125th Street station (IND Eighth Avenue Line)

For the demolished station actually at 125th Street and Eighth Avenue, see 125th Street (IRT Ninth Avenue Line). For other uses, see 125th Street (disambiguation).

125 Street   ​ ​ ​
Northbound local track with departing C train
Station statistics
Address	West 125th Street & Saint Nicholas Avenue New York, New York
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	Harlem
Coordinates	40°48′39″N73°57′10″W / 40.810756°N 73.952665°W / 40.810756; -73.952665
Division	B (IND) [1]
Line	IND Eighth Avenue Line
Services	A   (all times) ​   B   (weekdays during the day) ​   C   (all except late nights) ​   D   (all times)
Transit	NYCT Bus: M3, M10, M60 SBS, M100, M101, M125
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2 island platforms cross-platform interchange
Tracks	4
Other information
Opened	September 10, 1932(92 years ago) (1932-09-10) [2]
Accessible	ADA-accessible
Opposite- direction transfer	Yes
Traffic
2024	5,853,749 [3]   5.6%
Rank	45 out of 423 [3]
Services Preceding station New York City Subway Following station 145th Street A   ​ D   services split Express 59th Street–Columbus Circle A   ​ D   services split 135th Street A   ​ B   ​ C   via 145th Street Local 116th Street A   ​ B   ​ C   via 59th Street–Columbus Circle
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York
Track layout Legend to 145th Street Storage tracks to 135th Street to 116th Street to 59th Street–Columbus Circle
Street map
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times except late nights Stops all times Stops late nights only Stops rush hours only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only Stops weekdays during the day

The 125th Street station is an express station on the IND Eighth Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of 125th Street and St. Nicholas Avenue in the Harlem neighborhood of Manhattan, it is served by the A and D trains at all times, by the C train except at night, and by the B train only on weekdays during the day.

Nearby landmarks and points of interest include the Apollo Theater and the Touro College of Osteopathic Medicine.

History

The station opened on September 10, 1932, as part of the city-operated Independent Subway System (IND)'s initial segment, the Eighth Avenue Line between Chambers Street and 207th Street. ^{[2] [4]} Construction of the whole line cost $191.2 million (equivalent to $4,406.5 million in 2024. While the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line already provided parallel service, the new Eighth Avenue subway via Central Park West and Frederick Douglass Boulevard provided an alternative route. ^[5]

In 1981, the MTA listed the station among the 69 most deteriorated stations in the subway system. ^[6] The station was renovated in the 1980s, during which two stairs to each platform at the north end were removed and the platforms' original white floor tiling was replaced. ^[7] The station was damaged in a water main break in 1989. ^[8] Another renovation later^{[ when? ]} restored the closed staircases and made the station ADA-accessible with the installation of elevators near the middle of the platforms.^{[ citation needed ]}

On June 27, 2017, a southbound A train derailed just north of the station. This derailment, caused by improperly secured replacement rails, left 34 passengers injured. ^[9]

Station layout

Ground	Street level	Entrance/exit
Mezzanine		Fare control, station agents Elevator on southwest corner of 125th Street and Saint Nicholas Avenue
Platform level	Northbound local	← weekdays toward Bedford Park Boulevard or 145th Street (135th Street) ← toward 168th Street (135th Street) ← toward Inwood–207th Street late nights (135th Street)
	Island platform
	Northbound express	← toward Inwood–207th Street (145th Street) ← toward Norwood–205th Street (145th Street)
	Southbound express	← toward Far Rockaway–Mott Avenue, Rockaway Park–Beach 116th Street, or Ozone Park–Lefferts Boulevard (59th Street–Columbus Circle) → ← toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue (59th Street–Columbus Circle) →
	Island platform
	Southbound local	← weekdays toward Brighton Beach (116th Street) → ← toward Euclid Avenue (116th Street) → ← toward Far Rockaway–Mott Avenue late nights (116th Street) →

The 125th Street station is a standard express station with four tracks and two island platforms, allowing cross-platform interchanges between local and express trains. The A and D both stop here at all times; the C stops here except at night and the B stops here only on weekdays during the day. B and C trains always run local and D trains always run express. A trains run express during the day and local during the night. The next stop to the north is 135th Street for local trains and 145th Street for express trains; the next stop to the south is 116th Street for local trains and 59th Street–Columbus Circle for express trains. ^[10] 59th Street–Columbus Circle is 3.35 miles (5.391 km) away with seven local stations in between, which is the longest distance between two express stops in the system.

