The BMT Brighton Line, also known as the Brighton Beach Line,
is a
rapid transit
Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be c ...
line in the
B Division B Division, Division B, or variant may refer to:
* ''B Division'' (New York City Subway)
* ''B Division'' (Irish League), association football
* ''Division B'' (Scottish Football League)
* ''Divizia B'' (Romanian Football League)
* Moldovan "B ...
of the
New York City Subway
The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...
in
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...
,
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. Local service is provided at all times by the
Q train, but is joined by the
B express train on weekdays. The Q train runs the length of the entire line from
Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue
Coney may refer to:
Places
* Côney, a river in eastern France
* Coney, Georgia, an unincorporated community in the United States
* Coney Island (disambiguation)
People
* Dean Coney (born 1963), English footballer
* Hykiem Coney (1982–200 ...
to the
Manhattan Bridge south tracks. The B begins at
Brighton Beach
Brighton Beach is a List of Brooklyn neighborhoods, neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn, within the greater Coney Island area along the Atlantic Ocean coastline. Brighton Beach i ...
and runs via the bridge's north tracks.
The line first opened in 1878 as a two-track surface-level excursion
railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
called the Brooklyn, Flatbush and Coney Island Railway, transporting riders from
Downtown Brooklyn
Downtown Brooklyn is the third largest central business district in New York City after Midtown Manhattan and Lower Manhattan), and is located in the northwestern section of the borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is known for its office and ...
via a connection with the
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk Co ...
(LIRR) to the seaside resorts at
Coney Island
Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...
. When its connection with the LIRR was severed in 1883, the line became the Brooklyn and Brighton Beach Railroad, which was eventually acquired by the
Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company
The Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) was a public transit holding company formed in 1896 to acquire and consolidate railway lines in Brooklyn and Queens, New York City, United States. It was a prominent corporation and industry leader using ...
(BRT, later
Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation
The Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT) was an urban transit holding company, based in Brooklyn, New York City, United States, and incorporated in 1923. The system was sold to the city in 1940. Today, together with the IND subway s ...
MT. From 1903 to 1908, all of the original line's
grade crossings
A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term also ...
were eliminated; This project also widened the line from two to four tracks from Church Avenue to Sheepshead Bay; From 1918 to 1920 the portion of original open-cut right-of-way from Church Avenue to
Prospect Park station was widened to four tracks and a new subway alignment was built north of the Prospect Park station. The northern part of the original line became the modern-day
BMT Franklin Avenue Line, which still runs today. In subsequent years, numerous improvements were made to the Brighton Line.
__TOC__
History
Origins
![Bmt triplex no 1](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/be/Bmt_triplex_no_1.png)
The Brighton Line opened from the
Willink Plaza
The Willink Entrance area, also known as Willink Plaza, is a major urban square of Brooklyn, New York City, formed by the intersection of Flatbush Avenue, Ocean Avenue and Empire Boulevard, at the eastern corner of Prospect Park and the souther ...
entrance of
Prospect Park (modern intersection of
Flatbush and
Ocean Avenues and Empire Boulevard, now the Prospect Park station on both the renamed Brighton and the Franklin Avenue Shuttle lines) to
Brighton Beach
Brighton Beach is a List of Brooklyn neighborhoods, neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn, within the greater Coney Island area along the Atlantic Ocean coastline. Brighton Beach i ...
(modern
Coney Island Avenue
Coney Island Avenue is a road in the New York City borough of Brooklyn that runs north-south for a distance of roughly five miles, almost parallel to Ocean Parkway and Ocean Avenue. It begins at Brighton Beach Avenue in Coney Island and goes nort ...
at the shoreline) on July 2, 1878 and the full original line on August 18. It was an excursion
railroad
Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...
— the Brooklyn, Flatbush and Coney Island Railway — to bring
beach
A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc shel ...
goers from downtown Brooklyn (via a connection with the
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk Co ...
) to the seashore at
Coney Island
Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...
on the
Atlantic Ocean
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe ...
, at a location named
Brighton Beach
Brighton Beach is a List of Brooklyn neighborhoods, neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn, within the greater Coney Island area along the Atlantic Ocean coastline. Brighton Beach i ...
at the same time the railroad arrived. It has been known since its opening as the Brighton Beach Line but is now described as the Brighton Line in MTA literature and in public usage.
After losing its connection with the Long Island Rail Road in 1883, the railroad fell on hard times, reorganizing as the Brooklyn and Brighton Beach Railroad. Seeking a new route for its excursion business and its local trade in communities along the way, it formed an agreement with the
Kings County Elevated Railway
The Kings County Elevated Railway Company (KCERy) was a builder and operator of elevated railway lines in Kings County, New York. Kings County is now coextensive with the borough of Brooklyn in New York City, but at the time the railway started, ...
to connect to its Fulton Street Line, which gave access to the new
Brooklyn Bridge
The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/ suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River ...
and Manhattan passengers. This was accomplished in 1896.
A series of mergers and leases put the Brighton Beach Line in the hands of the
Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company
The Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) was a public transit holding company formed in 1896 to acquire and consolidate railway lines in Brooklyn and Queens, New York City, United States. It was a prominent corporation and industry leader using ...
(BRT), a
holding company
A holding company is a company whose primary business is holding a controlling interest in the securities of other companies. A holding company usually does not produce goods or services itself. Its purpose is to own shares of other companies ...
which eventually controlled most of the
rapid transit
Rapid transit or mass rapid transit (MRT), also known as heavy rail or metro, is a type of high-capacity public transport generally found in urban areas. A rapid transit system that primarily or traditionally runs below the surface may be c ...
,
streetcar
A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport are ...
, and
bus
A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...
lines in Brooklyn and part of
Queens
Queens is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Queens County, in the U.S. state of New York. Located on Long Island, it is the largest New York City borough by area. It is bordered by the borough of Brooklyn at the western tip of Long ...
. The line was electrified with trolley wire and, for a time, trolleys from several surface routes and elevated trains operated together on the line.
The BRT was reorganized as the
Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation
The Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT) was an urban transit holding company, based in Brooklyn, New York City, United States, and incorporated in 1923. The system was sold to the city in 1940. Today, together with the IND subway s ...
(BMT) in 1923. In 1940, the BMT was purchased by the
City
A city is a human settlement of notable size.Goodall, B. (1987) ''The Penguin Dictionary of Human Geography''. London: Penguin.Kuper, A. and Kuper, J., eds (1996) ''The Social Science Encyclopedia''. 2nd edition. London: Routledge. It can be def ...
of New York, and operation passed to the city's
Board of Transportation, which already operated the city-built
Independent Subway System
The Independent Subway System (IND or ISS), formerly known as the Independent City-Owned Subway System (ICOSS) or the Independent City-Owned Rapid Transit Railroad (ICORTR), was a rapid transit rail system in New York City that is now part of th ...
(IND).
![LIRR Manhattan Beach Line - abutment traces](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/89/LIRR_Manhattan_Beach_Line_-_abutment_traces.jpg)
The original line was a two-tracked high-speed surface steam railroad operating from Bedford Station, at Atlantic Avenue near Franklin Avenue in the City of Brooklyn, at which point it made a physical connection to the
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk Co ...
's
Atlantic Branch
The Atlantic Branch is an electrified rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. It is the only LIRR line with revenue passenger service in the borough of Brooklyn.
The line consists of two sectio ...
. From Bedford the line ran on a surface private right-of-way several blocks south to Park Place, which it crossed at grade, and then in an open cut with street overpasses through what is now Crown Heights and Flatbush, as far as Church Lane (now Church Avenue) in the
Town
A town is a human settlement. Towns are generally larger than villages and smaller than cities, though the criteria to distinguish between them vary considerably in different parts of the world.
Origin and use
The word "town" shares an ori ...
and
Village
A village is a clustered human settlement or community, larger than a hamlet but smaller than a town (although the word is often used to describe both hamlets and smaller towns), with a population typically ranging from a few hundred to ...
of Flatbush. From that point the line continued on the surface to a point at current Beverley Road between Marlborough Road (East 15th Street) and East 16th Street, curving southeast and running on the surface between the lines of the latter streets through the Towns of Flatbush and Gravesend to Sheepshead Bay, then turning southerly to reach the beach at Brighton Beach on Coney Island in the Town of Gravesend.
The line was extended westward from Brighton Beach in 1903, so that it could terminate with the former Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad at
Culver Depot
Culver Depot, also called Culver Terminal or Culver Plaza, was a railroad and streetcar terminal in Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, United States, located on the northern side of Surf Avenue near West 5th Street. Plan of the New Terminal ...
in Coney Island. Passengers, with this short extension, were given access to the developing area of Coney Island. The Culver Depot became the center of operations for the Culver Line and the Brighton Beach Line.
