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Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company
Brooklyn Rapid Transit logo on a 1907 Brooklyn Union Elevated car
Service
Type	Rapid transit and Streetcar
History
Opened	1896; 128 years ago (1896)
Closed	1923; 101 years ago (1923) (acquisition by the Brooklyn-Manhattan Transit Corporation)
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Minimum radius	?

The Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company (BRT) was a public transit holding company formed in 1896 to acquire and consolidate railway lines in Brooklyn and Queens, New York City, United States. It was a prominent corporation and industry leader using the single-letter symbol B on the New York Stock Exchange.

It operated both passenger and freight services on its rail rapid transit, elevated and subway network, making it unique among the three companies which built and operated subway lines in New York City. It became insolvent in 1919. It was restructured and released from bankruptcy as the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation in 1923.

Consolidation

The BRT was incorporated January 18, 1896, and took over the bankrupt Long Island Traction Company in early February acquiring the Brooklyn Heights Railroad and the lessee of the Brooklyn City Rail Road. It then acquired the Brooklyn, Queens County and Suburban Railroad leased on July 1, 1898.

The BRT took over the property of a number of surface railroads, the earliest of which, the Brooklyn, Bath and Coney Island Railroad or West End Line, opened for passenger service on October 9, 1863, between Fifth Avenue at 36th Street at the then border of Brooklyn City and Bath Beach in the Town of Gravesend, New York. A short piece of surface route of this railroad, near Coney Island Creek, is the oldest existing piece of rapid transit right-of-way in New York City, and in the U.S., having opened on June 8, 1864.

Initially the surface and elevated railroad lines ran on steam power. Between 1893 and 1900 the lines were converted to electricity operation. An exception was the service on the Brooklyn Bridge. Trains were operated by cables from 1883 to 1896, when they were converted to electric power

By 1900, it had acquired virtually all of the rapid transit and streetcar operations in its target area:

• Sea Beach Railway, acquired in November 1897
• Sea View Railroad (Coney Island Elevated), acquired in November 1897
• Nassau Electric Railroad (lessee of the Atlantic Avenue Railroad, Brooklyn, Bath and West End Railroad, Coney Island and Gravesend Railway, and South Brooklyn Railway), acquired in November 1898 and leased to the BHRR in April 1899
• Brooklyn Elevated Railroad, acquired in March 1899 and leased to the BHRR in April 1899
• Brooklyn and Brighton Beach Railroad (Brighton Beach Line), acquired in March 1899
• Kings County Elevated Railroad (Fulton Street Line), acquired in November 1899 and merged into the Brooklyn Union Elevated on May 24, 1900
• Prospect Park and Coney Island Railroad (Culver Line), leased to the BHRR on June 18, 1899

Only the Coney Island and Brooklyn Railroad and the short Van Brunt Street and Erie Basin Railroad remained independent; the former was acquired in 1913 or 1914.

Expansion

BRT opened its first short subway segment, consisting only of an underground terminal at the foot of the Williamsburg Bridge at Delancey and Essex Streets in Manhattan on June 16, 1908. This line was extended under Delancey Street and Centre Street to a new five-platform complex at Chambers Street beneath the Manhattan Municipal Building at the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge on August 4, 1913. In addition to BRT trains, Long Island Railroad (LIRR) commuter trains also used the new Chambers Street station from its opening until 1917. The elevated railroads were operated by a new corporation, the New York Consolidated Railroad.

In 1913, the BRT, through another subsidiary, the New York Municipal Railway, signed the Dual Contracts with the government of New York City, to construct and operate new subways and other rapid transit lines to be built or improved under these contracts. Almost all subsequent BRT lines were built as part of the contracts. The BRT opened its first Brooklyn subway under Fourth Avenue on June 22, 1915, running over the Manhattan Bridge to a junction with the aforementioned Nassau Street Line at Canal Street. The BRT opened the first segment of its Manhattan main line subway, the Broadway Line, as far as 14th Street–Union Square on September 4, 1917. The Broadway Line was completed in 1920. The BRT's only crosstown Manhattan line, the Canarsie Line, opened in 1924.

