The Queens Plaza station is an express station on the IND Queens Boulevard Line of the New York City Subway. Located under the eastern edge of Queens Plaza at the large Queens Plaza interchange, it is served by the E train at all times, by the R train at all times except late nights, and by the M train on weekdays during the day.

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Queens Plaza  ​​
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
R160 E train departing the northbound platform
Station statistics
Address	Queens Plaza, Jackson Avenue, Queens Boulevard & Northern Boulevard Queens, NY
Borough	Queens
Locale	Long Island City
Coordinates	40.748915°N 73.937387°W / 40.748915; -73.937387
Division	B (IND)[1]
Line	IND Queens Boulevard Line
Services	E  (all times) ​   M  (weekdays during the day) ​   R  (all hours except late nights)
Transit	NYCT Bus: B62, Q32 MTA Bus: Q39, Q60, Q67, Q69, Q100, Q101, Q102
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2 island platforms cross-platform interchange
Tracks	4
Other information
Opened	August 19, 1933; 90 years ago (1933-08-19)
Accessible	ADA-accessible
Opposite- direction transfer	Yes
Traffic
2023	3,645,653[2]  36.9%
Rank	85 out of 423[2]
Services Preceding station New York City Subway Following station Court Square–23rd Street E  ​M  via Fifth Avenue/53rd Street Express Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue E  toward Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer Local 36th Street E  ​M  ​R  toward Forest Hills–71st Avenue Lexington Avenue–59th Street R  toward Bay Ridge–95th Street Local
Non-revenue services and lines Preceding station New York City Subway Following station Court Square Crosstown no service
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York
Track layout Legend to Jackson Hts–Roosevelt Ave to 36th Street to Lexington Avenue–59th Street from Lexington Avenue–59th Street to Court Square (Crosstown) to Court Square–23rd Street Revenue tracks Non-revenue tracks
Street map
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times except late nights Stops all times Stops late nights only Stops weekdays during the day

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While situated relatively close to the elevated Queensboro Plaza station on the BMT Astoria Line and IRT Flushing Line, there is no free transfer between the two stations.

The Queens Boulevard Line was one of the first lines built by the city-owned Independent Subway System (IND),^[3][4][5] and stretches between the IND Eighth Avenue Line in Manhattan and 179th Street and Hillside Avenue in Jamaica, Queens.^[3][5][6] The Queens Boulevard Line was in part financed by a Public Works Administration (PWA) loan and grant of $25 million.^[7] One of the proposed stations would have been located at Steinway Street.

The first section of the line, west from Roosevelt Avenue to 50th Street, opened on August 19, 1933. E trains ran local to Hudson Terminal (today's World Trade Center) in Manhattan, while the GG (predecessor to current G service) ran as a shuttle service between Queens Plaza and Nassau Avenue on the IND Crosstown Line.^{[8][9][10][11][12][13]} It was the first stop in Queens after crossing the East River for six years until the 1939 opening of 23rd Street–Ely Avenue.

Until the opening of the 60th Street Tunnel Connection in 1955 after the unification of the subway, only express trains in Queens ran to Manhattan; local trains were routed onto the IND Crosstown Line.^[14] This service pattern is no longer in use due to the opening of the 63rd Street track connector in 2001, and Crosstown Line trains now terminate one stop earlier at Court Square.^[15]

In 1978, the New York City Department of City Planning proposed making Queens Plaza into a large subway station complex. Queens Plaza would have been converted to a transfer station with the 63rd Street Line,^[16] which at that time was described as a "tunnel to nowhere" that did not connect with any other lines in Queens.^[17] The complex would also have had a retail center above it,^[18] as well as a transfer to the elevated Queensboro Plaza station.^[16] This was ultimately not constructed, and the 63rd Street connector was built instead, between the 21st Street-Queensbridge and 36th Street stations.^[15]

To speed up passenger flow, dozens of platform conductors were assigned to direct crowds at the Queens Plaza station during the late 1980s.^[19] In 2002, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced that elevators would be installed at the Queens Plaza station.^[20]

Ground	Street level	Exits/entrances
Mezzanine		Fare control, station agent Elevator at southwest corner of Queens Plaza South and Jackson Avenue
Platform level	Southbound local	← toward Middle Village–Metropolitan Avenue weekdays (Court Square–23rd Street) ← toward Bay Ridge–95th Street (Lexington Avenue–59th Street) ← toward World Trade Center late nights (Court Square–23rd Street) ← (No service: Court Square)
	Island platform
	Southbound express	← toward World Trade Center (Court Square–23rd Street)
	Northbound express	→ toward Jamaica Center–Parsons/Archer (36th Street late nights, Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue other times) → → toward Forest Hills–71st Avenue weekdays (36th Street) →
	Island platform
	Northbound local	→ toward Forest Hills–71st Avenue (36th Street) →

Like most express stations in the subway, Queens Plaza has two island platforms and four tracks, allowing cross-platform interchanges between local and express trains.^[21] The E stops here at all times,^[22] the R stops here except at night, and the M stops here only on weekdays during the day.^[23][24] East of the station, the M and R always make local stops, while the E makes express stops during the day and local stops at night. The next stop to the east (railroad north) is 36th Street for local trains and Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue for express trains, while the next stop to the west (railroad south) is Court Square–23rd Street for E and M trains and Lexington Avenue/59th Street for R trains.^[25]

Its tile band is of the darkest shade of the violet family (Black Grape), three tiles high and black-bordered. Both trackside walls have a deep plum trim line with a black border and tile captions reading "QUEENS PLAZA" in white Helvetica on black. These replace the original, light-purple trim line and the tile captions in the original IND font.^{[citation needed]} The tile band is part of a color-coded tile system used throughout the IND.^[26] The tile colors were designed to facilitate navigation for travelers going away from Lower Manhattan. As such, a different tile color is used at Jackson Heights–Roosevelt Avenue, the next express station to the east; the original purple tiles used at the Queens Plaza station were also used at all local stations between Queens Plaza and Roosevelt Avenue.^[27][28] Slate purple I-beam columns run along both platforms at regular intervals, alternating ones having the standard black station name plate with white lettering.