The Brighton Beach station is an elevated express and terminal station on the BMT Brighton Line of the New York City Subway. It is located over Brighton Beach Avenue between Brighton 5th Street and Brighton 7th Street in Brighton Beach, Brooklyn. The station is served by the Q train at all times and is the southern terminal for the B train on weekdays only.

History

This station opened on July 2, 1878, as part of 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.

On August 1, 1920, a tunnel under Flatbush Avenue opened, connecting the Brighton Line to the Broadway subway in Manhattan. At the same time, the line's former track connections to the Fulton Street Elevated were severed. Subway trains from Manhattan and elevated trains from Franklin Avenue served Brighton Line stations, sharing the line to Coney Island.

During the 1964–1965 fiscal year, work was underway to lengthen the platforms to to accommodate a ten-car train of -long cars, or a nine-car train of -long cars.

The station was renovated during the 1990s.

From September 8, 2002, to May 23, 2004, service was suspended west of Brighton Beach 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.

As part of its 2025–2029 Capital Program, the MTA has proposed making the station wheelchair-accessible in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.

Station layout

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

|style="border-top:solid 1px gray;border-bo50om:solid 1px gray;" valign=top rowspan=6|Platform<br/>level

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

|style="border-top:solid 1px gray;"|← toward <small>()</small>

|-

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

|-

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

|style="border-bottom:solid 1px gray;"|← weekdays toward or <small>()</small>

|-

|<span style="color:#">Northbound express</span>

|← Weekdays toward Bedford Park Boulevard or 145th Street <small>(Sheepshead Bay)</small>

|-

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

|-

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

|style="border-bottom:solid 1px gray;"| toward <small>() </small> →

|-

|style="border-bottom:solid 1px gray;" colspan=2|Mezzanine

|style="border-bottom:solid 1px gray;"|Fare control, station agent, OMNY machines

|-

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

|style="border-bottom:solid 1px gray;" width=125|Street level

|style="border-bottom:solid 1px gray;" width=600|Entrances/exits

|}

Brighton Beach has two island platforms and four tracks. The weekday-only B train (Brighton Express/Sixth Avenue Express) originates and terminates here on the inner express tracks while the full-time Q train (Brighton Local/Broadway Express) stops here on the outer local tracks, and continues to and from Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue. The next stop to the west (railroad south) is Ocean Parkway for Q trains, while the next stop to the east (railroad north) is Sheepshead Bay for all service.

Between this station and Ocean Parkway, the line becomes six tracks. The local and express tracks split into an extra storage track in-between them in both directions. These tracks are commonly used for storing B trains during midday hours or at the start or end of service, and they end at bumper blocks next to the platforms at Ocean Parkway.

Exits

The station has two mezzanines under the platforms and tracks, each of which has four sets of stairs to the street and one to each platform. The eastern, and staffed entrances are located between Brighton 7th Street and Coney Island Avenue. There is an up-only escalator in place of one of the stairs on the northern side of Brighton Beach Avenue at Coney Island Avenue. The western exit, which is unstaffed, is located between Brighton 5th and 6th Streets.

<gallery widths="180">

File:Brighton Beach Sta jeh.JPG|Street stair

File:Brighton Beach escalator vc.jpg|Escalator to mezzanine

File:Brighton Beach old sign vc.jpg|Original sign

File:Brighton Beach Turnstiles.jpg|Turnstiles on the part-time mezzanine

File:Brightonbeachstation.jpg|Looking down the northbound local tracks

</gallery>

References

  • Station Reporter — B Train
  • Station Reporter — Q Train
  • MTA's Arts For Transit — Brighton Beach (BMT Brighton Line)
  • The Subway Nut — Brighton Beach Pictures
  • Brighton Seventh Street — Coney Island Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View
  • Brighton Fifth Street — Brighton Sixth Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
  • Platforms from Google Maps Street View