During the beginning of the BRT's existence, the LIRR was a competitor of the BRT for passengers in Brooklyn and Queens. Despite competing with nearby lines, the BRT and its predecessors also hosted LIRR passenger trains via track sharing agreements and interchanged freight with them. LIRR Passenger service to the BRT's Brooklyn Bridge terminal began after an agreement in 1895, utilizing BRT elevated lines. LIRR passenger service to downtown Manhattan via the BRT subway and Williamsburg Bridge began with the opening of the Chambers Street Station. Both LIRR and BRT motorman were represented by the same union. Today, BRT successor MTA New York City Transit still receives freight deliveries from LIRR freight successor the New York & Atlantic Railroad in Sunset Park and at Linden Yard.

Demise and legacy

World War I and the attendant massive inflation associated with the war put New York transit operators in a tough position, since their contracts with the City required a five-cent fare be charged, while inflation made the real value of the fare less than three cents in constant currency value. On November 1, 1918, the Malbone Street wreck, the second worst rapid transit train wreck to occur in the United States, occurred on the BRT's Franklin Avenue/Brighton Beach line, killing at least 93 people. This further destabilized the financially struggling company, and the BRT filed bankruptcy on December 31, 1918. In 1923 the BRT was restructured and released from bankruptcy as the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT).

Some of the former elevated system of the BRT, dating to 1885, remains in use today. The largest section is the part of today's BMT Jamaica Line running above Fulton Street from the Alabama Avenue station to a small section turning north after the Crescent Street station. Most of the other surviving structures were either built new or rehabilitated between 1915 and 1922 as part of the Dual Contracts. One piece of structure – the elevated portion of the Franklin Avenue Shuttle, built in 1896 and 1905 – was extensively rebuilt in 1999.

Several BRT-era equipment have been preserved. This includes nine BU cars and five AB Standard cars, all which were also operated by the BMT upon the company's creation in 1923.

See also

• Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation (BMT)
• Interborough Rapid Transit Company (IRT)
• Independent Subway System (IND)

References

1. "L.I. Traction Reorganization". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. January 18, 1896. p. 1.
2. "Local Stocks and Bonds". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. February 9, 1896. p. 23.
3. "Rapid Transit Statement". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. August 26, 1898. p. 7.
4. "Early Rapid Transit in Brooklyn, 1818 to 1900", nyc subways.com
5. ^ "Local Stocks and Bonds". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. November 14, 1897. p. 31.
6. "Of the Nassau-Transit Railroad Consolidation Deal". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. November 6, 1898. p. 30.
7. ^ "Flynn Enjoins Nassau Lease". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. April 4, 1899. p. 1.
8. "Local Stocks and Bonds". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. March 19, 1899. p. 35.
9. "Rapid Transit Company Gets Brighton Beach R.R.". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. March 21, 1899. p. 1.
10. "Local Stocks and Bonds". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. April 16, 1899. p. 57.
11. ^ 1914 Moody's Manual: Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company Archived September 27, 2007, at the Wayback Machine
12. "L Merger Certificate". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. May 24, 1900. p. 1.
13. "Transit Co. Leases P.P. and C.I. Road". Brooklyn Daily Eagle. Brooklyn, NY. June 17, 1899. p. 1.
14. "Mayor Runs a Train Over New Bridge". The New York Times. September 17, 1908. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 26, 2020.
15. "Passenger Killed On Loop's First Day ; Printer, Impatient at Delay in New Bridge Subway, Tries to Walk the Track". The New York Times. August 5, 1913. p. 2. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved August 1, 2019.
16. "SUBWAY CONTRACTS SOLEMNLY SIGNED; Cheers at the Ceremonial Function When McCall Gets Willcox to Attest" (PDF). The New York Times. March 20, 1913. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
17. "Steinway Tunnel Tested By Shonts; After Inspection with Engineers He Says Tracks Are the Best He Has Ever Tried. Party Rides Through Tube Interborough's Chief and Other Officials Are Hoisted from a Subway Shaft in a Dirt Bucket" (PDF). The New York Times. June 16, 1915. Retrieved May 4, 2017.
18. "Broadway Subway Opened To Coney By Special Train. Brooklynites Try New Manhattan Link From Canal St. to Union Square. Go Via Fourth Ave. Tube". The Brooklyn Daily Eagle. September 4, 1917. Retrieved May 31, 2019.
19. "New B.R.T. Lines Open.; Broadway-Brighton Trains, on Holiday Schedule, Have Light Traffic" (PDF). The New York Times. August 2, 1920. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 5, 2016.
20. "Subway Tunnel Through". The New York Times. August 8, 1919. Retrieved February 28, 2010.
21. "Celebrate Opening of Subway Link". The New York Times. July 1, 1924. Retrieved February 13, 2010.
22. Fazio, Alfred (2008). The BMT A Technical and Operational History. BRT Services. ISBN 978-1-60702-864-2.
23. "SCORES KILLED OR MAIMED IN BRIGHTON TUNNEL WRECK; First Car Crashes Into Tunnel Pier and Other Cars Grind It to Splinters". The New York Times. November 2, 1918. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved November 3, 2019.
24. "75 Dead, 100 Hurt in Brighton "L" Wreck". New York Tribune. November 2, 1918. p. 1. ISSN 1941-0646. Retrieved September 26, 2017 – via Library of Congress .
25. Hood, Clifton (1993). 722 Miles: The Building of the Subways and How They Transformed New York (1st ed.). New York: Simon & Schuster. p. 193. ISBN 0-671-67756-X.

