The 42nd Street Shuttle is a New York City Subway shuttle train service that operates in Manhattan. The shuttle is sometimes referred to as the Grand Central/Times Square Shuttle, since these are the only two stations it serves. The shuttle operates at all times except late nights, with trains running on two tracks underneath 42nd Street between Times Square and Grand Central; for many decades, three tracks had been in service until a major renovation was begun in 2019 reducing it to two tracks. With two stations, it is the shortest regular service in the system by number of stops, running about in 90 seconds . The shuttle is used by over 100,000 passengers every day, and by up to 10,200 passengers per hour during rush hours.
The 42nd Street Shuttle was constructed and operated by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) and is part of the A Division of New York City Transit . The shuttle tracks opened in 1904 as part of the city's first subway. The original subway line ran north from City Hall on what is now the IRT Lexington Avenue Line to 42nd Street, from where it turned west to run across 42nd Street. At Broadway, the line turned north, proceeding to 145th Street on what is now the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line. This operation continued until 1918, when construction on the Lexington Avenue Line north of 42nd Street, and on the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line south of 42nd Street was completed. One trunk would run via the new Lexington Avenue Line down Park Avenue, and the other trunk would run via the new Seventh Avenue Line up Broadway. The section in the middle, via 42nd Street, was converted into shuttle operation.
Through the 20th century, various attempts to convert, replace, or extend the shuttle have failed. The proposals have included conveyor-belt systems, as well as reconstruction of connections to the Broadway–Seventh Avenue and Lexington Avenue lines. One of the shuttle's trains was outfitted with automatic train operation on a trial basis in 1962, although the trial ended after a fire in 1964. A major reconstruction of the shuttle took place between 2019 and 2022. The reconstruction allowed trains to be lengthened to six cars while also expanding both shuttle stations' capacity, and brought the shuttle into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
The shuttle does not operate overnight, and each of the shuttle tracks in operation at any given time is independent of the other. Its route bullet is colored on route signs, station signs, and rolling stock with the letter "S" on the official subway map.
History
Creation and early years
The subway through which the shuttle runs was opened on October 27, 1904, by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT), the first day of subway service in Manhattan. The current shuttle line was part of the first IRT subway line, which ran north to 145th Street via Broadway and south to City Hall via Park Avenue and Lafayette Street. The 42nd Street section of the line connected Broadway at Times Square, on the west, to Park Avenue at Grand Central Terminal, on the east. At the Times Square end of this segment, the line curved sharply to the north under One Times Square, swinging northeast under Seventh Avenue before shifting under Broadway. The platforms at Times Square are located on this curve. Like the rest of the Original Subway, the line was built with a vertical clearance of , and a total width of . The maximum grade of the line is 1.0 percent between Sixth Avenue and Broadway. In 1910, the platforms at the two stations were extended.
In 1913, the IRT, the Brooklyn Rapid Transit, and the city agreed to the Dual System of Rapid Transit to expand the city's transportation. As part of the agreement, the existing IRT subway would be split into two north–south lines and a shuttle along 42nd Street. The section of the line south of Grand Central–42nd Street would be connected to a newly constructed line stretching from 41st Street and Park Avenue to the Bronx, running via Lexington Avenue, while the section of the line north of Times Square–42nd Street would be connected to a newly constructed line heading south under Seventh Avenue. The section along 42nd Street was left as a shuttle to connect the new East Side and West Side Lines.
The new Lexington Avenue route curved off of the old line at 41st Street and ran underneath private property to reach Lexington Avenue at 43rd Street with a new Grand Central station located in the diagonal segment. Since there was 400 feet between the eastern end of the original line's station and the new Lexington Avenue Line station, a new shuttle station was to be built near the Lexington Avenue Line station. The construction of the narrow island platform station required building two new trackways extending east under 42nd Street. The two-track layout was expected to provide ample capacity for the shuttle. On August 1, 1918, the Dual System's "H system" was put into service, with through trains over the IRT Lexington Avenue Line and IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line, and only shuttle trains under 42nd Street. The station was not ready in time, and therefore wooden flooring was temporarily laid over sections of the trackways at Times Square and Grand Central. The shuttle was heavily used, and the crowding conditions were so bad that the shuttle was ordered closed the next day by the Public Service Commission.
