The C Eighth Avenue Local is a 19-mile-long (31Â km) rapid transit service in the B Division of the New York City Subway. Its route emblem, or "bullet", is colored blue since it uses the IND Eighth Avenue Line in Manhattan.
The C operates at all times except late nights between 168th Street in Washington Heights, Manhattan, and Euclid Avenue in East New York, Brooklyn, making local stops along its entire route. During late night hours, the A train, which runs express along the entire C route during daytime hours, makes all stops.
Rush hour C service formerly ran local along the IND Concourse Line to Bedford Park Boulevard in the Bronx and Rockaway Parkâ€"Beach 116th Street in Queens.
History
MTA NYC Subway: R32, R46, R62A & R160 (1) (A) (C) Trains @ Washington Heights-168th Street - PLEASE READ THE DESCRIPTION* MTA New York City Subway: Washington Heights-168th Street (IRT Broadway Line/IND 8th Avenue Line) Train Transfer: (1)| South Ferry, Manhattan to/from Van Cortlandt...
The AA and CC services were the predecessors to the current C service. A and AA service began on September 10, 1932 with the opening of the IND Eighth Avenue Line. The Independent Subway System (IND) used single letters to refer to express services and double letters for local services. The A ran express and the AA ran local, from 168th Street to Chambers Street/World Trade Center, known at the time as Hudson Terminal. The AA ran at all times, and it was extended to 207th Street during nights and on Sundays when the A did not run. When the Eighth Avenue Line was extended to Jay Streetâ€"Borough Hall on February 1, 1933 the AA was extended there, but only during the times when the A didn't run; it continued to terminate at Chambers Street when the A did run.
The C and CC services began operation on July 1, 1933 when the IND Concourse Line opened. The CC provided local service between Bedford Park Boulevard and Hudson Terminal during rush hours, and was extended to 205th Street during non-rush hours. It replaced the AA as Eighth Avenue Local. The C ran express, from 205th Street to Bergen Street in Brooklyn during rush hours. Beginning August 19, 1933, C service was cut back from Bergen Street, but started operating during non-rush hours. At the same time, CC service was cut back from 205th Street during non-rush hours.
On January 1, 1936, C service was extended to Jay Streetâ€"Borough Hall. On April 9, 1937, C service was extended to Hoytâ€"Schermerhorn Streets. After July 1, 1937, a few C trains continued to run to Bergen Street southbound in the AM rush hour and northbound in the PM rush hour. Also on the same date, weekend C service was discontinued, and CC service was extended to 205th Street to compensate.
On December 15, 1940, the IND Sixth Avenue Line opened. Two new services, the BB (later B) and D, began running. These lines ran on the Eighth Avenue Line in upper Manhattan, switching to the Sixth Avenue Line in Midtown. The BB ran local to 168th Street during rush hours. The D joined the C as the peak direction Concourse Express. CC trains now ran between Hudson Terminal and Bedford Park during rush hours and on Saturdays and during other times, the D made local stops in the Bronx, replacing CC service. On the same date, limited morning rush hour service began between 205th Street, Bronx and Utica Avenue, Brooklyn, making local stops on the IND Fulton Street Line. AA service was reinstated during this time, but only during off-peak hours (non-rush hours, late Saturday afternoons and Sundays) when the BB and CC did not operate. The CC would provide Eighth Avenue Line local service during rush hours, with the AA replacing it during off-peak hours, mostly unchanged until 1988.
Beginning October 10, 1944, C trains no longer ran on Saturdays. On October 24, 1949, C express service was discontinued. Additional D service was added to offset this loss. The CC, which only ran during rush hours, began terminating at Broadwayâ€"Lafayette Street Mondays to Fridays, and on Saturdays CC service continued to operate to Hudson Terminal. On December 29, 1951, Saturday CC service was discontinued. Weekday CC service returned to its previous terminal at Hudson Terminal on October 30, 1954.
