Editing IRT Flushing Line (section)

===Construction under the Dual Contracts===
The [[Dual Contracts]] were formalized in March 1913, specifying new lines or expansions to be built by the IRT and the [[Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company]] (BRT).<ref name="nyt19130319">{{Cite news |date=March 19, 1913 |title=Money Set Aside for New Subways; Board of Estimate Approves City Contracts to be Signed To-day with Interboro and B.R.T. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1913/03/19/104910612.pdf |url-status=live |access-date=November 10, 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210707225820/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1913/03/19/104910612.pdf |archive-date=July 7, 2021 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The Dual Contracts involved opening the [[Steinway Tunnel]] as part of the new Flushing subway line.<ref name="Rogoff">{{cite magazine |last=Rogoff |first=David |year=1960 |title=The Steinway Tunnels |url=https://nycsubway.org/wiki/The_Steinway_Tunnels_%281960%29 |url-status=live |magazine=Electric Railroads |publisher=Electric Railroaders' Association |issue=29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191210061431/https://www.nycsubway.org/wiki/The_Steinway_Tunnels_(1960) |archive-date=December 10, 2019 |access-date=December 22, 2020}}</ref><ref name="Hood">{{cite book |last=Hood |first=Clifton |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Az6dEkuGhccC |title=722 Miles: The Building of the Subways and How They Transformed New York |publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press |year=2004 |isbn=978-0-8018-8054-4 |edition=Centennial |location=Baltimore |pages=163–168 |access-date=August 26, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220425235930/https://books.google.com/books?id=Az6dEkuGhccC |archive-date=April 25, 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref>{{rp|168}} The route, traveling under 41st and 42nd Streets in Manhattan, was to go from [[Times Square (IRT Flushing Line)|Times Square]] through the tunnel over to Long Island City and from there continue toward [[Flushing – Main Street (IRT Flushing Line)|Flushing]].<ref name="Rogoff" /><ref>{{cite book |url=https://www.nycsubway.org/wiki/Chapter_1:_Dual_System_of_Rapid_Transit |title=New Subways For New York: The Dual System of Rapid Transit Chapter 1: Dual System of Rapid Transit |publisher=New York State Public Service Commission |year=1913 |access-date=December 22, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111162732/https://www.nycsubway.org/wiki/Chapter_1:_Dual_System_of_Rapid_Transit |archive-date=January 11, 2021 |url-status=live}}</ref>[[File:Queens_Boulevard,_New_York_City_(1920).jpg|thumb|left|The IRT Flushing Line at [[33rd Street–Rawson Street (IRT Flushing Line)|33rd Street–Rawson Street]], seen in 1920]]

At Queensboro Plaza, the line met the BMT's [[60th Street Tunnel]], as well as a spur from the [[elevated (railway)|elevated]] [[IRT Second Avenue Line]] on the [[Queensboro Bridge]]. From this point east, the Flushing and Astoria Lines were built by the City of New York as part of the [[Dual Contracts]]. They were officially IRT lines on which the BMT held irrevocable and equal [[trackage rights]]. Because BMT trains were wider, and the platforms had been built for the IRT, normal BMT trains ran only to [[Queensboro Plaza (BMT Astoria Line)|Queensboro Plaza]], with a transfer to [[New York City Subway shuttles|shuttles]], using elevated cars, that alternated between the [[Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard (BMT Astoria Line)|Astoria–Ditmars Boulevard]] and Flushing–Main Street terminals. IRT trains simply continued from the Queensboro Line and Queensboro Bridge onto the lines to Astoria and Flushing.<ref name=":6">{{cite journal |last=Rogoff |first=David |year=1960 |url=https://nycsubway.org/wiki/The_Steinway_Tunnels_%281960%29 |title=The Steinway Tunnels |journal=Electric Railroads |issue= 29 }}</ref> The line to Flushing was originally called the Corona Line or Woodside and Corona Line before it was completed to Flushing.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1913/07/06/100633544.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230722153219/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1913/07/06/100633544.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 22, 2023|title=STATION SITES FOR NEW SUBWAYS; Pamphlet Issued by Utilities Board Contains List of Stops on Dual System.|date=July 6, 1913|work=The New York Times|access-date=October 1, 2017|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=V99LAQAAMAAJ|title=Annual Report|date=1928|publisher=J.B. Lyon Company|language=en}}</ref>{{Rp|9, 128}} The segment of the viaduct above Queens Boulevard, from 33rd to 48th streets, was made of concrete rather than steel because it was intended to serve as a gateway to Queens.<ref name="NYT 1995 r939"/>

