Editing BMT Brighton Line (section)

==History==

===Origins===
[[File:Bmt triplex no 1.png|thumb|left|90px|Route designation on BMT Triplex equipment]]
The Brighton Line opened from the [[Willink Plaza]] entrance of [[Prospect Park (Brooklyn)|Prospect Park]] (modern intersection of [[Flatbush Avenue (Brooklyn)|Flatbush]] and [[Ocean Avenue (Brooklyn)|Ocean Avenue]]s and Empire Boulevard, now the Prospect Park station on both the renamed Brighton and the Franklin Avenue Shuttle lines) to [[Brighton Beach]] (modern [[Coney Island Avenue]] at the shoreline) on July 2, 1878, and the full original line on August 18. It was an excursion [[railroad]] – the Brooklyn, Flatbush and Coney Island Railway – to bring [[beach]]goers from downtown Brooklyn (via a connection with the [[Long Island Rail Road]]) to the seashore at [[Coney Island]] on the [[Atlantic Ocean]], at a location named [[Brighton Beach]] at the same time the railroad arrived. It has been known since its opening as the Brighton Beach Line but is now described as the Brighton Line in MTA literature and in public usage.

After losing its connection with the Long Island Rail Road in 1883, the railroad fell on hard times, reorganizing as the Brooklyn and Brighton Beach Railroad. Seeking a new route for its excursion business and its local trade in communities along the way, it formed an agreement with the [[Kings County Elevated Railway]] to connect to its Fulton Street Line, which gave access to the new [[Brooklyn Bridge]] and Manhattan passengers. This was accomplished in 1896.

A series of mergers and leases put the Brighton Beach Line in the hands of the [[Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company]] (BRT), a [[holding company]] which eventually controlled most of the [[rapid transit]], [[streetcar]], and [[bus]] lines in Brooklyn and part of [[Queens]]. The line was electrified with trolley wire and, for a time, trolleys from several surface routes and elevated trains operated together on the line.

The BRT was reorganized as the [[Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation]] (BMT) in 1923. In 1940, the BMT was purchased by the [[political subdivisions of New York State|City]] of New York, and operation passed to the city's [[New York City Board of Transportation|Board of Transportation]], which already operated the city-built [[Independent Subway System]] (IND).

[[File:LIRR Manhattan Beach Line - abutment traces.jpg|thumb|BMT Brighton Line was built next to right of way of LIRR. LIRR tracks were removed but the abutment placement still indicated where the right of way was]]
The original line was a two-tracked high-speed surface steam railroad operating from Bedford Station, at Atlantic Avenue near Franklin Avenue in the City of Brooklyn, at which point it made a physical connection to the [[Long Island Rail Road]]'s [[Atlantic Branch]]. From Bedford the line ran on a surface private right-of-way several blocks south to Park Place, which it crossed at grade, and then in an open cut with street overpasses through what is now Crown Heights and Flatbush, as far as Church Lane (now Church Avenue) in the [[political subdivisions of New York State|Town]] and [[political subdivisions of New York State|Village]] of Flatbush. From that point the line continued on the surface to a point at current Beverley Road between Marlborough Road (East 15th Street) and East 16th Street, curving southeast and running on the surface between the lines of the latter streets through the Towns of Flatbush and Gravesend to Sheepshead Bay, then turning southerly to reach the beach at Brighton Beach on Coney Island in the Town of Gravesend.

The line was extended westward from Brighton Beach in 1903, so that it could terminate with the former Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad at [[Culver Depot]] in Coney Island. Passengers, with this short extension, were given access to the developing area of Coney Island. The Culver Depot became the center of operations for the Culver Line and the Brighton Beach Line.<ref name=":2">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=v5eYL7PTP3cC&pg=PA9 |title=The Malbone Street Wreck|last=Cudahy|first=Brian J.|date=January 1, 1999|publisher=Fordham Univ Press|isbn=9780823219322|language=en}}</ref>

===Grade crossing eliminations, 1903–1908 and 1918–1920===
[[File:Brighton beach elevated subway line over a street.jpg|thumb|left|The Brighton Line passing over [[Coney Island Avenue]] in [[Brighton Beach]]]]

