Gun Hill Road station (IRT Dyre Avenue Line)

Not to be confused with Gun Hill Road (IRT White Plains Road Line).

Gun Hill Road
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
The renovated station as seen from the northbound platform in 2021, with an R142 5 train stopped at the southbound platform
Station statistics
Address	East Gun Hill Road & Seymour Avenue Bronx, New York
Borough	The Bronx
Locale	Baychester, Allerton, Pelham Gardens
Coordinates	40°52′13″N73°50′45″W / 40.87017°N 73.845806°W / 40.87017; -73.845806
Division	A (IRT, formerly NYW&B) [1]
Line	IRT Dyre Avenue Line
Services	5   (all times)
Transit	NYCT Bus: Bx28, Bx38
Structure	Open-cut / At-Grade
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	3 (2 in regular service)
Other information
Opened	May 29, 1912;112 years ago (1912-05-29) (NYW&B station) May 15, 1941;83 years ago (1941-05-15) (re-opened as a Subway station)
Closed	December 12, 1937;86 years ago (1937-12-12) (NYW&B station)
Accessible	ADA-accessible
Opposite- direction transfer	Yes
Former/other names	Gunhill Road
Traffic
2023	925,025 [2]   1.7%
Rank	306 out of 423 [2]
Services Preceding station New York City Subway Following station Baychester Avenue toward Eastchester–Dyre Avenue Local Pelham Parkway toward Flatbush Avenue–Brooklyn College
Former services Preceding station New York, Westchester and Boston Railway Following station Baychester Avenue toward Columbus Avenue Main Line Pelham Parkway toward Harlem River
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York
Track layout Legend to Baychester Avenue to Pelham Parkway
Street map
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times Stops weekdays and weekday late nights Stops weekends and weekend late nights

The Gun Hill Road station (referred to on strip maps as Gun Hill Road-Seymour Avenue) is a station on the IRT Dyre Avenue Line of the New York City Subway, located at the intersection of Gun Hill Road and Seymour Avenue in the northeast Bronx. It is served by the 5 train at all times. ^[3]

History

Early history

2006 photograph from the Dyre Avenue platform with a train beneath the station approaching the East 180th Street-bound platform.

Gun Hill Road station opened on May 29, 1912 as a local station of the New York, Westchester and Boston Railway (NYW&B). This station was closed on December 12, 1937 when the NYW&B went bankrupt. ^[4]

The New York City Board of Transportation (BOT) bought the NYW&B within the Bronx north of East 180th Street in April 1940 for $1.8 million and rehabilitated the line. ^{[5] : 59–60} On May 15, 1941, a shuttle service was implemented between Dyre Avenue and East 180th Street using IRT gate cars. ^{[6] [7]} The Dyre Avenue Line was connected directly to the White Plains Road Line north of East 180th Street for $3 million and through service began on May 6, 1957. ^{[8] [9]}

On February 27, 1962, the New York City Transit Authority announced a $700,000 modernization plan of the Dyre Avenue Line. The plan included the reconstruction of the Dyre Avenue station, and the extension of the platforms of the other four stations on the line, including Gun Hill Road, to 525 feet (160 m) to accommodate ten-car trains. At the time, the line was served by 9-car trains during the day, and 3-car shuttles overnight. Between 1954 and 1961, ridership on the line increased by 100 percent, owing to the development of the northeast Bronx. ^{[10] [11]}

On April 18, 1965, IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line trains and IRT Lexington Avenue Line trains swapped their northern routings, with Broadway–Seventh Avenue 2 trains running via the IRT White Plains Road Line to 241st Street, and Lexington Avenue 5 trains running via the Dyre Avenue Line to Dyre Avenue. ^{[12] [13] [14]}

Station renovation

As part of the 2015–2019 MTA Capital Program, elevators were added to the platforms and street, which makes the station fully compliant with accessibility guidelines under the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. ^{[15] [16] [17]} A contract for the elevators' construction was awarded in April 2018. Substantial completion was projected for July 2020, ^[18] but was pushed back to September 2020, ^[19] and eventually past September 2020. In conjunction with this work, the Eastchester-bound platform was closed from March 1, 2019 to September 6, 2019, ^[20] while the Manhattan-bound platform was closed from September 13, 2019 to March 30, 2020, a month later than expected. ^{[21] [22]} The elevators opened six months behind schedule in January 2021. ^[23]

Station layout

Ground	Street level	Exit/Entrance, station house, fare control, station agent Elevators inside station house on south side of Gun Hill Road between Sexton and Dewitt Places
Platform level	Side platform
	Northbound local	← toward Eastchester–Dyre Avenue (Baychester Avenue)
	Northbound express	→ Trackbed
	Southbound express	→ No regular service
	Southbound local	→ toward Flatbush Avenue–Brooklyn College weekdays, Bowling Green evenings/weekends (Pelham Parkway) → → late night shuttle toward East 180th Street (Pelham Parkway) →
	Side platform

This station has two side platforms with three tracks and space for a fourth. The street (Gun Hill Road) is above the northern part of the station. The station, served by the 5 train at all times, ^[3] is between Pelham Parkway to the south and Baychester Avenue to the north. ^[24]

The entrance is at street level. At the north end of the station, it is in an open-cut due to the rising terrain. At the south end of the station, it is at-grade.

