This underground station, along with the rest of the Concourse Line, opened on July 1, 1933. Initial service was provided by the C express and CC local trains. Under the 2015–2019 MTA Capital Plan, the station underwent a complete overhaul as part of the Enhanced Station Initiative, and was entirely closed for several months. Upgrades included cellular service, Wi-Fi, USB charging stations, interactive service advisories and maps. In January 2018, the NYCT and Bus Committee recommended that Citnalta-Forte receive the $125 million contract for the renovations of 167th and 174th–175th Streets on the IND Concourse Line and 145th Street on the IRT Lenox Avenue Line. However, the MTA Board temporarily deferred the vote for these packages after city representatives refused to vote to award the contracts. The contract was put back for a vote in February, where it was ultimately approved. The staircase entrance on the east side of Grand Concourse at the East 174th Street underpass closed on July 9, while the rest of the station closed for repairs on August 13. The station reopened on December 26, 2018.
Station layout
The 174th–175th Street station has three tracks and two side platforms. It is a typically white-tiled IND underground station with support columns 3/4 to the edge of the platform from the back wall. Its signage is formed from a mosaic of colored tiles with the black tiles forming the black background, white tiles forming the ordinal numbers and their letters and framed by tan-gold tiles about half the size of the normal white tiles. Between the major signage are groups of three normal size station tiles but black with a single number to form "174" or "175" depending on the location within the station. For the station's length a tan-gold decorative line made up of normal sized tiles and bordered on top and bottom with 1/3-height black tiles. The station is on a gently curving section of track, sharp enough to not be able to see the opposite end of the platform.
Exits
At this station, both the Grand Concourse and the underground Concourse Line pass over the Cross Bronx Expressway. The Concourse Line also passes over both 174th and 175th Streets, albeit within a totally enclosed tunnel that passes through a hillside with the Grand Concourse at its summit. The south end fare control area is located at the south end of the station, one level below the tracks. A crossunder between directions is present here, as is an exit on the north side of 174th Street between Walton and Morris Avenues, directly beneath the Grand Concourse. Access to the Concourse itself is also located in this area and from the platforms, with one staircase leading to the east side on the Concourse. There is also an exit to the west side of the Grand Concourse from the south end fare control area and the platforms, but it was closed and sealed. The north end fare control is located directly above 175th Street, which crosses beneath the Concourse, and has exits on both sides. An exit to the south side of 175th Street, also directly beneath the Grand Concourse, is also closed to the public. Prior to the station's renovation, stairways from the platform to this exit were gated off, but the fencing was replaced with a solid wall during the renovation.
