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Canal Street ​​​​​
New York City Subway station complex
Station statistics
Address	Canal Street between Broadway & Centre Street New York, NY 10013
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	Chinatown, Little Italy, SoHo
Coordinates	40°43′05″N 74°0′00″W / 40.71806°N 74.00000°W / 40.71806; -74.00000
Division	A (IRT), B (BMT)
Line	BMT Broadway Line    IRT Lexington Avenue Line    BMT Nassau Street Line
Services	4  (late nights) ​   6  (all times) <6>  (weekdays until 8:45 p.m., peak direction)​    J  (all times)    N  (all times) ​   Q  (all times) ​   R  (all except late nights) ​   W  (weekdays only)    Z  (rush hours, peak direction)
Transit	MTA New York City Bus: M5 (SB)
Structure	Underground
Levels	2 (Broadway Line express platforms bisect 3 other lines)
Other information
Opened	September 4, 1917; 107 years ago (1917-09-04) (BMT Manhattan Bridge & Nassau St Lines) January 16, 1978; 46 years ago (1978-01-16) (IRT)
Traffic
2023	10,521,747  21.2%
Rank	17 out of 423
Location Show map of New York City SubwayShow map of New York CityShow map of New York
Street map
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 during the day Stops weekends during the day Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction Stops all times except weekdays in the peak direction Stops all times except nights and rush hours in the peak direction Stops rush hours only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only Station is closed (Details about time periods)

Canal Street is a New York City Subway station complex in the Manhattan neighborhoods of Chinatown and SoHo, shared by the BMT Broadway Line, the IRT Lexington Avenue Line and the BMT Nassau Street Line. It is served by the:

• 6, J, N, and Q trains at all times
• R train at all times except late nights
• <6> train on weekdays in the peak direction
• Z train during rush hours in the peak direction
• 4 train during late nights

Station layout

Template:NYCS Platform Layout Canal Street Station

The complex consists of four originally separate stations joined by underground passageways. Three of the four are perpendicular to Canal Street, crossing at Broadway (Broadway Main Line), Lafayette Street (Lexington Avenue Line) and Centre Street (Nassau Street Line). The Broadway-Manhattan Bridge Line platforms are directly underneath Canal Street itself. The Bridge Line platforms serve as the transfer passageway between all other lines. After leaving Canal Street, the Manhattan Bridge Line makes a hard right onto Broadway.

History

This complex was fully renovated between 1999 and 2004. The Broadway Main Line station was restored to its original look with new mosaics featuring Chinese characters, reflecting the station's location in Chinatown. The symbols on the red wall plaques mean "money" and "luck" and the "Canal Street" name tablet has ideographs that read "China" and "Town." During the most recent renovation in the 1990s, the original mosaics were uncovered but then either removed or covered over again. One of the original tablets has been preserved at the New York Transit Museum.

Some relative depths of the stations in the Canal Street complex are as follows:

• IRT Lexington Avenue Line, 20 feet below street
• BMT Nassau Street Line, 20 feet
• BMT Broadway Line, main branch, 40 feet
• BMT Broadway Line, Manhattan Bridge branch, 50 feet

IRT Lexington Avenue Line platforms

Canal Street ​
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Station statistics
Division	A (IRT)
Line	IRT Lexington Avenue Line
Services	4  (late nights) ​   6  (all times) <6>  (weekdays until 8:45 p.m., peak direction)
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	4
Other information
Opened	October 27, 1904; 120 years ago (1904-10-27)
Accessible	ADA-accessible (not accessible to other routes)
Opposite- direction transfer	Yes
Traffic
2023	10,521,747  21.2%
Rank	17 out of 423
Station succession
Next north	Template:NYCS next
Next south	Template:NYCS next Worth Street (closed)
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 during the day Stops weekends during the day Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction Stops all times except weekdays in the peak direction Stops all times except nights and rush hours in the peak direction Stops rush hours only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only Station is closed (Details about time periods)

Canal Street on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line is a local station that has four tracks and two side platforms. Due to platform lengthening in the 1940s and 1950s, there are two distinct sections of this station. The original portion has tile-covered I-beams with small and large mosaics and an ornamental ceiling. The newer portion has 1950s green tile at the end of the platforms. There are also IND-type "To Canal Street" signs. New lights are being installed. Non-original name tables and small "C" mosaics exist.