On August 30, 1976, the CC train replaced the E train as the rush-hour local along the IND Fulton Street Line and IND Rockaway Line, running from Rockaway Parkâ€"Beach 116th Street in Queens through Brooklyn and Manhattan to Bedford Park Boulevard in the Bronx, making it the only service to run through all four boroughs served by the subway. The Rockaway Park Shuttle HH was renamed CC. This shuttle ran between Broad Channel and Rockaway Park during off-peak hours, except late nights. With this, all daytime service to/from Rockaway Park was named CC. Late nights, the shuttle ran between Euclid Avenue, Rockaway Park and Far Rockaway-Mott Avenue via Hammels Wye, and was labeled A.
On August 28, 1977, late night AA service was eliminated; the A now runs fully local at night.
On May 6, 1985, the IND practice of using double letters to indicate local service was discontinued. The AA was renamed the K and rush hour CC service was renamed C. The off-peak Rockaway Park Shuttle is renamed H. This change was not officially reflected in schedules until May 24, 1987.
On December 10, 1988, the K designation was discontinued; the service was merged into the C, which now runs at all times except late nights. The C ran from Bedford Park Boulevard to Rockaway Park rush hours, 145th Street to Euclid Avenue middays, and from 145th Street to World Trade Center during evenings and weekends. The A now ran express in Brooklyn during middays and the B was extended to 168th Street during middays and early evenings.
On October 23, 1992, rush hour C service was cut back from Rockaway Parkâ€"Beach 116th Street to Euclid Avenue. Now, five A trips in each direction run from Manhattan to Rockaway Park during rush hours, with the Rockaway Park Shuttle (renamed from H to S) operating between Broad Channel and Rockaway Park at all times.
Beginning April 1995, C service was extended to 168th Street during middays and weekends as construction on the Manhattan Bridge cut B service from Manhattan. In November 1995, midday service was cut back to 145th Street after B service to 168th Street was restored. On March 1, 1998, the B and C, which both ran local along Central Park West, switched northern terminals, ending the connection between the C and the Bronx. Instead of alternating between three different terminals depending on the time of day, all C service now terminates at 168th Street.
Starting in April 1999, C trains were extended to Euclid Avenue on evenings and weekends; the C now runs local in Brooklyn and Manhattan, and the A express, at all times except late nights.
In the wake of the September 11, 2001 attacks, World Trade Center station was temporarily not usable as a terminal for the E. C service was suspended until September 24, 2001. Local service along Central Park West was replaced by the A and D, and the E was extended from Canal Street to Euclid Avenue replacing C service in Brooklyn.
On January 23, 2005, a fire at the Chambers Street signal room crippled A and C service. C service was suspended until February 2 and was replaced by the A, B, D, E, and V along different parts of its route. Initial assessments suggested that it would take several years to restore normal service, but the damaged equipment was replaced with available spare parts, and normal service resumed on April 21.
Maintenance and rider issues
In August 2012, the Straphangers Campaign rated the C train the worst of the city's subway services for the fourth straight year. No other service has ranked worst for more than three years in a row. The group found that the C performed worst in three of the six categories in its annual State of the Subways Report Card: amount of scheduled service, interior cleanliness, and breakdown rate. It also ranked next-to-worst in car announcement quality, after the 7, but performed above average in regularity of service and crowding. The New York Times called the C the "least loved of New York City subway lines", citing its fleet of R32s, which are the oldest cars in the system at 53 years old.
Improvements
Since 2013, some R160A cars have operated on this service, first during the summer months, then permanently; most of the R32s were transferred to the mostly outdoor J/Z for the same reason. By May 2015, more than half of the C train's fleet utilized R160As.
Most trains on the C are only 480 feet (146Â m) long (except for the summers of 2011 and 2012, when R46 trains ran on this service while R32s were moved to the A to save their older air conditioning units from having to work underground at all times) due to low ridership on the service. This contrasted to those on the rest of the "B" Division (except for the Eastern Division and G train), which are 600 feet (183Â m) long. After several failed proposals to permanently lengthen C trains as ridership increased, some R46 trains were again assigned to the C in December 2017, displacing many of the R32s that ran on the route to the A.
Route
Service pattern
The following table shows the lines used by the C:
Stations
For a more detailed station listing, see the articles on the lines listed above.
References
External links
- MTA NYC Transit â€" C Eighth Avenue Local
- MTA Subway Time â€" C Train
- "C Subway Timetable, Effective June 25, 2017" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved June 25, 2017.Â
- MTA NYC Transit â€" A C Line Review
- Main Document