The new, unused trackways of the planned station were covered with flooring and turned into a passageway between the Shuttle and Lexington Avenue stations. The shuttle reopened on September 28, 1918, with improved passageways and platforms. Track 2 at the Grand Central station was covered over by a wooden platform. A New York Times columnist later said that former southbound express track 2 was still usable for the first few hours of the shuttle's operation, but the wooden platform was placed over that track later the same day to allow shuttles to use former northbound express track 3, due to high demand for the shuttles on the former local tracks, numbered 1 and 4. On the walls of the stations, black bands (at Times Square) and green bands (at Grand Central) were painted to guide passengers to the shuttle platforms. The shuttle was meant to be "temporary," and by 1922, there were proposals for the shuttle to be replaced by a moving sidewalk.
On March 14, 1927, the extension of the IRT Flushing Line from Fifth Avenue to Times Square under 41st Street was completed and opened for operation. The extension was expected to significantly reduce overcrowding on the shuttle, and on its first night of operation, it reduced shuttle ridership by 50%. Crowding was expected to be reduced further as riders became familiar with the extension. In 1921, of the 100,000 daily shuttle riders, 25,000 transferred to the Flushing Line (then called the Queensboro subway). Originally, plans for the Flushing Line called for the use of two of the four tracks between Times Square and Grand Central for the new line, and the other two for shuttle service.
Proposed improvements Throughout the history of the shuttle there have been proposals to improve service on the line and to extend the line both to the east and to the west. However, it is not feasible to extend the line in either direction, as the line is at the same level as the tracks of the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line and those of the Lexington Avenue Line. There have been several proposals to replace the line with moving walkways or conveyor belts. In 1923, H.S. Putnam proposed to replace the shuttle with an endless moving platform system. There would have been three platforms with speeds of , and . The fastest platform was to have been installed with seats. Even though the plan was supported by the Chief Engineer of the New York City Rapid Transit Commission, it was not adopted. In 1930, Charles E. Smith, vice president of the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad, proposed allowing trains from the Broadway–Seventh Avenue and Lexington Avenue Lines to use the shuttle tracks for through service, as well as discontinuing shuttle service. This also was not carried out.
On February 12, 1946, work began to double the width of the passageway connecting the shuttle platforms at Grand Central and the main mezzanine over the Lexington Avenue Line platforms. As part of the work, the wooden passenger walkway, which had an average width of was replaced by a wide passageway with concrete flooring. This walkway had been "temporary" when it was put into place in August 1918. The new -long passageway covered most of the trackways used by downtown trains of the Original Subway prior to 1918. The iron railings along the planked walkway were removed. The project cost $45,800 and was intended to ease congestion. As part of the project, the upper passageway was moved to within fare control to allow passengers to go between the subway mezzanine and the entrance to Grand Central Terminal at the shuttle without paying a fare. This was accomplished by moving the turnstiles at the eastern end of the passageway. In March, members of the Metallic Lathers Union Local 46 sought to halt construction on the project, which was 80 percent complete, as the union objected to having the work done by city employees who made less than union workers. The rebuilt passageway opened on March 18, 1946.
On June 21, 1949, William Reid, the Chairman of the New York City Board of Transportation, announced that his capital budget request for 1950 would include $3.5 million to improve the shuttle for the first time since it was created. As part of the project, double platforms would have been constructed at both ends of the shuttle, the abandoned track 2 would have been removed, and switches would have been installed on track 3 to allow trains to pull into either platform on either track 1 or track 3. In addition, the shuttle would have been extended to the east to shorten transfers to the Lexington Avenue Line. Chairman Reid also stated that he would look for ways to improve service for riders before any funding arrived, noting that a way was needed to get riders to the proper platform before the car doors closed. While there were lights giving the number of the platform for the next train, they did not give passengers enough time to get to the train before their doors closed.
On October 28, 1953, the Transport Workers Union (TWU) asserted that it was impossible for its members to follow the schedule of the shuttle, which called for a train every two minutes during rush hours. Its president, Michael Quill, said that if the New York City Transit Authority took action against train crews skipping scheduled runs, there would be unrest among the TWU's members.
Between 1948 and 1951, the Stephens–Adamson Manufacturing Company and the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Company proposed that the shuttle be replaced by a pedestrian conveyor system called "Carveyor". The "Carveyor" would have consisted of a set of wheelless cars running on conveyor belts. They would have run slowly–at speeds of –in stations and would have run more quickly–at speeds of –between stations. 12 cars would move along the conveyor belt, and each car would have held 12 seated and 5 standing passengers. The system was expected to travel between Grand Central and Times Square in 1 minute 15 seconds, and was expected to move 18,000 passengers per hour as opposed to the 12,000 that could be accommodated by the existing shuttle. This proposal was formally presented to the Board of Transportation in March 1951. Even though New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) and the Board of Estimate approved the plan it was not completed due to union opposition and high cost.