Route 3 (New York City Subway)

For the former BMT service, see BMT 3.

The 3 Seventh Avenue Express is a service of the New York City Subway. It is colored red on station signs and the NYC Subway map because it represents service provided on the Broadway-Seventh Avenue Line. Trains of the 3 service run all the time except late nights; it always runs express through Manhattan and local in Brooklyn. During late nights, the 2 and 3 service (the latter of which is extended) cover its route, except for the northernmost two stations on Lenox Avenue, which are served by free transfers to buses.

Service history

3 LENOX AVE

R12 end rollsign

3

1967-1979 bullet (in a circle)

On November 23, 1904, the IRT Lenox Avenue Line to 145th Street opened. This was the second part of the original subway. Trains went to City Hall, until the IRT Broadway-Seventh Avenue Line was built (Manhattan portion completed on July 1, 1918). Then, it became the local to South Ferry, crossing over the 1 at 96th St.

On January 4, 1955, rush hour expresses begins operating to Flatbush Avenue, a few layups and put-ins to New Lots Avenue.

On February 6, 1959, the "West Side Improvement" took place. Trains no longer switched at 96th Street. Service runs to Flatbush Avenue at all times except nights.

On April 8, 1960, trains were sent to New Lots Avenue all times except nights.

On April 18, 1965, trains were sent back to Flatbush Avenue.

On May 13, 1968, the Harlem–148th Street terminal opens.

On May 23, 1976, the current practice of starting Sunday service late (9:00 or 10:00) begins.

On July 10, 1983, trains were sent back to New Lots Avenue, so it could more readily access Livonia Yard (it only had the 148th Street Yard before then).

From March to October 1998, the IRT Lenox Avenue Line was rehabilitated. Most 3 service was rerouted to 137th Street–City College.

After September 11, 2001, the 3 service became a local in Manhattan. After a few switching delays at 96th Street, service was changed on September 19, 2001. It ran only in Manhattan as an express between Harlem–148th Street and 14th Street and was replaced by 1 service in Brooklyn. It returned to New Lots Avenue on September 15, 2002.

Route

The following table shows the lines used by Route 3 service, with shaded boxes indicating the route at the specified times:

Line	From	To	Tracks	Times
				all ex. nights	late nights
IRT Lenox Avenue Line (full line)	Harlem – 148th Street	Central Park North – 110th Street	all
IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line	96th Street	Times Square – 42nd Street	express
	34th Street – Penn Station	Chambers Street
IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line, Brooklyn Branch	Park Place	Borough Hall	all
IRT Eastern Parkway Line (full line)	Hoyt Street	Crown Heights – Utica Avenue	local
IRT New Lots Line (full line)	Sutter Avenue – Rutland Road	New Lots Avenue	all

Station service legend
	Stops all times
	Stops all times except late nights
	Stops weekdays only
	Stops rush hours only
	Stops rush hours/weekdays in the peak direction only

	Stations		Transfer	Connections and notes
	Harlem – 148th Street
	145th Street			Boarding/Exiting from the first 5 cars only
	135th Street
	125th Street			M60 SBS to LaGuardia Airport
	116th Street
	Central Park North – 110th Street
	96th Street
	72nd Street
	Times Square – 42nd Street		(42nd Street Shuttle)	Port Authority Bus Terminal
	34th Street – Penn Station			M34 / M34A SBS, Amtrak, LIRR, NJ Transit @ Pennsylvania Station
	14th Street			PATH @ 14th Street
	Chambers Street
	Park Place			PATH @ World Trade Center
	Fulton Street
	Wall Street
	Clark Street
	Borough Hall
	Hoyt Street
	Nevins Street
	Atlantic Avenue – Barclays Center			LIRR: Atlantic Branch @ Atlantic Terminal
	Bergen Street
	Grand Army Plaza
	Eastern Parkway – Brooklyn Museum
	Franklin Avenue		(Franklin Avenue Shuttle)
	Nostrand Avenue			B44 SBS
	Kingston Avenue
	Crown Heights – Utica Avenue
	Sutter Avenue – Rutland Road			B15 to JFK Airport
	Saratoga Avenue
	Rockaway Avenue
	Junius Street
	Pennsylvania Avenue
	Van Siclen Avenue
	New Lots Avenue			B15 to JFK Airport

References

• Line By Line History

External links

• MTA NYC Transit - 3 Broadway Express
• MTA NYC Transit - 3 schedulePDF (160 KiB)