Grade crossing eliminations, 1903–1908 and 1918–1920
![Brighton beach elevated subway line over a street](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/45/Brighton_beach_elevated_subway_line_over_a_street.jpg)
In 1903, the New York State Legislature created the Brooklyn Grade Crossing Elimination Commission (BGCEC) to eliminate all
grade crossing
A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line crossing over or under using an overpass or tunnel. The term also ...
s on the Brighton Beach Line and the Bay Ridge Line of the Long Island Rail Road. The city was supposed to cover half of the costs, not exceeding $1 million, while the railroads were to cover the other half of the costs. The work started on December 30, 1905, and was completed in 1908. A short piece of two-tracked elevated railroad was built from the ramp connecting to the Fulton Street Elevated as far as Park Place, where the original 1878 open cut began. From the end of that original cut south of Church Avenue, the line was wholly rebuilt as a four-track railroad with express and local stations to a point south of Neptune Avenue at the border of Coney Island, continuing along its original right-of-way to Brighton Beach station. The portion from Church Avenue to Avenue H was placed in a depressed open cut, while the portion from Avenue H to south of Sheepshead Bay was raised onto an earthen embankment, primarily with earth excavated from the open-cut portion and from the Bay Ridge Improvement of the Long Island Rail Road. The separation of the railroad grade allowed the line's trolley wire north of Sheepshead Bay to be replaced with ground-level third rail.
The above work by the BGCEC left the line between Park Place and Church Avenue in substantially its original condition from steam railroad days. Between 1918 and 1920, however, further work rebuilt the portion between Prospect Park and Church Avenue as a four-track line. At the same time, the remaining portion of the line south of Neptune Avenue was replaced with a four-track elevated structure, including a four- to six-track elevated line extension, connecting the Brighton Line to the new
Coney Island terminal at Surf and
Stillwell Avenue
Stillwell Avenue is a major two-way north/south thoroughfare in southern Brooklyn and the central section of Coney Island. It is long and begins at a dead end at Riegelmann Boardwalk on Coney Island. The road goes north, leaving Coney Island, ...
s. This same work rerouted mainline Brighton Beach trains from the Fulton Street elevated line via a new deep tunnel under
Flatbush Avenue
Flatbush Avenue is a major avenue in the New York City Borough of Brooklyn. It runs from the Manhattan Bridge south-southeastward to Jamaica Bay, where it joins the Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge, which connects Brooklyn to the Ro ...
to connect to the
BMT Fourth Avenue Line
The BMT Fourth Avenue Line is a rapid transit line of the New York City Subway, mainly running under Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn. The line is served by the D, N, and R at all times; the R typically runs local, while the D and N run express duri ...
at DeKalb Avenue station, where trains could access the new BMT Broadway subway. This work was done as a part of the
Dual Contracts
The Dual Contracts, also known as the Dual Subway System, were contracts for the construction and/or rehabilitation and operation of rapid transit lines in the City of New York. The contracts were signed on March 19, 1913, by the Interborough Ra ...
.
A spur south of Neck Road, which split to
Sheepshead Bay Race Track
Sheepshead Bay Race Track was an American Thoroughbred horse racing facility built on the site of the Coney Island Jockey Club at Sheepshead Bay, New York.
Early history
The racetrack was built by a group of prominent businessmen from the New Yo ...
, was in use from 1909 to around 1929. The single-track spur was part of the
Long Island Rail Road
The Long Island Rail Road , often abbreviated as the LIRR, is a commuter rail system in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of New York (state), New York, stretching from Manhattan to the eastern tip of Suffolk County, New York, Suffolk Co ...
's
Manhattan Beach Branch
The Manhattan Beach Branch, Manhattan Beach Line, or Manhattan Beach Division was a line of the Long Island Rail Road, running from Fresh Pond, Queens, south to Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, New York City, United States. It opened in 1877 and 1878 ...
, and it ran at street level to Ocean Avenue between Avenues X and Y, where it terminated at a six-track terminal.
Brighton–Franklin Line
The St. Felix Street and Flatbush Avenue Connection opened on August 1, 1920, providing direct service between the Brighton Line and midtown Manhattan.
With the opening of the connection, the original portion of the line between the Fulton Street Elevated and the link to the new subway at Prospect Park became a secondary line, known as Brighton–Franklin, and now known as the
BMT Franklin Avenue Line. At times through services (including expresses) operated on mainline Brighton tracks to Coney Island. Some special weekend trains even operated beyond Coney Island back to Manhattan via the
BMT Sea Beach Line
The BMT Sea Beach Line is a rapid transit line of the BMT division of the New York City Subway, connecting the BMT Fourth Avenue Line at 59th Street via a four-track wide open cut to Coney Island in Brooklyn. It has at times hosted the fastes ...
express tracks and the
BMT Fourth Avenue Subway. This service was variously known as Franklin–Nassau and as the Coney Island Express, but its popular name was the "Sunny Sunday Summer Special," because it was only supposed to operate as needed on the hottest beach-going days.
