Times Square–42nd Street/Port Authority Bus Terminal station

A section of the original IRT northbound platform at Times Square, now a closed-off section of the track 4 shuttle platform

Planning for a subway line in New York City dates to 1864.[10]^: 21 However, development of what would become the city's first subway line did not start until 1894, when the New York State Legislature authorized the Rapid Transit Act.[10]^{: 139–140} The subway plans were drawn up by a team of engineers led by William Barclay Parsons, chief engineer of the Rapid Transit Commission. It called for a subway line from New York City Hall in lower Manhattan to the Upper West Side, where two branches would lead north into the Bronx.[11]^: 3 A plan was formally adopted in 1897, which called for the subway to run under several streets in lower Manhattan before running under Fourth Avenue, 42nd Street, and Broadway. A previous proposal had called for the entire length of the subway to use Broadway, but the "awkward alignment...along Forty-Second Street", as the commission put it, was necessitated by objections to using the southernmost section of Broadway. Legal challenges were resolved near the end of 1899.[10]^: 148 The Rapid Transit Construction Company, organized by John B. McDonald and funded by August Belmont Jr., signed the initial Contract 1 with the Rapid Transit Commission in February 1900,[12] in which it would construct the subway and maintain a 50-year operating lease from the opening of the line.[10]^: 165 In 1901, the firm of Heins & LaFarge was hired to design the underground stations.[11]^: 4 Belmont incorporated the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) in April 1902 to operate the subway.[10]^: 182

The present shuttle station at Times Square–42nd Street was constructed as part of the route segment underneath 42nd Street and Times Square, which extended from Park Avenue and 41st Street to Broadway and 47th Street. Construction on this section of the line began on February 25, 1901. Work for that section had been awarded to Degnon-McLean.[12] By late 1903, the subway was nearly complete, but the IRT Powerhouse and the system's electrical substations were still under construction, delaying the system's opening.[10]^: 186[13] The Times Square–42nd Street station opened on October 27, 1904, as one of the original 28 stations of the New York City Subway from City Hall to 145th Street on the West Side Branch.[10]^: 186[14] Times Square itself had recently been renamed (from Long Acre Square) in order to give the new subway station a distinctive name.[15]

After the first subway line was completed in 1908,[16] the station was served by local trains along both the West Side (now the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line to Van Cortlandt Park–242nd Street) and East Side (now the Lenox Avenue Line). West Side local trains had their southern terminus at City Hall during rush hours and South Ferry at other times, and had their northern terminus at 242nd Street. East Side local trains ran from City Hall to Lenox Avenue (145th Street).[17]

To address overcrowding, in 1909, the New York Public Service Commission proposed lengthening platforms at stations along the original IRT subway.[18]^: 168 As part of a modification to the IRT's construction contracts, made on January 18, 1910, the company was to lengthen station platforms to accommodate ten-car express and six-car local trains. In addition to $1.5 million (equivalent to $43.6 million in 2021) spent on platform lengthening, $500,000 (equivalent to $14,541,000 in 2021) was spent on building additional entrances and exits. It was anticipated that these improvements would increase capacity by 25 percent.[19]^: 15 Platforms at local stations, such as the Times Square station, were lengthened by between 20 to 30 feet (6.1 to 9.1 m). The northbound platform was extended to the north and south, while the southbound platform was lengthened to the south, necessitating a reconfiguration of the Knickerbocker Hotel entrance.[19]^{: 109–110}

The Dual Contracts were formalized in March 1913, specifying new lines or expansions to be built by the IRT and the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT).[20] As part of the Dual Contracts, the New York City Public Service Commission planned to split the original IRT system into three segments: two north–south lines, carrying through trains over the Lexington Avenue and Broadway–Seventh Avenue Lines, and a west–east shuttle under 42nd Street. This would form a roughly "H"-shaped system. The original alignment under 42nd Street would become a shuttle service, and a new set of platforms would be built for the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line.[21] The Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line station opened on June 3, 1917, as part of an extension of the IRT to South Ferry.[2] It was served by a shuttle train to 34th Street–Penn Station until the rest of the extension opened a year later on July 1, 1918. This meant that the subway would be expanded down the West Side of Manhattan to neighborhoods such as Greenwich Village and the western portion of the Financial District.[22] On August 1, the Dual Contracts' "H system" was put into service, and the former main line platform became part of the 42nd Street Shuttle.[23]

