already using the station. The elevators at the stop handled 2,001 passengers a day in 1915, increasing by 200 percent to 5,187 in 1925. Bids for the project were received on August 28, with construction expected to be completed eight months after the contract was awarded. On October 14, 1925, the $107,865 contract was awarded to the Otis Elevator Company; the bid was the only one received. The NYCBOT found that other firms did not compete in the bidding as they were unable to meet the requirement that elevators be equipped with floor leveling safety devices. The elevators opened on September 16, 1926, coinciding with the start of classes at George Washington High School. Their installation required additional power supply. Mid-20th century The city government took over the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940. Platforms at IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line stations between and , including those at 191st Street, were lengthened to between 1946 and 1948, allowing full ten-car express trains to stop at these stations. Unlike the other stations being extended on the line, the 191st Street station could already accommodate ten-car trains, but because the platforms were long, not all doors of the first and last cars could open at the station. On April 6, 1948, the platform extension project at 191st Street was completed. Simultaneously, the IRT routes were given numbered designations with the introduction of "R-type" rolling stock, which contained rollsigns with numbered designations for each service. The route to 242nd Street became known as the 1. In 1959, all 1 trains became local. On December 28, 1950, the NYCBOT issued a report concerning the feasibility of constructing bomb shelters in the subway system. Five deep stations in Washington Heights, including the 191st Street station, were considered ideal for use as bomb-proof shelters. The program was estimated to cost $104 million (equivalent to $ million in ). The shelters were expected to provide limited protection against conventional bombs, while protecting against shock waves and air blasts, as well the heat and radiation from an atomic bomb. To become suitable as shelters, the stations would require water-supply facilities, first-aid rooms, and additional bathrooms. However, the program, which required federal funding, was never completed. In Fiscal Year 1961, the installation of fluorescent lighting at the station was completed. In addition, work began on the replacement of two of the station's elevators with automatic elevators, which did not require