BMT Brighton Line

Origins

Route designation on BMT Triplex equipment

The Brighton Line opened from the Willink 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 Ave. Shuttle lines) to Brighton Beach (modern Coney Island Avenue at the shoreline) on July 2, 1878 and the full original line on August 18. It was an excursion railroad — the Brooklyn, Flatbush and Coney Island Railway — to bring beachgoers from downtown Brooklyn (via a connection with the Long Island Rail Road) to the seashore at Coney Island on the Atlantic Ocean, at a location named Brighton Beach 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 to connect to its Fulton Street Line, which gave access to the new Brooklyn Bridge 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 (BRT), a holding company which eventually controlled most of the rapid transit, streetcar, and bus lines in Brooklyn and part of Queens. 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 (BMT) in 1923. In 1940, the BMT was purchased by the City of New York, and operation passed to the city's Board of Transportation, which already operated the city-built Independent Subway System (IND).

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's Atlantic Branch. 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 and Village 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 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.^[2]

Grade crossing eliminations, 1903-08 and 1918-20

The Brighton Line passing over Coney Island Avenue in Brighton Beach

In 1903, the New York State Legislature created the Brooklyn Grade Crossing Elimination Commission (BGCEC) to eliminate grade all grade crossings 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 $1,000,000, 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.^[2]

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 Avenues. This same work rerouted mainline Brighton Beach trains from the Fulton Street elevated line via a new deep tunnel under Flatbush Avenue to connect to the BMT Fourth Avenue Line at DeKalb Avenue station, where trains could access the new BMT Broadway subway. This work was done as a part of the Dual Contracts.

A spur south of Neck Road, which split to Sheepshead Bay Race Track, was in use from 1909 to around 1929. The single-track spur was part of the Long Island Rail Road's Manhattan Beach Branch, and it ran along the street to Ocean Avenue between Avenues X and Y, where it terminated at a six-track terminal.^[3]:2

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.^[1][4] 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 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.

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 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 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.^[5]

Platform extensions, track repairs, and Stillwell Avenue reconstruction

During the 1964–1965 fiscal year, the platforms at the Atlantic Avenue, Seventh Avenue, Parkside Avenue, Church Avenue, Beverley Road, Cortelyou Road, and Newkirk Avenue stations were lengthened to 615 feet to accommodate a ten-car train of 60-foot IND cars, or a nine-car train of 67-foot BMT cars. At the time, work continued on the platform extensions for Avenue H, Avenue J, Avenue M, Kings Highway, Avenue U, Neck Road, Brighton Beach, Ocean Parkway, West 8th Street and Stillwell Avenue.^[6]

In 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. A temporary platform was built at Cortelyou Road while Beverley Road and Parkside Avenue were closed in one direction. To reduce congestion, skip-stop service was implemented on weekdays, which lasted until 1988.^[7]

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 terminal station, which had deteriorated due to the effects of salt water corrosion and deferred maintenance.^[8]

Brighton Line Station Reconstruction Project

The platform at Avenue U during reconstruction.

Track work at Newkirk Plaza in September 2011 marking the end of the station reconstruction project.

Replacing of tracks on the BMT Brighton Line

In 2007, the MTA announced that it would reconstruct seven stations between Newkirk Avenue and Neck Road, inclusive.^[9] On December 8, 2008, the first phase of the Brighton Line Station Reconstruction Project began. The Coney Island-bound platforms of Avenue U and Neck Road were closed for rebuilding and all southbound trains ran on the express track from Kings Highway to Sheepshead Bay.

On September 14, 2009, the second phase of the project involving all stations between Kings Highway and Newkirk Plaza began, requiring all trains to run local until Fall 2011.^[10] Over the next two weeks, temporary platforms were placed on the Manhattan-bound express track at Kings Highway and Avenue J 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.

DeKalb Avenue to Prospect Park

The underground portion from the DeKalb Avenue connection to the BMT Fourth Avenue Line was built in 1920 as part of the Dual Contracts. This section contains two additional stations: the Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center and Seventh Avenue. Between Atlantic Avenue and Grand Army Plaza, the Brighton Line tunnel runs beside, under, and between the tracks of the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT)'s Eastern Parkway Line.^[17] The Eastern Parkway Line was built simultaneously with this part of the Brighton Line, and also opened in 1920.^[18]

At Prospect Park, the Brighton subway tunnel emerges into an open cut. The Prospect Park station contains a cross-platform interchange with the BMT Franklin Avenue Line, which is used by the S train. 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.^[17] 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 B continues on the inner tracks and runs to Brighton Beach, serving only express stations, while the Q 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 (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.^[17]

Sheepshead Bay station, looking northward across the express tracks

The station house at Avenue H is a wooden structure built in 1905 and originally housed a real estate 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 in 2004. At this point the line now runs on an earthen embankment with local stations at Avenue H, Avenue J 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 (formerly Shore Road).^[17] 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 descend to the surface on two single track concrete and steel ramps to operate on the surface to Brighton Beach. 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.^[17] This is the former right-of-way of the Sea View Railway which originally provided service west of Brighton Beach.

Crossing West 5th Street

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 (F train), 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.^[17] 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.^[17]