thumb|right|250px|The original "H" system that predated the contracts

The Dual Contracts, also known as the Dual Subway System, were contracts for the construction and/or rehabilitation and operation of rapid transit lines in the City of New York. The contracts were signed on March 19, 1913, by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company and the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company. As part of the Dual Contracts, the IRT and BRT would build or upgrade several subway lines in New York City, then operate them for 49 years.

Most of the lines of the present-day New York City Subway were built or reconstructed under these contracts. The contracts were "dual" in that they were signed between the City and two separate private companies. Both the IRT and BRT (later Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation, or BMT) worked together to make the construction of the Dual Contracts possible.

Background

In the late 19th century and for most of the 20th century, New York was host to millions of immigrants each year. Many of the immigrants crowded into tenements and other apartment buildings in the inner city. This resulted in overpopulation of the buildings, and congestion of city streets. Manhattan's population had risen from 516,000 people in 1850 to 2.33 million people in 1910. The population of the entire city had grown from 1.17 million people in 1860 to 3.44 million in 1900 and 4.77 million in 1910.

The New York Times noted that streetcar ridership had increased more than 25 times over between 1860, where there were 50.83 million annual riders, and 1910, where there were 1.531 billion annual riders. and the Contract 2 portion was opened to Atlantic Avenue on May 1, 1908.

Contracts 3 and 4

The Dual Contracts were signed on March 19, 1913. The contracts bound Interborough Rapid Transit Company and the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT; later BMT) to build and operate lines for 49 years. Contract 3 was signed between the City and the IRT. Contract 4 was signed between the City and the Municipal Railway Company, a subsidiary of the BRT, formed especially for the purpose of contracting with the city for construction of the lines.

Under the terms of Contracts 3 and 4, the city would build new subway and elevated lines, and rehabilitate and expand certain existing elevated lines, and lease them to the private companies for operation. The expansions would total of new trackage across both systems; by comparison, the existing systems had of tracks. The city's third major rapid transit company, the Hudson & Manhattan Railroad (now PATH), was excluded from the contracts. The City's contribution was in cash raised by bond offerings, while the companies' contributions were variously by supplying cash, facilities and equipment to run the lines.

Queensboro Plaza

thumb|right|250px|[[Queensboro Plaza (New York City Subway)|Queensboro Plaza track plan]]

The contract negotiations were long and sometimes acrimonious. For instance, when the IRT was reluctant to cede the BRT's proposed access to Midtown Manhattan via the Broadway Line, the city and state negotiators immediately offered the BRT all of the lines under proposal. This included lines that would have only been operable using IRT rolling stock dimensions, such as the upper Lexington Avenue Line and both lines in Queens. The IRT quickly gave in to the "invasion" of Midtown Manhattan by the BRT.

The assignment of the proposed lines in Queens proved to be an imposition on both companies. Instead of one company enjoying a monopoly in that borough, both proposed lines—a short line to Astoria, and a longer line reaching initially to Corona, and eventually to Flushing—were assigned to both companies, to be operated in what was called "joint service". The lines would start from a large interchange station, Queensboro Plaza. The IRT would access the station from both the 1907 Steinway Tunnel and an extension of the Second Avenue Elevated from Manhattan over the Queensboro Bridge. The BRT would feed the Queens lines from the 60th Street Tunnel in Manhattan. Technically the line was under IRT "ownership", but the BRT/BMT was granted trackage rights in perpetuity, essentially making it theirs also.

The BRT had a big disadvantage, as both Queens lines were built to IRT specifications. This meant that IRT passengers had a one-seat ride to Manhattan destinations, whereas BRT passengers had to make a change at Queensboro Plaza. This came to be important when service was extended for the 1939 World's Fair, as the IRT was able to offer direct express trains from Manhattan, and the BRT was not. This practice lasted well into the municipal ownership of the lines, and was not ended until 1949. Both companies shared in the revenues from this service. To facilitate this arrangement originally, extra long platforms were constructed along both Queens routes, so separate fare controls/boarding areas could be established. This quickly turned out to be operationally unworkable, so eventually a proportionate formula was worked out. The bonus legacy of this construction was that the IRT was able to operate 11-car trains on this line, and when the BMT took over the Astoria Line, minimal work had to be done to accommodate 10-car BMT units.

Conditions

thumb|right|250px|The large [[Chambers Street (BMT Nassau Street Line)|Chambers Street station was the BMT's Manhattan hub.]]

thumb|right|250px|The large [[Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue (New York City Subway)|Coney Island Terminal in Brooklyn was the BMT's largest terminal outside of Manhattan.]]

thumb|right|250px|The IRT rebuilt the [[Steinway Tunnel, originally a trolley tunnel, for subway use.]]

Several provisions were imposed on the companies, which eventually led to their downfall and consolidation into city ownership in 1940:

  • The fare was limited to five cents; that led to financial troubles for the two companies after post-World War I inflation. The BMT could charge ten cents for fare to Coney Island Terminal, as well as to stations "where such ten cent fare is now allowed, until the time when trains may be operated for continuous trips over wholly connected portions of the railroad" between Coney Island and the Chambers Street station in Manhattan.
  • The companies, if they operated lines temporarily, had to operate them as if they were subway extensions. For subway extensions, if a company accepted the extension, it could operate it as part of its system; if not, the company had to pay a significant amount to the city every three months to operate it. This was implemented as part of the Queensboro Plaza trackage-sharing operation.
  • The IRT agreed to equip and operate the Steinway Tunnel until it was rebuilt and completed. Then, the Steinway Tunnel was still a trolley tunnel with no subway connection. Transfers were to be made to IRT rapid transit lines at the Grand Central–42nd Street station. The Commission approved single-car rolling stock for the line.

BMT lines

thumb|300px|right|1911 plan, giving all the contracts to the BRT

right|thumb|200px|1924 map of the BMT Dual Contracts lines

All Manhattan and Queens BMT lines were built under the Dual Contracts, as were all subway and some elevated lines in Brooklyn.

People were allowed to move to better parts the same cost and could have a better and more comfortable life in the suburbs. They could still commute to work every day as most of the better off city workers who moved to the outer boroughs did. This also helped the business districts as people could still work.

References

Notes

Sources

  • nycsubway.org — The Dual Contracts
  • Story including 50th anniversary of the contracts