Church Avenue station (BMT Brighton Line)

The Church Avenue station is an express station on the BMT Brighton Line, located at Church Avenue near East 18th Street in Brooklyn, New York. It is served by the 1 and 7 trains at all times, and has two island platforms and four tracks.

The original station at this location was a two-track side platform station that ran south from Church Avenue, whereas the current station runs to the north. At a point about 150 feet (46 m) 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.

On August 1, 1920, a tunnel under Flatbush Avenue opened, connecting the Brighton Line to the Broadway subway in Manhattan. At the same time, the line's former track connections to the Fulton Street Elevated were severed. Subway trains from Manhattan and elevated trains from Franklin Avenue served Brighton Line stations, sharing the line to Coney Island.

Station layout

← BMT 1 toward Queensboro Plaza or Chambers Street AM rush hours (Parkside Avenue) ← BMT 7 toward Franklin Avenue (Parkside Avenue)
Island platform
← BMT 1 weekdays and Saturdays toward Times Square (Prospect Park)
BMT 1 weekdays and Saturdays toward Brighton Beach (Newkirk Avenue) →
Island platform
BMT 1 toward Stillwell Avenue (Beverley Road) → BMT 7 toward Stillwell Avenue (Beverley Road) →