IRT Dyre Avenue Line

Not to be confused with Dyer Avenue in Manhattan, or the New York, Westchester and Boston Railway of which the IRT Dyre Avenue Line is part.
IRT Dyre Avenue Line

The 5 train serves the entire IRT Dyre Avenue Line at all times.
Overview
Type Rapid transit
System New York City Subway
Termini North of Eastchester – Dyre Avenue
Junction south of Morris Park
Stations 5
Daily ridership 34,802[1]
Operation
Opened 1941
Owner City of New York
Operator(s) New York City Transit Authority
Character Elevated, open–cut, embankment, underground
Technical
Number of tracks 2–4
Track gauge 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Electrification Direct Current traction
IRT Dyre Avenue Line
Legend
 New York, Westchester & Boston RR
 remainder of line demolished
 Eastchester – Dyre Avenue
 Baychester Avenue
 Gun Hill Road
 Pelham Parkway
 Morris Park
IRT White Plains Road Line
Unionport Yard
East 180th Street
IRT White Plains Road Line
 remainder of line demolished

The IRT Dyre Avenue Line is a New York City Subway rapid transit line, part of the A Division (IRT). It is a branch of the IRT White Plains Road Line in the northeastern section of the Bronx, north of East 180th Street. As of 2013 it has a daily ridership of 34,802.[1]

Extent and service

The following services use the Dyre Avenue Line:

  Time period Services
5 All times Entire line

It is served by the 5 train, which makes all stops.

The line is double-tracked for its entire length, with additional center tracks between Eastchester – Dyre Avenue and Baychester Avenue, and from Pelham Parkway to just south of Morris Park Avenue.

In the late 1990s the southbound express track was extended from south of Dyre Avenue and connected to the stub end track at Pelham Parkway for testing new subway cars for the A division. The southbound track at Dyre Avenue is in the position of the southbound express track, as the southbound local track is no longer present. The current platform is built over the northbound express track. Small portions of the original side platforms remain on both sides of Dyre Avenue station. South of Dyre Avenue station, the southbound track moves over to the local position and the southbound express track begins.

The northbound express track, now a stub end track at Pelham Parkway, has been used for storage but this use has largely been made redundant by the expansion of Unionport Yard. A small portion of this track also exists between Baychester and Dyre Avenue stations. The portion between Baychester and Dyre Avenue stations is currently in the process of demolition. The other portion has been extended to the northern end of Pelham Parkway in conjunction to the signal modernization project on the line.

The north end of the line is a simple two-track stub, with crossover tracks south of Dyre Avenue terminal. The south end is a flying junction (the Dyre Avenue Flyover), into the local tracks of the IRT White Plains Road Line (with crossovers to the express track).

Both of the inner tracks are currently in use for work trains involved in the signal modernization project on the line.

History

The Dyre Avenue Line was originally part of the four-track main line of the New York, Westchester and Boston Railway, an electrified commuter line that connected White Plains and Port Chester, New York to a station at the Harlem River adjacent to the IRT Third Avenue Line. The NYW&B opened on May 29, 1912. Soon a transfer station opened at East 180th Street, with transfers to the IRT White Plains Road Line and various surface lines. Express trains stopped within the Bronx only at Pelham Parkway and East 180th Street.[2] The NYW&B was abandoned on December 31, 1937 due to bankruptcy.[3]

Plans were made for a parallel subway line even before the NYW&B's abandonment; a 1929 expansion plan included a line along Morris Park Avenue, Wilson Avenue and Boston Road to Baychester Avenue, fed by the IND Second Avenue Line. In 1939, after abandonment, the plan was to integrate the former NYW&B to Dyre Avenue into the IRT system branching off the IRT Pelham Line as the Westchester and Boston Line.

The New York City Board of Transportation bought the NYW&B within the Bronx north of East 180th Street, and opened it for service on May 15, 1941 as a shuttle, with a transfer to the IRT White Plains Road Line at East 180th Street. Plans for restoring the old line north into Westchester County failed.[4] Twenty old Third Avenue Elevated cars were used to run the service.[5]

The Dyre Avenue Line was connected directly to the White Plains Road Line north of East 180th Street for $3 Million and through service began on May 6, 1957. Night service would continue to be operated by a shuttle. At this time, the old NYW&B station was closed.[6] Through service was operated by Seventh Avenue express trains between 5:30 AM and 8:30 PM. Between 8:30 and 1:15 shuttle trains operated from East 180th Street to Dyre Avenue, and in the early morning hours no trains operated over the line.[5]

On February 27, 1962, the Transit Authority announced a $700,000 modernization plan of the Dyre Avenue Line, including the reconstruction of the Dyre Avenue station, and the extension of the platforms of the other four stations on the line.[7]

On April 18, 1965, IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line trains and IRT Lexington Avenue Line trains swapped their northern routings, with Broadway – Seventh Avenue 2 trains running via the IRT White Plains Road Line to 241st Street, and Lexington Avenue 5 trains running via the Dyre Avenue Line to Dyre Avenue.[8][9][10] The line is still operated as a shuttle late nights.[11]

Station listing

A 5 train enters the Morris Park station in the Bronx on the IRT Dyre Avenue Line
Station service legend
Stops all times
Time period details
Neighborhood
(approximate)		 Station Tracks Services Opened Notes
Remainder of NYW&B in Westchester County abandoned
Eastchester Eastchester – Dyre Avenue 5  May 29, 1912 (NYW&B)
May 15, 1941 (IRT)		 Originally a local station with two side platforms on the NYW&B. Converted to an island platform by the NYCTA.
Baychester Baychester Avenue local 5  May 29, 1912 (NYW&B)
May 15, 1941 (IRT)
Gun Hill Road local 5  May 29, 1912 (NYW&B)
May 15, 1941 (IRT)
Pelham Parkway Pelham Parkway all 5  May 29, 1912 (NYW&B)
May 15, 1941 (IRT)		 Bx12 Select Bus Service
Was an express station on the NYW&B
Morris Park Morris Park local 5  May 29, 1912 (NYW&B)
May 15, 1941 (IRT)
Connecting Track to Unionport Yard
Merges with IRT White Plains Road Line (5 )
Remainder of NYW&B abandoned or demolished

References

  1. 1 2 MTA. "Average weekday subway ridership". Retrieved 2 April 2014.
  2. ↑ NYCsubway.org - New York, Westchester & Boston Railway
  3. ↑ "Westchester Line Passes with 1937". The New York Times. January 1, 1938. p. 36. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
  4. ↑ "Rail Line is Added to Subway System". The New York Times. May 16, 1941. p. 25. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
  5. 1 2 "Subway Trains Run to Dyre Avenue: Through Service Replacing Shuttle for Part of Each Day on Bronx Line". New York Times. May 7, 1957. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  6. ↑ "IRT Spur Opens Today: Dyre Avenue Line in Bronx Will Have Five Stations". New York Times. May 6, 1957. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  7. ↑ "IRT Improvements Set: $700,000 Contract Awarded for Work on Dyre Ave. Line". New York Times. February 28, 1962. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  8. ↑ "New Routes Scheduled for 2 IRT Lines in Bronx". New York Times. March 22, 1965. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
  9. ↑
  10. ↑
  11. ↑ "5 Subway Timetable, Effective December 6, 2015" (PDF). New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved 2016-03-07.

External links

Route map: Bing / Google

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