Church Avenue station (BMT Brighton Line)

Church Avenue  ​
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Station statistics
Borough	Brooklyn
Division
Line	BMT Brighton Line
Services	B  (weekday rush hours, middays and early evenings) ​   Q  (all times)
Platforms	2 island platforms
Tracks	4
Other information
Opened	original station: July 2, 1878 current station: 1919
Opposite- direction transfer	Yes
Traffic
2023	3,194,658  5.6%
Rank	102 out of 423
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 during the day Stops weekends during the day Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction Stops all times except weekdays in the peak direction Stops all times except nights and rush hours in the peak direction Stops rush hours only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only Station is closed (Details about time periods)

Church Avenue is a station on the BMT Brighton Line of the New York City Subway, located at Church Avenue near East 18th Street in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn.

The station has four tracks and two island platforms. The full time Q train uses the local tracks at all times, while the B train uses the express tracks on weekdays only.

Description

Church Avenue is an open-cut express station with short tunnels at each end to carry the line between cross streets. Each platform has two staircases, leading to a stationhouse at each end. The full-time end of the station is at Church Ave, to the south. The original stationhouse was demolished and replaced with the current structure. Plain white tiles dot the interior and exterior of this entrance. There are restrooms inside the fare control to the right side. The part-time entrance is at the north end of the station by Caton Avenue and St. Pauls Place, and the stationhouse there retains the original c.1918 exterior. This end of the station originally had a part-time booth during the morning rush; a high-exit turnstile was open at all other times. After the 1980s renovation, the station was converted to booth operations from 7:00 to 22:00 every day. All of the platform columns were covered with steel supports during the renovation. At the midpoint, the southbound platform has an abandoned exit to East 18th Street between Church and Caton Avenues. The exterior of the stationhouse was made with brick and stucco, and was added in the early 1960s. The boarded-up staircase still stands.

History

The original station at this location was a two-track side-platform station that ran south from Church Avenue, whereas the current station runs north. At a point about 150 feet south of Church Avenue a clear difference in the form of the concrete retaining wall is visible on both sides of the right-of-way. This marks the point where the original Brighton Beach Line transitioned from an open-cut line depressed below ground level to a surface railroad for the remainder of the run to Coney Island. The line south of this point was converted from a two-track surface line to a four-track grade-separated line in 1907, and the portion north of this point was rebuilt from a two-track open cut to a four-track open cut in 1919. After August 1, 1920, through service was shifted from the current BMT Franklin Avenue Line to a new subway alignment under Flatbush Avenue, which permitted direct access to Manhattan via the Manhattan Bridge.

Bus connections

• B16 north to Prospect Park; south to Borough Park and Bay Ridge
• B35 west to Sunset Park; east to Canarsie and Brookdale Hospital via Church Avenue

External links

• nycsubway.org – BMT Brighton Line: Church Avenue
• Station Reporter — B Train
• Station Reporter — Q Train