South Ferry Loops

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South Ferry Loops was a station with 2 side platforms. It opened on 1905, as the part of the first subway.

History
The subway route down Broadway in the financial district to South Ferry and Brooklyn is part of New York's original subway project, the extension called Contract 2 that was added to the original subway route while it was still under construction. The first part of the Contract 2 route opened to South Ferry in 1905, just a year after the main line. At that time, local trains terminated at a loop at Brooklyn Bridge (as the 6 train still does), and express trains continued to the new route, terminating at another loop at South Ferry. The plan was that later some of the express trains were to run to Brooklyn instead of South Ferry, once the tunnel was opened.

Bowling Green station had one platform, an island between the two main tracks. At South Ferry loop there were two tracks, but only the outer track had a platform, the platform now in use by 1 9 trains. The purpose of the inner track was probably to hold an extra train at the terminal.

Once the tunnel to Brooklyn was opened in 1908, its traffic proved so heavy that it it would obviously be necessary to route all the express trains to Brooklyn to handle the passengers. It is unclear now why this was a surprise. Traffic on the Brooklyn Bridge railway, to that date the only rapid transit link to Brooklyn, was absolutely phenomenal and required crowd control measures of a degree never undertaken on any other transit route. Although for ten years the subway extended only as far as the Long Island Railroad terminal at Atlantic Ave and thus had limited coverage of Brooklyn residential neighborhoods, still its much better distribution in Manhattan attracted a large number of Brooklyn riders from the elevated and streetcar lines.

The Public Service Commission reacted to the problem immediately by authorizing a short extra platform and track at Bowling Green, so that a shuttle could be run from there to South Ferry during weekdays, and all mainline trains could go to Brooklyn. Construction began only three months after the subway opened. The project involved a new 140 foot stub track and platform at Bowling Green, about 122 feet of new trackway out of it, and two crossovers between the loop tracks. The original west wall was removed near the south end of Bowling Green station, and space was dug out for the stub track and platform. Three elevated railroad columns had to be supported. An underpass was created under the main downtown track to provide access. It was all done very quickly and opened in the middle of 1909. The shuttle was one train of two or three cars that ran back and forth on the same track, reversing direction at South Ferry outer loop. At nights and weekends, the shuttle did not run and some of the mainline trains went to South Ferry instead.

When the Seventh Ave subway was planned under the Dual Contracts system in 1913, the Public Service Commission decided to route the Seventh Ave local service into South Ferry, and to construct a platform on the inner loop to handle the shuttle and mainline trains from the original subway, which became the Lexington Ave subway. The inner loop platform was built for ten car trains so that Lexington Ave express trains could spot all cars at the platform, but the outer platform was left at its short length because only local trains would use it. At that time local trains were six cars.

Because of the sharp curve, it was obvious that trains on the inner loop could open only their center doors, and so instead of a full platform face, slightly arched openings were cut into the old walls, centered about 51 feet apart, where doors would open. This plan contributed to safety, and must also have simplified the civil engineering involved, compared to removing all of the inner wall. Train operators are familiar with hitting a stop mark at all stations, so it was not overly difficult to line up the doors. The conductor's ability to see train doors however was severely limited.

Operations changed little from 1918 to 1960. During this period, shuttle trains used the inner loop during the day on weekdays, and at nights and weekends Lexington Ave express or local trains used it. Only Seventh Ave trains used the outer loop. The South Ferry stations had separate entrances, and passengers could not transfer free between the two IRT lines.

A new generation of subway cars forced changes. There was no longer a control to open the center doors separately, so from about 1960, the Lexington Ave mainline trains were routed to the outer loop during the hours they ran, and only the weekday daytime shuttle still used the inner loop. For the shuttle, eventually a train was assigned of newer subway cars mechanically altered so only the center doors would open.

The city's financial crisis in the 1970's caused the Transit Authority to cut some services, among them the shuttle. Major reconstruction at Bowling Green had already been funded, and as completed in 1978 it included a renovated platform for a shuttle train that no longer ran.

Service to South Ferry by Lexington Ave mainline trains was discontinued at the same time. Local trains (6), which had run down to South Ferry at night, now terminated at Brooklyn Bridge as they did during other hours. Lexington Ave express trains that formerly ran to South Ferry evenings and weekends (5) now nominally terminate at Bowling Green, but actually run around the inner loop at South Ferry, without making a station stop.

The outer loop platform has never been lengthened, and only the front half of the 1 train stops at the platform. Passengers on arriving trains are told to walk forward through the train to leave at South Ferry. Gap fillers were installed in 1916 to protect the end doors, and a new installation in 1956 finally allowed all doors of modern cars to open, but of course, only on the first five cars that are at the platform.

In January 2002, the MTA announced its intention to rebuild South Ferry to handle full length trains (without using the inner loop) while the line was closed because of the impassable section at Cortlandt St where the World Trade Center south tower had collapsed onto the subway. However the need for early relief on the Seventh Ave subway finally won out. The only work done at South Ferry was the addition of new stairways, and the trailing single crossover south of Rector St was made an X crossover so that 1 9 service will be able to terminate at Rector St during a South Ferry reconstruction later on. South Ferry was reopened in September 2002.

In the first half of 2004, reconstruction plans were announced that called for a new South Ferry terminal without a loop to be located under State St and the ferry plaza, with passageways connecting to the ferry terminal and the Whitehall St station of the Broadway subway. The new south ferry opened on 2009.

2009-present
Due to Superstorm Sandy in 2012 flooding the new South Ferry, the old South Ferry Loop was temporarily reopened in 2013. In 2017 the new South ferry reopened, and the south ferry loops closed, even though the inner part is used to turn around 5 trains during weekends and evenings.