The line was opened from Queensboro Plaza to [[103rd Street – Corona Plaza (IRT Flushing Line)|Alburtis Avenue]] on April 21, 1917.<ref name="HathiTrust 2013" /><ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Fg4KAQAAMAAJ|title=A History of the New York City Subway System|last1=Cunningham|first1=Joseph|last2=DeHart|first2=Leonard O.|date=1993|publisher=J. Schmidt, R. Giglio, and K. Lang|page=48|language=en}}</ref><ref name="nyt-1917-04-22">{{cite news|title=Transit Service on Corona Extension of Dual Subway System Opened to the Public|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1917/04/22/102336714.pdf|newspaper=The New York Times|date=April 22, 1917|page=RE1|access-date=October 2, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1917/04/20/102335849.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210624031916/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1917/04/20/102335849.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=June 24, 2021|title=To Celebrate Corona Line Opening.|date=April 20, 1917|work=The New York Times|access-date=October 1, 2017|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The Flushing Line was initially derided by opponents, as it passed through agricultural areas rather than connecting populated places, as previous lines had. Rapid development quickly followed once the Flushing Line was operational, with six-story apartment buildings being erected directly on the former fields, and several major firms building housing for their workers along the route.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nypost.com/2017/08/04/how-one-subway-line-changed-new-york-forever/|title=The Subway Line That Changed New York Forever|work=New York Post|date=August 4, 2017|access-date=January 16, 2020}}</ref> By June 1917 ridership on the line was exceeding expectations, with 363,726 passengers using the Corona Line that month, 126,100 using the Queensboro Plaza station, and 363,508 using the Queensboro Subway.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1917/08/12/102359307.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240704083337/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1917/08/12/102359307.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 4, 2024|title=BIG TRAFFIC INCREASE.; Reports Show a Total of 100,000 Over May on Queensboro Subway.|date=August 12, 1917|work=The New York Times|access-date=October 1, 2017|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

BMT shuttles began to use the Flushing and Astoria Lines on April 8, 1923.<ref>{{cite news|title=Additional Subway Service to Borough of Queens|url=http://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1923/04/08/issue.html|newspaper=The New York Times|date=April 8, 1923|page=RE1}}</ref> Service to 111th Street was inaugurated on October 13, 1925, with shuttle service running between 111th Street and the previous terminal at [[103rd Street–Corona Plaza (IRT Flushing Line)|Alburtis Avenue]] (now 103rd Street–Corona Plaza) on the Manhattan-bound track.<ref name="BklynEagle-IRTFlush111thOpen-1925">{{cite web|url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/59882105/?terms=%22111th%2BStreet%22%2Bsubway%2Bqueens%2Bcorona|title=First Trains to be Run on Flushing Tube Line Oct. 13: Shuttle Operation Ordered to 111th Street Station on New Extension|date=October 5, 1925|website=[[Newspapers.com]]|publisher=[[Brooklyn Daily Eagle]]|page=8|access-date=September 20, 2015}}</ref><ref name=":3">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=jw8kAQAAMAAJ|title=Poor's...1925|date=1925|page=523|language=en}}</ref> The line to Main Street had been practically completed at this point, but had to be rebuilt in part due to the sinking of the foundations of the structure in the vicinity of Flushing Creek.<ref name=":3" /><ref>{{cite news|title=Flushing Rejoices as Subway Opens|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/01/22/94122788.pdf|newspaper=The New York Times|date=January 22, 1928|page=28|access-date=October 2, 2011}}</ref> Once the structure was deemed to be safe for operation, the line was extended to Willets Point Boulevard on May 7, 1927.<ref>{{cite news|title=Corona Subway Extended|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1927/05/08/96646501.pdf|newspaper=The New York Times|date=May 8, 1927|page=26|access-date=October 2, 2011}}</ref><ref name=":5">{{Cite book|url=https://archive.org/stream/annualreport7192newy#page/12/mode/2up/search/pelham|title=Annual Report|date=1927|publisher=J.B. Lyon Company|language=en}}</ref>{{Rp|13}} This extension was served by shuttle trains until through service was inaugurated on May 14. On that date, the opening of the station was formally celebrated; it coincided with the opening of the Roosevelt Avenue Bridge for cars and buses.<ref>{{cite news|title=Flushing to Celebrate|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1927/05/13/117990767.pdf|newspaper=The New York Times|date=May 13, 1927|page=8|access-date=October 2, 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|title=Dual Queens Celebration|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1927/05/15/96648620.pdf|newspaper=The New York Times|date=May 15, 1927|page=3|access-date=October 2, 2011}}</ref> Wooden elevated rolling stock had to be used by the BMT, as the Flushing Line was built to IRT clearances, and standard steel BMT subway rolling stock were not compatible.<ref>{{Cite web |title=nycsubway.org: IRT Flushing Line |url=https://www.nycsubway.org/wiki/IRT_Flushing_Line |access-date=March 20, 2022 |website=www.nycsubway.org}}</ref>

