In April 1988, the New York City Transit Authority (NYCTA) unveiled plans to speed up service on the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line through the implementation of skip-stop service. As soon as the plan was announced, some local officials were opposed to the change. Initially, skip-stop service would have been operated north of 116th Street, with 1 trains skipping 125th Street, 157th Street, 207th Street, and 225th Street, and 9 trains skipping 145th Street, 181st Street, Dyckman Street, 215th Street and 238th Street. As part of the study that resulted in the skip-stop plan, the NYCTA examined the feasibility of using the center track for express service. However, the center track along the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line exists in two segments, which would result in an inefficient express service, and so skip-stop service was chosen instead. Most passengers would not have to wait longer for a train because, previously, a third of 1 trains had terminated at 137th Street. The previous headway for stations north of there was 10 minutes. At skip-stop stations, the maximum wait was to be 10 minutes, and would be 5 minutes at all-stop stations. Skip-stop trains would not speed through stations, instead passing through skipped stops at , the maximum allowed per NYCTA rules.