Exit

The station's only entrance/exit is a head house on the south side of Gun Hill Road between Sexton and Dewitt Places. The entrance and exit are separate from each other within the headhouse. One staircase and elevator leads down to the southbound platform, while two staircases and an elevator leads down to the northbound platform. There was once an exit that only allowed passengers to leave the station from the northbound platform, but during the station renovations that includes elevator installations to each platform, that exit has since been closed and the staircase was reconfigured to be connected to the mezzanine inside fare control. ^{[25] [26] [27]}

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. "5Subway Timetable, Effective June 30, 2024". Metropolitan Transportation Authority . Retrieved June 28, 2024.
4. "Westchester Line Passes with 1937". The New York Times. January 1, 1938. p. 36. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
5. Cudahy, Brian J. (2003). A Century of Subways: Celebrating 100 Years of New York's Underground Railways. New York: Fordham University Press. ISBN   9780823222957.
6. "Rail Line is Added to Subway System". The New York Times. May 16, 1941. p. 25. Retrieved October 4, 2011.
7. "Transit Record for 1940-1941". Photobucket. March 1942. Retrieved June 16, 2017.
8. "Subway Trains Run to Dyre Avenue: Through Service Replacing Shuttle for Part of Each Day on Bronx Line" (PDF). The New York Times. May 7, 1957. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
9. "IRT Spur Opens Today: Dyre Avenue Line in Bronx Will Have Five Stations" (PDF). The New York Times. May 6, 1957. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
10. "For Release: Tuesday, Feb. 27, 1962 #238" (PDF). New York City Transit Authority. February 27, 1962. Retrieved March 8, 2019.
11. "IRT Improvements Set: $700,000 Contract Awarded for Work on Dyre Ave. Line" (PDF). The New York Times. February 28, 1962. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
12. "New Routes Scheduled for 2 IRT Lines in Bronx" (PDF). The New York Times. March 22, 1965. Retrieved December 20, 2015.
13. "Better Subway Service For Bronx IRT Riders Starting Sunday, April 18". Photobucket. New York City Transit Authority. April 1965. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
14. "Better Subway Service For Bronx IRT Riders Starting Sunday, April 18". Photobucket. New York City Transit Authority. April 1965. Retrieved August 31, 2016.
15. "MTA Capital Program 2015-2019: Renew. Enhance. Expand" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. October 28, 2015. p. 61. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
16. "Funding For Subway Station ADA-Accessibility Approved". www.mta.info. April 26, 2018. Retrieved April 27, 2018.
17. "MTA 2017 Preliminary Budget July Financial Plan 2017 –2020 Volume 2" (PDF). mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. July 2016. Retrieved August 6, 2016.
18. "Capital Program Oversight Committee Meeting November 2018" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. November 13, 2018. p. 90. Retrieved November 10, 2018.
19. https://new.mta.info/document/20211 ^{[ bare URL PDF ]}
20. "Service Information". MTA. March 14, 2019. Archived from the original on March 14, 2019. Retrieved March 14, 2019.
21. "Downtown 5 trains skip Gun Hill Rd". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Archived from the original on August 23, 2019. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
22. "Downtown 5 trains skip Gun Hill Rd". mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Archived from the original on March 31, 2020. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
23. https://new.mta.info/document/25246 page 78
24. "Subway Map" (PDF). Metropolitan Transportation Authority. September 2021. Retrieved September 17, 2021.
25. "Gun Hill Road Neighborhood Map" (PDF). new.mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. April 2018. Retrieved February 28, 2019.
26. "Exit-only at Gun Hill Road". Google Maps. August 2018. Retrieved May 18, 2022.
27. "Exit-only at Gun Hill Road closed". Google Maps. May 2019. Retrieved May 18, 2022.

External links

• nycsubway.org – IRT White Plains Road Line: Gun Hill Road
• Station Reporter — 5 Train
• The Subway Nut — Gun Hill Road Pictures Archived 2017-06-14 at the Wayback Machine
• Gun Hill Road entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Platforms from Google Maps Street View