8 (New York City Subway service)

For the former Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation 8 service, seeBMT Astoria Line.

8was a designation given to twoNew York City Subwayservices. It was first used by theBrooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporationfor itsAstoria Linefrom 1917 to 1949. The ex-Interborough Rapid Transit Company(IRT)Third Avenue Elsubsequently used the designation between 1967 and 1973.

Astoria Line

8 (BMT)
Astoria Line (1917–1949)
Ditmars Avenue Hoyt Avenue Grand Avenue Broadway Washington Avenue Beebe Avenue Queensboro Bridge Plaza Queensboro Line

R12end rollsign

The8label was first used for theAstoria Line,which opened on February 1, 1917, as an extension of theQueensboro Line(now part of theFlushing line) fromQueensboro Plaza.TheCorona 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 theSteinway TunnelatGrand Central.

Tracks opened over theQueensboro Bridgeon July 23, 1917, allowingelevated trainsof theIRT Second Avenue Lineto 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 toFifth Avenue,and it was completed west toTimes Squareon March 14, 1927.

BMTshuttles(also labeled internally as8) began using the Astoria Line on April 8, 1923, with a transfer to theBroadway Lineat 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

Third Avenue Local
Gun Hill Road in 1984
Northern end	Gun Hill Road
Southern end	149th Street
Stations	15
Started service	November 26, 1967(1967-11-26)
Discontinued	April 28, 1973(1973-04-28)
Route map Gun Hill Road IRT White Plains Road Line 210th Street–Williamsbridge 204th Street 200th Street Fordham Road–190th Street 183rd Street 180th Street Tremont Avenue–177th Street (Bronx Borough Hall) 174th Street Claremont Parkway 169th Street 166th Street 161st Street 156th Street 149th Street IRT White Plains Road Line

When theChrystie Street Connectionopened in late 1967, theNew York City Transit Authorityassigned labels to all services. The only remaining IRTelevated line,theIRT Third Avenue Lineinthe Bronx,was too long to be ashuttle,so was assigned the number 8, unused since 1949. This service, running between149th StreetandGun Hill Road,last ran on April 28, 1973, when the Third Avenue Line closed. Thereafter, it wasreplacedby theBx55bus route until 2013, when most of the former route started being served by theBx15 Limited.The 8 bullet was only marked on maps and station signs, never on cars. Cars instead displayedSHUTTLEand the destination.

Present status

Currentrollsignshave an 8 (as well as a10and a12) in a forest green circle, the same color as the4,5and6,theIRT Lexington Avenue Lineservices.

In 2020, the MTA used a hypothetical 8 designation as an express service on theIRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Linein a simulation of proposed infrastructure improvements to reduce the impact of the bottleneck that is Nostrand Avenue Junction as part of the IRT Capacity Study. As part of the hybrid operating plan, 3 and 5 trains would switch termini in Brooklyn, though the 5 would run express on the IRT Eastern Parkway Line to Crown Heights–Utica Avenue. This change would eliminate the need for 5 trains from the Eastern Parkway Line express tracks to merge onto the local tracks to go to or from the Nostrand Avenue Line, allowing for reduced congestion and increased service. To cover local service between Franklin Avenue and Utica Avenue, a new service, the 8, would be operated, running betweenWakefield–241st Streetin the Bronx andNew Lots Avenuein Brooklyn, with a headway of ten minutes during the peak. The study recommended the infrastructure be built that would allow for the service's creation, including the installation of new crossovers north of Utica Avenue, but did not explicitly propose the new service.

The MTA's 20-year needs assessment in 2023 further studied the recommended service changes for the Nostrand Avenue Junction, including the creation of an 8 service, and concluded that their implementation would yield "significant benefits."

See also

• BMT 8,theBMTservice that operated in tandem with this service until 1949
• Unused New York City Subway service labels

References

• "New Astoria Line Opened".The New York Times.February 2, 1917. p. 14.
• "Subway Link over Queensboro Bridge".The New York Times.July 22, 1917. p. 31.
• "Additional Subway Service to Borough of Queens".The New York Times.April 8, 1923. p. RE1.
• "Fifth Av. Station of Subway Opened".The New York Times.March 23, 1926. p. 29.
• "New Queens Subway Opened to Times Sq".The New York Times.March 15, 1927. p. 1.
• "Direct Subway Runs to Flushing, Astoria".The New York Times.October 15, 1949. p. 17.
• "Third Ave. El Reaches the End of Its Long, Blighted, Nostalgic Line".The New York Times.April 29, 1973. p. 24.