In Fiscal Year 1930, an additional control area with staircases to the platforms at Kings Highway were constructed, and additional stairs were added at Avenue M, Avenue U, and Avenue J.
Through services gradually diminished on the Brighton–Franklin, and after 1963 it became a pure shuttle, operating between Franklin Avenue station at Fulton Street and Prospect Park station, where it connects with mainline Brighton Beach trains.
During the era of route contraction from 1940 to about 1975, the
Franklin Avenue Shuttle
The Franklin Avenue Shuttle is a New York City Subway shuttle service operating in Brooklyn. The shuttle service uses the BMT Franklin Avenue Line exclusively. The north terminus is Franklin Avenue, with a transfer available to the IND Fult ...
seemed a prime candidate for abandonment; its physical structure had been allowed to deteriorate and its service steadily curtailed. The
New York City fiscal crisis
New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created.
New or NEW may refer to:
Music
* New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz
Albums and EPs
* ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013
* ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...
of the '70s and the recession in 1990 contributed to plans to discontinue the line. By the 1990s the Franklin Avenue Shuttle was known as the "ghost train". It was shrunk in size to only two cars and the
Dean Street station was closed. The entire line was under consideration for abandonment, but community pressure forced the MTA to rebuild rather than abandon the line, and as a result, most of the supporting infrastructure and stations were completely rehabilitated in 1998–1999 at a cost of $74 million and reopened in 1999.
Platform extensions, track repairs, and Stillwell Avenue reconstruction
On June 16, 1964, Mayor
Robert F. Wagner Jr.
Robert Ferdinand Wagner II (April 20, 1910 – February 12, 1991) was an American politician who served three terms as the mayor of New York City from 1954 through 1965. When running for his third term, he broke with the Tammany Hall leadership ...
approved the award of a $2,283,933 contract for the second phase of work to extend platforms along the Brighton Line. The platforms were to be lengthened to 615 feet (187 m) feet to accommodate a ten-car train of 60 feet (18 m)-long IND cars, or a nine-car train of 67 feet (20 m)-long BMT cars, instead of the existing 8-cars. The contract for the first phase of work had been let the previous year for the seven stations between
Atlantic Avenue and
Newkirk Avenue. The platform extensions at these stations were completed during the 1964–1965 fiscal year. The contract for the second phase called for the extension of platforms at the ten remaining stations on the line from
Avenue H to
Stillwell Avenue
Stillwell Avenue is a major two-way north/south thoroughfare in southern Brooklyn and the central section of Coney Island. It is long and begins at a dead end at Riegelmann Boardwalk on Coney Island. The road goes north, leaving Coney Island, ...
. Work on the second contract was still ongoing in 1965.
Between April 26, 1986 and October 26, 1986, service was disrupted due to track repairs and other construction work along the line. The two local tracks were completely rebuilt between Prospect Park and Newkirk Avenue, in two phases, with the Manhattan-bound track rebuilt first between April and July, and the Brooklyn-bound track rebuilt between July and October. A temporary platform was built at Cortelyou Road while Beverley Road and Parkside Avenue were closed in one direction because temporary platforms could not be built at these locations. To reduce congestion, skip-stop service was implemented on weekdays, which lasted until 1988.
From September 8, 2002 to May 23, 2004, service was suspended west of Brighton Beach due to allow rebuilding of the
Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue
Coney may refer to:
Places
* Côney, a river in eastern France
* Coney, Georgia, an unincorporated community in the United States
* Coney Island (disambiguation)
People
* Dean Coney (born 1963), English footballer
* Hykiem Coney (1982–200 ...
terminal station, which had deteriorated due to the effects of salt water corrosion and deferred maintenance.
Brighton Line Station Reconstruction Project
![Weekend Work 2012-07-02 16 (7488360838)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/16/Weekend_Work_2012-07-02_16_%287488360838%29.jpg)
In 2007, the MTA announced that it would reconstruct seven stations between
Newkirk Avenue and
Neck Road, inclusive. On December 8, 2008, the first phase of the Brighton Line Station Reconstruction Project began. The
Coney Island
Coney Island is a peninsular neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach and Manhattan Beach, Brooklyn, Manhattan Beach to its east, L ...
