Unifying the Subways

Railroad Avenue Enterprises, softcover, 72 pages, 8.5 x 11 x.25 in., B&W photographs.

Unification of New York's rapid transit lines started on June 1, 1940. After a decade of rough-and-tumble politics, the Inter-borough Rapid Transit and the Brooklyn and Manhattan Transit properties had been bought by the city.

The properties were then combined with the municipal Independent Subway system. The combined operation was the New York Transit System run by the Board of Transportation. The board dated back to 1924 and, as an arm of the city government, was controlled by the mayor.

The Board thus lacked the independence needed to handle fundamentals such as setting fare levels to assure adequate income and establishing spending priorities on a strictly business-like basis. A fight by local politicians to retain this political power would massively consume the energies of the city, state, labor and civic groups throughout the 1940s and beyond.

The focus of this book is on the events of the 13 year period between unification and the transfer of the city's transit system to an independent entity-the New York Transit Authority.

Contents:

• Introduction, p. 4
• From Unification to the Transit Authority, pp. 5–13
• A Few Rolling Stock Examples from the Board of Transportation's Fleet, pp. 14–20
• Scenes from Around the System, pp. 21–44
• The Brooklyn El's, pp. 45–53
• The Manhattan Els, pp. 54–60
• Some Non-Passenger Equipment, pp. 61–67
• Finishing Up on the IND, pp. 68–72.