Supriya Ghosh (Editor)

231st Street (IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line)

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Division
  
A (IRT)

Structure
  
Elevated

Opened
  
27 January 1907

Locale
  
Kingsbridge, Riverdale

Services
  
1  (all times)

Platforms
  
2 side platforms

Borough
  
The Bronx

231st Street (IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line)

Line
  
IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line

Transit connections
  
NYCT Bus: Bx1, Bx2, Bx7, Bx9, Bx10, Bx20 MTA Bus: BxM1, BxM2, BxM18

Address
  
Bronx, NY 10463, United States

Similar
  
Marble Hill–225th Street, 238th Street, Van Cortlandt Park–242, 215th Street, 207th Street

231st Street is a local station on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of West 231st Street and Broadway in the Kingsbridge and Riverdale sections of the Bronx, it is served by the 1 train at all times.

Contents

History

This station opened on January 27, 1907 as the 230th Street station, but was built near the site of the originally proposed northern terminus of the Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line at Bailey Avenue and 230th Street, a block southeast of the current station. It was also near two former Kingsbridge railroad stations owned by two separate branches inherited by the New York Central Railroad; one was along a former segment of the Spuyten Duyvil and Port Morris Railroad (Hudson Line), and the other was for the New York and Putnam Railroad.

In 1948, platforms on the IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line from 103rd Street to 238th Street were lengthened to 514 feet to allow full ten-car express trains to platform. Previously the stations could only platform six car local trains. The platform extensions were opened in stages. On July 9, 1948, the platform extensions at stations between 207th Street and 238th Street were opened for use at the cost of $423,000.

The station was extensively renovated in 2003–2004.

Station layout

This elevated station has two side platforms and three tracks. The center track that bypasses this station is not used in revenue service. This is the IRT Broadway-Seventh Avenue Line's southernmost station in the Bronx (Marble Hill–225th Street station is physically on the mainland, but legally part of Manhattan).

Both platforms have beige windscreens and red canopies with green frames and outlines in the center and green waist-high, steel fences at either ends with lampposts at regular intervals. The platforms are offset with the Manhattan-bound platform to the south of the 242nd Street-bound one. The station signs are in the standard black name plates in white lettering.

There are two sets of artwork at this station. One of them was made in 1991 and is called Elevated Nature I-IV by Wopo Holup. It consists of gray marble tiles with a green border on the platform walls of the station house. It is also located at four other stations on this line. The other artwork was made in 2007 by Felipe Galindo and is called Magic Realism in Kingsbridge. It consists of stained glass panels on the platform windscreens depicting images of the surrounding area.

Each platform has an adjacent same-level station house in the center. However, only the Manhattan-bound platform is open to the public. A set of doors from the platform leads to a small waiting area and a bank of turnstiles. On the 242nd Street-bound platform, a set of High Entry/Exit and Exit-Only turnstiles lead to a passageway around the station house separated from the platform by a metal fence.

Exits

Outside fare control on the Manhattan-bound platform, there is a token booth, two staircases going down to either western corners of 231st Street and Broadway, and one ADA-accessible elevator going down to the southwest corner. Two emergency gates on the platform lead directly to each of the staircases. Outside fare control on the 242nd Street-bound platform, there are two staircases going down to either eastern corners of 231st Street and Broadway and one ADA-compliant elevator going down to the northeast corner. Prior to the 2003 renovation, this platform only had two exit-only turnstiles (meaning it was impossible to board a 242nd Street-bound train at this station, since 242nd Street is so close to this station) and neither side had elevators.

References

231st Street (IRT Broadway–Seventh Avenue Line) Wikipedia