Also planned under the Dual Contracts was the Broadway Line of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT), subsequently the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT). The Broadway Line station was planned as a local station, with the express station to be located at 47th Street. In 1914, the Public Service Commission ordered BRT Chief Engineer Craven to make the Broadway Line station an express station, at the insistence of Brooklynites who wanted an express station in the Theater District of Manhattan.[24] The Broadway Line station opened on January 5, 1918.[25]

The Dual Contracts also included completing and opening the Steinway Tunnel as part of the new Flushing subway line.[26][27]^: 168 The tunnel, running under the East River with trolley loops on both the Manhattan and Queens sides, had sat unused since 1907, when test runs had been performed in the then-nearly-complete tunnel.[28] The route, traveling under 41st and 42nd Streets in Manhattan, was to go from Times Square through the tunnel over to Long Island City and from there continue toward Flushing.[29][30] The section of the tunnel between Grand Central–42nd Street and Queens had opened on June 22, 1915.[31]

In July 1920, the New York State Public Service Commission announced it would extend the Flushing Line two stops west to Times Square, with an intermediate station under Bryant Park.[32][33] On November 9, 1921, the New York State Transit Commission opened up the contract for the extension for bidding. The extension would take a slightly different route than the one specified in the Dual Contracts. The original proposal had the line constructed under 42nd Street to a point just to the east of Broadway, which would have forced riders transferring to the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line to walk a long distance.[34]

The Times Square station would be designed at a lower level than the two existing stations at Times Square. It would have two upper mezzanines connected by passageways: a mezzanine east of Seventh Avenue extending to Broadway, and one west of Seventh Avenue. Escalators would connect these upper mezzanines with the lower mezzanine, and a provision would be made to permit the installation of an escalator to the east of Seventh Avenue. There would be two entrances at street level at each of the western corners of 41st Street and Broadway, and two entrances at the northeastern corner of 41st Street and Seventh Avenue.[34]

On November 22, 1921, the Powers-Kennedy Contracting Corporation was awarded a contract to construct the extension on a low bid of $3,867,138, below the estimated cost of over $4 million.[34] This low bid was the narrowest margin ever recorded for any large city contract, beating out the next highest bidder by 0.7 percent. While the contractor was provided four years to complete work, engineers expected to reduce the time needed to do so to as little as three years. Since work on the project had to be completed underneath the foundations of several large buildings, such as theatres, and the north end of the New York Public Library, the contractor had to provide a $1 million bond.[35]

The project was expected to reduce crowding on the 42nd Street Shuttle by enabling riders to use the Queensboro Subway to directly access Times Square. 24,000 of the estimated 100,000 daily shuttle riders transferred to and from the Queensboro Subway. The line was to extend as far as Eighth Avenue to connect with the proposed IND Eighth Avenue Line.[36][37]

Powers-Kennedy started excavating the line westward from Grand Central in May 1922. The Flushing Line extension was to run beneath the original line from Vanderbilt to Fifth Avenue.[38] The contractors had completed the tunnels to Fifth Avenue by May 1923.[39] Local civic groups advocated for the Fifth Avenue station to be used as a temporary terminal while the permanent terminus at Times Square was being completed.[40][41] By the end of 1923, the Transit Commission had allocated $50,000 for the construction of a temporary crossover east of the Fifth Avenue station.[42] The temporary terminal at Fifth Avenue was nearly complete by February 1926.[43][44]

