The3 Seventh Avenue Express[3] is arapid transit service in theA Division of theNew York City Subway. Its route emblem, or "bullet", is colored red since it uses theIRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line through most ofManhattan.[4]
The 3 operates 24 hours daily, although service patterns vary based on the time of day. Daytime service operates between148th Street inHarlem, Manhattan andNew Lots Avenue inEast New York, Brooklyn, making express stops in Manhattan (between96th andChambers Streets) and all stops inBrooklyn. Overnight serviceshort turns at34th Street–Penn Station inMidtown Manhattan and does not operate to or from New Lots Avenue.
The 3 train formerly ran toCity Hall orSouth Ferry inManhattan, and was later rerouted toFlatbush Avenue–Brooklyn College inBrooklyn. In 1983, it was rerouted to New Lots Avenue.
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1967–1979 bullet |
On November 23, 1904, theIRT Lenox Avenue Line opened between 96th Street and 145th Street. Service ran between145th Street andCity Hall, making all stops.[5][better source needed]
On July 1, 1918, the entireIRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line was completed. Lenox Avenue service from 145th Street was rerouted south of 42nd Street from theIRT Lexington Avenue Line to this new line, making all stops toSouth Ferry.[5][better source needed]
As of 1934, service operated between 145th Street and South Ferry except late nights, when service operated between 145th Street and 96th Street, making local stops.[citation needed]
The IRT routes were given numbered designations with the introduction of"R-type" rolling stock, which containedrollsign curtains with numbered designations for each service. The first such fleet, theR12, was put into service in 1948.[6] The Seventh Avenue–Lenox route became known as the 3.[7]
On January 3, 1955, late night two-car shuttle service between 145th Street and 96th Street, between 12:12 and 6:57 a.m. was discontinued due to low ridership. As a result, 145th Street was closed overnight. In addition, some 3 trains started running express in Manhattan during rush hours.[8] These trains were extended to Flatbush Avenue; a few layups and put-ins ran to New Lots Avenue.[5] However, from December 20, 1957, 3 trains were rerouted to New Lots Avenue during rush hours. On February 6, 1959, all trains except late nights made express stops in Manhattan as part of the "West Side Improvement" and ran to Flatbush Avenue.[5]
Starting April 8, 1960, 3 trains were rerouted from Flatbush Avenue to New Lots Avenue, and weekday evening service between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m. was cut to a shuttle between 145th Street and 135th Street. Before the change, 3 trains had run between 145th Street and Flatbush Avenue between about 5:30 a.m. and 12:45 a.m. on weekdays and Saturdays and from about 7:15 a.m. to 12:45 a.m. on Sundays. This service had been supplemented by additional service to and from New Lots Avenue.[9][10]
However, on April 18, 1965, 3 service started to run to Flatbush Avenue again.[5] On October 17, 1965, weekend evening service was also cut to a shuttle between 145th Street and 135th Street.
On May 13, 1968, trains were extended to the newly completed148th Street–Lenox Terminal.[11] Later that year, on November 12, late night shuttle service was implemented between 148th Street and 135th Street.[12] On May 23, 1976, the current practice of starting Sunday service late (9 or 10 a.m.) began.[5]
On July 10, 1983, the2 and 3 trains swapped terminals in Brooklyn, with 2 trains terminating at Flatbush Avenue and 3 trains terminating at New Lots Avenue. These changes were made to reduce non-revenue subway car mileage, to provide a dedicated fleet for each service, and to provide an easily accessible inspection yard for each service. The change allowed the 2 to be dedicated to239th Street Yard and allowed the 3 to be assigned toLivonia Yard. With the rerouting of 3 trains, train lengths along the New Lots Line were reduced from 10 cars to 9 cars, within acceptable crowding levels, and train lengths along the Nostrand Avenue Line were increased from 9 to 10 cars, reducing crowding.[13][14]
Beginning on August 5, 1990, late-night shuttles between 148th Street and 135th Street were discontinued and replaced by shuttle buses. On September 4, 1994, late-night shuttles between 148th Street and 135th Street were resumed, but were discontinued again on September 10, 1995.[15] This was a cost-saving measure due to low ridership.[16]
