Boston Railway in 1941
*
Flushing Line, on October 16, 1949, the joint BMT/IRT service arrangement ended. The Flushing Line became the responsibility of IRT. The
Astoria Line had its platforms shaved back for exclusive BMT operation.
*
Lenox Avenue Line to
Harlem–148th Street (), at-grade parallel to 149th Street in 1968
*
Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line to new
South Ferry island-platformed stations, opened March 16, 2009 and closed temporarily from October 28, 2012 to June 27, 2017 because of
Hurricane Sandy.
*
Flushing Line to
34th Street–Hudson Yards (), under 41st Street and
11th Avenue, opened September 13, 2015
Surviving IRT equipment
Several pieces of pre-unification IRT equipment have been preserved in various museums. While some of the equipment are operational, others are in need of restoration or are used simply as static displays.
*
Manhattan El revenue collection car G is preserved at the
Shore Line Trolley Museum.
* IRT elevated motorman instruction car 824 is preserved at the
Shore Line Trolley Museum.
*
Richmond Shipyard Railway
The Shipyard Railway was an electric commuter rail/interurban line that served workers at the Richmond Shipyards in Richmond, California, United States, during World War II. It was funded by the United States Maritime Commission and was built ...
cars 561 and 563 (ex-Manhattan El cars 844 and 889) are preserved at the
Western Railway Museum in Rio Vista, California.
* The private car of
August Belmont Jr.
August Belmont Jr. (February 18, 1853 – December 10, 1924) was an American financier. He financed the construction of the original New York City subway (1900–1904) and for many years headed the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, which ran ...
, numbered 3344 and named the ''Mineola'', is preserved at the
Shore Line Trolley Museum.
*
Gibbs car 3352 is preserved at the
Seashore Trolley Museum.
*
Deck Roof car 3662 is preserved at the
Shore Line Trolley Museum.
*
Lo-V cars 4902, 5290, 5292, 5443, 5466, 5483 and 5600 have been preserved. Cars 4092, 5290, 5292, 5442 and 5483 are preserved by the
New York Transit Museum and Railway Preservation Corp. Car 5466 is preserved at the
Shore Line Trolley Museum. Car 5600 is preserved at the
Trolley Museum of New York
The Trolley Museum of New York, a non-profit organization, is located at 89 East Strand Street, Kingston, New York. The museum is open to the public on a seasonal schedule, but volunteer activities relating to the preservation of historic tran ...
.
*
World's Fair Lo-V car 5655 is preserved by the
New York Transit Museum.
[https://www.nycsubway.org/wiki/The_Interborough_Fleet,_1900-1939_(Composites,_Hi-V,_Low-V)#Low-Voltage_.28Low-V.29]
See also
*
History of the IRT subway before 1918
*
New York IRT—Soccer team sponsored by IRT
*
IRT Rangers Interborough Rapid Transit Rangers, better known as the IRT Rangers, were an early twentieth century U.S. soccer team sponsored by the New York City Interborough Rapid Transit Company.
History
In the mid-1920s the Rangers were an amateur team in ...
—Soccer team sponsored by IRT
References
External links
*
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Interborough Rapid Transit Company
Belmont family
Defunct New York (state) railroads
Defunct public transport operators in the United States
Historic American Engineering Record in New York City
History of the New York City Subway
Transportation companies of the United States
Transportation companies based in New York City
1904 establishments in New York City
1940 disestablishments in New York (state)