34th Street was a station on the demolished IRT Third Avenue Line

IRT Third Avenue Line

The IRT Third Avenue Line, commonly known as the Third Avenue El, was an elevated railway in Manhattan and the Bronx, New York City. Originally operated by an independent railway company, it was acquired by the Interborough Rapid Transit Company and eventually became part of the New York subway...

. The station was served by Third Avenue local trains and a shuttle to the 34th Street Ferry

34th Street Ferry (IRT elevated station)

34th Street Ferry was a station on the 34th Street Shuttle that branched off of the IRT Third Avenue Line. The elevated spur operated from July 1, 1880 to July 14, 1930. Located on the east side of First Avenue, the station had two tracks and one island platform...

. Third Ave service originally had two tracks and two side platform

Side platform

A Side platform is a platform positioned to the side of a pair of tracks at a railway station, a tram stop or a transitway. A pair of side platforms are often provided on a dual track line with a single side platform being sufficient for a single track line...

s. During the Dual Contracts, a center express track was built. The shuttle to the ferry was served by two tracks and an island platform

Island platform

An island platform is a station layout arrangement where a single platform is positioned between two tracks within a railway station, tram stop or transitway interchange...

 attached to the northbound side platform. North of the station the westbound track of the shuttle merged with the main line.

The next stop to the north was 42nd Street

42nd Street (IRT Third Avenue Line)

42nd Street was an elevated station on the IRT Third Avenue Line in New York City. It had two levels with the lower level having three tracks. The main line tracks were served by two side platforms. A side platform connected to the southbound platform for shuttle service to Grand Central...

. The next stop to the south was 28th Street

28th Street (IRT Third Avenue Line)

28th Street was a station on the demolished IRT Third Avenue Line. It had two levels. The lower level was served by local trains and had two tracks and two side platforms. It was built first. The upper level was built as part of the Dual Contracts and had one track that bypassed the station and...

. Eastbound on the shuttle the next stop was Second Avenue

34th Street (IRT Second Avenue Line)

34th Street was a station on the demolished IRT Second Avenue Line. It had two levels. The upper level had three tracks and two side platforms and was used for the Second Avenue line trains. The lower level had two tracks and one island platform and was used by 34th Street shuttle trains. The next...

.

The shuttle platform was closed on July 14, 1930. The main line station closed on May 12, 1955.