Ditmas Avenue station

The Ditmas Avenue station is a local station on the IND Culver Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Ditmas and McDonald Avenues in Kensington, Brooklyn, it is served by the F train at all times and the <F> train during rush hours in the peak direction.

Ditmas Avenue  ​
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Looking north from the southbound platform
Station statistics
Address	Ditmas Avenue & McDonald Avenue Brooklyn, NY 11218
Borough	Brooklyn
Locale	Kensington
Coordinates	40°38′10.55″N 73°58′41.42″W / 40.6362639°N 73.9781722°W / 40.6362639; -73.9781722
Division	B (IND, formerly BMT)^[1]
Line	IND Culver Line BMT Culver Line (formerly)
Services	F  (all times) <F>  (two rush hour trains, peak direction)​
Structure	Elevated
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	3 (2 in regular service)
Other information
Opened	March 16, 1919 (104 years ago) (1919-03-16)^[2]
Opposite- direction transfer	Yes
Traffic
2022	768,067^[3]  25.4%
Rank	330 out of 423^[3]
Services Preceding station New York City Subway Following station Church Avenue F  <F> ​ toward Jamaica–179th Street Local 18th Avenue F  <F> ​ toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue
Non-revenue services and lines Preceding station New York City Subway Following station 13th Avenue BMT Culver; demolished no service
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York
Track layout Legend to Church Avenue Trackway of former Culver Shuttle spur to 18th Avenue
Street map
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times Stops rush hours in the peak direction only (limited service) Stops weekdays and weekday late nights

History

This station opened at 3:00 a.m. on March 16, 1919, as part of the opening of the first section of the BMT Culver Line. The initial section began at the Ninth Avenue station and ended at the Kings Highway station.^[2][4] The line was operated as a branch of the Fifth Avenue Elevated line, with a free transfer at Ninth Avenue to the West End Line into the Fourth Avenue Subway. The opening of the line resulted in reduced travel times between Manhattan and Kings Highway. Construction on the line began in 1915, and cost a total of $3.3 million.^[5][6][7][8] Trains from this station began using the Fourth Avenue Subway to the Nassau Street Loop in Lower Manhattan when that line opened on May 30, 1931.^[9] The Fifth Avenue Elevated was closed on May 31, 1940, and elevated service ceased stopping here.^[10][11] On October 30, 1954,^[10][12] the connection between the IND South Brooklyn Line at Church Avenue and the BMT Culver Line at Ditmas Avenue opened. With the connection completed, all service at the stations on the former BMT Culver Line south of Ditmas Avenue, including this one, were from then on served by IND trains.^[13]

North of Ditmas Avenue, the Culver Line expands into four tracks, two local, and two express tracks and enters the tunnel into Church Avenue, allowing access to IND lines in the other boroughs. Before 1954, the Coney Island-bound platform was formerly an island platform with an extra track. Afterward, the BMT Culver Line north of Ditmas Avenue was reduced to a single-track shuttle. The shuttle ceased operation on May 11, 1975 due to decreasing ridership and most of the structure above 37th-38th Streets were demolished.^[14] The fourth track at Ditmas Avenue was removed and the Coney Island-bound platform was converted to a side platform.

From June 1968^[15] to 1987, express service on the elevated portion of the line from Church Avenue to Kings Highway operated in the peak direction (to Manhattan AM; to Brooklyn PM), with some F trains running local and some running express. During this time period, this station was used as a local station.^[16][17] Express service ended in 1987, largely due to budget constraints and complaints from passengers at local stations. Express service on the elevated Culver Line was ended due to necessary structural work, but never restored.^[16][17][18]

Station layout

Platform level	Side platform
	Northbound local	←    toward Jamaica–179th Street (Church Avenue)
	Peak-direction express	→ No regular service
	Southbound local	→    toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue (18th Avenue) →
	Side platform
	Trackbed	Former Culver Shuttle
Mezzanine		Fare control, station agent, MetroCard machines
Ground	Street level	Entrance/exit

 

Remains of the Culver Shuttle track and the Culver Ramp connecting the station to the original underground IND Culver Line

This elevated station, opened on March 16, 1919,^[2] has three tracks and two side platforms. The center track is not used in revenue service. Both platforms have beige windscreens along their entire lengths except for a small section at the north end. Brown canopies with green frames and support columns run along the center of the platforms. The station signs are in the standard black plates in white lettering. There is an abandoned tower on the extreme south end of the Manhattan-bound platform.

Along the west side of McDonald Avenue, the remains of the Culver Shuttle's fourth track are visible behind the windscreens of the Coney Island-bound platform and more remains show the two-track turnoff just before entering Ditmas Avenue.

