The Bowling Green–South Ferry shuttle was a shuttle service of the

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October ...

system that operated between

Bowling Green A bowling green is a finely laid, close-mown and rolled stretch of turf for playing the game of bowls. Before 1830, when Edwin Beard Budding of Thrupp, near Stroud, UK, invented the lawnmower, lawns were often kept cropped by grazing sheep ...

and the inner loop platform at South Ferry. It operated to provide South Ferry service for IRT Lexington Avenue Line riders during hours when the 5 service did not stop at South Ferry (during the daytime on weekdays, and at first, also late nights). Because the inner loop station that the shuttle used at the South Ferry station was on such a tight curve, there was no continuous platform; instead four openings in the tunnel wall led into the station. Four R12 cars that were used on the shuttle, 5703–5706, were modified and equipped so that only the center door of each car would open at one of the open spaces.

History

The shuttle was first operated in February 1909 to allow all rush hour trains to go to Brooklyn; the shuttle only operated during rush hours. Formerly, all Broadway express trains had terminated at South Ferry, with all Lenox Avenue express trains through to Brooklyn. Locals all ended at

City Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

. In August 1964, the Low-Voltage cars that were in service on the shuttle were replaced with R12s, which had their door circuits modified so that only the doors which aligned with the portals would open. In 1967, the Bowling Green–South Ferry shuttle and all others in the New York City Subway system was given the label . The

New York City Transit Authority The New York City Transit Authority (also known as NYCTA, the TA, or simply Transit, and branded as MTA New York City Transit) is a New York state public-benefit corporations, public-benefit corporation in the U.S. state of New York (state), New ...

decided that the shuttle was more trouble to operate than the benefit it provided. At midnight between February 12 and 13, 1977, the Bowling Green shuttle was discontinued without replacement. Since then, IRT Lexington Avenue Line passengers have had to walk a relatively short distance from Bowling Green station in order to access South Ferry and the

Staten Island Ferry The Staten Island Ferry is a passenger ferry route operated by the New York City Department of Transportation. The ferry's single route runs through New York Harbor between the New York City boroughs of Manhattan and Staten Island, with ferry ...

terminal. In August 1989, the MTA proposed linking the Bowling Green platform to the

Whitehall Street station The South Ferry/Whitehall Street station is a New York City Subway station complex in the Financial District neighborhood of Manhattan, under Battery Park. The complex is shared by the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line and the BMT Broadw ...

of the BMT Broadway Line and the South Ferry station of the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line. The two latter stations were connected in 2009. Since 2007, there has been an entrance to the Bowling Green station in front of the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Custom House (now the George Gustav Heye Center), just around the corner from two entrances to the Whitehall Street station (which are set into the building's eastern elevation).

References

External links

Abandoned Stations – Bowling Green & South Ferry platforms
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bowling Green-South Ferry Shuttle Railway lines opened in 1909 Railway lines closed in 1977 Defunct New York City Subway services

History

See also

References

External links