Now that the south ferry station is being remade the 5 train can possible terminate at south ferry again (since the 1970's)except rush hours.Is this a good idea?

The current station will be closed to passenger traffic when the new one is opened.

There never was much passenger volume on the 5 going to South Ferry anyway. It is close enough to Bowling Green for people to walk. That is also one of the main reasons why the Bowling Green shuttle was discontinued back in the late 1970's.

South Ferry Inner Loop which closed in 1977 had a tighter curve. When it operated, the (SS) South Ferry Shuttle ran South Ferry to Bowling Green.

I tell you, I experienced my first 5 train screeching around the inner loop while I rf'ed South Ferry recently, and man was that loud, and ear drum shattering! And the train was moving slowly. It's hard to believe that the inner loop was ever in revenue service.

the old train cars only used the middle doors and it had 5 cars that is why the track on the downtown side is not in veiw and It has the maroon 4 and bergendi 5 and ss letter

That is a forgotton sign with the (4)(5) and (SS) bullets in their 1970's colors.

The reason $500 million was just spent to replace the South Ferry station is because the 5-car capacity loop station backs up service for several reasons and it is inadequate to handle enough passengers due to the small platform and single exit. The station should not be put back into revenue service, especially with the 5 line with Bowling Green so close.

It would be nice if the 5 went to South Ferry with the 1.

But I doubt it...

This is a moot point since 5 midday service was extended to Brooklyn

The South Ferry shuttle from Bowling Green to South Ferry was not 5-cars in length. This is easy to tell even today, since the platform for the shuttle train at Bowling Green is not, and never was 5 cars in length. A train of 2 or at most three cars was used for the South Ferry inner loop.

The inner loop at the South Ferry station could accommodate a 10-car train, assuming that such a train could open only the middle doors of each of the cars. Since there are no such trains today in service, that platform is not used for service. There are openings in the inner loop wall that still can be seen when #1 trains used the old South Ferry outer loop station.

The outer loop at South Ferry was originally built to handle six car local trains of a previous type of subway car that only had exits at the ends of the cars. When the IRT subway system was built local trains were 6 cars, while express trains were 8 cars. Over time, all of the IRT stations that could be extended were extended to handle 10-car trains. The South Ferry outer loop platform and the 145th Street-Lenox Avenue station could not be extended. In fact one can easily see or determine the sections of the stations that were added to the original construction.

When IRT subway cars gained middle doors they could open at the South Ferry inner loop station, due to where the openings were cut. In such cars the middle doors could be operated separately. At the South Ferry inner loop, this feature was used to allow passengers to board the trains. After this kind of subway car was no longer in usage, a specially modified car was used for the Bowling Green-South Ferry shuttle.

However such cars could not open their middle doors at the South Ferry outer loop unless platform extensions were added. Until such extensions were added, the middle doors on the outer loop was not used. A kind of ironic situation.

Subway cars of the 1950's and 1960's no longer placed the exits at the ends of the cars but a few feet away from the ends. This meant that stations such as 14th Street and South Ferry had to have platform extensions built into the platforms to assist the riders. The platform extensions were placed where the doors were located, which would influence subway car design for a while. Since these cars did not have separate middle door controls, they could not be used for the South Ferry inner loop. In addition these cars were grouped in units of 5. After the platform extensions to South Ferry were built, the station could only allow a 5-car unit to open its doors at the station. From that point onward, only the first half of a train could open its doors at the station.

When Lexington Avenue express or local trains (basically #5 or #6 trains) that consisted of the newer subway cars were extended to South Ferry, they used the outer loop that the #1 train used. This created a kind of transfer between the east and west side subway lines. Thus the only the first 5-cars of a train (#1, #5, #6, or #9) could or would open at South Ferry outer loop. These trains were never shuttles, but full-length trains. At twenty minute headways between midnight hour #1 or #6 trains, both operations could be accommodated on one platform, the outer loop platform at South Ferry. During such periods, the inner loop station was closed, and the shuttle trains not used.

Basically the MTA has indicated that the old South Ferry station is not optimal for passenger usage. Thus it is unlikely that Lexington Avenue service will in the future ever be extended to the old South Ferry station. There are no passenger accessible entrances to the inner loop, and the access to the outer loop has been and remains closed.

Just a few notes.
Mike

is it still there?

Yes the old 1970's era sign and that short track is still there. Q89 next time you ride on the Brooklyn '4/5' lines, it located on the Southbound(brooklyn bound side)tracks by the front cars.

I can't imagine how much damage the trains would sustain over time from traversing such a curve.

well last time I was there there was a wood wall.

It a small section of the Bowling Green platform. Better yet if you get chance get off at Bowling Green and it is on your right by the first southbound(brooklyn bound cars)enterence.

If you ride in middle or last cars you wont see it.

In 1972, the (6) ran to South Ferry weekdays 11:30pm to 6:00am and weekends 9:00pm to 6:00am while the (SS) Bowling Green-South Ferry Shuttle ran normal hours.

If one wanted to ride the (6) to South Ferry, it was mainly late nights.

And with the midday expansion of 5 service into Brooklyn, and maybe more they may just do away with that part forever