Van Cortlandt Park – 242nd Street

Van Cortlandt Park – 242nd Street New York City Subway rapid transit station
Looking southbound from the northern end of the 1 line at Track 1.
Station statistics
Address	West 242nd Street & Broadway Bronx, NY 10471
Borough	The Bronx
Locale	Riverdale
Coordinates	40°53′22″N 73°53′55″W / 40.889347°N 73.898549°W / 40.889347; -73.898549Coordinates: 40°53′22″N 73°53′55″W / 40.889347°N 73.898549°W / 40.889347; -73.898549
Division	A (IRT)
Line	IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line
Services	1  (all times)
Connection	New York City Bus: Bx9, BxM3 Bee-Line Bus: 1, 2, 3
Structure	Elevated
Platforms	1 island platform in service 2 unused side platforms
Tracks	2
Other information
Opened	August 1, 1908
Traffic
Passengers (2008)	1.974 million[1][2] ▲ 7.92%
Rank	225 out of 422
Station succession
Next north	(Terminal)
Next south	238th Street (local): 1  Dyckman Street (express): no regular service
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops in station at all times Stops all times except late nights Stops late nights only Stops late nights and weekends only Stops weekdays only Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction Stops all times except weekdays Stops rush hours only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only Station is closed (Details about time periods)

Van Cortlandt Park – 242nd Street is the northern terminal station on the IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of 242nd Street and Broadway in the Bronx, it is served by the 1 train at all times.

This station is adjacent to Van Cortlandt Park, Manhattan College, and the 240th Street Yard of the subway system. It serves Riverdale, an affluent community in the Bronx. A snaking steep walk along West 242nd Street and Manhattan College Parkway west of Broadway leads to the college and along the way there is a panoramic view of the yard.

The station has two tracks with one island platform and two side platforms. There are bumper blocks at the north end of the station. The station house is just beyond the ends of the tracks at platform level. The two side platforms are normally unused, and have a windscreen along nearly their entire length. A crew quarters straddles the tracks and platforms at the south end of the station.

Just south of the station, the line widens to three tracks, which is the configuration up to just before Dyckman Street, and again between 145th Street and 103rd Street. This is an unusual layout in the New York City Subway, as the middle express track does not platform at any stations along its route. No service has been regularly operated using the express track in this section since the 1970s, when a peak-direction Broadway "Thru Express" was operated. Instead, the middle track is used for sending non-revenue trains to the storage yard at 137th Street – City College after they finish their final run, as well as for extra flexibility when one of the local tracks is undergoing repairs. On March 30, 2005, the station was listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

Southwestern stair

Literary reference

The station is cited in Jack Kerouac's 1957 novel On the Road as the last stop on the subway taken by the protagonist Sal Paradise on his initial attempt to leave New York City for a new life in California.^[3]

References

External links

• nycsubway.org — IRT West Side Line: 242nd Street/Van Cortlandt Park
• Station Reporter — 1 Train
• The Subway Nut — 242nd Street – Van Cortlandt Park Pictures

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