IND Culver Line
The IND Culver Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway, extending from Downtown Brooklyn south to Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York City, United States. The local tracks of the Culver Line are served by the F service, as well as the G between Bergen Street and Church Avenue. The express tracks north of Church Avenue are used by the <F> train during rush hours in the peak direction. The peak-direction express track between Ditmas Avenue and Avenue X has not seen regular service since 1987.
The line is named after Andrew Culver, who built the original Culver Line that preceded the current subway line. The present-day line was built as two unconnected segments operated by the Independent Subway System and Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation. The northern section of the line, between Jay Street–MetroTech and Church Avenue, is a four-track line that was built for the IND in 1933, running primarily underground except for a short elevated section over the Gowanus Canal.
The southern section, between Ditmas Avenue and Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue, was originally built for the BMT in 1919–1920 as a three-track elevated structure between Ninth Avenue in Sunset Park and Avenue X, and as a two-track elevated structure south of Avenue X. A ramp in the neighborhood of Kensington, which opened in 1954, connects the segments between the Church and Ditmas Avenues stations. The segment of the BMT line between Ninth and Ditmas Avenues remained as the Culver Shuttle until it was closed in 1975 and later demolished.
The elevated part of the Culver Line south of Church Avenue, which operated as part of the BMT until 1954, now carries only the F, a former IND service, and is chained and signaled as part of the IND. However, BMT radio frequency B1 is used on the elevated portion south of Church Avenue.
Extent and service
The following services use part or all of the IND Culver Line:The Culver Line is served by the as a local for its entire length, though <F> trains run express between Jay Street and Church Avenue in the peak direction. The portion of the route from Bergen Street south to Church Avenue is also served by the Brooklyn–Queens Crosstown service. Both routes run at all times.
There are two express tracks on the northern part of the route and one on the southern, with express stations distributed along the line. However, express service has only been operated on the line from 1968 to 1987, as well as since 2019. Restoration of express service has been thwarted by budget shortages, passenger opposition, and a serious signal fire at Bergen Street in 1999. The issue came to a head in June 2007, when a petition for express service reached 2,600 signatures and gained media attention. The Culver Line underwent repairs from 2009 until early 2013, during which the express tracks were replaced and rehabilitated to facilitate future express service.
Jay Street to Church Avenue
The subway portion of the IND Culver Line was originally designated the Brooklyn Line but has also been called the Smith Street Line, Church Avenue Line, South Brooklyn Line, and various other names. The express tracks beneath Prospect Park are sometimes referred to as the Prospect Park Line.The line begins at the four-tracked Jay Street–MetroTech station, where the IND Sixth Avenue and Eighth Avenue lines interchange and continue as the Culver and Fulton Street lines respectively. Running under Smith Street south of the station, the Culver tracks split into local and express tracks, with the two express tracks ramping down to the lower level of Bergen Street, while the local tracks merge with the IND Crosstown Line tracks from Hoyt-Schermerhorn Street before entering the upper level. Between Jay Street and Bergen Street, the line passes under both the IRT Eastern Parkway Line and the Fulton Line tracks curving east into Hoyt-Schermerhorn Street, requiring a deeper tunnel and extensive ventilation systems.
At Carroll Street, the express tracks ramp up to rejoin the local tracks, and all four tracks rise onto the Culver Viaduct, curving onto Ninth Street. East of Fourth Avenue station towards Park Slope, the tracks become a subway once again. Past 7th Avenue, the local tracks diverge, curving south to 15th Street and Prospect Park West, while the express tracks take a direct route beneath Prospect Park. This is one of two places in the subway where the express tracks diverge from the local tracks, the other being on the IND Queens Boulevard Line between 65th Street and 36th Street. The express tracks rejoin the right-of-way at approximately Terrace Place and Prospect Avenue, running on a lower level under Prospect Avenue and Fort Hamilton Parkway near the Prospect Park Parade Grounds, then rise up as the line curves onto McDonald Avenue. The line then parallels the route of the original Culver Line surface railroad into Church Avenue station, the last stop of the original IND service.
A single track in both directions, connecting from the local and express tracks in each direction, then ramps down to the four-track Church Avenue Yard, used as a relay and storage facility for trains. The four mainline tracks ascend to the Culver Ramp on McDonald Avenue between Cortelyou Road and Avenue C, which connects the subway portion of the IND Culver Line with the former BMT Culver Line elevated structure. Despite being a part of the IND Division, the Culver elevated portion is controlled by BMT radio dispatch, so train operators change between the IND and BMT radio frequencies at this point.
Culver Viaduct
The northern section of the Culver Line is a four-track line, entirely underground except for Smith–Ninth Streets and Fourth Avenue stations. The two stations sit on a massive one-mile long steel and concrete viaduct which spans the Gowanus Canal between 9th and 10th Streets. This structure is now referred to as the Culver Viaduct or Culver Line Viaduct, the only portion of the original IND subway to be elevated, and the only section other than the now-demolished World's Fair Railroad to be outdoors. The viaduct was constructed due to the depth of the canal, due to the topography of the Park Slope neighborhood, and to avoid local stores in the area. Otherwise, a tunnel carrying the line would have to have been built below both the canal and the BMT Fourth Avenue Line ; or Ninth Street would be raised above grade level to pass over the canal and BMT subway.Both underground options were considered expensive and impractical, and the viaduct was estimated to save $12 million in construction costs when it was selected in 1927. During planning, the viaduct's height was later increased from to around, due to now-defunct navigation regulations for tall-mast shipping. Because of this, Smith–Ninth Streets was built at an elevation of, the highest subway station above ground level in the world. Fourth Avenue, meanwhile, is actually at a lower elevation and altitude than the Seventh Avenue underground station.