The Fifth Avenue station opened on March 22, 1926, extending the IRT Flushing Line one stop to the west from the line's previous terminus at Grand Central.[45][46][47] In fall 1926, it was announced that the line would be completed by January 1, 1927.[48]

On February 8, 1927, the New York City Board of Transportation informed the New York State Transit Commission that work on the Times Square station was sufficiently completed to enable the start of train service beginning on February 19, 1927 with the completion of work to a point between Eighth Avenue and Seventh Avenue. Plans for the construction of an extension of the line to between Eighth Avenue and Ninth Avenue to provide a physical connection with the IND Eighth Avenue Line were underway.[49]

On March 1, 1927, the opening of the line was set for March 15, the third time an opening date was set for the line. Work had been postponed given the amount of work that remained to be completed. The opening of the line was about a year behind the April 29, 1926 date specified in the contract. The delay was the result of surprisingly difficult construction. The Board of Transportation had withheld retained percentages, as allowed in the contract, penalizing the contractor, and trying to incentivize it to speed up work. No retained percentages were provided to the contractor until February 1927.[48] The Flushing Line was extended to Times Square on March 14, 1927.[50][51]

As early as March 1918, soon after the BMT Broadway Line opened to Times Square–42nd Street, plans were being considered for an extension of that line beyond the stubs at 57th Street–Seventh Avenue to the Upper West Side and Washington Heights via Central Park West (Eighth Avenue).[52] On August 3, 1923, the New York City Board of Estimate approved the Washington Heights Line, an extension of the Broadway Line to Washington Heights. The line was to have four tracks from Central Park West at 64th Street under Central Park West, Eighth Avenue, Saint Nicholas Avenue, and private property to 173rd Street, and two tracks under Fort Washington Avenue to 193rd Street. South of 64th Street, one two-track line would connect to the Broadway Line stubs at 57th Street, and another would continue under Eighth Avenue to 30th Street at Penn Station, with provisions to continue downtown.[53][54]

Mayor John Hylan instead wanted to build an independent subway system, operated by the city. The New York City Board of Transportation (NYCBOT) gave preliminary approval to several lines in Manhattan, including one on Eighth Avenue, on December 9, 1924. The main portion of the already-approved Washington Heights Line—the mostly-four track line north of 64th Street—was included, but was to continue north from 193rd Street to 207th Street. South of 64th Street, the plan called for four tracks in Eighth Avenue, Greenwich Avenue, the planned extension of Sixth Avenue, and Church Street. Two tracks would turn east under Fulton Street or Wall Street and under the East River to Downtown Brooklyn.[55][56]

A groundbreaking ceremony was held at St. Nicholas Avenue and 123rd Street on March 14, 1925.[57] Most of the Eighth Avenue Line was dug using a cheap cut-and-cover method, where the street above was excavated. Still, the construction of the line was difficult, as it had to go under or over several subway lines. 42nd Street, the longest station along the line at 1,115 feet (340 m), was expected to be a major express station with large platforms, so the platforms were staggered away from each other in order to avoid going under property lines. Additionally, several workers died in cave-ins during construction.[58]

The stations on the line were built with 600 feet (180 m) long platforms, but they had provisions to lengthen them to 660 feet (200 m) to accommodate eleven-car trains.[59]^: 70 Four of the express stations (at Fulton, 14th, 42nd, and 59th Streets) were built with long mezzanines so that passengers could walk the entire length of the mezzanines without having to pay a fare. It was proposed to develop the mezzanines of these four stations with shops, so that they would become retail corridors, similar to the underground mall of the under-construction Rockefeller Center.[58]

The Eighth Avenue Line station opened on September 10, 1932, as part of the city-operated Independent Subway System (IND)'s initial segment, between Chambers Street and 207th Street.[60][61] The IND's lower level was built together with the upper-level platforms in the late 1920s/early 1930s, but existed as an unfinished shell until it was completed[62]^: 484 The lower level opened on August 25, 1952,[63] to serve rush hour E trains.[63][64] For most of its existence, the lower-level platform was only used for occasional service specials, including summer "Rockaway Special" trains to Beach 98th Street at the Rockaways' Playland beginning in 1958, the Aqueduct Racetrack special fare trains from 1959 to 1981, and rush hour E trains in the 1970s, beginning on March 23, 1970.[65][66][67][68]

The Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line station was the site of a 1928 wreck that killed 16 people, the second worst in New York City history (the worst being the Malbone Street Wreck in Brooklyn, which killed at least 93).[69][70]

In Fiscal Year 1937, the express-track side of the southbound Broadway–Seventh Avenue platform was extended 6.5 feet (2.0 m) to the south to provide ample space at the center door of ten-car trains. In addition, the IRT opened a new entrance to the northwestern corner of Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street through the Rialto Building,[71] on the site of the Rialto Theatre.[72]

The city government took over the BMT's operations on June 1, 1940. At midnight, a ceremony commemorating the transfer, with five hundred people in attendance, was held at the Times Square station. The last BMT train had left the 57th Street station five minutes earlier. When the train arrived at Times Square, BMT president William S. Menden handed over his company's properties to Mayor Fiorello H. LaGuardia, who then gave them to New York City Board of Transportation chairman John H. Delaney.[73][74] The city government then took over the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940.[75][76] The Board of Transportation operated the New York City Transit System until the creation of the New York City Transit Authority in 1953.[77]

The Flushing Line platforms at Times Square, as well as platforms at all other stations on the Flushing Line with the exception of Queensboro Plaza, were extended in 1955–1956 to accommodate 11-car trains.[78] One of the complex's entrances on 43rd Street was closed in 1957 to make way for a Times Square visitor center.[79] This entrance was rebuilt next to the information center after numerous protests,[80] and it reopened in July 1958.[81]

A new entrance at the southwest corner of Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street opened in 1964, and a shopping arcade within the basement of the Rialto Building was closed in July 1967.[82] The BMT station received a minor overhaul in the late 1970s when the MTA fixed the station's structure and the overall appearance, and it repaired staircases and platform edges, removed pedestrian ramps, and replaced lighting.

As part of a pilot program to reduce high crime in the New York City Subway system, in May 1981, the MTA spent $500,000 to install CCTV screens at the Columbus Circle subway station. The MTA expanded the experiment to the Times Square–42nd Street station in 1983.[83] The cameras were deactivated in 1985 after further tests showed that their presence did not help reduce crime.[84] The MTA considered transferring 220 CCTV cameras from these stations to token booths at the stations with the most crime.[85] On August 1, 1988, the passageway between the IND Eighth Avenue Line station and the IRT/BMT complex was finally placed within fare control.[86]

The Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC), an agency of the New York state government, had proposed redeveloping the area around a portion of West 42nd Street in 1981.[87] As part of the redevelopment, in 1988, the state and NYCTA announced that they would spend $125 million on renovating the Times Square subway complex.[88] The project was postponed in 1992 after Prudential Insurance and Park Tower Realty, which had committed to developing four buildings in the redevelopment, was given permission to postpone the construction of these buildings.[89][90] The station underwent total reconstruction in stages starting in 1994.[6] Phase 1 rebuilt the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line platforms with a new mezzanine, stairs, and elevators, and was completed in 2002. Phase 2, finished in 2006, rebuilt the Broadway Line, Flushing Line, and Eighth Avenue Line portions of the station.[6]

In 1995, the MTA announced it would build a main entrance on the south side of 42nd Street between Seventh Avenue and Broadway. The site of the new entrance was occupied at the time by an "interim" retail space.[91] Originally, the MTA had proposed consolidating 11 separate entrances to the complex into one full-time main entrance and four part-time entrances.[92] The new main entrance opened in July 1997. It features a bright neon and colored glass flashing sign with train route symbols and the word "Subway", as well as an elevator and escalators.[93]

