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10/29/2019
MTA New York City Transit (NYCT) officials last week marked the 115th anniversary of subway operations.
New York City's first rapid transit subway, the Interborough Rapid Transit (IRT), opened in 1904. The four-track, 9-mile, 28-station line began at City Hall Station and ran along the east side of Manhattan to Grand Central Station, across 42nd Street to Times Square, and up the west side to 145th Street, NYCT officials said in a press release.
At the time, the IRT system was a privately owned company. It expanded to three of the outer boroughs in the ensuing years, and was joined by two competing companies – Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corp. and the city-owned Independent Subway. In 1940, these companies were unified and became what is today's subway system.
To mark the anniversary, NYCT hosted train rides on a vintage IRT four-car train between the Times Square-42 Street and 96th Street stations. The trains went into service in 1917 and were operated until the early 1960s.