In January 1991, a reduction of service along the Eastern Parkway corridor to remove excess capacity was proposed. Weekend daytime 3 service would be rerouted to originate and terminate atSouth Ferry in Manhattan instead ofNew Lots Avenue in Brooklyn. Service betweenChambers Street andFranklin Avenue would be provided by2 trains; service between Franklin Avenue and New Lots Avenue would be provided by extended4 trains. This service change would have been implemented in July 1991, pending approval from the MTA board.[17]
From March 2[18] to October 12, 1998, theIRT Lenox Avenue Line was rehabilitated. Most 3 service was rerouted to137th Street–City College.[19] From October 4, 1999, to August 3, 2001, Limited AM rush hour 3 trains originated at137th Street – City College instead of 148th Street; these trains ran local to 96th Street before switching to the express track. From August 6, 2001,[20] to April 25, 2003, limited AM rush hour 3 trains originated atEast 180th Street in the Bronx instead of 148th Street.[21]
After theSeptember 11, 2001 attacks, 3 service was initially split in two sections, with the northern section operating between 148th and 135th Streets and the southern section operating between Utica Avenue and New Lots Avenue, but service in Brooklyn was replaced by 4 trains on the evening of September 12, leaving the 3 to operate only as a shuttle between 148th and 135th Streets. On September 17, service was restored along the full route and made all stops in Manhattan, with trains skipping Franklin Street, Chambers Street and Park Place; Franklin Street reopened on September 18. On September 19, service was cut back from New Lots Avenue to 14th Street in Manhattan; 3 trains made express stops between 96th and 14th Streets, while the 1 replaced the 3 in Brooklyn.[22] Also on this date, 3 trains began to permanently use consists of 10-car trains as a result of equipment sharing between Livonia Yard (the maintenance facility in Brooklyn where subway cars assigned to the 3 are based from) and 240th Street Yard (the maintenance facility in the Bronx where subway cars assigned to the 1 are based from).[23] Normal 3 service was restored on September 15, 2002.[24]
On July 27, 2008, late night 3 service was restored, operating express between 148th Street and Times Square–42nd Street. In addition, late morning weekday service was increased from running every 6 to 8 minutes to running every 5 to 7 minutes to reduce crowding on the 2. These increases were made as part of an $8.9 million package of systemwide service enhancements.[25][26]
The Clark Street Tube underwent planned repairs on weekends from June 17, 2017, to June 24, 2018, due toHurricane Sandy-related damage. The 3 operated only in Manhattan between Harlem-148th Street and14th Street with4 trains providing service to New Lots Avenue in Brooklyn.[27][28]
On November 17, 2019, the MTA made adjustments to weekday evening 3, 4, and 5 service in order to accommodate planned subway work. Late night 3 service to Times Square started an hour earlier, at 10:30 p.m. instead of 11:30 p.m.; to replace 3 service, 4 service was extended to New Lots Avenue. This change, which was approved by the MTA Board on June 27, 2019, was expected to save the agency $900,000 annually.[29][30]
In January 2025, overnight 3 service was quietly extended from Times Square–42nd Street to34th Street–Penn Station, although a few northbound trips continued to enter service at Times Square.[31] One month later, some weekday early morning and late evening trips were rerouted to and from137th Street–City College as a result of accessibility improvements taking place at 148th Street. Some trips also began ending at135th Street during the evening.[32] Effective June 8, 2025, 3 service to 137th Street was discontinued.[33]
In May 2025, as part of the 2025–2029 Capital Program, the MTA proposed that the 3 train be rerouted from New Lots Avenue toFlatbush Avenue at its southern end, as it did prior to 1983. A new 8 service, operating along the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line, would take over the southernmost portion of the 3's route from Franklin Avenue to New Lots Avenue.[34][35] The proposal, first suggested in 2023 as part of the MTA's 20-year needs assessment, would remove a bottleneck at the Rogers Avenue Junction south of Franklin Avenue, where 5 express and 3 local trains must cross over each other's tracks.[35]
The following table shows the lines used by the 3, with shaded boxes indicating the route at the specified times:[36]
