103rd Street

The 103rd Street station is a local station on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Lexington Avenue and 103rd Street in East Harlem, it is served by the 6 train at all times, the <6> train during weekdays in the peak direction, and the 4 train during late nights. This station was constructed as part of the Dual Contracts by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company and opened in 1918. It was renovated in 1990 and in 2015–2016.

Following the completion of the original subway, there were plans to construct a line along Manhattan's east side north of 42nd Street. The original plan for what became the extension north of 42nd Street was to continue it south through Irving Place and into what is now the BMT Broadway Line at Ninth Street and Broadway. In July 1911, the IRT had withdrawn from the talks, and the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) was to operate on Lexington Avenue. The IRT submitted an offer for what became its portion of the Dual Contracts on February 27, 1912. In 1913, as part of the Dual Contracts, which were signed on March 19, 1913, the Public Service Commission planned to split the original Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) system from looking like a "Z" system (as seen on a map) to an H-shaped system. The original system would be split 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. It was predicted that the subway extension would lead to the growth of the Upper East Side and the Bronx. The 103rd Street station opened on July 17, 1918, with service initially running between Grand Central–42nd Street and 167th Street via the line's local tracks. On August 1, the "H system" was put into place, with through service beginning on the new east and west side trunk lines, and the institution of the 42nd Street Shuttle along the old connection between the sides. The cost of the extension from Grand Central was $58 million (equivalent to $1.241482301×109 in 2025).

The city government took over the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940. In 1981, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) listed the 103rd Street station among the 69 most deteriorated stations in the subway system. A renovation of the 103rd Street station was funded as part of the MTA's 1980–1984 capital plan. The MTA received a $106 million (equivalent to $328,491,352 in 2025) grant from the Urban Mass Transit Administration in October 1983; most of the grant would fund the renovation of eleven stations, including 103rd Street. This station was renovated in 1990. The Downtown platform was renovated in 2015, with the placement of new white wall tiles, new floor tiles and benches. From January 26, 2016, to May 23, 2016, the Uptown platform was closed for renovation and was done in the same style as the Downtown platform. This was completed about a month earlier than planned.

This underground station has four tracks and two side platforms. The two center express tracks are used by the 4 and 5 trains during daytime hours. The 6 stops here at all times, and the 4 stops here during late nights. The station is between 110th Street to the north and 96th Street to the south. All other stations between Grand Central–42nd Street and 125th Street on the line, except 110th Street, have the local tracks on an upper level and express ones on the lower level, with emergency exits provided at local stations for emergency egress. Both platforms have their original trim line, which has "103" tablets on it at regular intervals, and name tablets, which read "103RD STREET" in the original mosaic. Prior to the 1990 station renovation, mosaic tiles were used

Data from Wikidata (CC0). Summary from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA).