Kings Highway station (BMT Brighton Line)


Kings Highway is an express station on the BMT Brighton Line of the New York City Subway. It is located at Kings Highway between East 15th and East 16th Streets on the border of Midwood and Sheepshead Bay neighborhoods of Brooklyn. The station is served by the Q train at all times and by the B train on weekdays only.

History

This station underwent reconstruction from 2009–2011, which included installation of ADA-accessible elevators to the full-time fare control area and rebuilding of the platforms and station houses. A temporary platform was used to provide service that would normally stop at the closed platform.

Station layout

This station has four tracks and two island platforms. The two platforms are offset from each other, with the northbound platform located roughly further north than the southbound platform. It has three fare control areas at street level—two to Kings Highway/East 16th Street and one to Quentin Road/East 16th Street. The two mezzanines at Kings Highway, located directly underneath the subway embankment, were constructed in the original BMT format, but fully renovated in the 1980s, during which two identical sets of porcelain enamel artwork were installed, one set in each mezzanine.
South of Kings Highway are diamond crossover switches that allow trains to switch from the local tracks to the express ones, and vice versa. Before Brighton signal replacement during the 1990s, a switch tower was in operation about south of the station, facing the southbound local track; this tower has been abandoned, and control of the switches has passed to a master tower at DeKalb Avenue. During the signal replacement, a new signal electrical tower was installed over the express tracks at the south end of the station.

Exits

The entrance on the south side is normally the full-time entrance/exit, containing a turnstile bank, token booth, two staircases to each platform, and one exit-only turnstile from the Coney Island-bound platform. The one on the north is HEET access only, containing three turnstiles, a staircase to each platform and its MetroCard Vending Machines were installed on the sidewalk.
The part-time Quentin Road station house, located to the east of the embankment, has a turnstile bank, part-time booth, and two staircases to each platform. It was built after the station's opening to accommodate growing passenger flow as evidenced by its newer-style tiling and signage. Platform extensions are clearly present at the north end of the station. It has a token booth, turnstile bank, and two staircases to each platform with the southbound side requiring a short walk.

Gallery