3 (New York City Subway service)

The 3 Seventh Avenue Express is a rapid transit service in the A Division of the New York City Subway. Its route emblem, or "bullet", is colored since it uses the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line through most of Manhattan.

The 3 operates at all times. Daytime service operates between 148th Street in Harlem, Manhattan and New Lots Avenue in East New York, Brooklyn, making express stops in Manhattan and all stops in Brooklyn. Late night service short turns at Times Square–42nd Street in Midtown Manhattan.

The 3 train formerly ran to City Hall or South Ferry in Manhattan, and was later rerouted to Flatbush Avenue–Brooklyn College in Brooklyn. In 1983, it was rerouted to New Lots Avenue.

Early history
On November 23, 1904, the IRT Lenox Avenue Line opened between 96th Street and 145th Street. 3 trains ran between 145th Street and City Hall, making all stops.

On July 1, 1918, the entire IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line was completed. 3 trains were rerouted south of 42nd Street from the IRT Lexington Avenue Line to this new line, making all stops to South Ferry.

As of 1934, 3 service operated between 145th Street and South Ferry except late nights, when service operated between 145th Street and 96th Street, making local stops.

Under the New York City Transit Authority
On January 3, 1955, late night two-car shuttle service between 145th Street and 96th Street, between 12:12 and 6:57 a.m. was discontinued due to low ridership. As a result, 145th Street was closed overnight. In addition, some 3 trains started running express in Manhattan during rush hours. These trains were extended to Flatbush Avenue; a few layups and put-ins ran to New Lots Avenue. However, from December 20, 1957, 3 trains were rerouted to New Lots Avenue during rush hours. On February 6, 1959, all trains except late nights made express stops in Manhattan as part of the "West Side Improvement" and ran to Flatbush Avenue.

Starting April 8, 1960, 3 trains were rerouted from Flatbush Avenue to New Lots Avenue, and weekday evening service between 9 p.m. and 1 a.m. was cut to a shuttle between 145th Street and 135th Street. Before the change, 3 trains had run between 145th Street and Flatbush Avenue between about 5:30 a.m. and 12:45 a.m. on weekdays and Saturdays and from about 7:15 a.m. to 12:45 a.m. on Sundays. This service had been supplemented by additional service to and from New Lots Avenue.

However, on April 18, 1965, 3 service started to run to Flatbush Avenue again. On October 17, 1965, weekend evening service was also cut to a shuttle between 145th Street and 135th Street.

On May 13, 1968, trains were extended to the newly completed 148th Street–Lenox Terminal. Later that year, on November 12, late night shuttle service was implemented between 148th Street and 135th Street. On May 23, 1976, the current practice of starting Sunday service late (9 or 10 a.m.) began.

On July 10, 1983, the and 3 trains swapped terminals in Brooklyn, with 2 trains terminating at Flatbush Avenue and 3 trains terminating at New Lots Avenue. These changes were made to reduce non-revenue subway car mileage, to provide a dedicated fleet for each service, and to provide an easily accessible inspection yard for each service. The change allowed the 2 to be dedicated to 239th Street Yard and allowed the 3 to be assigned to Livonia Yard. With the rerouting of 3 trains, train lengths along the New Lots Line were reduced from 10 cars to 9 cars, within acceptable crowding levels, and train lengths along the Nostrand Avenue Line were increased from 9 to 10 cars, reducing crowding.

Beginning on August 5, 1990, late-night shuttles between 148th Street and 135th Street were discontinued and replaced by shuttle buses. On September 4, 1994, late-night shuttles between 148th Street and 135th Street were resumed, but were discontinued again on September 10, 1995. This was a cost-saving measure due to low ridership.

From March 2 to October 12, 1998, the IRT Lenox Avenue Line was rehabilitated. Most 3 service was rerouted to 137th Street–City College.

Recent history
After September 11, 2001, the 3 service became a local in Manhattan. After a few switching delays at 96th Street, service was changed on September 19, 2001. All 3 trains began to operate express in Manhattan and terminated at 14th Street instead of New Lots Avenue; daytime trains were extended to Brooklyn to cover 3 service. Also on this date, 3 trains began to permanently use consists of 10-car trains as a result of equipment sharing between Livonia Yard (the maintenance facility in Brooklyn where subway cars assigned to the 3 are based from) and 240th Street Yard (the maintenance facility in the Bronx where subway cars assigned to the 1 are based from). Service returned to New Lots Avenue on September 15, 2002.

On July 27, 2008, late night 3 service was restored, operating express between 148th Street and Times Square–42nd Street. In addition, late morning weekday service was increased from running every 6 to 8 minutes to running every 5 to 7 minutes to reduce crowding on the 2. These increases were made as part of an $8.9 million package of systemwide service enhancements.

The Clark Street Tube underwent planned repairs on weekends from June 17, 2017, to June 24, 2018, due to Hurricane Sandy-related damage. The 3 operated only in Manhattan between Harlem-148th Street and 14th Street with trains providing service to New Lots Avenue in Brooklyn.

On November 17, 2019, New York City Transit made adjustments to weekday evening 3, 4, and 5 service in order to accommodate planned subway work. Late night 3 service to Times Square started an hour earlier, at 10:30 p.m. instead of 11:30 p.m.; to replace 3 service, 4 service was extended to New Lots Avenue. This change, which was approved by the MTA Board on June 27, 2019, was expected to save the agency $900,000 annually.

Service pattern
The following table shows the lines used by the 3, with shaded boxes indicating the route at the specified times:

Stations
For a more detailed station listing, see the articles on the lines listed above.