page_title: 59th Street–Columbus Circle station
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: 59th Street–Columbus Circle station / IND Eighth Avenue Line platforms / History
caption_attribution_description: Waiting for the train at 89th street
context_page_description: 59th Street–Columbus Circle is a New York City Subway station complex shared by the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line and the IND Eighth Avenue Line. It is the eighth-busiest station complex in the system. It is located at Columbus Circle in Manhattan, where 59th Street, Broadway and Eighth Avenue intersect, and serves Central Park, the Upper West Side, Hell's Kitchen, and Midtown Manhattan. The station is served by the:
  1, A, and D trains at all times
  C train at all times except late nights
  B train during weekdays until 11:00 p.m.
  2 train during late nights
context_section_description: When the Eighth Avenue Line was being built, the station was originally planned to be located at 57th Street, with entrances extending up to 61st Street. This station, along with the IRT station, was designed as a major transit hub under Columbus Circle. 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.
  The center platform was originally built along with the other platforms, but was first used in passenger service in 1959. It served the purpose of a Spanish solution, allowing passengers to exit both sides of subway cars as the express trains would open the doors on both sides. Newer subway cars' door controls made it more difficult to open doors on both sides of the train simultaneously; thus this solution became impractical and the platform was closed on November 8, 1973. In 2007–2010, it was converted to a crossunder between the IRT side platforms. Large metal fences have been erected to keep people away from the edges.
caption: The unused center platform during renovation
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