==== Western expansion ====
In July 1920, the [[New York Public Service Commission|New York State Public Service Commission]] announced it would extend the Flushing Line two stops west to Times Square, with an intermediate station under Bryant Park. The western end of the Bryant Park station would be {{convert|300|ft}} east of Sixth Avenue, while the eastern end would be about {{convert|100|ft}} west of Fifth Avenue.<ref name=":12">{{Cite news |date=July 25, 1920 |title=Plan New Station for 42d Street; Proposed as Part of Extension of the Queensboro Subway. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1920/07/25/archives/plan-new-station-for-42d-street-proposed-as-part-of-extension-of.html |access-date=July 12, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="p576244392">{{cite news |date=July 25, 1920 |title=Subway Station on 42d St. Between 5th and 6th Avs. |page=A12 |work=New-York Tribune |id={{ProQuest|576244392}}}}</ref> The 42nd Street Association, a local civic group, regarded the station as very important.<ref name=":12" /> In May 1921, it was expected that contracts for the extension would be advertised shortly.<ref>{{Cite news |date=May 15, 1921 |title=East River Subway Nears Completion: Transit Commission Consulting Engineer Reports on Tube Construction |work=New York Herald |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35604540/new-york-herald/ |access-date=July 12, 2022}}</ref>

On November 9, 1921, the New York State Transit Commission opened up the contract for the extension for bidding. The extension would take a slightly different route than the one specified in the Dual Contracts. The original proposal had the line constructed under 42nd Street to a point just to the east of Broadway, which would have forced riders transferring to the [[IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line]] to walk a long distance.<ref name="Tribune1922">{{Cite news |date=November 6, 1922 |title=Queensboro Tube to be Extended West: Bids for Construction of Subway Over to 8th Ave. to be Opened Wednesday; Two Years' Job |work=New-York Tribune |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/65994240/new-york-tribune/ |access-date=July 12, 2022}}</ref>

The Times Square station would be designed at a lower level than the two existing stations at Times Square. It would have two upper mezzanines connected by passageways: a mezzanine east of Seventh Avenue extending to Broadway, and one west of Seventh Avenue. Escalators would connect these upper mezzanines with the lower mezzanine, and a provision would be made to permit the installation of an escalator to the east of Seventh Avenue. There would be two entrances at street level at each of the western corners of 41st Street and Broadway, and two entrances at the northeastern corner of 41st Street and Seventh Avenue.<ref name="Tribune1922" />

On November 22, 1921, the Powers-Kennedy Contracting Corporation was awarded a contract to construct the extension on a low bid of $3,867,138, below the estimated cost of over $4 million.<ref name="Tribune1922" /> This low bid was the narrowest margin ever recorded for any large city contract, beating out the next highest bidder by 0.7 percent. While the contractor was provided four years to complete work, engineers expected to reduce the time needed to do so to as little as three years. Since work on the project had to be completed underneath the foundations of several large buildings, such as theatres, and the north end of the New York Public Library, the contractor had to provide a $1 million bond.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 28, 1921 |title=Subway Bids 0.7 P.C. Apart: Unprecedentedly Small Difference in Estimates Offered |work=The Brooklyn Times Union |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35066635/times-union/ |access-date=July 12, 2022}}</ref>