-bound platforms at
Avenue U and Neck Road were closed for rebuilding and all southbound trains ran on the express track from
Kings Highway to
Sheepshead Bay
Sheepshead, Sheephead, or Sheep's Head, may refer to:
Fish
* ''Archosargus probatocephalus'', a medium-sized saltwater fish of the Atlantic Ocean
* Freshwater drum, ''Aplodinotus grunniens'', a medium-sized freshwater fish of North and Central Am ...
.
On September 14, 2009, the second phase of the project involving all stations from
Newkirk Plaza to Kings Highway began. Express B train service was suspended and all trains ran local in both directions for the next two years. Over the next two weeks, temporary platforms were placed on the Manhattan-bound express track at Kings Highway and
Avenue J
A street name is an identifying name given to a street or road. In toponymic terminology, names of streets and roads are referred to as hodonyms (from Greek ‘road’, and ‘name’). The street name usually forms part of the address (t ...
for southbound service. On September 28, the southbound platforms of
Avenue H, Avenue J,
Avenue M, and Kings Highway began rebuilding. South of
Cortelyou Road, a single crossover connected the southbound local track with the express one and all southbound trains skipped Avenue H and Avenue M.
On January 18, 2010, Coney Island-bound service was restored at Avenue U and Neck Road. The Manhattan-bound platforms were closed for rebuilding until October 25 and all northbound trains operated on the express track from Sheepshead Bay to Kings Highway.
On September 13, Coney Island-bound service to Avenue H and Avenue M was restored and the two southbound tracks south of Cortelyou Road were separated. Over the next two weeks, the temporary platforms at Avenue J and Kings Highway were moved to the southbound express track and the two northbound tracks were connected to each other north of Newkirk Plaza. On September 27, the Manhattan-bound platforms of those three stations as well as Avenues H and M, which were then being bypassed, began rehabilitation and all northbound service was directed to the express track until Cortelyou Road. The platforms of all stations reopened on September 12, 2011 and B express service was restored on October 3. However, rehabilitation work that did not affect service continued until the end of the year.
As part of the project, station platforms were replaced and widened, windscreens and canopies were replaced, station lighting was upgraded, new public address systems were installed, and new station agent booths were put into place. In addition, ADA-compliant elevators were installed at Kings Highway, the historic station house at Avenue H was restored, an additional southbound entrance was installed at Avenue H, and additional fare entrances were created to the northbound platform sections of the Avenue M and Avenue J stations.
Service patterns
The following services use part or all of the Brighton Line:
Since 1920, the primary service on the line has been through to Manhattan rather than over the tracks now used by the
Franklin Avenue Shuttle
The Franklin Avenue Shuttle is a New York City Subway shuttle service operating in Brooklyn. The shuttle service uses the BMT Franklin Avenue Line exclusively. The north terminus is Franklin Avenue, with a transfer available to the IND Fult ...
. Local service has run all the time, while express service has generally been provided during weekday rush hours and later middays. Until the 1960s, all service on the line north of
Prospect Park was labeled
1.
Standard local service ran through the
Montague Street Tunnel
The Montague Street Tunnel is a rail tunnel of the New York City Subway under the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn, connecting the BMT Broadway Line and BMT Fourth Avenue Line. The R uses the tunnel at all times, the N us ...
and along the
BMT Broadway Line
The BMT Broadway Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway in Manhattan. , it is served by four services, all colored : the on the express tracks and the on the local tracks during weekdays (the N and Q trains ...
local tracks; service instead crossed the
Manhattan Bridge north tracks and ran express under Broadway during
Broadway theatre
Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences), 130 of the 144 extant and extinct Broadway venues use (used) the spelling ''Th ...
hours (7:30 pm to midnight). Over the years, the local bridge service was expanded, and the local tunnel service ended up only from 6 am to 7 pm. Express service over the bridge to the Broadway express tracks, initially during rush hours, was also expanded to 6 am to 7 pm. The three patterns were assigned latter designations in the early 1960s:
Q express via bridge,
QT local via tunnel, and
QB local via bridge.
The
Chrystie Street Connection
The Chrystie Street Connection is a set of New York City Subway tunnels running the length of Chrystie Street on the Lower East Side of Manhattan. It is one of the few track connections between lines of the former Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit ...
opened in late 1967, and almost all Brighton Line trains were removed from Broadway. The Q and QB were both combined with the
D on the
IND Sixth Avenue Line
The IND Sixth Avenue Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway in the United States. It runs mainly under Sixth Avenue in Manhattan, and continues south to Brooklyn. The B, D, F, and M trains, which use th ...
