Island City. The shorter Astoria Line would run to Astoria in northwestern Queens, while the longer Flushing Line would be built initially to Corona, and eventually to Flushing, in north-central Queens. As part of the Dual Contracts, the IRT was given ownership of both lines, but the BRT was given trackage rights over the routes, allowing both companies to share revenue from their Queens operations. The Queensboro Plaza station was built as an eight-track station, with four tracks across two levels. Each company took two tracks on each level. The southern half of the station, which opened on November 16, 1916, served trains of the IRT. The northern half of the station opened on February 1, 1917, serving BMT trains. In general, BRT trains were wider and longer than those on the IRT, and the Queens lines were built so that they could only fit the narrower IRT trains. The IRT had direct service into Manhattan via the Steinway Tunnel, as well as via the Queensboro Bridge to the Second Avenue elevated line. However, BRT trains from the 60th Street Tunnel and the Broadway Line in Manhattan could not run north or east of Queensboro Plaza, as they were wider. Consequently, BRT trains from Manhattan had to terminate on the northern side of the station, where cross-platform interchanges were available to narrower BRT shuttle trains that could run in Queens. The city government took over the BMT's operations on June 1, 1940, and the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940. In 1942, the IRT Second Avenue Line closed, and the upper portion of the north side was abandoned. The service on the Flushing and Astoria lines east of Queensboro Plaza was shared by the IRT and BMT until 1949. BMT trains on the Flushing Line were designated 9, while IRT services on that line were designated 7 on maps only. BMT and IRT trains on the Astoria Line were both designated 8. The IRT routes were given numbered designations in 1948 with the introduction of "R-type" rolling stock, which contained rollsigns with numbered designations for each service. The route from Times Square to Flushing became known as the 7. Service changes and station modifications On October 17, 1949, the $1.375 million renovation of the station was completed which allowed the rerouting of trains between Manhattan and Queens. As part of the project, the Astoria Line platforms were shaved back to