In July 1998, the MTA started accepting bids for the renovation of the Times Square station. The first phase would include renovating the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line platforms, part of the Broadway Line platforms, and the mezzanine, while the second phase would cover the rest of the station. The goal was to reduce congestion and improve rider access, comfort and safety by improving visual lines and increasing pedestrian capacity. The main corridor would be widened 15 feet (4.6 m) and the number of sharp corners would be reduced. In addition, there would be new elevators to make the station compliant with the for Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, new escalators, and wider corridors and stairs. William Nicholas Bodouva & Associates designed the materials for the renovation.[94] A $44 million renovation of the complex began in 1999.[6]

The mezzanine above the BMT Broadway Line, which formerly housed a record shop named Record Mart, was renovated with a large oval balcony looking over the trackway. In 2004, four unisex stall bathrooms were opened on the mezzanine between the IRT and BMT lines; they are staffed and maintained by employees of the Times Square Alliance, the local Business Improvement District. Record Mart reopened in 2007 on the south side of the IRT/BMT corridor,[95] and when it closed permanently in 2020, it had been Manhattan's oldest operating record store.[96] New entrances were added on the northwest and southwest corners of Seventh Avenue and 42nd Street. The southwest-corner entrance at 5 Times Square has both escalators and stairs. The northwest-corner entrance in 3 Times Square only has stairs because the MTA allowed the building's developer Rudin Management to pay $1.3 million instead of adding two escalators.[97]

In the late 2000s, the MTA began construction on an extension of the IRT Flushing Line to 34th Street, which would require demolishing the IND Eighth Avenue lower level platform.[66] As of January 2010, the lower level platform was being demolished as part of the Flushing Line extension.[98] The tunnels slope down through where the old lower level platform was.[99] On September 13, 2015, the Flushing Line was extended one stop west from Times Square to 34th Street–Hudson Yards.[100][101] In February 2022, the MTA announced that the IRT Flushing Line platforms would receive platform screen doors as part of a pilot program.[102][103] The announcement came after several people had been shoved onto tracks, including one incident that led to the death of Michelle Go on the BMT platform.[103] The MTA started soliciting bids from platform-door manufacturers in mid-2022;[104] the doors are planned to be installed starting in April 2023 at a cost of $6 million.[105]

The shuttle platform was the last station in the station complex that lacked ADA-accessibility. Although planning had been completed in 2006, the project was delayed due to a lack of funding.[106] However, as part of the 2015–2019 Capital Program, the MTA scheduled some improvements to make it accessible under the guidelines of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. As part of the program, the 42nd Street Shuttle became ADA-accessible, the shuttle was reconfigured from three tracks to two tracks, and the trains became six cars long. A new platform, 28 feet (8.5 m) wide and located between tracks 1 and 4, was built along the section of the shuttle that runs under 42nd Street, which is located within a straight tunnel. The whole project was expected to cost $235.41 million. The Times Square shuttle platform was extended 360 feet (110 m) east to allow for a second point of entry at Sixth Avenue, with a connection to the IND Sixth Avenue Line, as well a second connection to the IRT Flushing Line via its Fifth Avenue station.[107][108][109]

Widened platform at Times Square, which was built during the restoration project

Track 1 platform at the start of construction; Track 3 (since removed) is blocked off by a blue construction wall

The entire Times Square station was rehabilitated with congestion mitigation measures. A wider stairway was installed from the shuttle mezzanine to street level, and a new control area was installed at the bottom of the stairway. The cost of this part of the project is $30 million.[107][108] In conjunction, a second project added access to the Times Square complex. As part of the project, the eastern platform was closed to public access, and the exit to 43rd Street was closed, covered over, and turned into an emergency exit, starting on October 19, 2019. This entrance would be replaced by a new entrance with a 15 foot (4.6 m) wide stairway covered by a canopy.[110] The staircase would lead from the shuttle mezzanine to street level, blocking portions of the station's original finishes. A new control area would be installed at the bottom of the stairway. To further increase capacity, 21 columns were eliminated; other columns at the station were thinned, requiring the underpinning of roof beams; and 142 columns in the concourse area were relocated away from the car doors. The cost of this project was estimated to be $28.93 million.[107]

