The Bergen Street station is a station on the IND Culver Line of the New York City Subway, located at the intersection of Bergen Street and Smith Street on the border of Cobble Hill and Boerum Hill in Brooklyn.^[3] It is served by the F and G trains at all times.

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Bergen Street  ​
New York City Subway station (rapid transit)
Northbound platform
Station statistics
Address	Bergen Street & Smith Street Brooklyn, NY 11201
Borough	Brooklyn
Locale	Boerum Hill, Cobble Hill
Coordinates	40°41′14.11″N 73°59′24.02″W
Division	B (IND)[1]
Line	IND Culver Line
Services	F  (all times) ​   G  (all times)
Transit	NYCT Bus: B57, B65
Structure	Underground
Levels	2 (lower level platforms not for regular service)
Platforms	4 side platforms (2 on each level; 2 on upper level in regular service)
Tracks	4
Other information
Opened	March 20, 1933 (91 years ago) (1933-03-20)
Accessibility	Same-platform wheelchair transfer available
Opposite- direction transfer	No
Traffic
2022	2,285,452[2]  42.6%
Rank	134 out of 423[2]
Services Preceding station New York City Subway Following station Jay Street–MetroTech toward Jamaica–179th Street Local Carroll Street via Church Avenue Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets toward Court Square Local
Non-revenue services and lines Preceding station New York City Subway Following station Jay Street–MetroTech express no service Seventh Avenue express
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York
Track layout Legend Upper level Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets to lower level to Carroll Street Lower level to Jay Street–MetroTech to upper level to Seventh Avenue
Street map
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times

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The Bergen Street station was constructed by the Independent Subway System (IND). It opened on March 20, 1933, as the original terminus of the Culver Line, which was known as the Smith Street Line or the South Brooklyn Line at the time. The station opened in advance of the opening of the remainder of the line to allow for it to compete with existing streetcar lines belonging to the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT). Once the rest of the line was opened on October 7, 1933, the line was extended, making Bergen Street a station for through trains. Bergen Street was renovated in the 1990s.

Bergen Street was constructed as a bi-level express station, though only the upper level is in use. The lower level is neither in regular service nor usable due to its deteriorated condition. The lower level was used when express service was provided on the Culver Line between 1968 and 1976. Express service was eliminated due to the loss of direct local service along the line to Manhattan. The express platforms were permanently removed from service during the 1990s, and due to a fire in 1999 the relay room was damaged, making the express tracks unusable. The relay room was rebuilt in 2008, and after repairs were done on the line, the implementation of express service became feasible. In 2019, express service returned to the line, though express trains skipped the Bergen Street station due to the high cost of rebuilding the express platforms, thus making Bergen Street a local station.

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.^{[4]: 141 [5][6]} 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).^[5][6][7] Construction was slightly stalled due to delays in the delivery of steel flues for the ventilation system.^[5]

Upon opening, only the primary entrances of the station at Bergen Street (see § Exits) were in use, with the southern exits completed at a later date.^[5][6] The first express train for Manhattan from Bergen Street left at 6:25 A.M. carrying 30 passengers, and the first rush hour of service for the station brought 121 passengers, of which most came from the Bergen and Smith Street Line Trolleys of the BMT.^[8][9] 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.^[10] A and C trains from the IND Eighth Avenue Line terminated here, running to 207th Street in Manhattan and 205th Street in the Bronx respectively.^[4][11] A southward extension to Church Avenue opened on October 7 of that same year.^{[4]: 141 [11]} In 1937, the IND Crosstown Line was connected to the station, served by the GG train (today's G service).^[12]

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.^{[13]: 24 [14]: 6 [15]} There are no plans to restore express service to the station,^{[13]: 24 [16]} even with the introduction of limited rush-hour F express service on the IND Culver Line in 2019.^[17][18]

Around the 1990s, the station was modernized.^[14]: 6 After water shorted out old wires in the station, on March 11, 1999, a major fire occurred originating in an equipment room on the station's lower level.^[19] A 1930s-era relay room, which controlled the interlocking north of the station, was destroyed in the fire.^[13]: 20 The station was closed for several months, with G service suspended south of Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets and F trains bypassing the station at a lower-than-normal operating speed.^[20][21][22] Signals and switches at the station were replaced and modernized after the fire,^{[13]: 20 [14]: 15, 20} and again in Fall 2008 when the relay room was rebuilt.^{[13]: 20 [23]: 22}

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.^[17] This is in spite of the fact that the station is one of the most heavily used on the line.^{[13]: 24 [16]} Express service started on September 16, 2019.^[17][18]

Ground	Street level	Exit/entrance
Basement 1 Local platforms	Side platform
	Northbound local	← toward Jamaica–179th Street (Jay Street–MetroTech) ← toward Court Square (Hoyt–Schermerhorn Streets)
	Southbound local	→ toward Coney Island–Stillwell Avenue (Carroll Street) → → toward Church Avenue (Carroll Street) →
	Side platform
Basement 2 Express platforms	Side platform, not in service
	Northbound express	← does not stop here
	Southbound express	→ does not stop here →
	Side platform, not in service

Bergen Street is laid out similar to other subway stations located below narrow streets, with two levels. The upper level serves local trains, while the lower level is used by non-stopping express trains.^{[13]: 19, 24 [14]: 6} The station is directly beneath the street and has no mezzanine, making it one of only two as-built express stations^{[lower-alpha 1]} 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.^{[lower-alpha 2]}

Both platforms on the upper level have a dark green trim line on a lime green border which was installed during the 1990s renovations.^[25] 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.^[26] The tiles were part of a color-coded tile system used throughout the IND.^[27] The tile colors were designed to facilitate navigation for travelers going away from Lower Manhattan. As such, a different tile color is used at Seventh Avenue, 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.^[28][29] 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.^[26]