Image gallery

• The station used to have skylights to let natural light in (1905)
• Terra-cotta plaque by Heins & LaFarge / Atlantic Terra Cotta Company, 1904
• Name tablet by Heins & LaFarge / Manhattan Glass Tile Company, 1904

BMT Nassau Street Line platforms

Canal Street ​
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Template:NYCS-bull-small train towards Broad Street arriving
Station statistics
Division	B (BMT)
Line	BMT Nassau Street Line
Services	J  (all times) ​   Z  (rush hours, peak direction)
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2 island platforms (1 in regular service)
Tracks	3 (2 in regular service)
Other information
Opened	August 4, 1913; 111 years ago (1913-08-04)
Opposite- direction transfer	Yes
Traffic
2023	10,521,747  21.2%
Rank	17 out of 423
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 during the day Stops weekends during the day Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction Stops all times except weekdays in the peak direction Stops all times except nights and rush hours in the peak direction Stops rush hours only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only Station is closed (Details about time periods)

Canal Street on the BMT Nassau Street Line has three tracks and two island platforms, but only the western island platform is accessible to passengers. Formerly, Canal Street resembled a typical express station except that the inner tracks dead-ended at bumper blocks at the south end with a platform-level connection joining the southern ends of the two platforms. These stub-end tracks were last used in the mid-1990s when weekend J service ended here instead of Chambers Street.

After a reconfiguration of the Nassau Street Line in 2004, the eastern (former "northbound") platform was abandoned and now used as a storage area and the platform-level connection was removed, allowing the former southbound express track to continue south. The westernmost (former "southbound") platform remains in operation and both tracks provide through service with southbound traffic using the former southbound "local" track and northbound traffic using the former southbound "express" track. The former northbound local track is now used only for non-revenue moves, train storage and emergencies while the northbound express stub track was removed. The former northbound "local" track merges with the former southbound "express" track (the latter of which is currently the northbound track) south of the station.

This station was completed at the end of 1909 and included a bridge over the proposed Canal Street subway to cross underneath. Part of the Canal Street subway was built and is part of the Manhattan Bridge Line.

Delayed by construction of the Chambers Street, this part of the Nassau/Centre Street subway opened in August 1913.

There was an opening in the center wall about fifty feet from the end of the station that had a narrow platform, which was used by train crews to cross between trains on the center tracks. In 2004, this opening was sealed with new tiling, as the eastern platform was in the process of being closed.

South of this station there are unused stub tracks that formerly extended onto the Manhattan Bridge.

In the renovation, the original "Canal Street" mosaics were restored, and new wall and floor tiling were installed.

BMT Broadway Line platforms

Canal Street ​​​
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Bridge Line platform
Station statistics
Division	B (BMT)
Line	BMT Broadway Line
Services	N  (all times) ​   Q  (all times) ​   R  (all except late nights) ​   W  (weekdays only)
Structure	Underground
Levels	2
Platforms	4 side platforms (2 on each level)
Tracks	6 (4 upper level, 2 of them not for passenger service, 2 lower level)
Other information
Opened	September 4, 1917; 107 years ago (1917-09-04) (Manhattan Bridge) January 5, 1918; 107 years ago (1918-01-05) (Broadway Line)
Opposite- direction transfer	Yes
Former/other names	Broadway (lower level)
Traffic
2023	10,521,747  21.2%
Rank	17 out of 423
Station succession
Next north	Template:NYCS next Template:NYCS next
Next south	Template:NYCS next Template:NYCS next Template:NYCS next Myrtle Avenue (via Bridge, closed)
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 during the day Stops weekends during the day Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction Stops all times except weekdays in the peak direction Stops all times except nights and rush hours in the peak direction Stops rush hours only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only Station is closed (Details about time periods)

