Franklin Avenue Shuttle Explained

Service:S
Franklin Avenue Shuttle
Image1:NYCS R68 Franklin Shuttle.jpg
Caption1:A Franklin Avenue Shuttle train of R68s at Franklin Avenue station
Shuttle:Franklin
North Term:Franklin Avenue
South Term:Prospect Park
Stations:4
Depot:Coney Island Yard
Started: (predecessor, along with current Q route)
(current shuttle)
Map State:collapsed

The Franklin Avenue Shuttle is a New York City Subway shuttle service operating in Brooklyn. The shuttle service uses the BMT Franklin Avenue Line exclusively. The north terminus is Franklin Avenue, with a transfer available to the IND Fulton Street Line. The south terminus is Prospect Park, with a transfer available to the BMT Brighton Line. NYCT Rapid Transit Operations staff refer to it internally as the S or FS.[1] Like the other two shuttles, the 42nd Street Shuttle in Manhattan and the Rockaway Park Shuttle in Queens, its route bullet is colored on route signs, station signs, rolling stock, and the official subway map.

The S started running along its current route in 1963, and it has had four stations since 1995. Consumers Park was closed in 1928 and replaced by the current Botanic Garden station five blocks to the north. There is a visible clearing at the former station location. Dean Street was closed in 1995 due to low paid fare entrance and fare beating.

The shuttle runs two 2-car train sets of R68 cars under One Person Train Operation with the motorman also being the conductor. The motorman will go to the opposite end to make another run at each terminal. The northbound and southbound trains usually pass each other at Botanic Garden, the only station on the line to use both tracks. This effectively leaves a passing loop for the northbound train to leave Botanic Garden when the southbound train arrives.

History

Early history

The current service is co-extensive with the BMT Franklin Avenue Line. It parallels Franklin Avenue, hence the shuttle's name (and the name of the line). It was originally a part of the mainline of what is now the BMT Brighton Line and opened as part of that steam railroad line in 1878.[2] [3] [4]

The Franklin Avenue Line was established as a discrete route on August 1, 1920, when the Brighton Beach mainline was shifted to the new tunnel connecting Prospect Park station with the Fourth Avenue Subway at DeKalb Avenue station. Subway trains from the BRT Broadway Line in Manhattan and elevated trains from Franklin Avenue began sharing operations to Coney Island.[5] The subway operations became the full-time service, and the Franklin Avenue trains provided a variety of scheduled services, based on day of the week, time of day, and even seasonal variations, reverting to shuttle service at other times.

After the city gained ownership of the line in 1940, Brighton–Franklin (labelled 7 by the BMT) services gradually declined. A major blow to through service viability occurred in 1954 when the train of the IND Division was extended to Coney Island via the Culver Line, depriving the Franklin of a major source of transfer traffic, consisting of passengers from Harlem and the Bronx, who now had a more direct route to Coney Island.[6]

Truncation

Brighton–Franklin Sunday express service ended after the 1956 summer season, though it continued for several years as a summer-only local. The last through service, on Saturdays, ran on February 16, 1963 in advance of new BMT schedules in effect the next day,[7] resulting in the 7 Franklin Avenue Line becoming a full-time shuttle. On November 1, 1965, when R27s started going into service, this service was named SS, and in 1985, when the practice of using double letters was eliminated, this service became the S. However, some trains from the 1960s to 1980s continued to use the BMT 7 signage.[8] [9] [10]

On December 1, 1974, a southbound shuttle train of R32s was approaching the tunnel portal en route from Franklin Avenue when it derailed on the crossover at Empire Boulevard and smashed into the same place where BRT car 100 had hit in the Malbone Street Wreck. This derailment resulted in some injuries, with R32 car 3668 damaged beyond repair, but there were no fatalities, because time signals limit the speed of trains coming down the hill from Crown Heights.

Deterioration and renovation

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In 1981, the MTA proposed abandoning the service under the failed Program for Action. At the time, only 10,000 passengers used the shuttle per day, and in addition, the Franklin Avenue Line was severely deteriorated. It was proposed that additional B48 bus service along nearby Franklin Avenue could substitute for the line. During the winter, the line would often be closed because there was fear that trains would derail. Stations were in horrible condition; portions of the wooden platforms were sealed off because they had burned or collapsed.[11] [12] In January 1982, the line needed to close for emergency repair work because a retaining wall along the line was in danger of collapse.[13]

In the 1990s, the term "Ghost Train" was coined for the shuttle due to its increasing deterioration. It was shrunk in size to only two cars, and the Dean Street station, which only had 50 paying riders per day, was closed in 1995 due to extensive fare evasion.[14] The entire line was under consideration for abandonment, but community leaders were opposed to the move. They showed up to town hall meetings, news conferences and they sat down with transit officials. They also formed the Committee to Save the Franklin Avenue Shuttle. The coalition included the Straphangers Campaign, a local church, local community boards and the New York City Environmental Justice Alliance. They argued that subway station repair work occurred elsewhere, while no attention was paid to the Franklin Avenue Shuttle.[15]

In the end they convinced the New York State Assembly to force the MTA to rebuild rather than abandon the line, and as a result most of the supporting infrastructure and stations were completely rehabilitated for 18 months, between July 1998 and October 1999 at a cost of $74 million.[5] [16] While the closure of the line started in July 1998, work began in September 1997.[17] During the renovation, a temporary shuttle bus and the B48 bus replaced train service. The line reopened on October 18, 1999, three months ahead of schedule.[18]

, the Franklin Avenue Shuttle is the most punctual train in the New York City Subway system with a 99.7 percent on-time average. The shuttle averages 20,000 riders per day.