The new control area provided an additional 5,000 square feet in mezzanine space, while the new entrance provided an additional 450 square feet of space. The entrance's canopy has 238 triangular glass frames that replicate the crystals part of the New Year's Eve Crystal Ball. Eighteen new CCTV cameras, ten new turnstiles, two emergency exit gates, and four new digital information screens were installed in the new control area. Two new mosaics by Nick Cave, titled "Equal All" and "Each One", were installed as part of the project.[111]

The northern section of the original west platform wall dating from 1904 was removed, and One Times Square's owner Jamestown Properties built elevators connecting the station to the street. The wall was broken into sections and moved to the New York Transit Museum to mitigate the adverse effects of the station renovation. To further mitigate damage done to portions of the original station, certain features were repaired and restored, including the original southwest platform and control area wall finishes, the original cast iron columns, the ceiling plaster ornamentation, and the cast iron guard rails. In addition, the east platform walls that were located within back-of-house space were protected. The damaged Knickerbocker marble lintel located at the west platform control area were replicated. To reference portions of the original tracks located at tracks 2 and 3, the granite paving for the shuttle platform was modified with a veneer steel rail. These 60 foot (18 m) long sections are located on the new platform between tracks 1 and 4. Finally, a plaque describing the history of the station was installed underneath the replicated Knickerbocker lintel.[108][112]

The construction contract for the project was originally scheduled to be awarded in June 2018. However, this was delayed by several months because of changes to the project schedule and cost. The construction duration was expected to be extended by three months, and the cost would increase by $25 million, because of additions to the original construction plan.[113] A construction contract was awarded in March 2019, with an estimated completion date of March 2022.[114] The shuttle was temporarily closed in mid-2020 for this work.[115] The new platform opened on September 7, 2021, along with the passageway to the 42nd Street–Bryant Park station.[116][117] This made the shuttle station ADA-accessible; though the passageway was not yet accessible, elevators were planned to be installed at the Bryant Park end of the passageway.[117] The new $40 million station entrance, including the new elevator, formally opened on May 16, 2022.[111][118][119] The MTA spent $30 million to construct the new staircase entrance and Jamestown paid $10 million for the elevator.[118]

The Times Square station has been targeted by two failed terrorist plots. In September 2009, Najibullah Zazi and alleged co-conspirators planned suicide bombings on subway trains near this station and the Grand Central–42nd Street station, but the plot was discovered before they could carry it out.[120] There was also a bombing on December 11, 2017, during the morning rush hour, when a pipe bomb device partially detonated in the passageway connecting the IND Eighth Avenue Line station with the rest of the complex.[121]

There are several mezzanines throughout the complex, connected by several ramps and stairs. The primary, upper mezzanine is near the level of the shuttle platforms and consists of four passageways in a trapezoidal layout, arranged under 42nd Street, Broadway, 41st Street, and Seventh Avenue. An oval-shaped cut is on the Broadway side of the main mezzanine, below which are the northern ends of the BMT platforms. A pair of escalators to the Flushing Line is at the southwestern corner of this mezzanine.[4]^{: 3–4, 18–19} Some parts of the mezzanine have glass-tiled walls, while other parts are clad with white ceramic tile topped by mosaic bands.[4]^: 7 "Music Under New York" controls various spots within the mezzanine for performers.

