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The Culver Line is a rapid transit line of the IND Division of the New York City Subway system, extending from the Tuegers Street Tunnel under the East River to Coney Island, serving the communities of Downtown Brooklyn, South Brooklyn, Red Hook, Park Slope, Kensington, Gravesend and Coney Island, all in Brooklyn.
The Culver Line is the only New York City subway line to have retained the name of its founder, Andrew Culver, until modern times as the official name of the line. The corporate name of Culver's railroad was the Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad.
Extent and service
The Culver Line is served by the F as a local for its entire length. The South Brooklyn-Red Hook portion of the route (from Bergen Street to Smith-Ninth Streets) is also served by the G Brooklyn-Queens Crosstown service. Both routes run all the time.
Despite the fact that there are two express tracks on the northern part of the route and one on the southern, with express stations distributed along the line, there is no express service on the Culver Line at the present time.
Northern Section
The Culver Line consists of two markedly different sections. The northern portion of the line was part of the original Independent Subway System. It is a four-track line, entirely underground except for two above ground stations (the only ones on the original IND system) on a massive steel and concrete viaduct that spans the Gowanus Canal. This structure is now referred to as the Culver Viaduct. The line then proceeds east to Park Slope where the local tracks diverge to a station at 15th Street and Prospect Park West while the express tracks take a direct route beneath Prospect Park. The line then parallels the route of the original Culver Line surface railroad into Church Avenue station. This was the end of the original service. Four tail tracks continue underground as a terminal facility, and four more tracks ascend a ramp to the elevated portion of the line, formerly the BMT Culver Line.
This portion of the Culver Line was originally designated the IND Brooklyn Line but is also known as the Smith Street Line or South Brooklyn Line. The bypass tracks beneath the park are also sometimes referred to as the Prospect Park Line.
Culver Ramp
Recapture of the BMT Culver Line elevated structure in order to institute IND service to Coney Island was a high priority of New York City planners as a fruit of Unification in 1940, the takeover of the privately-owned BMT and IRT by the City, which built and owned the IND. Construction of the Culver Ramp between the Church Avenue and Ditmas Avenue stations began in 1941, but had to be abandoned because of the advent of World War II, delaying completion and opening until 1954.
On October 30, 1954, the connection between the IND Brooklyn Line at Church Avenue and the BMT Culver Line at Ditmas Avenue opened. This allowed IND trains to operate all the way to Stillwell Avenue terminal on Coney Island in a service announced as Concourse-Culver and advertised as direct Bronx-Coney Island service.
Southern Section
At Ditmas Avenue, the Culver Line continues as a three-track Dual Contracts elevated on the former BMT line over McDonald (formerly Gravesend) Avenue. After Avenue X station, a ramp diverges to the surface for access to the Culver Yard of the Coney Island Yards complex. At this point the Culver Line narrows to a two-track structure bearing one more station Neptune Avenue before curving into [[West Eighth Street West Eighth Street station on Coney Island. Formally, the Culver Line ends as the track curve enters the lower level of the double-decked station, and the chaining track designation changes from IND tracks B1 and B2 to BMT tracks A1 and A2 of the Brighton Line. However, there is no longer a connection to the Brighton Line at this point, and for all practical purposes the Culver Line continues into tracks 5 and 6 of the Stillwell Avenue Terminal.
Service changes in 1954
The connection of the two portions of the Culver Line resulted in a number of service changes on the IND concurrent with the opening:
- CC service, which had operated rush hours only to Broadway-Lafayette Street, was rerouted to Hudson Terminal.
- D service, which had operated to Hudson Terminal via the Sixth Avenue Line, was rerouted and extended to Coney Island.
- E service was moved to the express tracks between 42nd Street and Canal Street during rush hours, and at other times was kept on the local tracks and rerouted to Hudson Terminal.
- F service, which had operated to Church Avenue, was cut back to Broadway-Lafayette Street.
From 22:00 on October 29 until the ramp opened on October 30, BMT Culver Line trains only ran from Coney Island to the south end of the ramp at Ditmas Avenue, to allow the connection to be completed. A shuttle bus connected Ditmas Avenue to the Fourth Avenue Line at 36th Street. Once the ramp opened, BMT Culver Line service was only provided north of Ditmas Avenue, where a free transfer to the IND to Coney Island was provided. Evening, night and weekend service was truncated to a shuttle between Ditmas Avenue and 36th Street station on the Fourth Avenue Line.
Later, this Culver Shuttle became the only service pattern, until this section of elevated was removed.
Station listing
| Station
| Tracks
| Services
| Opened
| Transfers & Notes
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| begins from the Rutgers Street Tunnel (F)
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| York Street | all | F | April 9, 1936
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| crossover tracks to the Fulton Street Line (A C)
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| Jay Street-Borough Hall | all | F | April 9, 1936 | A C (Fulton Street Line)
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| Crosstown Line (G) merges into local tracks just after express tracks begin
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| Bergen Street | all | F G | October 7, 1933
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| Carroll Street | local | F G | October 7, 1933
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| Smith-Ninth Streets | local | F G | October 7, 1933
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| Fourth Avenue | local | F | October 7, 1933 | M R (Fourth Avenue Line)
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| Seventh Avenue-Park Slope | local | F | October 7, 1933
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| 15th Street | local | F | October 7, 1933
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| Fort Hamilton Parkway | local | F | October 7, 1933
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| Church Avenue | all | F | October 7, 1933
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| express tracks merge into one
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| Ditmas Avenue | local | F
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| 18th Avenue | all | F
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| Avenue I | local | F
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| Bay Parkway | local | F
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| Avenue N | local | F
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| Avenue P | local | F
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| Kings Highway | all | F
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| Avenue U | local | F
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| Avenue X | local | F
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| express track ends
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| Neptune Avenue | all | F
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| West Eighth Street-New York Aquarium | all | F | | Q (Brighton Line)
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| Coney Island-Stillwell Avenue | all | F | | D (West End Line)
no regular service (Sea Beach Line)
Q (Brighton Line)
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External links
References
- Bronx to Coney Ride in New Subway Link, New York Times October 18, 1954 page 34
- Bronx-Coney Line is Opened by IND, New York Times October 31, 1954 page 73
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