The project was expected to reduce crowding on the 42nd Street Shuttle by enabling riders to use the Queensboro Subway to directly access Times Square. 24,000 of the estimated 100,000 daily shuttle riders transferred to and from the Queensboro Subway. The line was to extend as far as Eighth Avenue to connect with the proposed [[IND Eighth Avenue Line]].<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 23, 1921 |title=Queensboro Subway Contract Is Awarded; $3,867,138 Bid for 42d Street Extension Let to Powers-Kennedy by Commission. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1921/11/23/archives/queensboro-subway-contract-is-awarded-3867138-bid-for-42d-street.html |access-date=July 12, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="p576494810">{{cite news |date=November 23, 1921 |title=Subway Power Expense Added To 'L' Burdens: Impoverished System Forced to Foot Bills for Overhead, According to Check-Up of Interborough Transactions Hedley on Stand To-day Auditor Admits Campaign to Raise Fare Was Charged to I. R. T. Operating Cost |page=24 |work=New-York Tribune |id={{ProQuest|576494810}}}}</ref>

Powers-Kennedy started excavating the line westward from Grand Central in May 1922. The Flushing Line extension was to run beneath the original line from Vanderbilt to Fifth Avenue,<ref name="nyt-1922-05-14">{{Cite news |date=May 14, 1922 |title=Start Work on Forty-second Street Extension; New Link Will Run From Lexington Avenue and Forty-second Street to Forty-first Street and Eighth Avenue—Contractors Promise to Rush Work and Keep Streets Clear of Obstructions as Far as Possible |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1922/05/14/archives/start-work-on-fortysecond-street-extension-new-link-will-run-from.html |access-date=July 12, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> running as little as {{convert|4|in}} under the original line.<ref name="nyt-1926-03-21">{{Cite news |date=March 21, 1926 |title=Fifth Av. To Open Subway Station; Final Plans Are Announced for Inaugurating Queensboro Extension Tomorrow |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/03/21/archives/fifth-av-to-open-subway-station-final-plans-are-announced-for.html |access-date=July 12, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The tunnel also had to pass under a sewage line at [[Madison Avenue]]. The construction of the Fifth Avenue station required underpinning the [[New York Public Library Main Branch]] and extending the library's foundation downward.<ref name="nyt-1926-03-21" /> The subway tunnel ran {{Convert|35|ft||abbr=}} below ground level. During construction, workers took precautions to avoid interrupting the flow of traffic above ground and interfering with preexisting tunnels.<ref>{{Cite news |date=July 30, 1922 |title=Bryant Park Busy "Mine" |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1922/07/30/archives/bryant-park-busy-mine.html |url-status=live |access-date=August 14, 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190814190118/https://www.nytimes.com/1922/07/30/archives/bryant-park-busy-mine.html |archive-date=August 14, 2019 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The contractors had completed the tunnels to Fifth Avenue by May 1923.<ref name="p103117644">{{cite news |date=May 20, 1923 |title=Rushing Work on New Subway: New Tunnel Opened to Point Under Library, Fifth Av. And 42d Street, Last Week. |page=RE1 |work=The New York Times |issn=0362-4331 |id={{ProQuest|103117644}}}}</ref> Local civic groups advocated for the Fifth Avenue station to be used as a temporary terminal while the permanent terminus at Times Square was being completed.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 1, 1923 |title=Queens Subway Extension; Crossover at Fifth Avenue Station Will Hasten Opening. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1923/02/01/archives/queens-subway-extension-crossover-at-fifth-avenue-station-will.html |access-date=July 12, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="p1114723879">{{cite news |date=January 14, 1923 |title=Want 42d St. Extension Operated in Sections: Need of Transit Is Too Great to Wait for Completion of Entire Tube |page=B2 |work=New-York Tribune |id={{ProQuest|1114723879}}}}</ref> By the end of 1923, the Transit Commission had allocated $50,000 for the construction of a temporary crossover east of the Fifth Avenue station.<ref>{{Cite news |date=November 18, 1923 |title=Queens Borough Subwy.; Committees Ask That Fifth Avenue Station Be Opened. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1923/11/18/archives/queens-borough-subwy-committees-ask-that-fifth-avenue-station-be.html |access-date=July 12, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