On June 7, 2024, the MTA announced that the St Marks Avenue bridge will be replaced during summer 2024, with no shuttle service on weekends between June 14 and July 8 and between August 9 to September 3. Between July 8 and August 9, northbound trains ended at Park Place, and free shuttle buses replaced service between Park Place and Franklin Avenue-Fulton Street.[19] Full service resumed on August 10, 2024.[20]

Stations

For a more detailed station listing, see BMT Franklin Avenue Line.

width=3% width=28% Stationswidth=3% width=36% Subway transferswidth=30% Connections
Brooklyn
Franklin Avenue Line
align=center align=center (IND Fulton Street Line)
align=center align=center
align=center (IRT Eastern Parkway Line at)
align=center align=center (BMT Brighton Line)

References

External links

Official websites:

Fan sites:

Notes and References

  1. Web site: General Distribution – Sub-Division B – Train Operator/Conductor – Road & Non-Road Work Programs. July 29, 2016. New York City Transit Authority. August 19, 2016. October 10, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161010184526/https://progressiveaction.files.wordpress.com/2016/08/sub-division-b-general-distribution-fall-2016-wp-book.pdf. live.
  2. Web site: The Lore of the Franklin Avenue Shuttle – Forgotten New York. forgotten-ny.com. October 4, 1998. June 21, 2016. November 11, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201111230736/https://forgotten-ny.com/1998/10/franklin-avenue-shuttle-the-city-has-closed-this-line-for-reconstruction-but-while-it-was-open-it-was-probably-the-most-decrepit-route-in-the-city-here-are-some-pictures-from-just-before-the-renov/. live.
  3. Web site: Joint LIRR / BRT Elevated/Rapid Transit Service. www.lirrhistory.com. June 21, 2016. March 3, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160303204530/http://www.lirrhistory.com/joint.html. dead.
  4. Web site: Brighton Beach Line Part 2. www.arrts-arrchives.com. June 21, 2016. June 8, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160608201425/http://arrts-arrchives.com/brbch2.html. live.
  5. Web site: The Third Rail – The New Franklin Shuttle – Preface . www.thethirdrail.net . June 21, 2016 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20160314064623/http://thethirdrail.net/0003/index.htm . March 14, 2016 .
  6. Web site: NYCT Line by Line History. www.erictb.info. June 21, 2016. March 4, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160304100921/http://www.erictb.info/linehistory.html#f. live.
  7. April 1963 . New BMT Schedules . NY Division, ERA Bulletin . VI . 6 . 6.
  8. Web site: Showing Image 6528. October 4, 2020. www.nycsubway.org. October 9, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201009031138/https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?6528. live.
  9. Web site: Showing Image 66759. October 4, 2020. www.nycsubway.org. January 22, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20220122205409/https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?66759. live.
  10. Web site: Showing Image 66483. October 4, 2020. www.nycsubway.org. October 8, 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20201008161707/https://www.nycsubway.org/perl/show?66483. live.
  11. Web site: The Fight to Save the Franklin Avenue Shuttle. www.straphangers.org. June 21, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161215112612/http://www.straphangers.org/exhibit/franklinshuttle.html. December 15, 2016. dead.
  12. News: Transit Authority Switches Tracks. Finder. Alan. March 16, 1992. The New York Times. 0362-4331. June 21, 2016. August 12, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160812111148/http://www.nytimes.com/1992/03/16/nyregion/transit-authority-switches-tracks.html. live.
  13. News: Franklin Avenue Subway Shuttle In Brooklyn Is Closed For Repairs. Goldman. Ari L.. January 22, 1982. The New York Times. August 5, 2016. 0362-4331. August 21, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160821010739/http://www.nytimes.com/1982/01/22/nyregion/franklin-avenue-subway-shuttle-in-brooklyn-is-closed-for-repairs.html. live.
  14. Web site: Abandoned Stations : Elevated Stations. www.columbia.edu. June 21, 2016. July 2, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160702204132/http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/abandoned/elevated.html. live.
  15. Web site: MTR 10, Franklin Ave Shuttle Site of Leafletting Action. November 9, 1994. www.tstc.org. Tri-State Transportation Campaign. June 21, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/19990506142235/http://www.tstc.org/bulletin/19941109/mtr01002.htm. May 6, 1999. dead.
  16. News: Hope for Overhaul Dims on a Crumbling Subway Line. June 20, 1993. The New York Times. Faison. Seth. August 5, 2016. August 12, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160812114610/http://www.nytimes.com/1993/06/20/nyregion/hope-for-overhaul-dims-on-a-crumbling-subway-line.html?src=pm. live.
  17. Web site: New Franklin Avenue Shuttle Makes Early Debut. October 18, 1999. www.mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. June 21, 2016. July 29, 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160729142557/http://www.mta.info/press-release/mta-headquarters/new-franklin-avenue-shuttle-makes-early-debut. live.
  18. Web site: About NYC Transit – History. October 19, 2002. mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. https://web.archive.org/web/20021019203759/http://www.mta.info/nyct/facts/ffhist.htm. October 19, 2002. dead. September 18, 2016.
  19. Web site: June 7, 2024 . Summer 2024 Franklin Av Shuttle Service Changes . June 9, 2024 . MTA . en.
  20. Web site: Simko-Bednarski . Evan . Franklin Ave. Shuttle returns to full service after St. Marks Ave. bridge replacement . New York Daily News . August 11, 2024 . August 11, 2024.