| Interborough Rapid Transit Company | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Overview | |
| Status | Incorporated into theNew York City Subway |
| Owner | City of New York |
| Service | |
| Type | Underground and above-ground metro |
| Operator(s) | New York City Transit Authority |
| Depot(s) | 239th Street Yard,240th Street Yard, Corona Yard,East 180th Street Yard, Jerome Yard,Livonia Yard,Westchester Yard |
| Rolling stock | R62,R62A,R142,R142A,R188 |
| History | |
| Opened | 1904; 121 years ago (1904) (acquisition of theManhattan Railway Company) |
| Closed | 1940; 85 years ago (1940) (acquisition by theNYC Board of Transportation) |
| Technical | |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)standard gauge |
| Minimum radius | 147.25 ft (44.88 m)[1] |
TheInterborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) was theprivate operator ofNew York City's original underground subway line that opened in 1904, as well as earlierelevated railways and additionalrapid transit lines inNew York City.[2] The IRT was purchased by the city on June 12, 1940, along with the youngerBMT andIND systems, to form the modernNew York City Subway. The former IRT lines (the numbered routes in the current subway system) are now theA Division or IRT Division of the Subway.
Thefirst IRT subway ran betweenCity Hall and145th Street atBroadway, opening on October 27, 1904.[3] It opened following more than twenty years of public debate on the merits of subways versus the existingelevated rail system and on various proposed routes.[4]
Founded on May 6, 1902, byAugust Belmont, Jr., the IRT's mission was to operate New York City's initial underground rapid transit system after Belmont's andJohn B. McDonald's Rapid Transit Construction Company was awarded the rights to build the railway line in 1900, outbiddingAndrew Onderdonk.[5]: 20–22 TheManhattan Railway Company was the operator of four elevated railways inManhattan with an extension intothe Bronx.
On April 1, 1903, over a year before its first subway line opened, the IRT acquired the Manhattan Railway Company by lease, gaining a monopoly on rapid transit in Manhattan. The IRT coordinated some services between what became its subway and elevated divisions, but all the lines of the former Manhattan elevateds have since been dismantled.
In 1913, as a result of massive expansion in the city, the IRT signed theDual Contracts withBrooklyn Rapid Transit (BRT) in order to expand the subway.[6] The agreement also locked the subway fare at 5 cents for forty-nine years.[7] The IRT unsuccessfully attempted to raise the fare to seven cents in 1929, in a case that went to theUnited States Supreme Court.[8]
The IRT ceased to function as a privately held company on June 12, 1940, when its properties and operations were acquired by the City of New York.[9]
Today, the IRT lines are operated as theA Division of the subway. The remaining lines are underground in Manhattan, except for a short stretch acrossHarlem at125th Street and in northern Manhattan. Its many lines in the Bronx are predominantly elevated, with some subway, and some railroad-style right-of-way acquired from the defunctNew York, Westchester and Boston Railway, which now constitutes theIRT Dyre Avenue Line. Its Brooklyn lines are underground with a single elevated extension that reaches up toNew Lots Avenue, and the other reachingFlatbush Avenue via the undergroundNostrand Avenue Line.
TheFlushing Line, its sole line inQueens, is entirely elevated except for a short portion approaching its East River tunnel and its terminal atFlushing–Main Street (the whole Manhattan portion of the line is underground). The Flushing Line has had no track connection to the rest of the IRT since 1942, when service on theSecond Avenue El was discontinued. It is connected to theBMT and the rest of the system via theBMT Astoria Line on the upper level of theQueensboro Plaza station.
Source:[10]
Trunk lines include:
5 
6 <6> 
trains), under Park and Lexington Avenues, as well as underLafayette Street and Broadway 2 3 trains), under and over Broadway, as well as under Seventh Avenue,Varick Street, andWest Broadway <7> trains), under 41st and 42nd Streets train), under 42nd StreetBranch lines include:
3 trains), underLenox Avenue and Central Park 5 trains), under East 149th Street, and over Westchester Avenue, Southern Boulevard, Boston Road, andWhite Plains Road <6> trains), under East 138th Street andSouthern Boulevard, and overWestchester Avenue train), underGrand Concourse, over River and Jerome Avenues,There were three Brooklyn lines built by the IRT:
3 4 5 
trains), underFulton Street,Flatbush Avenue, andEastern Parkway
3 4 
5 trains), over East 98th Street and Livonia Avenue 5 trains), under Nostrand AvenueThe only line inQueens is theFlushing Line (7 <7> trains), under 50th Avenue, and overQueens Boulevard andRoosevelt Avenue.
(of the East and Harlem Rivers, from south to north)
5 trains) 3 trains) <7> trains) 5 6 <6> trains) train) train) train), parallel to the Esplanade, and on the old right-of-way of theNew York, Westchester and Boston Railway in 1941 3 trains), at-grade parallel to 149th Street in 1968Several pieces of pre-unification IRT equipment have been preserved in various museums. While some of the equipment are operational, others are in need of restoration or are used simply as static displays.
Other NYC Subway companies:
Also:
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