Ferry, while the express tracks used the Brooklyn branch to Wall Street, extended to Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn via the Clark Street Tunnel on April 15, 1919. Extensions of the Eastern Parkway Line and the connecting Nostrand Avenue Line and New Lots Line opened in the next few years, with the end result being that West Side trains ran to Flatbush Avenue or New Lots Avenue. 1940s to 1990s In 1948, platforms on the line from 103rd Street to 238th Street were lengthened to to allow full ten-car express trains to platform. Previously the stations could accommodate only six car local trains. The platform extensions were opened in stages. On April 6, 1948, the stations from 103rd Street to Dyckman Street had their platform extensions opened, with the exception of the 125th Street station, which had its extension opened on June 11, 1948. On July 9, 1948, the platform extensions at stations between 207th Street and 238th Street were opened for use at the cost of $423,000. During the early 1950s, it was considered to convert the Columbus Circle station from a local stop to an express stop in order to serve the anticipated rise of ridership at the stop resulting from the proposed New York Coliseum and the expected redevelopment of the area. In 1955, the firm Edwards, Kelcey and Beck was hired as Consulting Engineers for the construction of the express station. Under a $100 million rebuilding program, increased and lengthened service was implemented during peak hours on the 1 train. To the north of 96th Street, delays occurred as some trains from the Lenox Avenue Line switched from the express to the local tracks, while some trains from the Broadway Branch switched from the local to the express tracks. This bottleneck was removed on February 6, 1959. All Broadway trains became locals, and all Lenox Avenue trains became expresses, eliminating the need to switch tracks. All 3 trains began to run express south of 96th Street on that date running to Brooklyn. 1 trains began to run between 242nd Street and South Ferry at all times. Trains began to be branded as Hi-Speed Locals, being as fast as the old express service was, with 8-car trains consisting of new R21 and R22 subway cars from the St. Louis Car Company. During rush hour in the peak direction, alternate trains, those running from 242nd Street, made no stops