Near the south end of the BMT platforms, there is a smaller mezzanine overhead, which leads to exits at 40th Street.[4]^: 3, 19

Under the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line platforms, but above the Flushing Line platforms, is a lower mezzanine level extending from west to east. This mezzanine connects to a steep ramp that leads to the passageway to the IND Eighth Avenue Line platforms.[4]^: 7, 18

From the Eighth Avenue portion of the complex, there is one street stair to each of the northwest, northeast, and southeast corners of Eighth Avenue and 40th Street. There are two underground passageways to Port Authority Bus Terminal: one between 40th and 41st Streets, and a wheelchair accessible passageway between 41st and 42nd Streets. At the intersection of Eighth Avenue and 42nd Street, there is one street stair to the northwest corner, one stair inside a building on the northeast corner, and one escalator bank inside a building on the southeast corner. One street stair leads to the southwest corner of Eighth Avenue and 43rd Street. Finally, there is one street stair to each of the northwest, southwest, and southeast corners of Eighth Avenue and 44th Street. The southwest-corner entrance also has a wheelchair lift that leads to an elevator. All of these exits are closest to the Eighth Avenue Line platforms and are signed as serving the A, C, E, and 7 trains.[126]

From the Times Square portion of the complex, several exits are signed as serving most or all of the services in the complex. There are two exits inside buildings on 42nd Street west of Seventh Avenue: the north side within 3 Times Square and the south side within 5 Times Square. On the south side of 42nd Street between Seventh Avenue and Broadway, there is an elevator and escalator bank inside the Times Square Tower. The street level fare control at this site features restored original "Times Square" mosaics from the Contract I station walls (now used by the shuttle). One street stair rises to the southeast corner of Broadway and 42nd Street. A block to the south, one stair goes into a building at the northeast corner of 41st Street and Seventh Avenue, and two street stairs go to the southeast corner. An exit-only stair rises to the southwest corner of 41st Street and Broadway.[126][4]^: 19–20

Two sets of exits on 40th Street are separate from the main mezzanine areas and are signed as only serving certain services. At 40th Street and Seventh Avenue, one stair goes into a building at the southwest corner, and one street stair goes to the southeast corner. These serve a mezzanine above the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line platforms and are signed as serving the 1, 2, 3, 7, and S trains. One street stair rises to each of the corners of 40th Street and Broadway, serving the southern mezzanine above the Broadway Line platforms. Those entrances are signed as serving the N, Q, R, W, and S trains.[126][4]^: 19–20

There are several closed exits throughout the station complex. Until 1981, there was a stair to the southeastern corner of 41st Street and 8th Avenue.[127][128] Another stair rose to the south side of 41st Street between Seventh and Eighth Avenues in the passageway between the Eighth Avenue Line station and the rest of the station complex, and was closed in 1989 due to very low usage.[129] A street stair to the northeastern corner of 42nd Street and Seventh Avenue, by One Times Square,[130] was closed around 1998–2000.[131] Two stairs to the northeastern corner of 41st Street and Seventh Avenue were closed during the same time, as were stairs to both western corners of that intersection.[131] In 2019, a stair to the southwestern corner of 43rd Street and Broadway was closed as part of the shuttle modernization project.[132][133]

As with other stations built as part of the original IRT, the station was constructed using a cut-and-cover method.[139]^: 237 The tunnel is covered by a "U"-shaped trough that contains utility pipes and wires. The bottom of this trough contains a foundation of concrete no less than 4 inches (100 mm) thick.[4]^: 3–4[140]^: 9 Each platform consists of 3-inch-thick (7.6 cm) concrete slabs, beneath which are drainage basins. The platform next to track 1 contain circular Doric columns spaced every 15 feet (4.6 m). Prior to the 2019–2022 reconstruction, there were additional columns between the tracks and on track 3's platform, spaced every 5 feet (1.5 m), which supported the jack-arched concrete station roofs.[4]^: 5–6[11]^: 4[140]^: 9 The renovation removed or relocated many of these columns so they are spaced at wider intervals, and an island platform was built atop tracks 2 and 3.[107] There is a 1-inch (25 mm) gap between the trough wall and the platform walls, which are made of 4-inch (100 mm)-thick brick covered over by a tiled finish.[4]^: 3–4[140]^: 9

