231st Street station

The 231st Street station is a local station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of West 231st Street and Broadway in the Kingsbridge neighborhood of the Bronx, it is served by the 1 train at all times.

231 Street
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Southbound platform
Station statistics
Address	West 231st Street & Broadway Bronx, New York
Borough	The Bronx
Locale	Kingsbridge
Coordinates	40.879°N 73.905°W / 40.879; -73.905
Division	A (IRT)[1]
Line	IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line
Services	1  (all times)
Transit	NYCT Bus: Bx1, Bx2, Bx7, Bx9, Bx10, Bx20 MTA Bus: BxM1, BxM2, BxM18
Structure	Elevated
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	3 (2 in regular service)
Other information
Opened	January 27, 1907 (117 years ago) (1907-01-27)
Accessible	ADA-accessible
Opposite- direction transfer	No
Traffic
2023	1,894,047[2]  4.6%
Rank	172 out of 423[2]
Services Preceding station New York City Subway Following station 238th Street toward Van Cortlandt Park–242nd Street Local Marble Hill–225th Street toward South Ferry
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York
Track layout Legend to 238th Street to Marble Hill–225th Street
Street map
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times

History

Signage at 231st Street station

This station opened on January 27, 1907, as 230th Street station. It was built near the site of the originally proposed northern terminus of the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line at Bailey Avenue and 230th Street, a block southeast of the current station. It was also located near two former Kingsbridge railroad stations owned by two separate railways inherited by the New York Central Railroad; one was along a former segment of the Spuyten Duyvil and Port Morris Railroad (now the Hudson Line), and the other was for the New York and Putnam Railroad (now abandoned).

To address overcrowding, in 1909, the New York Public Service Commission proposed lengthening the platforms at stations along the original IRT subway.^[3]: 168 As part of a modification to the IRT's construction contracts made on January 18, 1910, the company was to lengthen station platforms to accommodate ten-car express and six-car local trains. In addition to $1.5 million (equivalent to $49.1 million in 2023) spent on platform lengthening, $500,000 (equivalent to $16.4 million in 2023) was spent on building additional entrances and exits. It was anticipated that these improvements would increase capacity by 25 percent.^[4]: 15 The northbound platform at the 231st Street station was extended 50 feet (15 m) at both its north and south ends,^[4]: 114 while the southbound platform was not lengthened.^[4]: 106 Six-car local trains began operating in October 1910,^[3]: 168 and ten-car express trains began running on the West Side Line on January 24, 1911.^{[3]: 168 [5]} Subsequently, the station could accommodate six-car local trains, but ten-car trains could not open some of their doors.^[6]

The city government took over the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940.^[7][8] Platforms at IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line stations between 103rd Street and 238th Street, including those at 231st Street, were lengthened to 514 feet (157 m) between 1946 and 1948, allowing full ten-car express trains to stop at these stations.^[6] A contract for the platform extensions at 231st Street and five other stations on the line was awarded to the Rao Electrical Equipment Company and the Kaplan Electric Company in June 1946.^[9] The platform extensions at these stations were opened in stages. On July 9, 1948, the platform extensions at stations between 207th Street and 238th Street, including the 231st Street station, were opened for use at the cost of $423,000.^[6][10] At the same time, the IRT routes were given numbered designations with the introduction of "R-type" rolling stock, which contained rollsigns with numbered designations for each service.^[11] The route to 242nd Street became known as the 1.^[12]

In 2002, it was announced that 231st Street would be one of ten subway stations citywide, as well as one of five on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line, to receive renovations.^[13] The station was extensively renovated in 2003–2004, which included installation of elevators for both platforms to make it fully ADA-accessible and replacing the exit-only turnstiles on the 242nd Street-bound platform with both High Entry/Exit and Exit-only turnstiles, allowing both access and exit from that side.^{[citation needed]}

Station layout

Station elevator

Platform level	Side platform
	Northbound local	← toward Van Cortlandt Park–242nd Street (238th Street)
	Peak-direction express	→ No regular service
	Southbound local	→ toward South Ferry (Marble Hill–225th Street) →
	Side platform
Mezzanine		Fare control, station agent, MetroCard and OMNY machines Uptown elevator at southeast corner of 231 Street and Broadway; downtown elevator at southwest corner
Ground	Street level	Entrances/exits

This elevated station has two side platforms and three tracks. The center track that bypasses this station is not used in revenue service.^[14] The station is served by the 1 at all times^[15] and is between 238th Street to the north and Marble Hill–225th Street to the south.^[16] This is the IRT Broadway-Seventh Avenue Line's southernmost station in the Bronx, as the Marble Hill–225th Street station is physically on the mainland of New York State, but legally part of Manhattan.^[16]

Both platforms have beige windscreens and red canopies with green frames and outlines in the center and green waist-high, steel fences at either ends with lampposts at regular intervals. The platforms are offset with the Manhattan-bound platform to the south of the 242nd Street-bound one. The station signs are in the standard black name plates in white lettering.

