IRT Eastern Parkway Line

IRT Eastern Parkway Line
The 2, 3, 4 and 5 trains are the primary services at most IRT Eastern Parkway Line stations, and thus the only IRT services that travel to/from Brooklyn.
Overview
Type	Rapid transit
System	New York City Subway
Status	Operating
Locale	Brooklyn
Termini	Borough Hall Crown Heights – Utica Avenue
Stations	11
Daily ridership	214,906[1]
Operation
Opened	1 May 1908
Owner	City of New York
Operator(s)	New York City Transit Authority
Character	Underground
Technical
No. of tracks	4
Track gauge	1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ^1⁄2 in)
Electrification	600V DC third rail

The Eastern Parkway Line is one of the lines of the IRT division of the New York City Subway, stretching from Downtown Brooklyn south along Flatbush Avenue and east along Eastern Parkway to Crown Heights. After passing Utica Avenue, the line rises onto an elevated structure and becomes the New Lots Line to the end at New Lots Avenue in East New York, Brooklyn. The west end of the Eastern Parkway Line is at the Joralemon Street Tunnel under the East River.^{[2][3][4][5][6][7]}

The IRT Nostrand Avenue Line splits from the local tracks of the Eastern Parkway Line south of the Franklin Avenue station.

History

The Joralemon Street Tunnel, opened on January 1, 1908,^[8] was the first underwater subway tunnel connecting Manhattan and Brooklyn.^[9] Clifford Milburn Holland served as the assistant engineer during the construction of the tunnel.^[10] It was added to the U.S. National Register of Historic Places on February 9, 2006.^[11]

The original segment of the line included four stations from Borough Hall to Atlantic Avenue near the Flatbush Avenue LIRR station. Due to overcrowding on the Joralemon Street Tunnel, Holland decided to build a second tunnel under Clark Street providing passengers with a direct route to travel between Brooklyn and the west side of Manhattan.^[12] Construction of the Clark Street Tunnel began on October 12, 1914, using a tunneling shield in conjunction with compressed air.^[13][14] The north tube was holed through on November 28, 1916.^[15] At 5,900 feet long, with about 3,100 feet underwater, the tunnel was finally opened for revenue service on Tuesday, April 15, 1919.

This line was expanded as a part of the Dual Contracts from Atlantic Avenue east. The IRT Eastern Parkway Line was built from 1915 to 1918, from the section east of the Atlantic Avenue station to Utica Avenue and down the Nostrand Avenue Subway to Flatbush Avenue. On August 23, 1920, the Eastern Parkway Line was extended from Atlantic Avenue to Crown Heights – Utica Avenue. The new trains would be served by trains from Seventh Avenue.^[16] On October 10, 1920 three stations, that were not ready to be opened with the rest of the line at Bergen Street, Grand Army Plaza and Eastern Parkway – Brooklyn Museum were opened.^[17]

Extent and service

IRT Eastern Parkway Line
Legend
IRT Lexington Avenue Line IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line East River Joralemon Street Tunnel | Clark Street Tunnel to BMT Montague Street Tunnel Clark Street Borough Hall BMT Fourth Avenue Line IND Culver Line / IND Fulton Street Line Hoyt Street Nevins Street BMT Fourth Avenue Line Atlantic Avenue – Barclays Center LIRR Atlantic Branch BMT Brighton Line Bergen Street Grand Army Plaza BMT Brighton Line Eastern Parkway – Brooklyn Museum BMT Franklin Avenue Line Franklin Avenue IRT Nostrand Avenue Line Nostrand Avenue Kingston Avenue Crown Heights – Utica Avenue IRT New Lots Line | Express tracks dead- end at Ralph Avenue

The line is currently served by
2  (all times)
3  (all except late nights)
4  (all times)
5  (weekdays until 8:45 p.m.)

The following services serve the line:

	Time period			Section of line
	rush hours and middays	evenings and weekends	late nights
	local			north of Franklin Ave
	local		no service	full line
	express		local	north of Utica Ave (all except nights) full line (nights)
	express	no service		north of Franklin Ave

Route description

The IRT Eastern Parkway Line enters Brooklyn through the Joralemon Street Tunnel from the IRT Lexington Avenue Line and continues to run under the street that the tunnel was named after, until after Borough Hall. East of Adams Street and Boerum Plaza, the IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line merges with the line and it runs under Fulton Street, then turns southeast under Flatbush Avenue, which also has the BMT Brighton Line beneath it. The first station along this segment is Nevins Street, which contains a never used lower level, and then joins Atlantic Avenue – Barclays Center, the end of the oldest section of the line. Between Bergen Street and Grand Army Plaza, the line splits around the BMT Brighton Line.

East of Grand Army Plaza, the line finally moves under its namesake, the first station serving the Brooklyn Museum. The next station is a complex near the Brooklyn Botanic Garden that serves the above ground BMT Franklin Avenue Line and the beginning of the IRT Nostrand Avenue Line, which branches off to the south shortly afterwards at Rogers Avenue Junction. The last three stations are a two-over-two track layout with a platform on each level. Afterwards, the IRT Eastern Parkway Line ends under Ralph Avenue, one block east of its originally intended terminus, whereas the local tracks become the IRT New Lots Line, branching off to the southeast emerging from the ground near Buffalo Avenue at Lincoln Terrace Park.

