Eighth Avenue Line (Manhattan surface)

For other routes named Eighth Avenue Line, see Eighth Avenue Line (disambiguation).
Eighth Avenue horsecar, 1895

The Eighth Avenue Line is a public transit line in Manhattan, New York City, United States, running mostly along Eighth Avenue from Lower Manhattan to Harlem. Originally a streetcar line, it is now the M10 bus route and the M20 bus route, operated by the New York City Transit Authority. The M10 bus now only runs north of 57th Street (near Columbus Circle), and the M20 runs south of 65 street.

History

The Eighth Avenue Railroad opened the line from the north end of the trackage shared with the Sixth Avenue Railroad's Sixth Avenue Line at Canal Street and Varick Street along Canal Street, Hudson Street, and Eighth Avenue to 51st Street on August 30, 1852.[1] It was eventually extended north to 159th Street, with a branch along Macomb's Lane to 154th Street, and another branch to the south along Canal Street east to Broadway. Buses were substituted for streetcars by the Eighth Avenue Coach Corporation in March 1936, a company owned by Fifth Avenue Coach Company.[2][3] The New York City Omnibus Corporation took over operations in 1951, and in 1956 it was renamed Fifth Avenue Coach Lines; the Manhattan and Bronx Surface Transit Operating Authority replaced it in 1962.


Bus service

In 1962, when the Surface Company bought 8 Avenue they put one bus service for the entire length. This was given the route number 10, which then became bus M10. In 1999, the M10 was truncated to Penn Station, and a new bus route, the M20, formed, running only to Columbus Circle and down to Battery City. The M10 still ran to Harlem. Due to a budget crisis, M10 buses ran only between 59th Street–Columbus Circle and Harlem starting June 27, 2010. In April 2011, however, M10 service was restored to 57 Street only. The last stops on these buses now are 58 street and Broadway instead of 59 street and 8 Avenue.

References

  1. ↑ New York Times, Eighth-Avenue Railroad, August 30, 1852
  2. ↑ New York Times, 5 Bus Franchises are Under Inquiry, January 4, 1934, page 1
  3. ↑ New York Times, Buses to Run Soon on 8th and 9th Avs., October 5, 1935, page 17
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