155th Street station (IND Eighth Avenue Line)

History

The station opened on September 10, 1932, as part of the city-operated Independent Subway System (IND)'s initial segment, the Eighth Avenue Line between Chambers Street and 207th Street. Construction of the whole line cost $191.2 million (equivalent to $ million in ). While the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line already provided parallel service, the new Eighth Avenue subway via Central Park West and Frederick Douglass Boulevard provided an alternative route. As part of its 2025–2029 Capital Program, the MTA has proposed making the station wheelchair-accessible in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Station layout

This underground station has two local tracks with two side platforms. The two express tracks, used by the A train during daytime hours, are on a lower level beneath the station and are not visible from the platforms.

The station once had a southern mezzanine with exits to 153rd Street, but it is now closed and used as a MTA New York City Transit facility. The north end at 155th Street has vent chambers and a high ceiling.

Like several other IND Eighth Avenue Line local stations, this station does not have a trim line, but does have mosaic name plates reading "155TH ST." in white sans-serif lettering on a yellow background with black border. Small tile captions reading "155" run along the wall at regular intervals between the name tablets, and beneath the name tablets are directional captions, all white lettering on a black background. The trim line was part of a color-coded tile system used throughout the IND. The tile colors were designed to facilitate navigation for travelers going away from Lower Manhattan. As such, the yellow tiles used at the 155th Street station were originally also used at , the next express station to the south, while a different tile color is used at , the next express station to the north. Yellow tiles are similarly used at the 163rd Street–Amsterdam Avenue station, the only other local station between 145th Street and 168th Street.

Exits

This station has pairs of staircases leading to the northwestern, northeastern, and southwestern corners of St. Nicholas Avenue and West 155th Street.

References

References

1. (September 10, 1932). "List of the 28 Stations on the New 8th Av. Line". [[The New York Times]].
2. (September 10, 1932). "Gay Midnight Crowd Rides First Trains In The New Subway: Throngs at Station an Hour Before Time, Rush Turnstiles When Chains are Dropped". [[The New York Times]].
3. Duffus, R. l. (September 9, 1932). "NEW LINE FIRST UNIT IN CITY-WIDE SYSTEM; 8th Av. Tube to Ease West Side Congestion at Once -- Branches to Link 4 Boroughs Later. LAST WORD IN SUBWAYS Run From 207th to Chambers St. Cut to 33 Minutes -- 42d St. Has World's Largest Station. COST HAS BEEN $191,200,000 Years of Digging Up City Streets, Tunneling Rock and Building Road Finally Brought to Completion.". The New York Times.
4. (September 25, 2024). "2025-2029 Capital Plan". Metropolitan Transportation Authority.
5. "C Train".
6. {{NYCS const. trackref. trackbook3
7. (December 11, 2015). "Review of the A and C Lines". [[Metropolitan Transportation Authority]].
8. (August 22, 1932). "Tile Colors a Guide in the New Subway; Decoration Scheme Changes at Each Express Stop to Tell Riders Where They Are". The New York Times.
9. Carlson, Jen. (February 18, 2016). "Map: These Color Tiles In The Subway System Used To Mean Something".
10. Gleason, Will. (February 18, 2016). "The hidden meaning behind the New York subway's colored tiles".
11. {{Cite NYC neighborhood map. Harlem/Hamilton Heights