Saratoga Avenue station (IRT New Lots Line)

For the former station on the BMT Fulton Street Line, see Saratoga Avenue (BMT Fulton Street Line).

Saratoga Avenue
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Station from street
Station statistics
Address	Saratoga Avenue & Livonia Avenue Brooklyn, New York
Borough	Brooklyn
Locale	Brownsville
Coordinates	40°39′42″N73°54′56″W / 40.661531°N 73.915586°W / 40.661531; -73.915586
Division	A (IRT) [1]
Line	IRT New Lots Line
Services	2   (limited rush hour service in the reverse-peak direction) ​   3   (all except late nights) ​   4   (late nights, and limited rush hour service in the peak direction) ​   5   (limited a.m. rush hour service in the northbound direction only)
Transit	NYCT Bus: B7
Structure	Elevated
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Other information
Opened	November 22, 1920;104 years ago (November 22, 1920)
Rebuilt	April 11, 2016;8 years ago (April 11, 2016) to September 19, 2016;8 years ago (September 19, 2016)
Accessible	not ADA-accessible; accessibility planned
Opposite- direction transfer	Yes
Traffic
2023	941,203 [2]   2.3%
Rank	304 out of 423 [2]
Services Preceding station New York City Subway Following station Sutter Avenue–Rutland Road 2   ​ 3   ​ 4   ​ 5   toward Harlem–148th Street Rockaway Avenue 2   ​ 3   ​ 4   toward New Lots Avenue
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York
Track layout Legend to Sutter Avenue–Rutland Road to Rockaway Avenue
Street map
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times Stops late nights only Stops late nights and weekends Stops rush hours only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only Stops weekdays during the day

The Saratoga Avenue station is a station on the IRT New Lots Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of Saratoga Avenue and Livonia Avenue in Brownsville, Brooklyn, it is served by the 3 train at all times except late nights, when the 4 train takes over service. During rush hours, occasional 2, 4 and 5 trains also stop here. ^[3]

History

The New Lots Line was built as a part of Contract 3 of the Dual Contracts between New York City and the Interborough Rapid Transit Company, including this station. ^[4] It was built as an elevated line because the ground in this area is right above the water table, and as a result the construction of a subway would have been prohibitively expensive. ^[5] The first portion of the line between Utica Avenue and Junius Street, including this station, opened on November 22, 1920, with shuttle trains operating over this route. ^{[6] [7]} The line was completed to New Lots Avenue on October 16, 1922, ^[7] with a two-car train running on the northbound track. ^[8] On October 31, 1924, through service to New Lots Avenue was begun. ^[8]

From April 11, 2016 until September 19, 2016, Saratoga Avenue and Pennsylvania Avenue were closed for renovation. ^[9] As part of its 2025–2029 Capital Program, the MTA has proposed making the station wheelchair-accessible in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. ^[10]

Station layout

Platform level	Side platform
	Northbound	← toward Harlem–148th Street (Sutter Avenue–Rutland Road) ← toward Woodlawn late nights (Sutter Avenue–Rutland Road) ← toward Wakefield–241st Street (select rush hour trips) (Sutter Avenue–Rutland Road) ← toward Eastchester–Dyre Avenue (select rush hour trips) (Sutter Avenue–Rutland Road)
	Center trackway	→ No track or roadbed
	Southbound	→ ( late nights) toward New Lots Avenue (Rockaway Avenue) → → toward New Lots Avenue (select rush hour trips) (Rockaway Avenue) →
	Side platform
Mezzanine		Fare control, station agent, MetroCard and OMNY machines
Ground	Street level	Exit/entrance

This elevated station has two side platforms and two tracks with space for a center track that was never installed. ^[11] Both platforms are longer than the standard IRT train length of 514 feet (157 m) and have beige windscreens and brown and red canopies with green canopies with green frames and support columns for their entire length except for a small section at the west (railroad north) end. Here, they have waist-high black steel fences with two lampposts and one standard black station sign in white lettering in-between them. The windscreens and canopy frames also have black and white station signs.

The station house had several enamel white-on-navy blue "To Street" porcelain signs directing passengers to the street stairs, ^[12] one of which also had porcelain signs of the same style at the bottom of the canopy that said, "Interborough Rapid Transit Company: To All Trains." ^[13] These signs were removed during the 2016 renovation.

Exits

The station's only entrance/exit is an elevated station house beneath the tracks at the extreme east (railroad south) end. Inside fare control, it has a waiting area that allows a free transfer between directions, one staircase to the Manhattan-bound platform and two to the New Lots Avenue-bound one. One of those staircases is built adjacent to the platform instead of directly on it and connected to the station house with a wooden elevated passageway. Outside fare control, there is a turnstile bank, token booth, and three staircases going down to all corners of Saratoga and Livonia Avenues except the northeast one. ^[14]

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. • "2Subway Timetable, Effective June 26, 2022". Metropolitan Transportation Authority . Retrieved December 16, 2024.
   • "3Subway Timetable, Effective June 30, 2024". Metropolitan Transportation Authority . Retrieved December 16, 2024.
   • "4Subway Timetable, Effective December 15, 2024". Metropolitan Transportation Authority . Retrieved December 16, 2024.
   • "5Subway Timetable, Effective December 15, 2024". Metropolitan Transportation Authority . Retrieved December 16, 2024.
4. "Nearly 70 Track Miles to Be Added To Rapid Transit Facilities in 1920". Brooklyn Standard Union. December 28, 1919. Retrieved August 14, 2016– via Fulton History.
5. "Differ Over Assessment Plans in Transit Projects: Eastern Parkway Subway and Livonia Avenue Extension the Cause of Bitter Dissension Among Property Owners Uptown". The Daily Standard Union. March 13, 1910. Retrieved August 14, 2016– via Fulton History.
6. "Annual report. 1920-1921". HathiTrust. Interborough Rapid Transit. Retrieved September 5, 2016.
7. Cunningham, Joseph; DeHart, Leonard O. (1993). A History of the New York City Subway System. J. Schmidt, R. Giglio, and K. Lang. p. 53.
8. "IRT Brooklyn Line Opened 90 Years Ago". New York Division Bulletin. 53 (9). New York Division, Electric Railroaders' Association. September 2010. Retrieved August 31, 2016– via Issu.
9. "The Stations Were Closed for Renewal Work Since April". mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. September 16, 2016. Archived from the original on September 18, 2016. Retrieved August 28, 2019.
10. "2025-2029 Capital Plan". mta.info. Metropolitan Transportation Authority. September 25, 2024. p. 187 (PDF p. 95). Retrieved January 1, 2025.
11. Dougherty, Peter (2006) [2002]. Tracks of the New York City Subway 2006 (3rd ed.). Dougherty. OCLC   49777633 – via Google Books.
12. "To Street" porcelain sign (The Subway Nut)
13. IRT "To All Trains" porcelain sign (The Subway Nut)
14. "MTA Neighborhood Maps: Brownsville" (PDF). mta.info . Metropolitan Transportation Authority. 2015. Retrieved July 19, 2015.

External links

• Media related to Saratoga Avenue (IRT New Lots Line) at Wikimedia Commons
• nycsubway.org – Brooklyn IRT: Saratoga Avenue