, running express during the day and local at other times. The daytime QT local was combined with the Jamaica local and express (then #15) to form the
QJ, running through the tunnel to the
BMT Nassau Street Line
The BMT Nassau Street Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway system in Manhattan. It is a continuation of the BMT Jamaica Line in Brooklyn after crossing the Williamsburg Bridge into Manhattan; it continues to ...
, which also replaced the limited rush hour Brighton “Bankers’ Specials” to Nassau Street. The only Brighton-Broadway service was a new QB, with a limited number of runs in the peak direction at rush hours on the local Brighton and express Broadway tracks. There were also a limited number of NX trains from Brighton Beach via Coney Island and the Sea Beach express tracks, then up Broadway, a short-lived service that also attempted to compensate for the elimination of major Brighton/Broadway service. (The two QB services were distinct; the old QB had run at non-peak times; this new QB had the same name and almost the same route but was a different service.)
The QJs Brighton section was replaced with an extension of the
M in 1973. In 1985, the QB was renamed Q as the subway eliminated the double letter naming system for local routes. Reconstruction of the
Manhattan Bridge subway tracks began, which would continue until 2004. Though the same general service patterns remained on the Brighton Line, all trains were sent over the bridge and onto the Broadway or Sixth Avenue Line, depending on which set of tracks was open. From 1986 to 1988, the south side (Broadway) was in service, and the D continued to serve the line at all times, the M was rerouted onto the
BMT Fourth Avenue Line
The BMT Fourth Avenue Line is a rapid transit line of the New York City Subway, mainly running under Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn. The line is served by the D, N, and R at all times; the R typically runs local, while the D and N run express duri ...
and Q service now also ran during middays. Because of the concurrent track and infrastructure repairs on the Brighton Line, express service was suspended for two years. As tracks between Prospect Park and Newkirk Avenue were rebuilt, the D and Q provided
skip-stop
Skip-stop is a public transit service pattern which reduces travel times and increases capacity by having vehicles ''skip'' certain ''stops'' along a route. Originating in rapid transit systems, skip-stop may be also used in light rail and bus s ...
service between Newkirk Avenue and Sheepshead Bay on weekdays. D trains served Neck Road, Avenue M and Avenue H; the Q skipped those stops, serving Avenue U and Avenue J, while both trains served Kings Highway.
By 1987, as the line's reconstruction progressed, the weekday skip-stop pattern expanded to Prospect Park, with D trains serving Beverley Road while Q trains served Cortelyou Road and Parkside Avenue, with Church Avenue as a mutual station.
On December 11, 1988, the Bridge's north (Sixth Avenue) tracks reopened; at this time, the skip-stop pattern was eliminated, and the D became a full-time local service to Stillwell Avenue, while the Q ran express on weekdays to Brighton Beach. Both trains ran via Sixth Avenue Express. From April 30 to November 12, 1995, the Manhattan Bridge fully closed during middays and weekends. D service in Brooklyn was suspended during these hours; the Q replaced it, running local to Stillwell Avenue and via the
Montague Street Tunnel
The Montague Street Tunnel is a rail tunnel of the New York City Subway under the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn, connecting the BMT Broadway Line and BMT Fourth Avenue Line. The R uses the tunnel at all times, the N us ...
and Broadway Express.
The 2001 shifting of trains back to the south side (Broadway) led to the D only running north of
Midtown Manhattan
Midtown Manhattan is the central portion of the New York City borough of Manhattan and serves as the city's primary central business district. Midtown is home to some of the city's most prominent buildings, including the Empire State Buildin ...
; the Q replaced the D as the full-time Brighton Local while the Brighton express portion of the Q became the diamond <Q>. When both sides of the bridge reopened in 2004, the <Q> was discontinued and replaced by the B in Brooklyn. The B was moved to the Brighton rather than the West End Line, where it ran from 1967 to 2001, to combine two weekday-only services and because Brighton Line residents preferred Broadway Service, the Q was kept as the full-time local. In effect, this flipped the B and D services, as the D was transferred to the West End Line following the bridge's reopening.
Description
![Brighton Crossover](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/08/Brighton_Crossover.jpg)
The modern-day line shows a mix of its various re-buildings.
DeKalb Avenue to Prospect Park
The underground portion from the
DeKalb Avenue
At Fort Greene Park
DeKalb Avenue is a thoroughfare in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, with the majority of its length in Brooklyn.
