IRT West Side Line

242nd Street-Van Cortlandt Park · 238th Street · 231st Street · 225th Street · 215th Street · 207th Street · Dyckman Street · 191st Street · 181st Street · 168th Street · 157th Street · 145th Street · 137th Street-City College · 125th Street · 116th Street-Columbia University · 110th Street · 103rd Street · 96th Street · 91st Street · 86th Street · 79th Street · 72nd Street · 66th Street-Lincoln Center · 59th Street-Columbus Circle · 50th Street · Times Square-42nd Street · 34th Street-Penn Station · 28th Street · 23rd Street · 18th Street · 14th Street · Christopher Street-Sheridan Square · Houston Street · Canal Street · Franklin Street · Chambers Street · Cortlandt Street-World Trade Center · Rector Street · South Ferry

241st Street · 238th Street-Nereid Avenue · 233rd Street · 225th Street · 219th Street · Gun Hill Road · Burke Avenue · Allerton Avenue · Pelham Parkway · Bronx Park East · East 180th Street · West Farms Sq.-East Tremont Ave.-177th St. · 174th Street · Freeman Street · Simpson Street · Intervale Avenue · Prospect Avenue · Jackson Avenue · 3rd Avenue-149th Street · 149th Street-Grand Concourse · 135th Street · 125th Street · 116th Street · 110th Street-Central Park North · 96th Street · 72nd Street · Times Square-42nd Street · 34th Street-Penn Station · 14th Street · Chambers Street · Park Place · Fulton Street · Wall Street · Clark Street · Borough Hall · Hoyt Street · Nevins Street · Atlantic Avenue · Bergen Street · Grand Army Plaza · Eastern Parkway-Brooklyn Museum · Franklin Avenue · President Street · Sterling Street · Winthrop Street · Church Avenue · Beverly Road · Newkirk Avenue · Flatbush Avenue

148th Street-Lenox Terminal · 145th Street · 135th Street · 125th Street · 116th Street · 110th Street-Central Park North · 96th Street · 72nd Street · Times Square-42nd Street · 34th Street-Penn Station · 14th Street · Chambers Street · Park Place · Fulton Street · Wall Street · Clark Street · Borough Hall · Hoyt Street · Nevins Street · Atlantic Avenue · Bergen Street · Grand Army Plaza · Eastern Parkway-Brooklyn Museum · Franklin Avenue · Nostrand Avenue · Kingston Avenue · Utica Avenue · Sutter Avenue-Rutland Road · Saratoga Avenue · Rockaway Avenue · Junius Street · Pennsylvania Avenue · Van Siclen Avenue · New Lots Avenue

Overview

Opened: 10/27/1904

Express station with four tracks, two island platforms; two disused side local platforms. 96th Street was built in a similar fashion to the Contract I express stops at Brooklyn Bridge and 14th Street: two island platforms for the express trains and two shorter side platforms for the local trains.

Until 2010, access to the station was provided from stairways along the sidewalks of Broadway to the side platforms; access to the center island platforms is via a crossunder passage running underneath the platforms. Because of the location of a large sewer line under 96th Street, no mezzanine was built at this station, thus requiring the underpass.

Before the advent of ten-car locals the side platforms were used for local trains; since it would have been operationally logical to use the center island to allow local passengers easy transfer to the express, the local trains may never have used the side platforms exclusively for service, and in any event the practice did not last long. At Brooklyn Bridge and 14th Street, these side platforms were walled off, but at 96th Street they were kept open because they were used to access the underpass which provided access to the island platforms.

The station was renovated in 1950 to accommodate longer trains. It was both extended (with a second entrance on 94th St. created) and widened (the tracks were moved and the platforms were widened). You can see differences in the walls and ceiling at the south end, and you can still spot a seam in the platforms where they were widened. The creation of the new entrance at 94th St. led directly to the closure of 91st Street, as it would have been impractical to lengthen it for 10-car local trains with 94th Street so close by.

A new headhouse structure was built in the median of Broadway, which opened in 2010. New stairways and an elevator were provided to each island platform. Riders no longer need to go down and back up to enter or exit the station.

North of 96th St. Station, the express tracks descend to head under 104th Street to Lenox Avenue and the Bronx while the local tracks remain on the upper level. After the express tracks turn off, a new center track starts at approximately 100th Street.

There is a structure in the median of Broadway on the north side of 96th Street that seems like it might have been a headhouse for the station similar to the one at 72nd Street. Was there once direct entrance to the platforms from the street via this headhouse? Photographic evidence of this intersection indicates that the structure post-dates the year 1924; and anecdotal evidence from 1947 notes that the building was used as a "comfort station" (a.k.a. public restroom). The conclusion on the matter, then, is that this building is not and never was used as a subway entrance; nor was it even built by the IRT company. The structure is now a community center called the West Side Broadway Mall.

Station Diagram

Click to enlarge.

Photo Gallery

Image 3131 (182k, 1024x682) Photo by: Joe Testagrose Location: 96th Street	Image 30486 (124k, 1044x788) Photo by: David Pirmann Location: 96th Street	Image 39000 (44k, 546x733) Photo by: Robbie Rosenfeld Location: 96th Street	Image 39039 (213k, 1024x696) Photo by: Doug Grotjahn Collection of: Joe Testagrose Location: 96th Street	Image 84455 (131k, 1024x768) Photo by: Brian Weinberg Location: 96th Street
Image 96529 (248k, 1044x696) Photo by: Brian Weinberg Location: 96th Street	Image 101490 (159k, 1024x768) Photo by: Robbie Rosenfeld Location: 96th Street	Image 101800 (223k, 1044x703) Photo by: John Barnes Location: 96th Street	Image 107015 (216k, 930x614) Photo by: Peter Ehrlich Location: 96th Street	Image 110288 (46k, 640x480) Photo by: David Blair Location: 96th Street
Image 110289 (48k, 640x480) Photo by: David Blair Location: 96th Street	Image 110291 (48k, 640x480) Photo by: David Blair Location: 96th Street	Image 112619 (117k, 1024x768) Photo by: Robbie Rosenfeld Location: 96th Street	Image 112888 (119k, 768x1024) Photo by: Robbie Rosenfeld Location: 96th Street	Image 116022 (212k, 1044x788) Photo by: Roberto C. Tobar Location: 96th Street

More Images: 1-50 51-100 101-150 151-165