The Saratoga Avenue station is a

station Station may refer to: Agriculture * Station (Australian agriculture), a large Australian landholding used for livestock production * Station (New Zealand agriculture), a large New Zealand farm used for grazing by sheep and cattle ** Cattle statio ...

on the

IRT New Lots Line The IRT New Lots Line or Livonia Avenue Line is a rapid transit line in the A Division of the New York City Subway. Located in the New York City borough of Brooklyn, the line runs from the Crown Heights–Utica Avenue station in Crown Heights ...

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 ...

. Located at the intersection of Saratoga Avenue and Livonia Avenue in

Brownsville, Brooklyn Brownsville is a residential neighborhood in eastern Brooklyn in New York City. The neighborhood is generally bordered by Crown Heights to the northwest; Bedford–Stuyvesant and Cypress Hills to the north; East New York to the east; Canarsie ...

, it is served by the 3 train at all times except late nights, when the 4 train takes over service. During rush hours, occasional 2, 4 and 5 trains also stop here.* * * *

History

The New Lots Line was built as a part of Contract 3 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 ...

between New York City and 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 ...

, including this station. It was built as an elevated line because the ground in this area is right above the water table, and as a result the construction of a subway would have been prohibitively expensive. The first portion of the line between

Utica Avenue Utica Avenue is a major avenue in Brooklyn, New York City, New York, United States. It is one of several named for the city of Utica in Upstate New York. It runs north–south and occupies the position of East 50th Street in the Brooklyn street ...

and Junius Street, including this station, opened on November 22, 1920, with shuttle trains operating over this route. The line was completed to New Lots Avenue on October 16, 1922, with a two-car train running on the northbound track. On October 31, 1924, through service to New Lots Avenue was begun. From April 11, 2016 until September 19, 2016, Saratoga Avenue and

Pennsylvania Avenue Pennsylvania Avenue is a diagonal street in Washington, D.C., and Prince George's County, Maryland, that connects the White House and the United States Capitol and then crosses the city to Maryland. In Maryland it is also Maryland Route 4 (MD 4) ...

were closed for renovation.

Station layout

This elevated station has two

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms ...

s and two tracks with space for a center track that was never installed. Both platforms are longer than the standard IRT train length of and have beige windscreens and brown and red canopies with green canopies with green frames and support columns for their entire length except for a small section at the west ( railroad north) end. Here, they have waist-high black steel fences with two lampposts and one standard black station sign in white lettering in-between them. The windscreens and canopy frames also have black and white station signs. The station house had several enamel white-on-navy blue "To Street" porcelain signs directing passengers to the street stairs, one of which also had porcelain signs of the same style at the bottom of the canopy that said, "Interborough Rapid Transit Company: To All Trains."IRT "To All Trains" porcelain sign (The Subway Nut)
/ref> These signs were removed during the 2016 renovation.

Exits

The station's only entrance/exit is an elevated station house beneath the tracks at the extreme east (railroad south) end. Inside

fare control In rail transport, the paid area is a dedicated "inner" zone in a railway station or metro station, accessible via turnstiles or other barriers, to get into which, visitors or passengers require a valid ticket, checked smartcard or a pass. A sys ...

, it has a waiting area that allows a free transfer between directions, one staircase to the

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

-bound platform and two to the New Lots Avenue-bound one. One of those staircases is built adjacent to the platform instead of directly on it and connected to the station house with a wooden elevated passageway. Outside

, there is a

turnstile A turnstile (also called a turnpike, gateline, baffle gate, automated gate, turn gate in some regions) is a form of gate which allows one person to pass at a time. A turnstile can be configured to enforce one-way human traffic. In addition, a t ...

bank, token booth, and three staircases going down to all corners of Saratoga and Livonia Avenues except the northeast one.

References

External links

* * {{NYCS stations navbox by line, newlots=yes IRT New Lots Line stations Brownsville, Brooklyn New York City Subway stations in Brooklyn New York City Subway stations located aboveground Railway stations in the United States opened in 1920 1920 establishments in New York City