125th Street (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)

125th Street   New York City Subway rapid transit station
Station statistics
Address	East 125th Street & Lexington Avenue New York, NY 10035
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	Harlem
Coordinates	40.804259°N 73.937473°W / 40.804259; -73.937473
Division	A (IRT)
Line	IRT Lexington Avenue Line
Services	4  (all times)       5  (all except late nights)       6  (all times) <6> (weekdays until 8:45 p.m., peak direction)
Connection	New York City Bus: M1 (northbound), M35, M60 to LaGuardia Airport, M98, M100, M101, Bx15 Metro-North Railroad:   Harlem Line   Hudson Line   New Haven Line   New Canaan Branch   Danbury Branch at Harlem – 125th Street station
Structure	Underground
Levels	2
Platforms	2 island platforms (1 on each level) cross-platform interchange
Tracks	4 (2 on each level)
Other information
Opened	July 17, 1918 (July 17, 1918)
Accessible
Traffic
Passengers (2010)	8,834,429  1.4%
Rank	33 out of 422
Station succession
Next north	138th Street – Grand Concourse (Jerome local): 4  5  149th Street – Grand Concourse (Jerome express): 4  Third Avenue – 138th Street (Pelham): 6  <6>
Next south	116th Street (local): 4  6  <6> 86th Street (express): 4  5  116th Street (2nd Ave): planned
Next north	161st Street – Yankee Stadium (via Jerome): 4  Third Avenue – 149th Street (via White Plains Road): 5  Pelham Bay Park (via Pelham): 6  <6>
Next south	51st Street (local): 4  6  <6> Grand Central – 42nd Street (express): 4  5
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops in station at all times Stops all times except late nights Stops late nights only Stops late nights and weekends only Stops weekdays only Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction Stops all times except weekdays Stops rush hours only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only Station is closed (Details about time periods)

125th Street is an express station that has four tracks and two island platforms. It is the northernmost Manhattan station on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at Lexington Avenue and East 125th Street (also known as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard) in Harlem, it is served by the 4 and 6 trains at all times, the 5 train at all times except late nights, and the <6> during weekdays in peak direction. The station lies one block east of the Harlem – 125th Street station on the Metro-North Railroad. A proposed northern extension of the Second Avenue Subway will connect with this station.

IRT Lexington Avenue Line platforms

The platform in 1977

Mosaic with depiction of bridge

The station is unique in design. It is a bi-level station, with an island platform on each level, but is not configured in the standard express-local lower-upper configuration (which is used in most stations south of this point). Instead, the upper platform serves northbound (uptown) trains and the lower level serves southbound (downtown) trains. North of the station, just after crossing the Harlem River, the line splits into the IRT Jerome Avenue Line (heading north) and the IRT Pelham Line (heading east). On the lower platform, each track comes from one line, and a flying junction south of the station allows trains to be diverted to the local or express track.

There is an active tower at the north end of the upper platform; it is a satellite to the tower at Grand Central – 42nd Street, which controls the entire length of the Lexington Avenue Line. This station's renovation was completed in 2005.

Planned Second Avenue Subway station

The planned northern terminal for the Second Avenue Subway would be built below and at right angles to this station, along 125th Street. Phase 1 of the Second Avenue Subway from 63rd Street to 96th Street is under construction as of 3 March 2012. The 125th Street station is part of Phase 2, from 96th Street to 125th Street.

References

The location is referenced in The Velvet Underground song "Waiting for the Man," in which the song's protagonist uses the train station en route to buy heroin in Harlem : "...up-to Lexington , 1-2-5 ; feel sick and dirty , more dead than alive ..."

Further reading

• Lee Stokey. Subway Ceramics : A History and Iconography. 1994. ISBN 978-0-9635486-1-0

External links

Media related to 125th Street (IRT Lexington Avenue Line) at Wikimedia Commons

• nycsubway.org — IRT East Side Line: 125th Street
• nycsubway.org — Polyrhythmics of Consciousness and Light Artwork by Valerie Maynard (2002)
• nycsubway.org — Open Secret Artwork by Houston Conwill (1986)
• Station Reporter — 4 Train
• Station Reporter — 5 Train
• Station Reporter — 6 Train
• MTA's Arts For Transit — 125th Street (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)
• 125th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View