Station listing

Station service legend
	Stops all times
	Stops all times except late nights
	Stops late nights only
	Stops weekdays only
	Stops rush hours only
Time period details

Neighborhood (approximate)		Station	Tracks	Services	Opened	Transfers and notes
Begins as continuation of IRT Lexington Avenue Line (4  5 )
Downtown Brooklyn	*	Borough Hall	express	4  5	May 1, 1908	2  3  (IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line) N  R  (BMT Fourth Avenue Line at Court Street)
	IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line express tracks become Eastern Parkway local tracks (2  3 )
		Hoyt Street	local	2  3	May 1, 1908
		Nevins Street	all	2  3  4  5	May 1, 1908
		Atlantic Avenue – Barclays Center	all	2  3  4  5	May 1, 1908	D  N  R  (BMT Fourth Avenue Line at Atlantic Avenue – Barclays Center) B  Q  (BMT Brighton Line) Connection to LIRR at Atlantic Terminal
Park Slope		Bergen Street	local	2  3  4	October 10, 1920[17]
		Grand Army Plaza	local	2  3  4	October 10, 1920[17]
Prospect Heights		Eastern Parkway – Brooklyn Museum	local	2  3  4	October 10, 1920[17]
Crown Heights		Franklin Avenue	all	2  3  4  5	August 23, 1920[16]	S  (BMT Franklin Avenue Line at Botanic Garden)
	IRT Nostrand Avenue Line splits from the local tracks (2  5 ) at Rogers Junction
		Nostrand Avenue	local	2  3  4	August 23, 1920[16]	B44 Select Bus Service
		Kingston Avenue	local	2  3  4	August 23, 1920[16]
		Crown Heights – Utica Avenue	all	2  3  4  5	August 23, 1920[16]
Express tracks end
Continues as IRT New Lots Line (2  3  4  5 )

* Borough Hall is accessible in the northbound direction only

References

1. MTA. "Average weekday subway ridership". Retrieved 2 April 2014.
2. Metropolitan Transportation Authority, 2006 Final Proposed Budget – November Financial Plan 2006-2009, Section VI: MTA Capital Program Information PDF (135 KiB): "Joralemon Tube to Nevins Street"
3. Metropolitan Transportation Authority, 2005 Adopted Budget - February Financial Plan 2005–2008, Section VII: MTA Capital Program Information PDF (91.7 KiB): shows Utica Avenue on "EPK" and Sutter Avenue on "NLT"
4. Metropolitan Transportation Authority, 2005 Final Proposed Budget - November Financial Plan 2005–2008, Section VI: MTA Capital Program Information PDF (1.02 MiB): "Sutter Avenue Portal to end"
5. In a 1981 list of "most deteriorated subway stations", the MTA listed Borough Hall and Court Street stations as part of the New Lots Line:
   New York Times, Agency Lists Its 69 Most Deteriorated Subway Stations, June 11, 1981, section B, page 5
6. The chaining designation "M" (Joralemon Street Tunnel) becomes "E" (Eastern Parkway Line) just west of the Borough Hall platforms; the Court Street and northern Borough Hall stations are chained "K" (Clark Street Tunnel).
7. However, as of 2007, emergency exit signs label Court Street as an IRT Broadway – Seventh Avenue Line station, and the two parts of Borough Hall are signed as being along the Broadway – Seventh Avenue and IRT Lexington Avenue Lines.
8. "Brooklyn Joyful Over Its Tunnel". The New York Times. January 10, 1908. Retrieved 2010-03-06.
9. Gasparini, D. A. (February 2006). [gi/WWWdisplay.cgi?0600470# "Battery-Joralemon Street Tunnel". Journal of Performance of Constructed Facilities (American Society of Civil Engineers) 20 (1): 92–107. doi:10.1061/(asce)0887-3828(2006)20:1(92). Retrieved 2007-10-12.
10. Aronson, Michael (June 15, 1999). "The Digger Clifford Holland". Daily News (New York). Retrieved 2010-07-02.
11. Staff (2007-01-23). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service.
12. "New Subway Service Between Brooklyn and Manhattan Boroughs". The New York Times. April 13, 1919. Retrieved 2009-09-05.
13. "Work Begins on New Tubes Under River". The New York Times. October 11, 1914. Retrieved 2010-02-28.
14. Aronson, Michael (June 15, 1999). "The Digger Clifford Holland". Daily News (New York). Retrieved 2010-07-02.
15. "Under-River Tunnel Headings Meet". nycsubway.org. Retrieved 2010-02-28.
16. "Brooklyn Tube Extensions Open: I.R.T. Begins Service on Eastern Parkway and Nostrand Avenue Lines". New York Times. August 23, 1920. Retrieved 20 December 2015.
17. "Subway Stations Opened: Last Three in Eastern Parkway Branch of I.R.T. Put Into Service". New York Times. October 11, 1920. Retrieved 20 December 2015.

External links

Route map: Bing / Google

• Media related to IRT Eastern Parkway Line at Wikimedia Commons