It runs from Woodward Avenue (Linden Hill Cemetery) in Ridgewood, Queens to Downtown Brookly ...
connection to the
BMT Fourth Avenue Line
The BMT Fourth Avenue Line is a rapid transit line of the New York City Subway, mainly running under Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn. The line is served by the D, N, and R at all times; the R typically runs local, while the D and N run express duri ...
was built in 1920 as part of the
Dual Contracts
The Dual Contracts, also known as the Dual Subway System, were contracts for the construction and/or rehabilitation and operation of rapid transit lines in the City of New York. The contracts were signed on March 19, 1913, by the Interborough Ra ...
. This section contains two additional stations: the
Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center and
Seventh Avenue. Between
Atlantic Avenue and
Grand Army Plaza
Grand Army Plaza, originally known as Prospect Park Plaza, is a public plaza that comprises the northern corner and the main entrance of Prospect Park (Brooklyn), Prospect Park in the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn. ...
, the Brighton Line tunnel runs beside, under, and between the tracks of the
Interborough Rapid Transit Company
The Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT) was the private operator of New York City's original underground subway line that opened in 1904, as well as earlier elevated railways and additional rapid transit lines in New York City. The IRT w ...
(IRT)'s
Eastern Parkway Line.
The Eastern Parkway Line was built simultaneously with this part of the Brighton Line, and also opened in 1920.
At
Prospect Park, the Brighton subway tunnel emerges into an
open cut
Open-pit mining, also known as open-cast or open-cut mining and in larger contexts mega-mining, is a surface mining technique of extracting rock or minerals from the earth from an open-air pit, sometimes known as a borrow.
This form of mining ...
. The Prospect Park station contains a
cross-platform interchange
A cross-platform interchange is a type of interchange between different lines at a metro (or other railway) station. The term originates with the London Underground; such layouts exist in other networks but are not commonly so named. In the Uni ...
with the
BMT Franklin Avenue Line, which is used by the . Franklin Avenue Line trains use the northbound local track, while the express tracks in both directions are used by the Brighton Line trains; the southbound local track is not in service.
The former alignment of the Brighton Line ran along what is now the Franklin Avenue Line, which had been built as a surface railway in 1878 and rebuilt as a grade-separated open-cut and embankment line in 1905.
Prospect Park to Brighton Beach
South of Prospect Park, the Brighton Line widens to a four-track line for much of the rest of the route. The continues on the inner tracks and runs to Brighton Beach, serving only express stations, while the splits to the outer tracks, serving all stops until the end of the line at Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue. The original line built in 1878 ran in a two-track open cut. This segment was rebuilt in 1918 to 1920 to a four track line with an express station at Prospect Park, a local station at
Parkside Avenue
The Parkside Avenue station is a local station on the BMT Brighton Line of the New York City Subway. It is located at Parkside Avenue and Ocean Avenue in Flatbush, Brooklyn. The station is served by the Q train at all times.
History
This s ...
(replacing the original station at Woodruff Avenue) and another express station at
Church Avenue. The line features slightly sloped and capped reinforced concrete walls, as well as cut-and-cover tunnels underneath cross-streets.
The segment between Church Avenue to Avenue H is a result of the BGCEC rebuilding program of 1903–1907. Just south of the tunnel under Church Avenue, the construction of the cut wall visibly changes. Steel trestles carry the streets above the line, giving it a more open appearance. Cottage-style station houses are suspended over the line at local stations at Beverley and Cortelyou Roads, and at the express station at Newkirk Plaza. Past Newkirk Plaza the line continues in an open cut, then begins to rise to street level at the north end of Avenue H station.
The
station house at Avenue H is a wooden structure built in 1905 and originally housed a
real estate
Real estate is property consisting of land and the buildings on it, along with its natural resources such as crops, minerals or water; immovable property of this nature; an interest vested in this (also) an item of real property, (more general ...
office for the sale of homes in the new Fiske Terrace community surrounding the station. The building was designated a landmark by the
New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission
The New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) is the New York City agency charged with administering the city's Landmarks Preservation Law. The LPC is responsible for protecting New York City's architecturally, historically, and cu ...
in 2004. At this point the line now runs on an earthen embankment with local stations at
Avenue H,
Avenue J
A street name is an identifying name given to a street or road. In toponymic terminology, names of streets and roads are referred to as hodonyms (from Greek ‘road’, and ‘name’). The street name usually forms part of the address (t ...
and
Avenue M, an express station at
Kings Highway, local stops at
Avenue U and
(Gravesend) Neck Road, and an express station at
Sheepshead Bay
Sheepshead, Sheephead, or Sheep's Head, may refer to:
Fish
* ''Archosargus probatocephalus'', a medium-sized saltwater fish of the Atlantic Ocean
* Freshwater drum, ''Aplodinotus grunniens'', a medium-sized freshwater fish of North and Central Am ...
