125th Street (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)

125th Street
New York City Subway rapid transit station
Station statistics
Address	East 125th Street & Lexington Avenue New York, NY 10035
Borough	Manhattan
Locale	East Harlem
Coordinates	40°48′15″N 73°56′15″W / 40.804259°N 73.937473°W / 40.804259; -73.937473Coordinates: 40°48′15″N 73°56′15″W / 40.804259°N 73.937473°W / 40.804259; -73.937473
Division	A (IRT)
Line	IRT Lexington Avenue Line
Services	4  (all times)       5  (all except late nights)       6  (all times) <6> (weekdays until 8:45 p.m., peak direction)
Transit connections	NYCT Bus: M35, M60 SBS, M100, M101, M103, Bx15 Short Line Bus: 208 Metro-North: Harlem, Hudson, and New Haven Lines (at Harlem – 125th Street)
Structure	Underground
Levels	2
Platforms	2 island platforms (1 on each level) cross-platform interchange
Tracks	4 (2 on each level)
Other information
Opened	July 17, 1918 (1918-07-17)
Accessible
Wireless service	[1]
Traffic
Passengers (2015)	9,586,567[2]  0.1%
Rank	32 out of 422
Station succession
Next north	138th Street–Grand Concourse (Jerome local): 4  5  149th Street–Grand Concourse (Jerome express): 4  Third Avenue–138th Street (Pelham): 6  <6>
Next south	116th Street (local): 4  6  <6> 86th Street (express): 4  5
Next north	161st Street–Yankee Stadium (via Jerome): 4  Third Avenue–149th Street (via White Plains Road): 5  Hunts Point Avenue (via Pelham): 6  <6>
Next south	51st Street (local): 4  6  <6> Grand Central–42nd Street (express): 4  5
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times except late nights Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction Stops all times Stops late nights only Stops rush hours in the peak direction only
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York Show map of the US

125th Street is an express station that has four tracks and two island platforms. It is the northernmost Manhattan station on the IRT Lexington Avenue Line of the New York City Subway. Located at Lexington Avenue and East 125th Street (also known as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Boulevard) in East Harlem, it is served by the 4 and 6 trains at all times, the 5 train at all times except late nights, and the <6> during weekdays in peak direction.

A proposed northern extension of the Second Avenue Subway would connect with this station and with the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem – 125th Street station, located one block west.

Station layout

G	Street Level	Exit/ Entrance
B1	Mezzanine	Fare control, station agents (Elevator at NE corner of 125th Street and Lexington Avenue)
B2	Northbound express	← toward Woodlawn (149th Street – Grand Concourse during the PM rush, or 138th Street – Grand Concourse all other times) ← toward Nereid Avenue PM rush hours, Dyre Avenue all times except nights (138th Street – Grand Concourse)
	Island platform, doors will open on the left or right
	Northbound local	← toward Pelham Bay Park all times, Parkchester rush hours and middays (Third Avenue – 138th Street) ← toward Woodlawn (late nights) (138th Street – Grand Concourse)
B3	Southbound local	→ toward Brooklyn Bridge – City Hall (116th Street) →
	Island platform, doors will open on the left or right
	Southbound express	→ toward Crown Heights – Utica Avenue (86th Street) → → toward New Lots Avenue (late nights) (116th Street) → → toward Flatbush Avenue weekdays, Bowling Green weekends (86th Street) →

Track layout
Legend
to 138 St–Grand Concourse to 3 Av–138 St Superimposed track section Left tracks under right tracks to 116 St to 86 St Lower level Upper level

The station is unusual in design, as a bi-level station with island platforms but not configured in the standard express-local lower-upper configuration. Instead, the upper platform serves northbound (uptown) trains and the lower level serves southbound (downtown) trains. Adding to the unusual design is the local track on each level having train doors open to the right; the express tracks likewise have doors opening to the left. North of the station, just after crossing the Harlem River, the line splits into the IRT Jerome Avenue Line (heading north) and the IRT Pelham Line (heading east). On the lower platform, each track comes from one line, and a flying junction south of the station allows trains to be diverted to the local or express track.^[3]

There is an active tower at the north end of the upper platform; it is a satellite to the tower at Grand Central – 42nd Street, which controls the entire length of the Lexington Avenue Line.

In 1981, the MTA listed the station among the 69 most deteriorated stations in the subway system.^[4] This station's renovation was completed in 2005.

Exits

This station has a mezzanine with two separate turnstile banks; the northern turnstile bank leads to two staircases going to both northern corners of Lexington Avenue and 125th Street, and an elevator going to the NE corner of Lexington Avenue and 125th Street; the southern turnstile bank has two exits leading to both southern corners of Lexington Avenue and 125th Street.

The station lies one block east of the Metro-North Railroad's Harlem – 125th Street station on Park Avenue.

Exit location	Exit Type	Number of exits	Platform served
NW corner of Lexington Avenue and 125th Street	Staircase	1	Both
NE corner of Lexington Avenue and 125th Street	Staircase	1	Both
	Elevator	1	Both
SW corner of Lexington Avenue and 125th Street	Staircase	1	Both
SE corner of Lexington Avenue and 125th Street	Staircase	1	Both

Planned Second Avenue Subway station

Mosaic with depiction of bridge

The planned northern terminal for the Second Avenue Subway would be built below,^[5] perpendicular to the existing station along 125th Street. As of 2007, Phase 1 of the Second Avenue Subway from 63rd Street to 96th Street is under construction. The 125th Street station is part of Phase 2, from 96th Street to 125th Street.

If built, this platform will be five levels below street level, or two levels below the lower-level IRT Lexington Avenue Line platform. The platform will be a three-track, two-island platform layout^[6] with a mezzanine above it. There will be railroad switches to the right of the platforms to switch the direction of terminating trains.^[5] The station would also include a new exit leading directly from the Second Avenue Line platform to the south side of Park Avenue and 125th Street, allowing for a quick connection to the Metro-North station.^[7] The tracks would continue west of the station to midblock between Fifth Avenue and Lenox Avenue, creating space for tail tracks to store trains.^[8]

In popular culture

The location is referenced in The Velvet Underground song "Waiting for the Man", in which the song's protagonist uses the train station en route to buy heroin in Harlem: "Up to Lexington, 1-2-5 / Feel sick and dirty, more dead than alive."

References

Further reading

• Lee Stokey. Subway Ceramics : A History and Iconography. 1994. ISBN 978-0-9635486-1-0

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to 125th Street (IRT Lexington Avenue Line).

• nycsubway.org – IRT East Side Line: 125th Street
• nycsubway.org — Polyrhythmics of Consciousness and Light Artwork by Valerie Maynard (2002)
• nycsubway.org — Open Secret Artwork by Houston Conwill (1986)
• Station Reporter — 4 Train
• Station Reporter — 5 Train
• Station Reporter — 6 Train
• MTA's Arts For Transit — 125th Street (IRT Lexington Avenue Line)
• 125th Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Upper level from Google Maps Street View
• Lower level from Google Maps Street View