| Line | From | To | Tracks | Times | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| allex. nights | late nights | ||||
| IRT Lenox Avenue Line (full line) | Harlem–148th Street | 110th Street–Malcolm X Plaza | all | ||
| IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line | 96th Street | 34th Street–Penn Station | express | ||
| 14th Street | 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 | ||
For a more detailed station listing, see the articles on the lines listed above.[3]
| Station service legend | |
|---|---|
 | Stops 24 hours a day |
 | Stops every day during daytime hours only |
 | Stops during weekday daytime hours only |
 | Stops during weekday rush hours only |
 | Station closed |
 | Stops rush hours in the peak direction only (limited service) |
 | Stops rush hours in the reverse-peak direction only (limited service) |
| Time period details | |
 | Station is compliant with theAmericans with Disabilities Act |
| ↑ | Station is compliant with theAmericans with Disabilities Act in the indicated direction only |
| ↓ | |
 | Elevator access to mezzanine only |
 | Stations | | Subway transfers | Connections/Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manhattan | ||||
| Lenox Avenue Line | ||||
| Harlem–148th Street | |||
| 145th Street | Access to and from first five cars of southbound trains, and from first five cars of northbound trains only; no northbound entry. Some southbound a.m. rush hour trips begin at this station | ||
| 135th Street | | 2 | Some northbound evening trips end at this station |
| 125th Street | 2 | M60 Select Bus Service toLaGuardia Airport | |
| 116th Street | 2 | ||
| 110th Street–Malcolm X Plaza | 2 | ||
| Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line | ||||
| 96th Street | | 1 2 | |
| 72nd Street | | 1 2 | |
| Times Square–42nd Street | | 1 2 7 <7> (IRT Flushing Line)A C E (IND Eighth Avenue Line at42nd Street–Port Authority Bus Terminal)N Q R W (BMT Broadway Line)S (42nd Street Shuttle)B D F <F> M (IND Sixth Avenue Line at42nd Street–Bryant Park, daytime only) | Port Authority Bus Terminal M34A Select Bus Service |
| 34th Street–Penn Station | | 1 2 | M34 / M34A Select Bus Service Amtrak,LIRR andNJ Transit atPennsylvania Station |
| 14th Street | | 1 2 F <F> M (IND Sixth Avenue Line at14th Street)L (BMT Canarsie Line atSixth Avenue) | PATH at14th Street M14A/D Select Bus Service |
| Chambers Street | | 1 2 | |
| Brooklyn branch | ||||
| Park Place | | 2 A C (IND Eighth Avenue Line atChambers Street)E (IND Eighth Avenue Line atWorld Trade Center)R W (BMT Broadway Line atCortlandt Street) | PATH atWorld Trade Center |
| Fulton Street | | 2 4 5 (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)A C (IND Eighth Avenue Line)J Z (BMT Nassau Street Line) | PATH atWorld Trade Center |
| Wall Street | 2 | M15 Select Bus Service Staten Island Ferry atWhitehall Terminal | |
| Brooklyn | ||||
| Clark Street | | 2 |  NYC Ferry: East River and South Brooklyn routes (at Old Fulton Street and Furman Street) |
| Borough Hall | | 2 4 5 (IRT Eastern Parkway Line)R W (BMT Fourth Avenue Line atCourt Street) | |
| Eastern Parkway Line | ||||
| Hoyt Street | ↓ | 2 | Station isADA-accessible in the southbound direction only.[37] |
| Nevins Street | 2 4 5 | ||
| Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center | | 2 4 5 B Q (BMT Brighton Line)D N R W (BMT Fourth Avenue Line) | LIRRAtlantic Branch atAtlantic Terminal |
| Bergen Street | 2 4 | ||
| Grand Army Plaza | 2 4 | ||
| Eastern Parkway–Brooklyn Museum | | 2 4 | |
| Franklin Avenue–Medgar Evers College | 2 4 5 S (BMT Franklin Avenue Line atBotanic Garden) | ||
| Nostrand Avenue | 2 4 5 | B44 Select Bus Service | |
| Kingston Avenue | 2 4 5 | ||
| Crown Heights–Utica Avenue | | 2 4 5 | B46 Select Bus Service |
| New Lots Line | ||||
| Sutter Avenue–Rutland Road | 2 4 5 | B15 bus toJFK Int'l Airport | |
| Saratoga Avenue | 2 4 5 | ||
| Rockaway Avenue | 2 4 5 | ||
| Junius Street | 2 4 5 Out-of-system transfer withMetroCard/OMNY: L (BMT Canarsie Line atLivonia Avenue) | ||
| Pennsylvania Avenue | 2 4 5 | ||
| Van Siclen Avenue | 2 4 5 | ||
| New Lots Avenue | 2 4 5 | B15 bus toJFK Int'l Airport | |
| Current services |
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| Defunct services |
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| Stations (List) |
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| History |
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| Infrastructure | |||||||||||||
| Arts and culture | |||||||||||||
| Miscellaneous | |||||||||||||
| Other rapid transit in NYC |
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