The temporary terminal at Fifth Avenue was nearly complete by February 1926.<ref name="nyt-1926-02-21">{{Cite news |date=February 21, 1926 |title=Queens Tube Trains to 5th Av. In March; Subway Extension Completed From Grand Central to Near Sixth Avenue. |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/02/21/archives/queens-tube-trains-to-5th-av-in-march-subway-extension-completed.html |access-date=July 10, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref name="p1112728483">{{cite news |date=February 21, 1926 |title=Queensboro Line 5th Ave. Stations Open in March: Tracks Now Installed Between Grand Central and Near Sixth Avenue |page=8 |work=The New York Herald, New York Tribune |id={{ProQuest|1112728483}}}}</ref> The station had two entrances on the south side of 42nd Street (one next to the library and the other next to the park). A third entrance was placed within the [[Stern's|Stern Brothers]] building on the north side.<ref name="nyt-1926-02-21" /><ref name="p1112728483" /> Stern's funded the construction of the entrance inside its building, which also included storefront windows.<ref name="p1676686432">{{cite magazine |date=February 23, 1926 |title=Store News —' Retail Service: Stern's To Have Subway Entrance; To Open In Fall: Will Provide Only Access To Queensboro Extension On North Side Of 42D Street— Will Instal Display Windows |magazine=Women's Wear |volume=32 |issue=44 |page=6 |id={{ProQuest|1676686432}}}}</ref> These entrances connected with a mezzanine above the platform. The platform was to be {{convert|480|ft}} long, though only a {{convert|300|ft|adj=mid}} section would be used initially.<ref name="nyt-1926-02-21" /><ref name="p1112728483" />[[File:Queensboro Subway Service Extended To Times Square Station 1927.jpg|thumb|Queensboro Subway Service Extended To Times Square station 1927]]The Fifth Avenue station opened on March 22, 1926, extending the IRT Flushing Line one stop to the west from the line's previous terminus at Grand Central.<ref name="p1112743933">{{cite news |date=March 23, 1926 |title=Queens Subway Runs to 5th Ave. Amid Ceremony: Bryant Park Station Will Mark Terminal of New Extension Until Tunnel Is Finished to 8th Avenue |page=1 |work=The New York Herald, New York Tribune |id={{ProQuest|1112743933}}}}</ref><ref name="nyt-1926-03-232">{{Cite news |date=March 23, 1926 |title=Fifth Av. Station of Subway Opened; Ceremonies at Library Mark Completion of First Part of Queensboro Extension |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/03/23/archives/fifth-av-station-of-subway-opened-ceremonies-at-library-mark.html |access-date=July 10, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=hhvVAAAAMAAJ |title=Annual Report of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company For The Year Ended June 30, 1925 |date=1925 |publisher=Interborough Rapid Transit Company |page=4 |language=en}}</ref> In fall 1926, it was announced that the line would be completed by January 1, 1927.<ref name="OpeningNear">{{Cite news |date=March 2, 1927 |title=Nearly Year Late, New Station to be Open in 2 Weeks: Date for Extending Queens Subway Service to Times Square Long Delayed |work=The Brooklyn Times Union |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35066351/times-union/ |access-date=July 12, 2022}}</ref>

On February 8, 1927, the [[New York City Board of Transportation]] informed the New York State Transit Commission that work on the Times Square station was sufficiently completed to enable the start of train service beginning on February 19, 1927 with the completion of work to a point between Eighth Avenue and Seventh Avenue. Plans for the construction of an extension of the line to between Eighth Avenue and Ninth Avenue to provide a physical connection with the IND Eighth Avenue Line were underway.<ref>{{Cite news |date=February 9, 1927 |title=Times Square Tube Station To Open Soon: Train Operation on Queensboro Line Will Begin Feb. 19 |work=The Brooklyn Citizen |url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/35063157/the-brooklyn-citizen/ |access-date=July 12, 2022}}</ref>

On March 1, 1927, the opening of the line was set for March 15, the third time an opening date was set for the line. Work had been postponed given the amount of work that remained to be completed. The opening of the line was about a year behind the April 29, 1926 date specified in the contract. The delay was the result of surprisingly difficult construction. The Board of Transportation had withheld retained percentages, as allowed in the contract, penalizing the contractor, and trying to incentivize it to speed up work. No retained percentages were provided to the contractor until February 1927.<ref name="OpeningNear" /> The Flushing Line was extended to [[Times Square (IRT Flushing Line)|Times Square]] on March 14, 1927.<ref name="nyt-1927-03-1522">{{Cite news |date=March 15, 1927 |title=New Queens Subway Opened to Times Sq.; Service Starts at Once After a Celebration by City and Civic Leaders |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/03/15/archives/new-queens-subway-opened-to-times-sq-service-starts-at-once-after-a.html |access-date=July 10, 2022 |issn=0362-4331}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://archive.org/stream/annualreport7192newy#page/12/mode/2up/search/pelham |title=State of New York Department of Public Service Metropolitan Division Transit Commission Seventh Annual Report For The Calendar Year 1927 |date=1928 |publisher=New York State Transit Commission |page=13 |language=en}}</ref>