v t e New York metropolitan area streetcar transit
Former streetcar operators	New York BRT/BQT LICEC LIRR IRT Second Avenue Railroad Third Avenue Railway Sixth Avenue Railroad Broadway and Seventh Avenue Railway Eighth and Ninth Avenues Railway 14th Street Central Crosstown (17th & 18th Street Lines) 23rd Street 34th Street Crosstown 42nd Street & Grand Street Ferry 86th Street Babylon Railroad Bleecker Street & Fulton Ferry Bridge Operating Company BHRR NYR Brooklyn & North River Brooklyn, Queens County & Suburban Danbury & Harlem Fort George & Eleventh Avenue Grand Street and Newtown Greenpoint and Williamsburgh Hudson Avenue Houston, West Street & Pavonia Ferry Huntington Railroad/Traction Company Jamaica Central Railways Lenox Avenue Long Island Electric Railway Long Island Traction Company Manhattan Bridge 3¢ Manhattan & Queens Traction Nassau Railroad Nassau Electric Railroad New York Railways Company New York & Harlem Railroad New York & Long Island Traction New York & North Shore Traction New York and Queens County Railway New York and Queens Transit Corporation New York Interborough (IRT) Northport Traction Company Ocean Electric Railway Oscar City Railway Ossining Electric Railway Peekskill Lighting and Railroad Pelham Park and City Island Railway Putnam & Westchester Queensboro Bridge Richmond Light & Railroad Staten Island Electric Railroad Staten Island Horse Railroad Staten Island Midland Railway/Railroad Staten Island Traction Company Steinway Railway Suffolk Traction Union Railway (Bronx) Union Railroad (Brooklyn) West Farms & Westchester Westchester Electric Westchester Street Yonkers Railroad New Jersey North Hudson County Railway Public Service Coordinated Transport/Transport of New Jersey Connecticut Connecticut Company Consolidated Railway Bridgeport Traction Connecticut Railway & Lighting Danbury and Bethel Street Railway Greenwich Tramway Company New York and Stamford Railway
Current operations	New Jersey Hudson–Bergen Light Rail Newark Light Rail River Line
Proposed operations	New York Red Hook Staten Island 42nd Street Brooklyn–Queens Waterfront Lower Montauk New Jersey HBLR Northern Branch Connecticut New Haven
Streetcar lists	New York Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens Staten Island Long Island Westchester Nearby states New Jersey (PSR lines) Connecticut
Other	Carhouses New York City Bus garages MTA Bus garages Long Island Bus garages Other Other New York City transit