Exits

This station has two entrances/exits, both of which are elevated station houses beneath the tracks. The full-time one is at the south end. Two staircases from each platform outside the canopies go down to a waiting area/crossover, where a turnstile bank of three provides entrance/exit from the station. Outside fare control, there is a token booth and two staircases going down to either southern corners of McDonald Avenue and Ditmas Avenue.^[19]

The other station house at the north end also has one staircase from each platform, a waiting area/crossover, and two staircases going down to either side of McDonald Avenue between Cortelyou Road and Ditmas Avenue. However, the station house is unstaffed, containing two High Entry/Exit Turnstiles. Both station house balconies have a high turnstile to allow passengers to enter or exit the station without having to go through the station house. The one on the Manhattan-bound staircase is entry and exit while the one on the Coney Island-bound staircase is exit-only.^[19]

Track layout

South of the station there is a double crossover between the southbound local track and the center express track. Also south of this station, there is a switch from the center express track to the northbound local track.^[17][20] There was formerly a switch to the south of the station, from the shuttle track to the southbound local track.^[21]

North of the station, the three tracks expand into four tracks, with the express track splitting into two. There were formerly forward-facing switches between the local and express tracks, with a switch from the northbound local track to the northbound express track as well as a switch from the southbound express track to the normal local track. As part of signal modernization work, these former switches were removed between June and July 2023 and relocated to inside of the portal south of Church Avenue to protect the switches from weather, therefore increasing their reliability and eliminating a potential failure point.

References

1. "Glossary". (PDF). Vol. 1. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. March 4, 2003. pp. 1–2. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 26, 2021. Retrieved January 1, 2021.
2. Legislative Documents. J.B. Lyon Company. January 1, 1920.
3. "Annual Subway Ridership (2017–2022)". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2022. Retrieved November 8, 2023.
4. Eisenstadt, Peter R.; Moss, Laura-Eve (January 1, 2005). The Encyclopedia of New York State. Syracuse University Press. ISBN 9780815608080.
5. "B.R.T. Will Open Culver Line Elevated Road as Far as Kings Highway on Sunday Next" (PDF). The New York Times. March 9, 1919. p. 23. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
6. "Culver Line Open Today" (PDF). The New York Times. March 16, 1919. p. 8. Retrieved October 9, 2016.
7. Kracke, Frederick J.H. (March 16, 1919). "New Rapid Transit Link in Operation". The New York Times. p. 106. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
8. "Culver Elevated Opens". The New York Times. March 17, 1919. p. 21. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
9. "Nassau St. Service Outlined by B. M. T." The New York Times. May 21, 1931. p. 29. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
10. Chiasson, George (May 2010). "A History of the F (and V) Train Service". New York Division Bulletin. Electric Railroaders' Association. 53 (5): 1, 4.
11. "Last Train is Run on Fulton St. 'El'". The New York Times. June 1, 1940. p. 11. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
12. NYCTA - Pass for Culver Line Ceremonies - 1954, April 14, 2015, retrieved July 30, 2020
13. "Adequate Transit Promised for City". The New York Times. October 29, 1954. p. 25. Retrieved July 30, 2020.
14. Kelly, John (May 9, 1975). "End of Line for Culver Shuttle". New York Daily News. p. KL7. Retrieved October 16, 2019 – via Newspapers.com.  
15. "'F' Line Rush-Hour Service Will Be Added in Brooklyn" (PDF). The New York Times. June 8, 1969. Retrieved August 26, 2016.
16. (PDF). nysenate.gov (Report). MTA New York City Transit Authority. October 7, 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 31, 2010. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
17. Feasibility and Analysis of F Express Service in Brooklyn (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority (Report). May 2016. (PDF) from the original on May 27, 2016. Retrieved June 24, 2016.
18. Geberer, Raanan (March 6, 2013). "Light at End of Tunnel: F Train Express may return". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. from the original on March 27, 2020. Retrieved July 28, 2015.
19. "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Borough Park" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2015. Retrieved July 19, 2015.
20. Marrero, Robert (January 1, 2017). "472 Stations, 850 Miles" (PDF). B24 Blog, via Dropbox. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
21. . February 4, 2012. Archived from the original on February 4, 2012. Retrieved October 9, 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Ditmas Avenue station.

• nycsubway.org – BMT Culver Line: Ditmas Avenue
• Station Reporter —
• The Subway Nut — Ditmas Avenue Pictures
• Ditmas Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Cortelyou Road entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Platforms from Google Maps Street View