==== Eastern expansion ====
The eastern extension to Flushing–Main Street opened on January 21, 1928.<ref>{{cite news|title=Flushing Rejoices as Subway Opens – Service by B.M.T. and I.R.T. Begins as Soon as Official Train Makes First Run – Hope of 25 Years Realized – Pageant of Transportation Led by Indian and His Pony Marks the Celebration – Hedley Talks of Fare Rise – Transit Modes Depicted|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1928/01/22/94122788.pdf|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=September 18, 2015|date=January 22, 1928}}</ref> At this time, Corona Yard opened, with the inspection shed and some yard tracks available for use.<ref>{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Oxs9AAAAIAAJ|title=Annual Report for the Year Ending June 30, 1927|date=1927|publisher=Interborough Rapid Transit Company|language=en}}</ref>{{Rp|9}} The remaining tracks opened on April 16, 1928.<ref name=":4" />{{Rp|104}}

For the [[1939 New York World's Fair]], the [[Willets Point Boulevard (IRT Flushing Line)|Willets Point Boulevard]] station was rebuilt and centered on 123rd Street, just west of where the station originally lay. Some remnants of the old station are still visible; ironwork tends to indicate where the older outside-platform stations were, and the remains of the fare entry area can be seen east of the current station. The original [[Willets Point, Queens|Willets Point Boulevard]] station was a "minor" stop on the Flushing Line; it had only two stairways and short station canopies at platform level. It was rebuilt into the [[World's Fair (IRT Flushing Line)|much larger station]] in use today, and the ramp used during two World's Fairs still exists, but is only used during special events, such as the [[US Open (tennis)|US Open]] for [[tennis]]. Express service to the World's Fair began on the Flushing Line on April 24, 1939.<ref>{{cite news|title=Fast Subway Service to Fair Is Opened|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1939/04/25/91572482.pdf|newspaper=The New York Times|date=April 25, 1939|page=1|access-date=October 2, 2011}}</ref>

Currently and historically, the IRT assigned the number [[7 (New York City Subway service)|7]] to its Flushing Line subway service, though this did not appear on any equipment until the introduction of the [[R12 (New York City Subway car)|R12 rolling stock]] in 1948. The BMT assigned the number 9 to its service, used on maps but not signed on trains.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.thejoekorner.com/lines/suball-frame.htm|title=Line Names|last=Korman|first=Joseph|date=December 29, 2016|website=www.thejoekorner.com|access-date=April 29, 2018|archive-date=April 10, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210410202206/http://www.thejoekorner.com/lines/suball-frame.htm}}</ref>

====Unrealized eastern expansion====
The Main Street station was not intended to be the Flushing Line's terminus.<ref name="Raskin-RoutesNotTaken-2013" />{{Rp|49}}<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/17/dining/critics-notebook-pete-wells-explores-korean-restaurants-in-queens.html?_r=0|title=In Queens, Kimchi Is Just the Start: Pete Wells Explores Korean Restaurants in Queens|last=Wells|first=Pete|date=December 16, 2014|access-date=September 18, 2015|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|quote=We can blame the IRT. The No. 7 train was never meant to end at Main Street in Flushing.|author-link=Pete Wells}}</ref> While the controversy over an elevated line in Flushing was ongoing in January 1913, the Whitestone Improvement Association pushed for an elevated to [[Whitestone, Queens|Whitestone]], [[College Point, Queens|College Point]], and Bayside. However, some members of that group wanted to oppose the Flushing line's construction if there was not going to be an extension to Whitestone. In January 1913, groups representing communities in south Flushing collaborated to push for an elevated along what was then the LIRR's [[Central Branch (Long Island Rail Road)|Central Branch]],<ref name="Raskin-RoutesNotTaken-2013" />{{Rp|53–55}} in the current right-of-way of [[Kissena Corridor Park]].<ref name="Raskin-RoutesNotTaken-2013" />{{Rp|277}} Shortly after, the New York Public Service Commission (PSC) announced its intent to extend the line as an el from Corona to Flushing, with a possible further extension to [[Little Neck Bay]] in Bayside.<ref name="Raskin-RoutesNotTaken-2013" />{{Rp|56}} There was consensus that the line should not abruptly end in Corona, but even with the {{Convert|5.5|mi|km|-long|adj=mid}} extension to Bayside, the borough would still have fewer Dual Contracts route mileage than either Brooklyn or the Bronx. ''The'' ''New York Times'' wrote that compared to the Bronx, Queens would have far less subway mileage per capita even with the Flushing extension.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1913/02/09/100253625.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220518040930/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1913/02/09/100253625.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 18, 2022|title=Extension of Corona Line to Bayside Will Benefit Flushing Section of Queens|date=February 9, 1913|work=The New York Times|access-date=September 30, 2017|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref>