(formerly Shore Road).
All of the station houses for these stops are located beneath the tracks at street level.
The line continues south on the 1907 embankment to a bridge over Neptune Avenue. At this point the BGCEC roadbed ends. Prior to the Dual Contracts rebuild in the late 1910s, the line descended to the surface on two single track concrete and steel ramps to operate on the surface to
Brighton Beach
Brighton Beach is a List of Brooklyn neighborhoods, neighborhood in the southern portion of the New York City Borough (New York City), borough of Brooklyn, within the greater Coney Island area along the Atlantic Ocean coastline. Brighton Beach i ...
. As part of the 1918–1920 Dual Contracts work, all four tracks now continue on a steel elevated structure to the junction of Coney Island and Brighton Beach Avenues, where the line turns west onto Brighton Beach Avenue and enters the Brighton Beach station.
Brighton Beach to Coney Island
Traveling west from Brighton Beach station, the line operates on a six track elevated structure over Brighton Beach Avenue. One track splits from each pair of local and express tracks in each direction. Only the outer two tracks are currently used for revenue service, carrying Q trains. The inner four are layup tracks used to store B trains that terminate at Brighton Beach; the innermost two tracks were originally.
This is the former right-of-way of the Sea View Railway which originally provided service west of Brighton Beach.
Each of the two layup tracks between the local and express tracks ends before
Ocean Parkway station, while the innermost and outermost tracks stop at the station. The outer tracks merge with the inner tracks, and the inner tracks climb to an upper level. The outer trackways remain at the same elevation, and shortly afterward merge with the two tracks of the
IND Culver Line
The IND Culver Line (formerly BMT Culver Line) is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway, extending from Downtown Brooklyn south to Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, United States. The local tracks of the Culv ...
(), which merge into the structure from the north. Both lines then stop at the
West Eighth Street–New York Aquarium station, a double-level steel structure with two tracks on each level. The Brighton trains occupy the upper level and the Culver Line trains the lower.
Both lines then enter the 8-track
Stillwell Avenue terminal, which was built in 1917–1920 and renovated in 2001–2004. The Brighton trains occupy tracks 3 and 4.
Chaining information
The entire main line of the Brighton Line (excluding the
Franklin Avenue Shuttle
The Franklin Avenue Shuttle is a New York City Subway shuttle service operating in Brooklyn. The shuttle service uses the BMT Franklin Avenue Line exclusively. The north terminus is Franklin Avenue, with a transfer available to the IND Fult ...
) is "
chained" BMT A.
This has no relation to the letters assigned to the services on the Brighton Line, which are for the weekday Sixth Avenue service and for the full-time Broadway service.
''Chaining zero'' is ''BMT Southern'', located just north of the
57th Street–Seventh Avenue station of the
BMT Broadway Line
The BMT Broadway Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway in Manhattan. , it is served by four services, all colored : the on the express tracks and the on the local tracks during weekdays (the N and Q trains ...
via the Manhattan Bridge. The Brighton Line picks up this chaining south of
DeKalb Avenue
At Fort Greene Park
DeKalb Avenue is a thoroughfare in the New York City boroughs of Brooklyn and Queens, with the majority of its length in Brooklyn.
It runs from Woodward Avenue (Linden Hill Cemetery) in Ridgewood, Queens to Downtown Brookly ...
station.
Railroad north is toward Manhattan, generally corresponding to
compass
A compass is a device that shows the cardinal directions used for navigation and geographic orientation. It commonly consists of a magnetized needle or other element, such as a compass card or compass rose, which can pivot to align itself with ...
north-northwest.
Brighton Beach terminal's BMT telegraphy call letters were BC and in the past the entire Brighton Line had been referred to by the letters BC as a shorthand notation in internal documents. This has gradually diminished and is now uncommon.
Tracks on the Brighton Line are numbered as follows:
*''Odd numbered tracks'' are away from Manhattan (southbound)
*''Even numbered tracks'' are toward Manhattan (northbound)
* Tracks 1 and 2 are usually local (outside tracks, shown in Roman type)
* Tracks 3 and 4 are usually express (inside tracks, shown in bold type)
*
Non-revenue track Non-revenue track (or trackage), or a non-revenue route, is a section of track or transport route that is not used to carry revenue-earning freight or goods nor for scheduled passenger services. The term is used to refer mainly to sections of track ...
s are shown in ''italic'' type
Station listing
See also
*
Transportation to Coney Island
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Brighton
Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation
New York City Subway lines
Railway lines opened in 1878
1878 establishments in New York (state)