46th Street station (IND Queens Boulevard Line)


46th Street is a local station on the IND Queens Boulevard Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of 46th Street and Broadway in Astoria, Queens, it is served by the M train on weekdays, the R train at all times except nights, and the E train at night.

History

The Queens Boulevard Line was one of the first lines built by the city-owned Independent Subway System, and stretches between the IND Eighth Avenue Line in Manhattan and 179th Street and Hillside Avenue in Jamaica, Queens. The Queens Boulevard Line was in part financed by a Public Works Administration loan and grant of $25 million. One of the proposed stations would have been located at 46th Street.
The first section of the line, west from Roosevelt Avenue to 50th Street, opened on August 19, 1933. trains ran local to Hudson Terminal in Manhattan, while the ran as a shuttle service between Queens Plaza and Nassau Avenue on the IND Crosstown Line.

Station layout

This underground station has two tracks and two side platforms. The express tracks on the IND Queens Boulevard Line, used by the E train during daytime hours and the F train at all times, run via a separate routing under Northern Boulevard.
Both platforms have a purple trim line on a black border and name tablets reading "46TH ST." in white sans serif lettering on a black background with a purple border. Beneath them are small directional and station signs in white lettering on a black background. Purple I-beam columns run along both platforms at regular intervals with alternating ones having the standard black station name plate in white lettering.

Exits

Both platforms have one same-level fare control area at either ends and there are no crossovers or crossunders. The full-time side is at the west end of the Manhattan-bound platform. It has a turnstile bank, token booth, and one staircase to the northwest corner of 46th Street and Broadway. The fare control area on the same end of Forest Hills-bound platform has a part-time turnstile bank and token booth and one staircase to the southwest corner of 46th Street and Broadway.
The fare control area on the east end of the Manhattan-bound platform has a part-time turnstile bank and customer assistance booth and one staircase going up to the north side of Newtown Road between Broadway and 48th Street. The fare control area on this end of the Forest Hills-bound platform is un-staffed, containing full height turnstiles and one staircase going up to the southeast corner of Broadway and 48th Street.
There is evidence of a provisional fare control area at the center of both platforms, presumably leading to 47th Street. The Forest Hills-bound platform has a set of doors leading to an employee-only facility while the Manhattan-bound platform has a wide fenced off area. Stairs to the street were never constructed.