Franklin Avenue Shuttle - History

History

The current service is co-extensive with the BMT Franklin Avenue Line. It parallels Franklin Avenue, hence its name. It was originally a part of the mainline of the BMT Brighton Beach Line and opened as part of that steam railroad line in 1878. The mainline was shifted in 1920, and the Franklin line was reduced to a full-time shuttle in the early 1960s. The line was fully two tracks (with only one track used at Prospect Park) before the 1998-1999 rehabilitation with the stations deteriorating and the then closed Dean Street visible. There is a connection with the Brighton Line south of Prospect Park. Trains usually pass each other at Botanic Garden, the only 2-track station on the line.

There are currently four stations on this line. Consumers Park was closed in 1928 and replaced by the current Botanic Garden station five blocks to the north. There is a visible clearing at the former station location. Dean Street was closed in 1995 due to low paid fare entrance and fare beating.

In 1981, the MTA proposed abandoning the severely deteriorated line, but due to community opposition, it was completely rebuilt and renovated in 1998–99. During renovation, a temporary shuttle bus and the B48 bus replaced train service.

Originally, the transfer at Fulton Street was made (in both directions) by retrieving a small cardboard transfer ticket from the token booth or a ticket machine, exiting to the street, and entering the other rail line and depositing the ticket in a box and walking onto the platform. With reconstruction, there is now a staircase and elevator between the elevated Franklin Shuttle and the underground Fulton Street Line completely within the paid fare area.

On November 1, 1918, in the worst rapid transit accident to date in the USA, a speeding Brooklyn Rapid Transit train crashed inside a new tunnel leading into the Prospect Park station, killing at least 93. This became known as the Brighton Line Accident or Malbone Street Wreck.