In 1903, the New York State Legislature created the Brooklyn Grade Crossing Elimination Commission (BGCEC) to eliminate all [[grade crossing]]s on the Brighton Beach Line and the Bay Ridge Line of the Long Island Rail Road. The city was supposed to cover half of the costs, not exceeding $1 million, while the railroads were to cover the other half of the costs. The work started on December 30, 1905, and was completed in 1908. A short piece of two-tracked elevated railroad was built from the ramp connecting to the Fulton Street Elevated as far as Park Place, where the original 1878 open cut began. From the end of that original cut south of Church Avenue, the line was wholly rebuilt as a four-track railroad with express and local stations to a point south of Neptune Avenue at the border of Coney Island, continuing along its original right-of-way to Brighton Beach station. The portion from Church Avenue to Avenue H was placed in a depressed open cut, while the portion from Avenue H to south of Sheepshead Bay was raised onto an earthen embankment, primarily with earth excavated from the open-cut portion and from the Bay Ridge Improvement of the Long Island Rail Road. The separation of the railroad grade allowed the line's trolley wire north of Sheepshead Bay to be replaced with ground-level third rail.<ref name=":2" />

The work by the BGCEC left the line between Park Place and Church Avenue in substantially its original condition from steam railroad days. Between 1918 and 1920, however, further work rebuilt the portion between Prospect Park and Church Avenue as a four-track line. At the same time, the remaining portion of the line south of Neptune Avenue was replaced with a four-track elevated structure, including a four- to six-track elevated line extension, connecting the Brighton Line to the new [[Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue (BMT Brighton Line)|Coney Island terminal]] at Surf and [[Stillwell Avenue]]s. This same work rerouted mainline Brighton Beach trains from the Fulton Street elevated line via a new deep tunnel under [[Flatbush Avenue]] to connect to the [[BMT Fourth Avenue Line]] at DeKalb Avenue station, where trains could access the new BMT Broadway subway. This work was done as a part of the [[Dual Contracts]].

A spur south of Neck Road, which split to [[Sheepshead Bay Race Track]], was in use from 1909 to around 1929. The single-track spur was part of the [[Long Island Rail Road]]'s [[Manhattan Beach Branch]], and it ran at street level to Ocean Avenue between Avenues X and Y, where it terminated at a six-track terminal.<ref name="ERA-Bulletin-Jul2003">{{cite journal| title=BRIGHTON LINE TRACK PLANS BRIGHTON LINE TRACK PLANS| journal=Electric Railroaders' Association Bulletin| date=July 2003| url=https://erausa.org/pdf/bulletin/2003-07-bulletin.pdf| access-date=April 10, 2018| pages=2| volume=46| number=7| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180907183006/https://erausa.org/pdf/bulletin/2003-07-bulletin.pdf| archive-date=September 7, 2018| url-status=dead}}</ref>{{rp|2}}

===Brighton–Franklin Line===
The St. Felix Street and Flatbush Avenue Connection opened on August 1, 1920, providing direct service between the Brighton Line and midtown Manhattan.<ref name=":1" /><ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/brooklyn-eagle-new-subways-add-seven-mor/157388923/|title=New Subways Add Seven More Miles to BRT on Aug 1|date=July 25, 1920|work=[[Brooklyn Daily Eagle]]|access-date=August 19, 2016|via=[[newspapers.com]]}}</ref> With the opening of the connection, the original portion of the line between the Fulton Street Elevated and the link to the new subway at Prospect Park became a secondary line, known as Brighton–Franklin, and now known as the [[BMT Franklin Avenue Line]]. At times through services (including expresses) operated on mainline Brighton tracks to Coney Island. Some special weekend trains even operated beyond Coney Island back to Manhattan via the [[BMT Sea Beach Line]] express tracks and the [[BMT Fourth Avenue Line|BMT Fourth Avenue Subway]]. This service was variously known as Franklin–Nassau and as the Coney Island Express, but its popular name was the "Sunny Sunday Summer Special," because it was only supposed to operate as needed on the hottest beach-going days.

In Fiscal Year 1930, an additional control area with staircases to the platforms at Kings Highway were constructed, and additional stairs were added at Avenue M, Avenue U, and Avenue J.<ref>{{Cite book |last=New York (State). Transit Commission. |url=http://archive.org/details/annualreport1019newy |title=Tenth Annual Report, 1930 |date=1930 |publisher=Albany, N.Y. : J.B. Lyon Co. |others=Columbia University Libraries}}</ref>

Through services gradually diminished on the Brighton–Franklin, and after 1963 it became a pure shuttle, operating between Franklin Avenue station at Fulton Street and Prospect Park station, where it connects with mainline Brighton Beach trains.

