Kings Highway station (IND Culver Line)
Kings Highway is an express station on the IND Culver Line of the New York City Subway, located at Kings Highway and McDonald Avenue in the Gravesend neighborhood of Brooklyn. The station is served by the F train at all times and the <F> train during rush hours in the peak direction.
Kings Highway | |||||||||||||
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Northbound platform | |||||||||||||
Station statistics | |||||||||||||
Address | Kings Highway & McDonald Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11223 | ||||||||||||
Borough | Brooklyn | ||||||||||||
Locale | Gravesend, Midwood | ||||||||||||
Coordinates | 40°36′11.47″N 73°58′20.44″W | ||||||||||||
Division | B (IND, formerly BMT) | ||||||||||||
Line | IND Culver Line BMT Culver Line (formerly) | ||||||||||||
Services | F | ||||||||||||
Transit connections | |||||||||||||
Structure | Elevated | ||||||||||||
Platforms | 2 island platforms cross-platform interchange | ||||||||||||
Tracks | 3 | ||||||||||||
Other information | |||||||||||||
Opened | March 16, 1919[1] | ||||||||||||
Station code | 250[2] | ||||||||||||
Accessible | not ADA-accessible; accessibility planned | ||||||||||||
Opposite-direction transfer available | Yes | ||||||||||||
Traffic | |||||||||||||
Passengers (2019) | 1,129,071[3] | ||||||||||||
Rank | 340 out of 424[3] | ||||||||||||
Station succession | |||||||||||||
Next north | 18th Avenue (express): no regular service Avenue P (local): F | ||||||||||||
Next south | Avenue U (local): F Neptune Avenue (express): no regular service | ||||||||||||
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History
This station opened at 3:00 a.m. on March 16, 1919, as part of the opening of the first section of the BMT Culver Line. The initial section began at the Ninth Avenue station and ended at the Kings Highway station.[1][4] The line was operated as a branch of the Fifth Avenue Elevated line, with a free transfer at Ninth Avenue to the West End Line into the Fourth Avenue Subway. The opening of the line resulted in reduced travel times between Manhattan and Kings Highway. Construction on the line began in 1915, and cost a total of $3.3 million.[5][6][7][8] Trains from this station began using the Fourth Avenue Subway to the Nassau Street Loop in Lower Manhattan when that line opened on May 30, 1931.[9] The Fifth Avenue Elevated was closed on May 31, 1940, and elevated service ceased stopping here.[10][11] On October 30, 1954,[10][12] the connection between the IND Brooklyn Line at Church Avenue and the BMT Culver Line at Ditmas Avenue opened. With the connection completed, all service at the stations on the former BMT Culver Line, including this one, were from then on served by IND trains.[13]
From June 1968[14] to 1987, express service on the elevated portion of the line from Church Avenue to Kings Highway operated in the peak direction (to Manhattan AM; to Brooklyn PM), with some F trains running local and some running express. During this time period, this station was used as an express station.[15][16] Express service ended in 1987, largely due to budget constraints and complaints from passengers at local stations. Express service on the elevated Culver Line was ended due to necessary structural work, but never restored.[15][16][17]
From June 7, 2016, to May 1, 2017, the southbound platform at this station was closed for renovations.[18] The Manhattan-bound platform was closed for a longer period of time, from May 22, 2017 until July 30, 2018.[19][20] In 2019, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority announced that this station would become ADA-accessible as part of the agency's 2020–2024 Capital Program.[21]
Station layout
P Platform level |
Northbound local | ← |
Island platform | ||
Peak-direction express | ← (No express service: 18th Avenue or Neptune Avenue) | |
Island platform | ||
Southbound local | ||
M | Mezzanine | Fare control, station agent, MetroCard machines |
G | Street level | Entrances/exits |
The station has three tracks and two island platforms.[16] Each platform contains a green canopy with black roofs that run for the entire length except near the north ends, where a control tower is present on the Coney Island-bound platform.