The Bayside extension was tentatively approved in June 1913, but only after the construction of the initial extension to Flushing.<ref name="Raskin-RoutesNotTaken-2013" />{{Rp|61}} Under the revised subway expansion plan put forth in December 1913, the Flushing Line would be extended past Main Street, along and/or parallel to the right-of-way of the nearby [[Port Washington Branch]] of the LIRR towards Bell Boulevard in Bayside. A spur line would branch off north along 149th Street towards College Point.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1913/12/04/100666082.pdf|title=Flushing Line Risk Put on the City – Interborough Agrees to Equip and Operate Main St. Branch, but Won't Face a Loss – It May Be a Precedent – Company's Letter Thought to Outline Its Policy Toward Future Extensions of Existing Lines|date=December 4, 1913|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=September 18, 2015}}</ref>

In 1914, the PSC chairman and the commissioner committed to building the line toward Bayside. However, at the time, the LIRR and IRT were administered separately, and the IRT plan would require rebuilding a section of the Port Washington branch between the [[Broadway (LIRR station)|Broadway]] and [[Auburndale (LIRR station)|Auburndale]] stations. The LIRR moved to block the IRT extension past Flushing since it would compete with the Port Washington Branch service in Bayside.<ref name="Raskin-RoutesNotTaken-2013" />{{Rp|62}} One member of the United Civic Association submitted a proposal to the LIRR to let the IRT use the Port Washington Branch to serve Flushing and Bayside, using a connection between the two lines in Corona.<ref name="Raskin-RoutesNotTaken-2013" />{{Rp|63}} The PSC supported the connection as an interim measure, and on March 11, 1915, it voted to let the Bayside connection be built. Subsequently, engineers surveying the planned intersection of the LIRR and IRT lines found that the IRT land would not actually overlap with any LIRR land.<ref name="Raskin-RoutesNotTaken-2013" />{{Rp|63}}<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/55624881/?terms=railroad|title=McCall and Maltbie Favor Transit Plan|date=March 6, 1915|work=[[Brooklyn Daily Eagle]]|access-date=September 30, 2017|page=4|language=en|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> The LIRR president at the time, [[Ralph Peters (LIRR)|Ralph Peters]], offered to lease the Port Washington and [[Whitestone Branch]]es to the IRT for rapid transit use for $250,000 annually ({{Inflation|index=US|value=250000|start_year=1915|r=-4|fmt=eq}}), excluding other maintenance costs. The lease would last for ten years, with an option to extend the lease by ten more years. The PSC favored the idea of the IRT being a lessee along these lines, but did not know where to put the Corona connection.<ref name="Raskin-RoutesNotTaken-2013" />{{Rp|64}} Even the majority of groups in eastern Queens supported the lease plan.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1915/04/02/106731397.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220518040931/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1915/04/02/106731397.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 18, 2022|title=9-FOOT PETITION FOR CARS.; Service Board Gets Plea of Several Long Island Towns.|date=April 2, 1915|work=The New York Times|access-date=September 30, 2017|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331}}</ref> The only group who opposed the lease agreement was the Flushing Association, who preferred a previous plan to build the Corona Line extension as a subway under Amity Street (currently Roosevelt Avenue), ending at Main Street.<ref name="Raskin-RoutesNotTaken-2013" />{{Rp|64–65}}