The outer track wall tiles have a Prussian green trim line with a black border ^{[11] [12]} and small "125" signs in white lettering on a black background beneath it. The green tiles are part of a color-coded tile system used throughout the IND. The tile colors were designed to facilitate navigation for travelers going away from Lower Manhattan. As such, the green tiles used at the 125th Street station are also used at 135th Street, the local station to the north; the next express station, 145th Street, uses a different tile color. ^{[13] [14]} Both platforms have one line of green I-beam columns that run at regular intervals for their entire length except for a small section at either ends. Alternating columns have the standard black station name plate in white lettering.

The station has a mezzanine above the tracks at the Southern end and platforms that connect both fare control areas at either ends. There are five staircases to each platform and large-scale photos of Harlem in the 1920s and 1930s.

Exits

SE stairs at West 127th Street

The full-time fare control area is at the south end of the mezzanine, serving the 125th Street exits, and has a turnstile bank and token booth. It serves the exits at St. Nicholas Avenue and West 125th Street. The other fare control area at the north end, serving the 127th Street exits, is unstaffed, containing full height turnstiles. There is also evidence of closed exit stairs going up to 126th Street and 124th Street, one on each side of both mezzanines. ^[7] One of the staircases led directly into the basement of a business that existed at street level. ^[7]

• One stair, NW corner of St. Nicholas Avenue and West 125th Street ^[15]
• One stair, NE corner of St. Nicholas Avenue and West 125th Street ^[15]
• One stair and one elevator, SW corner of St. Nicholas Avenue and West 125th Street ^[15]
• One stair, SE corner of St. Nicholas Avenue and West 125th Street ^[15]
• One stair, SW corner of St. Nicholas Avenue and West 127th Street ^[15]
• One stair, SE corner of St. Nicholas Avenue and West 127th Street ^[15]

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. "List of the 28 Stations on the New 8th Av. Line". The New York Times . September 10, 1932. p. 6. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved April 21, 2020.
3. "Annual Subway Ridership (2018–2023)". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2023. Retrieved April 20, 2024.
4. Crowell, Paul (September 10, 1932). "Gay Midnight Crowd Rides First Trains In The New Subway: Throngs at Station an Hour Before Time, Rush Turnstiles When Chains are Dropped" (PDF). The New York Times . Retrieved November 8, 2015.
5. Duffus, R. l (September 9, 1932). "NEW LINE FIRST UNIT IN CITY-WIDE SYSTEM; 8th Av. Tube to Ease West Side Congestion at Once -- Branches to Link 4 Boroughs Later. LAST WORD IN SUBWAYS Run From 207th to Chambers St. Cut to 33 Minutes -- 42d St. Has World's Largest Station. COST HAS BEEN $191,200,000 Years of Digging Up City Streets, Tunneling Rock and Building Road Finally Brought to Completion". The New York Times. p. 12. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved August 3, 2017.
6. Gargan, Edward A. (June 11, 1981). "Agency Lists Its 69 Most Deteriorated Subway Stations". The New York Times . p. B5S. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on March 31, 2019. Retrieved August 13, 2016.
7. Review of the A and C Lines (PDF) (Report). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. December 11, 2015. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 3, 2020. Retrieved January 19, 2016.
8. "Metro Datelines; Repairs to the IND May Cost $20 Million". The New York Times. December 8, 1989. ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved April 16, 2020.
9. Santora, Marc; Fitzsimmons, Emma G. (June 27, 2017). "Subway Derailment in Manhattan Injures Dozens". The New York Times. p. 1. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on June 27, 2017. Retrieved April 16, 2020.
10. "Subway Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. April 2025. Retrieved April 2, 2025.
11. Harrington, John Walker (April 27, 1930). "New Municipal Subway System Galled Model in Construction and Plans for Operation". New York Herald Tribune. p. C3. ISSN   1941-0646. ProQuest   1113177960.
12. "Tile Colors a Guide in the New Subway; Decoration Scheme Changes at Each Express Stop to Tell Riders Where They Are". The New York Times. August 22, 1932. ISSN   0362-4331. Archived from the original on July 1, 2022. Retrieved July 1, 2022.
13. Carlson, Jen (February 18, 2016). "Map: These Color Tiles In The Subway System Used To Mean Something". Gothamist. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
14. Gleason, Will (February 18, 2016). "The hidden meaning behind the New York subway's colored tiles". Time Out New York. Retrieved May 10, 2023.
15. "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Morningside Heights" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2018. Retrieved October 1, 2018.

External links

• nycsubway.org – IND 8th Avenue: 125th Street
• Station Reporter — A Lefferts
• Station Reporter — A Rockaway
• Station Reporter — B Train
• Station Reporter — C Train
• Station Reporter — D Train
• The Subway Nut — 125th Street Pictures Archived May 29, 2017, at the Wayback Machine
• 125th Street entrance at southwest corner from Google Maps Street View
• 127th Street entrance at southwest corner from Google Maps Street View
• Platforms from Google Maps Street View