There are two sets of artwork at this station. One of them was made in 1991 and is called Elevated Nature I-IV by Wopo Holup. It consists of gray marble tiles with a green border on the platform walls of the station house. It is also located at four other stations on this line. The other artwork was made in 2007 by Felipe Galindo and is called Magic Realism in Kingsbridge. It consists of stained glass panels on the platform windscreens depicting images of the surrounding area.^[17]

Each platform has an adjacent same-level station house in the center. However, only the station house of the Manhattan-bound platform is open to the public. A set of doors from the platform leads to a small waiting area and a bank of turnstiles. On the 242nd Street-bound platform, a set of High Entry/Exit and Exit-Only turnstiles lead to a passageway around the station house separated from the platform by a metal fence.

Exits

Outside the fare control area on the Manhattan-bound platform, there is a token booth, two staircases going down to either western corner of 231st Street and Broadway, and one elevator going down to the southwest corner. Two emergency gates on the platform lead directly to each of the staircases. Outside the fare control area on the 242nd Street-bound platform, there are two staircases going down to either eastern corner of 231st Street and Broadway and one elevator going down to the southeast corner.^[18]

References

1. "Glossary". Second Avenue Subway Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement (SDEIS) (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. "Annual Subway Ridership (2018–2023)". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
3. Hood, Clifton (1978). "The Impact of the IRT in New York City" (PDF). Historic American Engineering Record. pp. 146–207 (PDF pp. 147–208). Retrieved December 20, 2020. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
4. Report of the Public Service Commission for the First District of the State of New York For The Year Ending December 31, 1910. Public Service Commission. 1911.
5. "Ten-car Trains in Subway to-day; New Service Begins on Lenox Av. Line and Will Be Extended to Broadway To-morrow". The New York Times. January 23, 1911. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 5, 2018.
6. Report for the three and one-half years ending June 30, 1949. New York City Board of Transportation. 1949. hdl:2027/mdp.39015023094926.
7. "City Transit Unity Is Now a Reality; Title to I.R.T. Lines Passes to Municipality, Ending 19-Year Campaign". The New York Times. June 13, 1940. ISSN 0362-4331. Archived from the original on January 7, 2022. Retrieved May 14, 2022.
8. "Transit Unification Completed As City Takes Over I. R. T. Lines: Systems Come Under Single Control After Efforts Begun in 1921; Mayor Is Jubilant at City Hall Ceremony Recalling 1904 Celebration". New York Herald Tribune. June 13, 1940. p. 25. ProQuest 1248134780.
9. "Platform Awards Made; Two Concerns to Enlarge Six Subway Stations of IRT" (PDF). The New York Times. June 14, 1946. p. 23. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
10. "More Long Platforms – Five Subway Stations on IRT to Accommodate 10-Car Trains" (PDF). The New York Times. July 10, 1948. p. 8. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 27, 2016.
11. Brown, Nicole (May 17, 2019). "How did the MTA subway lines get their letter or number? NYCurious". amNewYork. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
12. Friedlander, Alex; Lonto, Arthur; Raudenbush, Henry (April 1960). "A Summary of Services on the IRT Division, NYCTA" (PDF). New York Division Bulletin. 3 (1). Electric Railroaders' Association: 2. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 14, 2020. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
13. "Renovation Is Set For 10 Subway Stations". New York Daily News. June 11, 2002. Retrieved January 8, 2018.
14. Dougherty, Peter (2006) [2002]. Tracks of the New York City Subway 2006 (3rd ed.). Dougherty. OCLC 49777633 – via Google Books.
15. "1 Subway Timetable, Effective December 17, 2023". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved June 28, 2024.
16. "Subway Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. September 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
17. "231st Street - Felipe Galindo - Magic Realism in Kingsbridge, 2008". web.mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Archived from the original on August 19, 2020. Retrieved August 19, 2020.
18. "231st Street Neighborhood Map" (PDF). new.mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. April 2018. Retrieved February 28, 2019.

External links

• nycsubway.org – IRT West Side Line: 231st Street
• nycsubway.org — Magic Realism in Kingsbridge Artwork by Felipe Galindo (2007)
• nycsubway.org — Elevated Nature I-IV Artwork by Wopo Holup (1991) along with 207th, 215th, and 225th Street stations
• Station Reporter — 1 Train
• The Subway Nut — 231st Street Pictures Archived 2020-07-06 at the Wayback Machine
• MTA's Arts For Transit — 231st Street (IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line)
• 231st Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Platforms from Google Maps Street View