During the era of route contraction from 1940 to about 1975, the [[Franklin Avenue Shuttle]] seemed a prime candidate for abandonment; its physical structure had been allowed to deteriorate and its service steadily curtailed. The [[New York City fiscal crisis]] of the '70s and the recession in 1990 contributed to plans to discontinue the line. By the 1990s the Franklin Avenue Shuttle was known as the "ghost train". It was shrunk in size to only two cars and the [[Dean Street (BMT Franklin Avenue Line)|Dean Street station]] was closed. The entire line was under consideration for abandonment, but community pressure forced the MTA to rebuild rather than abandon the line, and as a result, most of the supporting infrastructure and stations were completely rehabilitated in 1998–1999 at a cost of $74 million and reopened in 1999.<ref name="Wilson">{{Citation |last=Wilson |first=Michael |date=July 24, 2008 |title=In Brooklyn, It's the Little Train That Can |periodical=[[The New York Times]] |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/07/24/nyregion/24shuttle.html |issn=0362-4331 |access-date=July 27, 2008}}</ref>

=== Platform extensions, track repairs, and Stillwell Avenue reconstruction ===
On June 16, 1964, Mayor [[Robert F. Wagner Jr.]] approved the award of a $2,283,933 contract for the second phase of work to extend platforms along the Brighton Line. The platforms were to be lengthened to {{convert|615|ft|m}} feet to accommodate a ten-car train of {{convert|60|ft|m|adj=on}} long IND cars, or a nine-car train of {{convert|67|ft|m|adj=on}} long BMT cars, instead of the existing 8-cars. The contract for the first phase of work had been let the previous year for the seven stations between [[Atlantic Avenue–Barclays Center (New York City Subway)|Atlantic Avenue]] and [[Newkirk Plaza (BMT Brighton Line)|Newkirk Avenue]]. The platform extensions at these stations were completed during the 1964–1965 fiscal year. The contract for the second phase called for the extension of platforms at the ten remaining stations on the line from [[Avenue H (BMT Brighton Line)|Avenue H]] to [[Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue (New York City Subway)|Stillwell Avenue]]. Work on the second contract was still ongoing in 1965.<ref name=":02">{{Cite book|title=Annual Report 1964–1965|publisher=New York City Transit Authority|year=1965}}</ref><ref name=":13">{{Cite web|url=http://www.laguardiawagnerarchive.lagcc.cuny.edu/pages/FileBrowser.aspx?LinkToFile=FILES_DOC/WAGNER_FILES/06.023.0000.141.1637.PDF#undefined|title=Letter about the approval of a contract for platform extensions on the Brighton Line|date=June 16, 1964|publisher=New York City Office of the Mayor|access-date=August 28, 2019}}</ref>

Between April 26, 1986, and October 26, 1986, service was disrupted due to track repairs and other construction work along the line. The two local tracks were completely rebuilt between Prospect Park and Newkirk Avenue, in two phases, with the Manhattan-bound track rebuilt first between April and July, and the Brooklyn-bound track rebuilt between July and October. A temporary platform was built at Cortelyou Road while Beverley Road and Parkside Avenue were closed in one direction because temporary platforms could not be built at these locations.<ref>{{Cite document|title=Brighton Line Riders Your Guide To Service Changes On The B Q M During Rehabilitation Work April 26 Through October 26, 1986|date=April 1986|publisher=New York City Transit Authority}}</ref> To reduce congestion, skip-stop service was implemented on weekdays, which lasted until 1988.<ref name="The JoeKorNer Brochures">{{cite web|url=http://www.thejoekorner.com/brochures/index-bmt-ind-1986-details.html|title=The JoeKorNer Brochures|access-date=February 8, 2018}}</ref> 
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On November 13, 1995, Q express service was restored between Kings Highway and Brighton Beach.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/24541822/daily_news/|title=It's not the Dodgers, but on November 13, express service returns to Brooklyn's Brighton Line.|date=November 13, 1995|work=New York Daily News|access-date=November 5, 2018}}</ref>-->

From September 8, 2002, to May 23, 2004, service was suspended west of Brighton Beach due to allow rebuilding of the [[Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue (New York City Subway)|Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue]] terminal station, which had deteriorated due to the effects of salt water corrosion and deferred maintenance.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.mta.info/news/2014/05/20/stillwell-terminal-remains-sparkling-jewel-decade-after-full-rehabilitation|title=Stillwell Terminal Remains a Sparkling Jewel a Decade after Full Rehabilitation|date=May 20, 2014|website=www.mta.info|publisher=[[Metropolitan Transportation Authority]]|access-date=August 15, 2016|archive-date=December 1, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211201101739/https://www.mta.info/news/2014/05/20/stillwell-terminal-remains-sparkling-jewel-decade-after-full-rehabilitation|url-status=dead}}</ref>

