I'm curious as to how far underground the tunnels go, and how deep the stations are. I walked down one on the Lexington line that seemed like it was really deep! If anyone has any cool subway hints or stories I'll rate those too. Tell me about the subway!
2006-09-20 15:15:28 · 10 answers · asked by Anonymous in Travel ➔ United States ➔ New York City
A lot of the original subway system (built in 1904) is actually not very far below street level as it was constructed via a cut and cover method wherein workers dug up the street, placed tracks, then covered it over, essentially. Manhattan is composed of very hard schist rock that was difficult to tunnel.
Someone above mentioned the 191st St. stop on the 1. The stop there and at 168th St. are far enough underground that you have to take an elevator to the street level. The 168th and 181st St. stations are really interesting to see, as they have high ceilings.
Upper Manhattan is really hilly, surprisingly, which created some problems for subway construction. 125th St. is a valley between two hills, and in order to keep the tracks relatively straight, the 1 train comes above ground at 125th St. and goes back under. It comes out again at 200th/Dyckman St. and is an elevated train through the rest of Upper Manhattan and into the Bronx. (A number of the subway lines go elevated in Brooklyn and Queens, too, or they'll come above ground to go across a bridge and then go back underground, as is the case with the B/D and the N/R/Q, which cross the Manhattan Bridge to go from Manhattan to Brooklyn.)
I know a lot of subway trivia, if you want more. The original subway system ran from City Hall at the bottom of the island up the east side to 42nd St./Grand Central, across 42nd St. to Times Square, and then up the west side to 155th St. That's the current 6 train, up to the 42nd St. shuttle, then across to the 1. The subway was originally a privately owned enterprise, at one point owned by 3 different companies (which is why some lines are referred to as the IRT (Interborough Rapid Transit) or the BMT (Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit) or the IND (the Independent)) and now is owned publicly. The advent of the subway also allowed easy transportation from Upper Manhattan and the Bronx, and acted as a catlyst for development in those areas, which were still basically uncultivated or farms until as late as the beginning of the 20th century.
2006-09-21 08:24:08 · answer #1 · answered by fshk 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Unfortunately i'm not sure quite how deep the stations are. I do know that a typical subway station has waiting platforms ranging from 400 to 700 feet. The station on 42nd Street between Park Avenue and Madison Avenue required a special method of construction. Five subway tracks passed through this area, and the excavation reached a depth of 35 feet and extended 15 feet into the rock.
2006-09-20 15:34:18 · answer #2 · answered by answergirl 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Nyc Subway Tunnels
2016-11-14 01:10:19 · answer #3 · answered by carmack 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Anywhere between 30-200 feet deep. The average is about 30 because the subways were tunneled beneath the basements of NYC's skyscrapers. Manhattan is built on solid bedrock which is very difficult to tunnel through until the invention of tunnel boring machines. Most of Manhattan's tunnels were built between 1890 and 1914.
2006-09-20 15:29:07 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm not sure how deep they go, but when you're walking up and down the stairs, it feels like a mile!
My subway story is not unique, but I find this interesting. There is always someone begging for money on the train, but 1 lady took the cake. She was blind, walking along with her cane from one end of the car to the other. When she reached the end, she put her cane under her arm, opened the back door, and jumped to the next car. "BLIND"? I think not! This is sad, because how do you know who is really in need and who is faking?
2006-09-24 02:12:35 · answer #5 · answered by L P 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
191 Street on the 1&9 is the deepest subway station at 160 feet under the surface.
2006-09-20 22:48:38 · answer #6 · answered by ccfromnj 4 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Subway is interesting, the deepest on is the Lexington Ave one, it takes forever to get up to the street...
2006-09-20 18:15:26 · answer #7 · answered by ? 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
its just the 1 now, they scrapped the 9.
I assume your taking about 59th street on the 456, the express platform.
2006-09-21 08:06:55 · answer #8 · answered by desi 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Was gonna ask this too
2016-07-27 12:50:18 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
I was wondering much the same question
2016-09-19 12:37:03 · answer #10 · answered by ? 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