Main Line platforms (upper level)

Canal Street on the BMT Broadway – Main Line has four tracks and two side platforms. Only the outer local tracks provide through service on the BMT Broadway Line (N, ​R, and ​W trains) via the Montague Street Tunnel. The center "express" tracks, which have never seen revenue service, begin at the lower level of City Hall and run north to Canal Street, dead-ending at bumper blocks about two-thirds of the way through. The center tracks can be used for revenue service and work train layups, however this use has been completely made redundant with the nearby City Hall lower level being used as a layup yard instead.

As part of the Dual Contracts, these express tracks were to have continued up Broadway, fed by traffic from Brooklyn and the Montague Street Tunnel; local service was to have terminated at the upper level of City Hall. That plan was dropped prior to the line's completion. A new plan favored local service via City Hall's upper level, reconstruction south of that station to join the local tracks with the rest of the line and express service via the Manhattan Bridge. Thus, City Hall's lower level was abandoned during construction and never placed in service. Today, just north of this station, the tracks from the lower level curve north, rise up and replace the stub-end express tracks from City Hall's lower level.

In the late 1970s, New York City Transit fixed the station's structure and overall appearance by replacing the original wall tiles, old signs, and incandescent lighting to 70's style wall tiles, signs and fluorescent lights. They also fixed staircases and platform edges.

In 2001, the upper level received a major overhaul before the lower level reopened. Among the repairs included the staircases, re-tiling for the walls, new tiling on the floors, upgrading the station's lights and the public address system, installing ADA yellow safety treads along the platform edges, new signs, and new track beds in both directions.

Bridge Line platforms (lower level)

Canal Street on the BMT Broadway – Manhattan Bridge Line has two tracks and two side platforms. When it originally opened, this station was known as Broadway. Although technically located on the BMT Broadway Line, it was originally a distinct station from the main line. Located on the lower level and oriented perpendicular to the other portions of the complex, it is used by trains coming to or from the south tracks of the Manhattan Bridge. After the station, the bridge tracks curve north, and ramp up between the tracks from the local station to form the express tracks of the Broadway Line.

Under the Dual Contracts, this station was meant to be part of a crosstown line under Canal Street, running from the Manhattan Bridge to the Hudson River, or towards West Street; however, prior to the opening of the Broadway Line, the BMT decided to route Manhattan Bridge traffic to the Broadway express tracks instead. After the lower level tracks curve north from the Bridge Line platforms, the tunnel continues straight ahead, past the diverge to the Broadway line. The bellmouths going westward from the west end of the station are a provision from the original plans and run for about 100 feet. Also, sitting on one of the trackways is a storage building.

The original tile on this station read simply "Broadway" and there was a small either wood or metal sign attached to the wall beneath the tile name that read "Canal Street."

With the exception of a three-month period in 1990, train service to these platforms was suspended from 1988 to 2001 during the Manhattan Bridge reconstruction project. The platforms remained open as the transfer passageways between the rest of the complex. Service between Manhattan and Brooklyn was redirected to the Main Line platforms and the Montague Street Tunnel. The three-month period was supposed to have allowed train service while work on the bridge was not being done, but on December 27, 1990, the discovery of missing steel plates and corrosion that threatened the bridge's integrity halted this service. In 1997, a temporary art exhibit known as the Canal Street Canal by Alexander Brodsky, was installed on the northbound trackway. It consisted of a large waterproof tub filled with water, with Venetian canal boats floating inside. The platforms reentered revenue service on July 22, 2001 with new tiling on the floors, upgraded lights and public address system, ADA yellow safety treads along the platform edge, new signs, and new trackbeds in both directions.