===Brighton Line Station Reconstruction Project===
[[File:AvenueUstationInBrooklyn.JPG|thumb|right|The platform at Avenue U during reconstruction.]]
[[File:BrightonTrackworkNewkirk.jpg|thumb|right|Track work at Newkirk Plaza in September 2011 marking the end of the station reconstruction project.]]
[[File:Weekend Work 2012-07-02 16 (7488360838).jpg|thumb|right|Replacing of tracks on the BMT Brighton Line]]
In 2007, the MTA announced that it would reconstruct seven stations between [[Newkirk Plaza (BMT Brighton Line)|Newkirk Avenue]] and [[Neck Road (BMT Brighton Line)|Neck Road]], inclusive.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://secondavenuesagas.com/2007/12/10/south-brooklyn-q-stops-gearing-up-for-renovations/|title=Southern Brooklyn Q stops gearing up for renovations|date=December 10, 2007|website=Second Ave. Sagas|access-date=August 11, 2017}}</ref> On December 8, 2008, the first phase of the Brighton Line Station Reconstruction Project began. The [[Coney Island]]-bound platforms at [[Avenue U (BMT Brighton Line)|Avenue U]] and Neck Road were closed for rebuilding and all southbound trains ran on the express track from [[Kings Highway (BMT Brighton Line)|Kings Highway]] to [[Sheepshead Bay (BMT Brighton Line)|Sheepshead Bay]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://cdn-sas.secondavenuesagas.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/brighton-stations-november-2007-21.pdf|title=Brighton Stations Rehabilitation|date=November 2007|website=secondavenuesagas.com|publisher=Metropolitan Transportation Authority|access-date=April 1, 2019|archive-date=March 16, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170316140025/http://cdn-sas.secondavenuesagas.com/wp-content/uploads/2007/12/brighton-stations-november-2007-21.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref>

On September 14, 2009, the second phase of the project involving all stations from [[Newkirk Plaza (BMT Brighton Line)|Newkirk Plaza]] to Kings Highway began. Express B train service was suspended and all trains ran local in both directions for the next two years.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.mta.info/press-release/nyc-transit/temporary-loss-brighton-line-express|title=MTA – Press Release – NYC Transit – Temporary Loss of Brighton Line Express|work=mta.info|access-date=June 3, 2014|archive-date=August 12, 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170812060035/http://www.mta.info/press-release/nyc-transit/temporary-loss-brighton-line-express|url-status=dead}}</ref> Over the next two weeks, temporary platforms were placed on the Manhattan-bound express track at Kings Highway and [[Avenue J (BMT Brighton Line)|Avenue J]] for southbound service. On September 28, the southbound platforms of [[Avenue H (BMT Brighton Line)|Avenue H]], Avenue J, [[Avenue M (BMT Brighton Line)|Avenue M]], and Kings Highway began rebuilding. South of [[Cortelyou Road (BMT Brighton Line)|Cortelyou Road]], a single crossover connected the southbound local track with the express one and all southbound trains skipped Avenue H and Avenue M.

On January 18, 2010, Coney Island-bound service was restored at Avenue U and Neck Road. The Manhattan-bound platforms were closed for rebuilding until October 25 and all northbound trains operated on the express track from Sheepshead Bay to Kings Highway.

On September 13, Coney Island-bound service to Avenue H and Avenue M was restored and the two southbound tracks south of Cortelyou Road were separated. Over the next two weeks, the temporary platforms at Avenue J and Kings Highway were moved to the southbound express track and the two northbound tracks were connected to each other north of Newkirk Plaza. On September 27, the Manhattan-bound platforms of those three stations as well as Avenues H and M, which were then being bypassed, began rehabilitation and all northbound service was directed to the express track until Cortelyou Road. The platforms of all stations reopened on September 12, 2011, and B express service was restored on October 3. However, rehabilitation work that did not affect service continued until the end of the year.

As part of the project, station platforms were replaced and widened, windscreens and canopies were replaced, station lighting was upgraded, new public address systems were installed, and new station agent booths were put into place. In addition, ADA-compliant elevators were installed at Kings Highway, the historic station house at Avenue H was restored, an additional southbound entrance was installed at Avenue H, and additional fare entrances were created to the northbound platform sections of the Avenue M and Avenue J stations.<ref>{{Cite document|title=A Message from Line General Manager Jim Leopard... B Q An Overview of the Brighton Line Rehabilitation Project|date=2009|publisher=New York City Transit}}</ref>