page_title: Proposed expansion of the New York City Subway
section_title: 1998–99
hierarchical_section_title: Proposed expansion of the New York City Subway / 1940–1999 plans / 1998–99
caption_attribution_description: English: Looking south through chain link fence from 101st Avenue overpass at Van Wyck Expressway and pylons holding en:AirTrain JFK on a sunny late afternoon.
context_page_description: Since the opening of the original New York City Subway line in 1904, and throughout the subway's history, various official and planning agencies have proposed numerous extensions to the subway system. The first major expansion of the subway system was the Dual Contracts, a set of agreements between the City of New York and the IRT and the BRT. The system was expanded into the outer reaches of the Bronx, Brooklyn, and Queens, and it provided for the construction of important lines in Manhattan. This one expansion of the system provided for a majority of today's system.
  Even with this expansion, there was a pressing need for growth. In 1922, Mayor John Hylan put out his plan for over 100 miles of new subway lines going to all five boroughs. His plan was intended to directly compete with the two private subway operators, the IRT and the BMT. This plan was never furthered. The next big plan, and arguably the most ambitious in the subway system's history, was the "Second System". The 1929 plan by the Independent Subway to construct new subway lines, the Second System would take over existing subway lines and railroad right-of-ways.
context_section_description: In 1998, an extension of the BMT Astoria Line to LaGuardia Airport was planned, but the plan was canceled in 2003 following community opposition.
  In 1999, the Regional Plan Association considered a full-length Second Avenue Subway from Broad Street to 125th Street, along with the LIRR East Side Access. It also planned the following extensions:
  a Co-op City extension of the Second Avenue Subway via the Amtrak right-of-way through the northeast Bronx
  a Grand Central Terminal spur of the Second Avenue Subway
  a super-express bypass from the Atlantic Terminal via the LIRR Atlantic Branch
  an extension to JFK Airport via the Van Wyck Expressway
  an extension to Laurelton via the LIRR Atlantic Branch
  a branch off the Second Avenue Subway at 14th Street to Avenue C, to merge with the IND Sixth Avenue Line at Essex Street
  a connection to the BMT Nassau Street Line near Delancey Street
  a super-express bypass of the Queens Boulevard Line from east of 21st Street–Queensbridge to east of Forest Hills–71st Avenue
  a new interlocking at Prince Street to allow easy switching of trains between local and express tracks
  The new set of extensions proposed by the RPA, dubbed "MetroLink", would make use of existing commuter rail infrastructure, so as to make it interoperable with the New York City Subway. Nine hundred fifty "Rx" hybrid railcars would be ordered, with yard expansions and new yards being built. MetroLink, consisting of 31 new metro stations (not counting three recycled commuter rail stations) and 19 new route‑miles of track (31 km) (not including existing commuter rail and then-under construction AirTrain JFK route miles) would have reduced the load on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line, the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line, and the IND Queens Boulevard Line. Two of these stations would be in Brooklyn, three in Queens, nine in the Bronx, and twenty in Manhattan. Five services would be run:
  The Co-op City–Second Avenue–Broadway–Whitehall Street service
  The 125th Street–Second Avenue–Atlantic Terminal Bypass–Jamaica Center service
  The Grand Central–Second Avenue–Atlantic Terminal Bypass–JFK Airport service
  The Grand Central–Second Avenue–Fourth Avenue–West End Line to Coney Island service
  The Laurelton–Jamaica Center–Queens Bypass–Second Avenue–Lower East Side–Culver Express to Avenue X service
  Stations would have been located at:
  New Second Avenue Subway (15 stations):
  Lexington Avenue at 125th Street (transfer with 4, ​5, ​6, and <6> trains)
  Grand Central Terminal (transfer with 4, ​5, ​6, <6>​, 7, <7>​​, and S trains)
  Second Avenue at 116th, 106th, 96th, 86th, 72nd, 55th (transfer with 4, ​6, <6>​, E, and ​M trains), 44th, 34th, 23rd, 14th (transfer with L train), and Houston Streets
  Bowery/Canal Street
  Water Street at Wall/Fulton Streets and at Whitehall/Broad Streets
  New Lower East Side Line (4 stations):
  First Avenue at 14th Street (transfer with L train)
  Avenue C at 8th Street and at Houston Street
  East Broadway at Pitt Street
  New Co-op City Line (9 stations):
  Co-op City North, Central, and South stations
  Bronx Municipal Hospital Center
  East Tremont Avenue at White Plains Road and at West Farms Square (transfer with 2 and ​5 trains at the latter)
  Boston Road at 169th Street
  Third Avenue at 161st and 149th Street (transfer with 2 train at the latter)
  Atlantic Branch (5 stations):
  Jay Street–MetroTech (transfer with A, ​C​, F, <F>​​, N, R, and ​W trains)
  Atlantic Terminal (transfer with 2, ​3, ​4, ​5​, B, ​D, ​N, ​Q​, R and ​W​ trains)
  Linden Boulevard
  Locust Manor
  Laurelton
  The AirTrain JFK, Atlantic Branch, Main Line ROW, and Northeast Corridor would all be "recycled" to accommodate subway service under this plan. The Nostrand Avenue and East New York LIRR stations would also have been closed under MetroLink.
caption: The AirTrain viaduct over Van Wyck Expressway would have been used by the subway under the "MetroLink" plan.
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