The original decorative scheme for the side platforms consisted of blue tile station-name tablets, blue and pink tile bands, multicolored tile pilasters, a buff faience cornice, and buff faience plaques.[140]^: 36 The mosaic tiles at all original IRT stations were manufactured by the American Encaustic Tile Company, which subcontracted the installations at each station.[140]^: 31 The decorative work was performed by faience contractor Grueby Faience Company.[140]^: 36 The former southbound local platform (serving track 1) still has a vestiges of a doorway to the Knickerbocker Hotel,[6][4]^: 5 while the former northbound local platform (which once served track 4) retains a former doorway to the Times Building.[6] Small sections of the original wall remained before the station's reconstruction, with brick wainscoting capped by a marble band and white tiles.[4]^: 5

The shuttle station contains three works of art, all by Nick Cave.[141][142] Every One (2021), in the passageway between the Times Square and 42nd Street–Bryant Park stations, consists of a mosaic flanking 11 digital screens; one side of the mosaic measures 143 feet (44 m) long and the other measures 179 feet (55 m) long.[142] The mosaic and screens both depict figures in "Soundsuits", sculptural costumes made in a variety of materials. The two other artworks are Each One at the new shuttle entrance and Equal All on the island platform.[141][142]

Post-Reconfiguration island platform. Concrete lines show original 1904-2021 track alignment

Restored section of wall dating back to the original 1904 IRT subway

Restored Knickerbocker Hotel lintel over a doorway

Informational sign detailing the history of the station pre 2021 reconfiguration

View of original 1904-2021 shuttle platform from newly reconfigured platform.

Pre-2021 reconfiguration

Track 1 platform, looking toward connection to other two platforms

Platform for track 3, with a train on that track

View from removable walkway over track 4, looking toward the Broadway–Seventh Avenue tunnel

Second and third cars of a train on track 4

A view of the platform on Track 4 in 1958

North of the station, track 4 merges into the northbound IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line local track along the original subway alignment, north of the current Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line station.[6] The other three tracks once curved parallel to this. Track 1 ends at a bumper block at the west end of the platform. Track 3 originally also ended at a bumper block at the west end of its platform. There is no track connection between track 4 and the other tracks anywhere along the shuttle.[6]

In addition to the level currently in use, there was formerly a lower platform on the southbound side (one track underneath the downtown local track on the upper level, and one side platform underneath the island platform above). The lower level featured two high-speed escalators to the mezzanine, and three staircases to the upper-level platform. The walls featured 1950s-era cream tiles, a purple and black tile band, and white mosaic name plates with black "42ND ST" text.[63][64][65]

Theories differ on why the lower-level platform was built. The platform could only be reached by trains originating from Queens via the IND Queens Boulevard Line, and 53rd Street (the current E service). Some commentators have speculated that this was meant to allow Manhattan-bound E trains from Queens to hold at 42nd Street without slowing down service on trains traveling from Central Park West,[66] while the reported purpose of the platform upon its opening was to allow E trains to load and unload passengers without having to wait for one of the two upper level tracks to clear.[63][64] Others have suggested that the lower-level platform was built to prevent the IRT Flushing Line from being extended westward. The IND lower-level platform was located just beyond the tail tracks on the IRT Flushing Line platform.[159][66][99] This explanation is contradicted by the New York Herald Tribune, which wrote in 1928: "The construction is such as will enable the engineers to extend the Queensboro subway under and beyond Eighth Avenue in the direction of the 42nd Street ferry if desired".[160]

Film producers have used the lower-level platform for several films, most notably Ghost (1990), starring Patrick Swayze and Demi Moore.[65][66] By the 2010s, the lower-level platform had been bisected by the extension of the Flushing Line.[99]

A sign at the western end of the passageway ramp, informing customers that the passageway to rest of the complex is not wheelchair accessible

• Stookey, Lee (1994). Subway ceramics : a history and iconography of mosaic and bas relief signs and plaques in the New York City subway system. Brattleboro, Vt: L. Stookey. ISBN 978-0-9635486-1-0. OCLC 31901471.