Trains going to Coney Island (southbound) or Manhattan and Queens (northbound) use the local tracks. The center express track is normally used only during rush hours to short turn trains not going to Stillwell Avenue. There are platform signs informing riders that some rush hour 179th Street-bound trains are available from the center track.[16]
There are no express stations south of this station. Instead, the center track offers the option of switching to either local tracks. Diamond crossover switches exist between the center and southbound tracks at both ends of the station. Switches exist at both ends of the station allowing northbound trains to switch from the express track to the northbound local track. Additional switches exist between Avenue U and Avenue X (one each from the center track to the northbound and southbound tracks), and south of Avenue X merging into the southbound local track and the yard leads towards the Coney Island Yard.[16] The current track configurations allow trains to terminate and reverse at Kings Highway, but do not allow northbound local trains from Coney Island to run express north of Kings Highway without skipping Avenue U; these switches previously existed,[16][22] but were removed during track rehabilitation projects in the 1990s.[16]
Exits
This station has two entrances with the primary one at the northern end. From each platform, a single staircase goes down to an elevated station-house beneath the tracks. Inside is a token booth and regular turnstile bank. Outside fare control, two staircases go down to either southern corner of McDonald Avenue and Kings Highway.[23]
An un-staffed entrance is at the south end of the station. From each platform, a single staircase goes down to an elevated station-house beneath the tracks. Inside are two HEET turnstiles. Outside of fare control, two staircases go down to either northern corner of McDonald Avenue and Avenue S.[23]
References
- Legislative Documents. J.B. Lyon Company. January 1, 1920.
- "Station Developers' Information". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved June 13, 2017.
- "Facts and Figures: Annual Subway Ridership 2014–2019". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2020. Retrieved May 26, 2020.
- Eisenstadt, Peter R.; Moss, Laura-Eve (January 1, 2005). The Encyclopedia of New York State. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9780815608080.
- "B.R.T. Will Open Culver Line Elevated Road as Far as Kings Highway on Sunday Next" (PDF). The New York Times. March 9, 1919. p. 23. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
- "Culver Line Open Today" (PDF). The New York Times. March 16, 1919. p. 8. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
- Kracke, Frederick J.H. (March 16, 1919). "New Rapid Transit Link in Operation". The New York Times. p. 106. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
- "Culver Elevated Opens". The New York Times. March 17, 1919. p. 21. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
- "Nassau St. Service Outlined by B. M. T." The New York Times. May 21, 1931. p. 29. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
- Chiasson, George (May 2010). "A History of the F (and V) Train Service". New York Division Bulletin. Electric Railroaders' Association. 53 (5): 1, 4.
- "Last Train is Run on Fulton St. 'El'". The New York Times. June 1, 1940. p. 11. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
- NYCTA - Pass for Culver Line Ceremonies - 1954, April 14, 2015, retrieved July 30, 2020
- "Adequate Transit Promised for City". The New York Times. October 29, 1954. p. 25. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
- "'F' Line Rush-Hour Service Will Be Added in Brooklyn" (PDF). The New York Times. June 8, 1969. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
- Review of F Line Operations, Ridership, and Infrastructure (PDF). nysenate.gov (Report). MTA New York City Transit Authority. October 7, 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 31, 2010. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
- Feasibility and Analysis of F Express Service in Brooklyn (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Report). May 2016. Archived (PDF) from the original on May 27, 2016. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
- Geberer, Raanan (March 6, 2013). "Light at End of Tunnel: F Train Express may return". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Archived from the original on March 27, 2020. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
- "Coney Island-bound F subway trains will not stop at Avenue I, Bay Pkwy, Avenue N, Avenue P, Avenue U, and Avenue X until early 2017". web.mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2016. Archived from the original on May 27, 2016. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
- "New York City Subway Map" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. May 1, 2017. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 10, 2017. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
- "$140 Million Culver F subway Line Station Renewal Project Begins Next Phase". web.mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. May 18, 2017. Retrieved May 18, 2017.
- "MTA Announces 20 Additional Subway Stations to Receive Accessibility Improvements Under Proposed 2020-2024 Capital Plan". Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Press release). New York City. December 19, 2019. Archived from the original on April 21, 2020. Retrieved December 24, 2019.
- Linder, Bernard; Erlitz, Jeffrey (September 2000). "Culver Line Track Plans". New York Division Bulletin. Electric Railroader's Association. 43 (9): 3. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
- "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Midwood" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2015. Retrieved August 2, 2015.
External links
- nycsubway.org – BMT Culver Line: Kings Highway
- Station Reporter — F Train
- The Subway Nut — Kings Highway Pictures
- Kings Highway entrance from Google Maps Street View
- Avenue S entrance from Google Maps Street View
- Platforms from Google Maps Street View (During 2016-2018 Renovation)