For most of its history, G service has terminated at Smith–Ninth Streets, relaying using the express tracks and switches at Fourth Avenue. This occasionally caused delays to F service, and prevented express service from being operated. In 2009, the G's terminus was moved to Church Avenue in order to complete renovations on the viaduct. In July 2012, the G extension was made permanent.
Ditmas Avenue to Coney Island
At Ditmas Avenue, the Culver Ramp ends and the underground line becomes elevated. This is a three-track Dual Contracts elevated on the former BMT line over McDonald Avenue. Just before the station, the southbound local track merges into the southbound express track, while the northbound express track becomes the El's bidirectional center express track. During the 1990s and 2000s, the center express track in this section was occasionally used for non-revenue testing. 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–New York Aquarium station on Coney Island.Formally, the Culver Line ends as the track curve enters the lower level of the double-decked station along the BMT Brighton Line's right-of-way, 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 Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue Terminal.
History
Early years as two separate lines
BMT Culver Line (1875–1954)
The original Culver Line was opened by the Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad and was named after the railroad's builder, Andrew N. Culver. The line ran along the surface of McDonald Avenue from Greenwood Cemetery to the Culver Depot in Coney Island, on June 25, 1875. The PP&CI began serving the Union Depot at 36th Street, where transfer could be made to the Fifth Avenue Elevated, on June 7, 1890, by using the Prospect Park and South Brooklyn Railroad from a junction at Parkville.During a period of Long Island Rail Road control, from 1893 to 1899, a ramp at 36th Street was opened in 1895, allowing Brooklyn Elevated Railroad trains to operate over the Culver Line to Coney Island. The Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company, by then the owner of the Brooklyn Elevated, leased the Culver Line on June 18, 1899, and began using it to take not only elevated trains but also trolleys to Coney Island.
As part of Contract 4 of the Dual Contracts, between the city and the BRT, a three-track elevated railway was built above the Culver Line. The line, formally known as Route 49, or the Gravesend Avenue Line, was to run from the Fifth Avenue Elevated at Tenth Avenue and 37th Street, above private property south of 37th Street, and then south over Gravesend Avenue to Coney Island. At Ninth Avenue, the elevated replacements for the Culver Line and West End Line met, with access from both lines to the Fifth Avenue Elevated and Fourth Avenue Subway to the northwest.
Construction of the route was done in four sections: Section 1, 1-A, 2, and 3. Section 1-A extended from a location on the west building line of Tenth Avenue between 38th Street and 37th Street to a location east of the building line on Tenth Avenue, running in an open cut and then a fill over Tenth Avenue. Section 1 extended from a point east of the building line on Tenth Avenue to, over private property and 37th Street, and Gravesend Avenue to a location south of the intersection of Gravesend Avenue and the southern building line of 22nd Avenue. Section 2 stretched from here along Gravesend Avenue to Avenue X, and Section 3 continued from here south along Shell Road and West 6th Street to a point near the southern line of Sheepshead Bay Road, where it would connect with the Brighton Line for access to Coney Island.
The contract to construct Section 2 was awarded to Oscar Daniels Company for $863,775 on July 10, 1915. Work was to be completed in eighteen months. On September 8, 1915, the contract to construct Section 1 was awarded to Post & McCord for $877,859. Work on the section was to be completed in fifteen months. On January 23, 1917, a contract to construct Section 1-A of the line in four months was awarded to Thomas Dwyer for $42,268.
Image:Bmt triplex no 5.png|thumb|left|150px|Route designation on BMT D Triplex equipment
At 3:00 a.m. on March 16, 1919, the first portion of the new elevated structure opened from Ninth Avenue southeast and south to Kings Highway. Except for the omission of a station at 15th Avenue, all of the station locations from the surface line were preserved as elevated stations. The Culver Line was operated as a branch of the Fifth Avenue Elevated, with a free transfer at Ninth Avenue to the West End Line into the Fourth Avenue Subway. An extension to Avenue X was opened at noon on May 10, 1919. The line, the last of the four to Coney Island, was completed on May 1, 1920, at which time the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company was forced to cut the fare from ten to five cents.
This construction tied into the existing lower level of the BMT Brighton Line east of West Eighth Street–New York Aquarium. Some Culver Line trains began using the Fourth Avenue Subway to the Nassau Street Loop in Lower Manhattan when that line opened on May 30, 1931; the Fifth Avenue Elevated was closed on May 31, 1940, in conjunction with the unification of the transit system under city operations. Trolleys continued to use the surface tracks on McDonald Avenue until October 30, 1956.