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Discussion relating to the past and present operations of the NYC Subway, PATH, and Staten Island Railway (SIRT).

Moderator: GirlOnTheTrain

 #898295  by BobLI
 
Was there a political or financial reason why the line on Hillside Avenue was stopped at 179th St. Its a shame it wasnt extended to Queens Village where i'm sure the ridership would have appreciated a new subway line.
 #898366  by NE2
 
They started digging a tunnel but residents to the south demanded that they build 76th Street station first. When that fell through they were out of money to continue the line beyond 179th Street :)

More seriously, they were planning to continue under Hillside to Little Neck Road: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... System.jpg
 #898408  by railfan365
 
Thanks for the insight. One minor correction: That street in Eastern Queens is Little Neck Parkway.
 #898786  by Paul1705
 
There were plans in the 1950s to extend out to Springfield Boulevard. (The project is mentioned in Robert Caro's book about Robert Moses, The Power Broker.)

The MTA proposals of the 1960s did not include a Hillside Avenue extension. Instead, there was a plan to take over the LIRR line through Locust Manor to Laurelton and use that as an extension of the Archer Avenue subway (probably for the E train). As we know, that was never built either.
 #899904  by hi55us
 
They need to extend/branch it to St. John's University where I got my undergrad commuting from the bronx every day. You need to take the F to 169 right now and take a 10 minute bus ride up to union and utopia.
 #916562  by Paul1705
 
Yes, there were a lot of things that should have been done decades ago.

Oddly enough, an extension from 169th to 179th Street was opened around 1950. But then, over the next fifteen years, the only significant extension I can think of was the line to the Rockaways, which used a lot of existing LIRR infrastructure.
 #965702  by Port Jervis
 
Paul1705 wrote:Yes, there were a lot of things that should have been done decades ago.

Oddly enough, an extension from 169th to 179th Street was opened around 1950. But then, over the next fifteen years, the only significant extension I can think of was the line to the Rockaways, which used a lot of existing LIRR infrastructure.
That was built primarily to give the eastern part of the Queens Blvd subway a more effective terminal layout. Prior to that E's ended at 169th and F's at Parsons Blvd. The new bi-level turnaround east of 179 could turn 40 TPH. Today it's probably the most under-utilized point in the system.

An extension down Hillside Ave would be extremely costly and disruptive. IMHO the most realistic way to extend service from Jamaica would be to extend the E from Jamaica Center to St. Albans using the ROW adjacent to the Babylon branch. Even one station, properly designed, would improve service on Archer Ave by allowing more than the 12 TPH the terminal currently handles.
 #986333  by Paul1705
 
By the time the MTA was formed in 1968, the Hillside Avenue extension was no longer under consideration. There were a couple of concepts to extend the Archer Avenue subway. One would have taken the J train to Hollis (at least to 190th Street, I guess). The other would have given the LIRR route through Locust Manor to the E train.

St. Albans was not considered in the planning at the time. I'm not sure why; maybe it was thought there was more population to be served by going to Rochdale Village on the other line.
 #995733  by Jeff Smith
 
I searched Hillside extension and came up with this link:

http://www.vanshnookenraggen.com/_index ... ay-future/

I don't know how practical a lot of these ideas are. I think this link may have been posted elsewhere on here as well. In any case, to keep it on topic, Hillside Ave ext is talked about as part of the SAS project about halfway down the page:
Hillside Ave Subway Extension
The final option for expanded 2nd Ave service would be to run the 2nd Ave-Queens Blvd Line out along Hillside Ave, currently where the F train terminates. The subway was planned to be expanded eastward as development occurred in the area after World War II but the subway only made it one more station. The area is now densely populated and home to many transit dependent commuters. A 2 track extension from 179th St along Hillside Ave to Springfield Blvd in Queens Village is one of the better plans for subway expansion. At Springfield Blvd the line could continue along Hillside Ave to the border with Nassau County or could turn south along Braddock Ave, terminating at Jamaica Ave in Bellerose.
 #1021200  by Paul1705
 
I saw a track map once. It's about two blocks long, maybe a bit more to than that. A good place to start (unlike, say, Main Street Flushing which is blocked by stairways and other infrastructure) but that's all it is - a start.
 #1030734  by keyboardkat
 
Those people who would use the F line at Springfield Boulevard can presently use the LIRR Queens Village station, which is located at Jamaica Avenue and Springfield Boulevard, and get faster service to Manhattan. It is presently served by local trains on the Hempstead Branch, but if passenger demand warranted, service could be increased. And this rail line already exists. It doesn't have to be built.
Incidentally, in the early days of the LIRR, Queens Village was the only station between Jamaica and Hicksville. It was then called Brushville. But you could flag down a train anywhere along the line.
 #1031008  by BobLI
 
It may be faster taking the LIRR from Queens Village into NY but its a heck of a lot more expensive! The monthly fare is $163.just for a LIRR ticket and more if you have to take a subway at Penn Sta. If the subway went to Queens Village it would be far cheaper to get an unlimited metro card and take the subway and extra time.
A savings of over 50 dollars a month adds up!