181st Street (IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line)

181st Street
New York City Subway rapid transit station
Station statistics
Address	West 181st Street & Saint Nicholas Avenue New York, NY 10033
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	Washington Heights
Coordinates	40°50′56″N 73°56′02″W / 40.849°N 73.934°W / 40.849; -73.934Coordinates: 40°50′56″N 73°56′02″W / 40.849°N 73.934°W / 40.849; -73.934
Division	A (IRT)
Line	IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line
Services	1  (all times)
Transit connections	NYCT Bus: M3, Bx3, Bx11, Bx13, Bx35, Bx36 GWB Bus Station (at 179 St)
Structure	Underground
Depth	120 feet (37 m)
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Other information
Opened	May 30, 1906; 111 years ago (1906-05-30)
Station code
Accessible	ADA-accessible to mezzanine only; platforms are not ADA-accessible
Wireless service
Traffic
Passengers (2016)	3,772,385  0.2%
Rank	135 out of 422
Station succession
Next north	191st Street: 1
Next south	168th Street: 1
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York Show map of the US
181st Street Subway Station (IRT)
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
MPS	New York City Subway System MPS
NRHP Reference #	05000224
Added to NRHP	March 30, 2005

181st Street is a local station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of St. Nicholas Avenue and 181st Street in Washington Heights, Manhattan, it is served by the 1 train at all times.

The West Side Branch of the first subway was extended northward to a temporary terminus of 221st Street and Broadway on March 12, 1906 with the station at 181st Street not yet open. The 181st Street station opened on May 30, 1906, and on this date express trains on the Broadway branch began running through to 221st Street, eliminating the need to transfer at 157th Street to shuttles.

In 1948, platforms on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line from 103rd Street to 238th Street were lengthened to 514 feet to allow full ten-car express trains to platform. Previously the stations could only platform six car local trains. The platform extensions were opened in stages. On April 6, 1948, the stations from 103rd Street to Dyckman Street had their platform extensions opened, with the exception of the 125th Street, which had its extension opened on June 11, 1948.

This station, which is 120 feet (37 m) below the surface, has four elevators and a footbridge connecting the two side platforms at the northern end of the station. When the station opened on May 30, 1906, there had only been two elevators on the station's east side, but in 1909, two more elevators were added to the west side. There is evidence of manually-operated double-deck elevators as well as two closed footbridges toward the southern end of the station.