8 was a designation given to two
New York City Subway services. It was first used by the
Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation
The Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT) was an urban transit holding company, based in Brooklyn, New York City, United States, and incorporated in 1923. The system was sold to the city in 1940. Today, together with the IND subway ...
for its
Astoria Line from 1917 to 1949. The ex-
Interborough Rapid Transit Company
The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) was the private operator of New York City's original underground subway line that opened in 1904, as well as earlier elevated railways and additional rapid transit lines in New York City. The IRT ...
(IRT)
Third Avenue El
The IRT Third Avenue Line, commonly known as the Third Avenue Elevated, Third Avenue El, or Bronx El, was an elevated railway in Manhattan and the Bronx, New York City. Originally operated by the New York Elevated Railway, an independent railwa ...
subsequently used the designation between 1967 and 1973.
Astoria Line
The 8 label was first used for the
Astoria Line, which opened on February 1, 1917, as an extension of the
Queensboro Line (now part of the
Flushing line) from
Queensboro Plaza. The
Corona Line (now also part of the Flushing Line) had already been built as another branch from Queensboro Plaza; when the Astoria Line opened half the trains ran to each terminal. At the time, the Queensboro Line ended on the other side of the
Steinway Tunnel at
Grand Central.
Tracks opened over the
Queensboro Bridge on July 23, 1917, allowing
elevated trains of the
IRT Second Avenue Line
The IRT Second Avenue Line, also known as the Second Avenue Elevated or Second Avenue El, was an elevated railway in Manhattan, New York City, United States, from 1878 to 1942. It was operated by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company until 194 ...
to operate to Queensborough Plaza and then over either the Astoria or Corona line. Once this link opened, all elevated trains went to Astoria, and all subway trains to Corona, but this was modified by 1923, with both divisions running on each line. On March 22, 1926, the Queensborough Line (and Astoria service) was extended west to
Fifth Avenue, and it was completed west to
Times Square
Times Square is a major commercial intersection, tourist destination, entertainment hub, and neighborhood in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is formed by the junction of Broadway, Seventh Avenue, and 42nd Street. Together with adjacent ...
on March 14, 1927.
BMT shuttles (coincidentally also labeled internally as
8) began using the Astoria Line on April 8, 1923, with a transfer to the
Broadway Line at Queensborough Plaza. This joint operation ended on October 17, 1949, and all IRT trains started operating to Flushing (where the Corona Line had been extended in 1928) and all BMT trains operated to Astoria. The numbers were only publicly used starting in 1948, so the public only knew the Astoria Line's IRT services as the 8 for about a year. Direct service between Astoria and Times Square ended on July 24, 1949.
Third Avenue Line
When the
Chrystie Street Connection opened in late 1967, the
New York City Transit Authority
The New York City Transit Authority (also known as NYCTA, the TA, or simply Transit, and branded as MTA New York City Transit) is a New York state public-benefit corporations, public-benefit corporation in the U.S. state of New York (state), New ...
assigned labels to all services. The only remaining IRT
elevated line, the
IRT Third Avenue Line
The IRT Third Avenue Line, commonly known as the Third Avenue Elevated, Third Avenue El, or Bronx El, was an elevated railway in Manhattan and the Bronx, New York City. Originally operated by the New York Elevated Railway, an independent railwa ...
in
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 Y ...
, was too long to be a
shuttle, so was assigned the number 8, unused since 1949. This service, running between
149th Street and
Gun Hill Road, last ran on April 28, 1973, when the Third Avenue Line closed. Thereafter, it was
replaced by the bus route until 2013, when most of the former route started being served by the
Bx15 Limited. The 8 bullet was only marked on maps and station signs, never on cars. Cars instead displayed
SHUTTLE and the destination.
Present status
Current
rollsign
A destination sign (North American English) or destination indicator/destination blind (British English) is a sign mounted on the front, side or rear of a public transport vehicle, such as a bus, tram/streetcar or light rail vehicle, that di ...
s have an 8 (as well as a and a ) in a circle, the same color as the , and , the
IRT Lexington Avenue Line
The IRT Lexington Avenue Line (also known as the IRT East Side Line and the IRT Lexington–Fourth Avenue Line) is one of the lines of the A Division of the New York City Subway, stretching from Lower Manhattan north to 125th Street in Eas ...
services.
See also
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BMT 8, the
BMT service that operated in tandem with this service until 1949
*
Unused New York City Subway service labels
The New York City Subway currently uses various letters and numbers to designate the routes that trains use over the differing lines in the system. Along with the color corresponding to the route's trunk line, these form a unique identifier f ...
References
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{{DEFAULTSORT:8 (New York City Subway Service)
Defunct New York City Subway services