East of this station are the trackways leading from Chambers Street on the BMT Nassau Street Line. These trackways led onto the Manhattan Bridge south side tracks, while Broadway trains ran on the north side tracks of the bridge. These tracks were disconnected as part of the Chrystie Street Connection in 1967 and no longer have rails or any other infrastructure.

Image gallery

• 
• 
• Main Line platform

References

1. ^ "Glossary". Second Avenue Subway Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) (PDF). Vol. 1. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. March 4, 2003. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 26, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
2. New York Times, City Subways Add 3 Transfer Points, January 16, 1978, page B2
3. ^ "Annual Subway Ridership (2018–2023)". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
4. "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership". New York City Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved 2014-03-25.
5. New York Times, Our Subway Open: 150,000 Try It, October 28, 1904
6. New York Times, Passenger Killed on Loop's First Day, August 5, 1913, page 2
7. http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/abandoned/Canal.platf.jpg From the Abandoned Stations website: A Public Service Commission photo from 1909 shows the east platform with non-tiled steel columns. The view is looking south, showing the wall between the center tracks. The stepped structure at the base of wall near the image center is part of the bridge over the projected Canal St subway, not even begun at the time. The station looks completed, about four years before it opened. There is a rough strip near the platform edge. Track was to be installed by the operating company.
8. http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/abandoned/Canal.openoldside.jpg
9. http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/abandoned/Canal.junction.jpg From the Abandoned Stations website: "Another Public Service Commission image shows the tunnel just south of the station as it was in 1909. Here, as in the plan, the trackways curving in from the Manhattan Bridge line, right, just run into the main line on the level. At left is the track opening into the east track of Canal St station. This arrangement was rebuilt in 1913-1914, shifting the track to Canal St station a little farther back, so that when the Manhattan Bridge trains began running in 1915, they reached the east side of Chambers St without crossing the tracks of the Williamsburg Bridge trains".
10. New York Times, Open First Section of Broadway Line, September 5, 1917
11. New York Times, Open New Subway to Times Square, January 6, 1918
12. Hevesi, Dennis (1990-12-28). "Hazards Halt Manhattan Bridge Subway Line". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-03-18.
13. Sims, Calvin (1991-01-08). "New York Reopened Bridge Subway Line In Spite of Warnings". The New York Times. Retrieved 2010-03-18.
14. "Canal Street Canal, Alexander Brodsky (1997)". nycsubway.org. Retrieved 2010-05-18.

Further reading

• Lee Stokey. Subway Ceramics : A History and Iconography. 1994. ISBN 978-0-9635486-1-0

External links

• nycsubway.org – IRT East Side Line: Canal Street
• nycsubway.org – BMT Nassau St./Jamaica Line: Canal Street
• nycsubway.org – BMT Broadway Line: Canal Street
• nycsubway.org — Canal Street Canal Artwork by Alexander Brodsky (1997) (no longer in display)
• nycsubway.org — Empress Voyage 2/27/1784 Artwork by Bing Lee (1998)
• nycsubway.org:
  • Early Rapid Transit in Brooklyn, 1878 to 1913
  • Broadway Subway Now Open, Public Service Record, Volume IV, Number 9: September 1917
  • Opening of the Broadway Subway, a collection of New York Times articles from 1918 regarding the then-new BMT Broadway Line
• Station Reporter — Canal Street Complex
• Forgotten NY — Original 28 - NYC's First 28 Subway Stations
• MTA's Arts For Transit — Canal Street
• Centre Street entrance south of Canal Street from Google Maps Street View
• Canal Street and Lafayette Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Canal Street and Broadway entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Abandoned Stations - Canal St east side platform (BMT Nassau/Centre Street Subway)

• Accessible New York City Subway stations
• BMT Broadway Line stations
• BMT Nassau Street Line stations
• IRT Lexington Avenue Line stations
• New York City Subway stations in Manhattan
• New York City Subway transfer stations
• Chinatown, Manhattan