Bergen Street station (IND Culver Line)

Bergen Street opened on March 20, 1933, as the first station of the IND Culver Line. Service began one month after the expansion of the IND into Brooklyn to Jay Street–Borough Hall. The station's construction was expedited in order to both connect with and compete with the Bergen Street and Smith Street streetcar lines of the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT). Construction was slightly stalled due to delays in the delivery of steel flues for the ventilation system. Only the Bergen Street entrance was ready in time for the station's opening, leaving the Smith Street entrance to open at a later date. and trains from the IND Eighth Avenue Line terminated here, running to 207th Street in Manhattan and 205th Street in the Bronx respectively. A southward extension to Church Avenue opened on October 7 of that same year. The lower-level express platforms, while built with the rest of the station, were only operated between 1968 and 1976 when express service was operated along the line. They were permanently removed from service in 1992, and support facilities were added to the platforms. There are no plans to restore express service to the station, even with the introduction of limited rush-hour F express service on the IND Culver Line in 2019. A 1930s-era relay room, which controlled the interlocking north of the station, was destroyed in the fire. Signals and switches at the station were replaced and modernized after the fire, In July 2019, the MTA revealed plans to restore express service on the Culver Line between Jay Street and Church Avenue by mid-September 2019. The Bergen Street's lower level, however, would not be restored and reactivated for express service. ==Station layout==

Bergen Street is laid out similar to other subway stations located below narrow streets, with two levels. The upper level is served by and trains at all times and they always make local stops, while the lower level is only used during rush hours in the peak direction by non-stopping trains, which always make express stops. The station is directly beneath the street and has no mezzanine, making it one of only two as-built express stations in the system that do not allow free transfers between directions. Passengers wishing to transfer between southbound and northbound F and G trains cannot do so at this station. Both platforms on the upper level have a dark green trim line on a lime green border which was installed during the 1990s renovations. New tiles replaced the original small "BERGEN" tiles, and covered existing advertisement panels. The only uncovered original tiles are the mosaic name tablets reading "BERGEN ST." in white sans-serif lettering on a dark green background and green border. The tile colors were designed to facilitate navigation for travelers going away from Lower Manhattan. As such, a different tile color is used at , the next express station to the south; the original green tiles used at the Bergen Street station were also used at local stations between Bergen Street and Seventh Avenue. Dark green I-beam columns run along the entire length of both platforms at regular intervals with alternating ones having the standard black station name plate with white lettering. Exits Each platform has two same-level fare control areas, one at either end of the station, and there are no crossovers or crossunders. The full-time ones are at the north end and each has a turnstile bank, token booth, and two street stairs. The ones on the Manhattan-bound platform go up to the northeast and southeast corners of Bergen and Smith Streets while those on the Coney Island-bound platform go up to the northwest and southwest corners. The fare control areas on the south end of the platforms are unstaffed, containing full height turnstiles and one street stair to the northeast corner of Warren and Smith Streets on the Manhattan-bound platform and the northwest corner for the Coney Island-bound platform. The lower level was abandoned afterward; trains rerouted via the express tracks during construction or service disruptions bypass the station towards Jay Street (northbound) or 7th Avenue (southbound). The tile was removed during renovations in the 1990s, leaving unpainted concrete and corrugated metal, old lights and signage (including original IND signs reading "BERGN" on support pillars), and modern Exit signs, none of which are in usable condition. The only remaining IND tilework exists in the stairwells between the levels, with directional tile plaques reading "EXPRESS TRAINS" and pointing to the lower level. Steel doors on the upper level block access to the staircases to the lower level, which is used for support facilities, storage of heavy equipment and occasional layups of and trains. Repairs to restore the lower level to operating conditions, as well as required upgrades to make the station ADA-accessible, are estimated to cost over $75 million. As the MTA has deemed restoring the lower level to be prohibitively expensive, F express trains – which resumed service in September 2019 – bypass the station. Both levels have a switch south of the platforms, allowing terminating trains to reverse direction. The switches were used when the station was the southern terminus of the line. == Notes ==