The Bergen Street station is a local station on the IRT Eastern Parkway Line of the New York City Subway. This station is located at Bergen Street and Flatbush Avenue on the border of Park Slope and Prospect Heights in Brooklyn. It is served by the 2 train at all times, the 3 train at all times except late nights, and the 4 train during late nights.

History

After the Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT)'s original line opened as far as Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn, the New York City government began planning new lines. As early as 1903, William Barclay Parsons, chief engineer of the Rapid Transit Commission, had proposed constructing a four-track extension of the IRT line under Flatbush Avenue, running southeast from Atlantic Avenue to Grand Army Plaza. From there, two branches would have extended south to Flatbush and east to Brownsville. This plan did not progress for a decade due to various disputes over the original subway. In 1913, New York City, the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT), and the IRT reached an agreement, known as the Dual Contracts, to drastically expand subway service across New York City. As part of the Dual Contracts, two lines under Flatbush Avenue, one each operated by the BRT and IRT, were approved. while the BRT would construct a parallel two-track extension of the Brighton Line.

Groundbreaking for the IRT extension took place on May 23, 1914. The Bergen Street station was to be one of the stations on the IRT extension. but the Bergen Street, Grand Army Plaza, and Eastern Parkway–Brooklyn Museum stations were not ready to open with the rest of the line. The contractor responsible for completing the three stations had gone bankrupt in the middle of the project. The BMT Brighton Line was already in use at the time but used trackage that is now part of the Franklin Avenue Shuttle; the opening of the subway line beneath Flatbush Avenue provided a more direct route to Downtown Brooklyn and, eventually, Manhattan.

Station layout

{|table border=0 cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3

|style="border-top:solid 1px gray;" width=50|Ground

|style="border-top:solid 1px gray;" width=150|Street level

|style="border-top:solid 1px gray;" width=525|Exit/entrance

|-

|style="border-top:solid 1px gray;border-bottom:solid 1px gray;" rowspan=10 valign=top|Basement 1

|style="border-top:solid 1px gray;border-right:solid 2px black;border-left:solid 2px black;border-bottom:solid 2px black;text-align:center;" colspan=2|<small>Side platform</small>

|-

|style="border-bottom:solid 1px gray;"|<span style="color:#">Northbound local</span>

|style="border-bottom:solid 1px gray;"|← toward <small>()</small><br>← toward <small>(Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center)</small><br>← toward late nights <small>(Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center)</small>

|-bgcolor="grey"

|colspan=2|Curtain wall

|-

|style="border-bottom:solid 1px gray;"|<span style="color:#">Northbound express</span>

|style="border-bottom:solid 1px gray;"|← do not stop here

|-

|style="border-bottom:solid 1px gray;" rowspan=2|Brighton Line

|style="border-bottom:solid 1px gray;"|← do not stop here

|-

|style="border-bottom:solid 1px gray;"| do not stop here →

|-

|style="border-bottom:solid 1px gray;"|<span style="color:#">Southbound express</span>

|style="border-bottom:solid 1px gray;"| do not stop here →

|-bgcolor="grey"

|colspan=2|Curtain wall

|-

|<span style="color:#">Southbound local</span>

| toward <small>()</small> →<br> ( late nights) toward <small>(Grand Army Plaza)</small> →

|-

|style="border-bottom:solid 1px gray;border-top:solid 2px black;border-right:solid 2px black;border-left:solid 2px black;text-align:center;" colspan=2|<small>Side platform</small>

|}

left|thumb|Street stair

The station contains six tracks and two side platforms: the outermost tracks are used by the IRT local trains. To the inside are the IRT express tracks, which slant upward to the inside of the outer local tracks. In between the express tracks are the BMT Brighton Line tracks. Those routes were built at the same time as the tracks at this station as part of the Dual Contracts. A full curtain wall separates the local from the express tracks, though a gap exists in the curtain wall at the northern end of the station. Fixed platform barriers, which are intended to prevent commuters falling to the tracks, are positioned near the platform edges.

The 2 train stops here at all times, while the 3 train stops here at all times except late nights. The 4 train serves the station only during late nights. The next station to the north is Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center, while the next station to the south is Grand Army Plaza.

Both platforms have their original mosaics. The name tablets read "BERGEN ST." in gold serif font on a blue background and multi-layered green border. The trim line is green with "B" tablets on them on a blue background at regular intervals. At either ends of both platforms, where they were extended in 1964–1965, The Manhattan-bound platform has a full-time turnstile bank and token booth. Outside fare control are and two staircases going up to either eastern corners of Bergen Street and Flatbush Avenue, as well as a closed and sealed stair to the southwestern corner of Sixth Avenue and Bergen Street.

References

  • nycsubway.org
  • Brooklyn IRT: Bergen Street (text used with permission)
  • Brooklyn IRT: Map 2, Brooklyn IRT Dual Contracts (includes current and former track configurations, and provisions for future connections)