v t e New York City Subway
Current services	Shuttles 42nd Street Franklin Avenue Rockaway Park Planned
Defunct services	1985–present Pre-1985 8 9 (Dyre Avenue) AA BB CC EE (Eighth Avenue) EE (Broadway) GG HH (Court Street) JJ K (Jamaica) KK LL MJ NX QB QJ QT RJ RR T TT Shuttles Bowling Green Broadway/63rd Street Culver Grand Street Nassau Street Polo Grounds Sixth Avenue/63rd Street BMT numbers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 Brooklyn Loops East New York Loop Unused labels Unused New York City Subway service labels
Stations (List)	By borough The Bronx Brooklyn Manhattan Queens By type Closed Terminals Transfer Accessible
Divisions	A Division IRT B Division BMT IND
Other lists	Lines Yards Rolling stock R-type contracts
History	Early history IRT BMT BRT Dual Contracts Expansions MTA Capital Construction and Development Company Chrystie Street Connection Interborough Express Program for Action 7 Subway Extension Second Avenue Subway Historic proposals Construction Other proposals LaGuardia Airport extension Notable crashes Ninth Avenue, 1905 Malbone Street, 1918 Times Square, 1928 Union Square, 1991 Williamsburg Bridge, 1995 96th Street, 2024 Strikes 1966 1980 2005 Service disruptions 2017–2021 New York City transit crisis 2019–2020 L train shutdown Other major incidents 1984 shooting 2000 lawsuit 2017 bombing 2020 fire 2022 attack 2023 killing
Infrastructure	Accessibility 58 Joralemon Street Fulton Center Corbin Building Dey Street Passageway Substations 7 18 219 401 IRT Dyckman-Hillside
Arts and culture	In popular culture Mass Transit Super Bowl Miss Subways MTA Arts & Design Music Under New York "Showtime" Subway Challenge Subway Series Tiles
Miscellaneous	Automation and signals Chaining Fares MetroCard OMNY Pizza Principle Map Nomenclature Technology
Other rapid transit in NYC	AirTrain JFK PATH Staten Island Railway Stations Historical Beach Pneumatic Transit Manhattan Railway Company

v t e Companies and predecessors of the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation
Elevated railroads and subways	Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company Brooklyn Union Elevated Railroad Brooklyn Elevated Railroad Union Elevated Railroad Brooklyn, Flatbush and Coney Island Railway Brooklyn and Rockaway Beach Railroad/Canarsie Railroad Kings County Elevated Railway Brooklyn, Bath and West End Railroad New York and Sea Beach Railway New York Consolidated Railroad New York Rapid Transit Corporation Sea View Railroad
Streetcars and cable cars	Atlantic Avenue Railroad BQT Brooklyn City Railroad Brooklyn City, Hunterspoint & Prospect Park Brooklyn City & Newtown Brooklyn Heights Railroad Bridge Operating Company (BRT - NYR) Broadway Ferry & Metropolitan Avenue Brooklyn & North River (3rd Ave - NYR - BRT) Brooklyn, Queens & Suburban Bushwick Railroad Coney Island & Brooklyn Coney Island, Fort Hamilton & Brooklyn Coney Island & Gravesend DeKalb Avenue & North Brooklyn East River & Atlantic Ocean Grand Street, Prospect Park & Flatbush Grand Street & Newtown Greenpoint & Williamsburgh Hunter's Point & Prospect Park Jamaica & Brooklyn Kings County Central Long Island Traction Company Nassau Railroad Nassau Electric Railroad New York & Brooklyn Bridge Park Avenue Prospect Park & Coney Island Prospect Park & South Brooklyn Red Hook light rail South Brooklyn Railway South Brooklyn Street Railway Union Railroad Williamsburgh & Flatbush Yates Avenue & Flatbush
Buses	BQT Brooklyn Bus
Streetcar lists	Brooklyn Manhattan Queens
Other	Carhouses New York City Bus garages MTA Bus garages Financing, advertising, real estate, etc. Broadway Subway and Home Borough Car Advertising Company Transit Development Company

• 1896 establishments in New York City
• 1923 disestablishments in New York (state)
• American companies disestablished in 1923
• American companies established in 1896
• Defunct New York (state) railroads
• Predecessors of the Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation
• Railway companies disestablished in 1923
• Railway companies established in 1896
• Streetcar lines in Brooklyn
• Streetcar lines in Queens, New York