The confluence of tracks to the north of Grand Central was considered to be the city's "most fearful death-trap" by The New York Times in 1872, and large meetings were held to protest the deaths caused by collisions between trains and pedestrians.

On June 20, the entire improvement opened, and the first trains from Grand Central to the Harlem River were witnessed by large crowds of spectators.

[13] At this time, local rapid transit trains were expected to begin operation by September 1875 and were to serve stations yet under construction.

[11] On May 15, 1876, partial rapid transit began on the Harlem Line, with sixteen trains a day running between Grand Central Depot and William's Bridge.

[17] Loud daily complaints were made to William Vanderbilt, urging him to equip these two stations on the line, which was paid in half by the city's taxpayers.

[19]: 10, 72 According to an 1895 timetable, two trains stopped at 72nd Street daily to serve students attending what is now Hunter College.

[23] The Central had applied for permission to discontinue the two stations as they were operated at a loss, and as it was purported that having trains stop in the tunnel was a threat to public safety.