Bergen Street station (IRT Eastern Parkway Line)

The Bergen Street station is a local station on the IRT Eastern Parkway Line of the New York City Subway, located at Bergen Street and Flatbush Avenue in Park Slope, 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.<ref name="HAER Impact">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>Template:Rp 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.<ref name="nyt-1913-03-20">Template:Cite news</ref> As part of the Dual Contracts, two lines under Flatbush Avenue, one each operated by the BRT and IRT, were approved.<ref name="Walker 1918">Template:Cite book</ref>Template:Rp<ref name="nyt-1913-03-20" /> The IRT was authorized to extend its four-track Brooklyn line under Flatbush Avenue and Eastern Parkway,<ref name="nyt-1913-03-202">Template:Cite news</ref> while the BRT would construct a parallel two-track extension of the Brighton Line.<ref name="n125097279">Template:Cite news</ref>

Groundbreaking for the IRT extension took place on May 23, 1914.<ref name="nyt-1914-05-24">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="n127730775">Template:Cite news</ref> The Bergen Street station was to be one of the stations on the IRT extension.<ref name="n127730775" />

Service on the IRT Eastern Parkway Line had been extended from Atlantic Avenue to Utica Avenue in August 1920,<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> but the Bergen Street, Grand Army Plaza, and Eastern Parkway–Brooklyn Museum stations were not ready to open with the rest of the line.<ref name="EPkwy">Template:Cite news</ref><ref name="n127745371">Template:Cite news</ref> The contractor responsible for completing the three stations had gone bankrupt in the middle of the project.<ref name="n127745371" /> The stations opened on October 9, 1920.<ref name="EPkwy" /><ref name=":0">Template:Cite journal</ref> 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.<ref name=":0"/>

During the 1964–1965 fiscal year, the platforms at Bergen Street, along with those at four other stations on the Eastern Parkway Line, were lengthened to Template:Convert to accommodate a ten-car train of Template:Convert IRT cars.<ref name=":02">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="New York City Transit Authority 1964 p. "/> The work was performed by the Arthur A. Johnson Corporation.<ref name="New York City Transit Authority 1964 p. ">Template:Cite book</ref>

Station layout

Ground	Street level	Exit/entrance
Basement 1	Side platform
	Northbound local	← Template:Rint toward Template:Stl (Template:Stl) ← Template:Rint toward Template:Stl (Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center) ← Template:Rint toward Template:Stl late nights (Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center)
	Curtain wall
	Northbound express	← Template:RintTemplate:Rint do not stop here
	Brighton Line	← Template:RintTemplate:Rint do not stop here
		Template:0 Template:RintTemplate:Rint do not stop here →
	Southbound express	Template:0 Template:RintTemplate:Rint do not stop here →
	Curtain wall
	Southbound local	Template:0 Template:Rint toward Template:Stl (Template:Stl) → Template:0 Template:Rint (Template:Rint late nights) toward Template:Stl (Grand Army Plaza) →
	Side platform

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.Template:Citation needed Fixed platform barriers, which are intended to prevent commuters falling to the tracks, are positioned near the platform edges.<ref name=Wassef202507>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref name=Russo-Lennon202507>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>

The 2 train stops here at all times,<ref>Template:NYCS const</ref> while the 3 train stops here at all times except late nights.<ref>Template:NYCS const</ref> The 4 train serves the station only during late nights.<ref>Template:NYCS const</ref> The next station to the north is Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center, while the next station to the south is Grand Army Plaza.<ref name="submap">Template:NYCS const</ref>

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,<ref name=":02" /> there are cinderblock tiles with signs reading "BERGEN ST" in sans serif font on a maroon background.Template:Citation needed

The platforms only have columns at the fare control areas and they are i-beam columns painted green.Template:Citation needed

Exits

Each platform has one same-level fare control area at the center and there are no crossovers or crossunders. The southbound platform has an unstaffed fare control area containing a bank of three regular turnstiles, two exit-only turnstiles, and two High Entry/Exit Turnstiles. Outside fare control are two staircases going up to the southwestern corner of Flatbush Avenue and Bergen Street and a passage leading to another staircase going up to the northwestern corner.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> 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.Template:Citation needed

External links

• 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)