Afterward, the PSC largely ignored the lease plan since it was still focused on building the first phase of the Dual Contracts. The Flushing Business Men's Association kept advocating for the Amity Street subway, causing a schism between them and the rest of the groups that supported the LIRR lease. Through the summer of 1915, the PSC and the LIRR negotiated the planned lease to $125,000 a first year, {{Inflation|index=US|value=125000|start_year=1915|r=-4|fmt=eq}}, with an eight percent increase each year; the negotiations then stalled in 1916.<ref name="Raskin-RoutesNotTaken-2013" />{{Rp|65–66}} The Whitestone Improvement Association, impatient with the pace of negotiations, approved of the subway under Amity Street even though it would not serve them directly.<ref name="Raskin-RoutesNotTaken-2013" />{{Rp|66}}<ref name=":0a">{{Cite news|url=https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/55283201/|title=Now Urge Action on Old Transit Plan|date=March 29, 1916|work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle|access-date=September 30, 2017|page=14|language=en|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> The PSC's chief engineer wrote in a report that a combined 20,600 riders would use the Whitestone and Bayside lines each day in either direction, and that by 1927, there would be 34,000 riders per day per direction.<ref name=":0a" /><ref name="Raskin-RoutesNotTaken-2013" />{{Rp|67}} The Third Ward Rapid Transit Association wrote a report showing how much they had petitioned for Flushing subway extensions to that point, compared to how little progress they had made in doing so.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/55315628/|title=Work for Transit is Called Wasted|date=May 18, 1916|work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle|access-date=September 30, 2017|page=4|language=en|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> Negotiations continued to be stalled in 1917.<ref name="Raskin-RoutesNotTaken-2013" />{{Rp|67}} Despite the line not having been extended past Corona yet, the idea of a subway extension to [[Little Neck, Queens|Little Neck]] encouraged development there.<ref name="Raskin-RoutesNotTaken-2013" />{{Rp|68}}

The Whitestone Branch would have had to be rebuilt if it were leased to the subway, with [[Level crossing|railroad crossings]] removed and the [[Single-track railway|single track]] doubled. The PSC located 14 places where crossings needed to be eliminated. However, by early 1917, there was barely enough money to build the subway to Flushing, let alone a link to Whitestone and Bayside.<ref name="Raskin-RoutesNotTaken-2013" />{{Rp|68}} A lease agreement was announced on October 16, 1917,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://bklyn.newspapers.com/image/55296476/|title=Agree on tentative Plan for Lease of Tracks in 3rd Ward|date=October 16, 1917|work=Brooklyn Daily Eagle|access-date=September 30, 2017|page=14|language=en|via=[[Newspapers.com]]}}</ref> but the IRT withdrew from the agreement a month later, citing that it was inappropriate to enter such an agreement at that time.<ref name="Raskin-RoutesNotTaken-2013" />{{Rp|68}} Thereafter, the PSC instead turned its attention back to the Main Street subway extension.<ref name="Raskin-RoutesNotTaken-2013" />{{Rp|71}}

Even after the Main Street station opened in 1928, efforts to extend the line past Flushing persisted. In 1928, the [[New York City Board of Transportation]] (BOT) proposed allowing IRT trains to build a connection to use the Whitestone Branch, but the IRT did not accept the offer since this would entail upgrading railroad crossings and the single-tracked line. Subsequently, the LIRR abandoned the branch in 1932.<ref name="Raskin-RoutesNotTaken-2013" />{{Rp|72}} As part of the 1929 [[IND Second System]] plan, the Flushing Line would have had branches to [[College Point, Queens|College Point]] and [[Bayside, Queens|Bayside]] east of Main Street.<ref name="Raskin-RoutesNotTaken-2013">{{Cite Routes Not Taken}}</ref><ref name="IND2ndSystem1929Map">[[:File:1929 IND Second System.jpg|Board of Transportation of the City of New York Engineering Department, Proposed Additional Rapid Transit Lines And Proposed Vehicular Tunnel]], dated August 23, 1929</ref><ref name="NYTimes-OurGreatSubway-IND2ndSystem-1929">{{cite news|last1=Duffus|first1=R.L.|title=Our Great Subway Network Spreads Wider – New Plans of Board of Transportation Involve the Building of More Than One Hundred Miles of Additional Rapid Transit Routes for New York|url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1929/09/22/91938390.pdf|newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|access-date=August 19, 2015|date=September 22, 1929}}</ref> That plan was revived in 1939.<ref name="IND2ndSystem1939Map">[//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/1939_IND_Second_System.jpg Project for Expanded Rapid Transit Facilities, New York City Transit System], dated July 5, 1939</ref> The BOT kept proposing an extension of the Flushing Line past Main Street until 1945, when [[World War II]] ended and new budgets did not allow for a Flushing extension. Since then, several [[New York City Transit Authority]] proposals for an eastward extension have all failed.<ref name="Raskin-RoutesNotTaken-2013" />{{Rp|72}}