Connection can be a beautiful thing... going from one place to another seamlessly.. well that's an entirely different thing. I was on Franklin Avenue needing to go to the other side of Brooklyn ... Utica Avenue. I mapped it out via iPhone directions. I first had to enter the Franklin Avenue station find the "S" as in shuttle to catch the C train to Utica. First, finding the "S" was a maze at Franklin Avenue platform; I climbed a myriad of flights of stairs, up, down and sideways to catch the Shuttle. I boarded the S train and two stops-Park Place-then Franklyn Avenue. Then climb more stairs to catch C train to Utica. All I can say is, this procedure allowed me to really walk steps to close my rings on my Apple Watch faster than usual. The shuttle us s good idea and yes, you do see elevated perspectives like Botanical Garden. Now, let the MTA work on the ten flights of stairs I climb from the 4th Avenue station to catch the G. read more

MTA - Franklin Avenue Shuttle - The C train is the worst line runs every 15 minutes - Public Transportation Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

The Franklin Avenue Shuttle is a MTA shuttle service operating in Brooklyn. I used to frequent this station in high school as it takes you from Bed-Stuy to Crown Heights to Prospect Park. Wow the improvements from what I can remember includes an elevator and stain glass windows. The platform used to be wood frame that would shake, you could feel the vibration as the train pulled into the station, now it is sturdy and concrete. There are now two trains cars which run between Franklin Ave and Prospect Park. The north bound Franklin Ave station has one escalator going up and you will have to take the ascending steps down stairs or take an elevator to the street level or to the lower level where you can connect to the "C" train. The south bound stop, Prospect Park connects you to the "Q", "B" or "D" train in either direction. When I was growing up the first station stop on the Franklin Shuttle after leaving Franklin Avenue was Dean Street, which remained open until 1996, but due to lack of ridership that station was torn down. On November 1, 1918, a five-car wooden elevated train derailed and crashed into one of the new tunnel walls, killing at least 93 people. This accident, called the "Malbone Street Wreck" was the worst MTA accident ever. Four stars because it is a clean station there's always an attendant visible however, the escalator does not operate consistently, it's like throwing dice...maybe it will work....maybe not. read more

See all

S as in Sordid and Seedy. -------------------------------------- 11 PM on a Monday night in December. It's cold and it's windy. First day of snow of the winter. More like a dusting than a real snow. The wind lifts up tall plumes of white sand. I'm standing by the platform, watching the white plumes whirl by against the yellow lights of the train station. I feel cold. A man comes by. He stops in front of me, a couple of feet away. He's holding a Manila envelope under his arm. He's smiling. He carefully opens the envelope, and sloooowly takes out a magazine. He comes closer, and starts flipping the magazine at me. Page after page. It's a dirty magazine called "Voluptuous". It features women with HUGE boobs. Naked. All this time the man is mumbling something absolutely unintelligible to me. I try to look straight at the empty tracks, but the man keeps the magazine under my face and flips one page after the other at me. Slowly. Relentlessly. Systematically. Painfully. "Sorry, man. Not interested", I say a couple of times. That doesn't seem to deter him much. He keeps flipping the pages while holding the magazine under my nose. Mumbling and smiling. Smiling and mumbling. He is definitely happy. A bit too happy for my own comfort: I don't understand what he wants from me. Is he just happy to share the magazine with me? Is he trying to sell me the magazine? Eventually the train comes. We board the same car. By now he has given up on me, but starts flipping the magazine in front of other men on the train. First one, then another one. Finally, as the train slowly leaves the station, a man seems to pay attention. This guy starts laughing loudly, and the man with the magazine goes to sit besides him. Now the magazine man is grinning in excitement. I still don't understand what he's trying to achieve. "I AM MORE LIKE AN ASS MAN, YOU KNOW?" Says the second man. "THIS IS MORE LIKE AN APPETIZER FOR ME", Ass-man goes. "AN APPETIZER", repeats Ass-man, while glancing at the magazine. "YOU KNOW BOOBALICIOUS? BOOBALICIOUS MAGAZINE! THAT'S ANOTHER FINE PUBLICATION", says Ass-man. We reach my stop. Don't you love the fact that the stops on the S train are so short? -------------------------- Only on the S train in Brooklyn. read more

My review is on the C line This is my most useful discovery in Clinton Hill thus far! Now, rides that use to run me anyway between $8.00 - $12. is a more affordable $2.50!!! The platform seems a bit dismal but I've never seen litter here and even though on Yelp the station ALWAYS says closed, it really never is. I'm yet to try the actual S shuttle but the C train is my baby. I get to downtown Brooklyn, across the way Brooklyn and the City most times without leaving the C and many times with just one quick change. The C line is pretty realiable and I've never waited more than 5 mins for it. My traveling hours so far have been between 10am-8pm. The A train also passes through this station but it seems to be an express line as I've never been a witness to it stopping here. I'm always excited about my departure when I get to this station most likely on business or an adventure and always so happy on my arrival home. Yes, as much time as I spend in Clinton Hill and Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn is really starting to feel like home. The End. read more

MTA - Franklin Avenue Shuttle - Shuffle shuffle onto the C train. - Public Transportation Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

It's probably popular to say you dislike the Franklin Avenue Shuttle C stop. It takes awhile to arrive, people are pushy, kids are loud, its the subway...go down the line (pun not intended). But I kinda dig it. Maybe its because I'm a born n' bred NY'er and remember the days when this was one of the most dangerous stops in Brooklyn, truly one to avoid. The first time I took it, it was because I HAD to go see this girl. Rack that up to teenage hormones. But that's when it was undergoing construction to be the much better station it is today. The stain glass makes it inviting, the view is kinda cool, and it gets you to Prospect Park and Flatbush pretty quickly. Can't beat that. I too get upset when it takes a minute to arrive, especially after rush hour, but take that time to chill out and maybe ecen meditate, well, if the homeless dude down the track isn't killing your vibe. read more

Not to be confused with the 42nd street S train connecting Grand Central Terminal to Times Square, the Brooklyn S train shoots up and down Franklin Ave in Crown Heights between Fulton St and Eastern Parkway, and is a bona fide NYC subway train! I'll admit I had my doubts as to whether the S train did, in fact, exist, since I don't think I've actually met anyone who's ridden it before. But then yesterday, looking for the best way for my sister and I to get to our dinner destination, there it was: HopStop was telling me to take the S. As skeptical as I was, when entering unknown territory I'm not one to argue with HopStop. So after getting off the C train at Franklin Ave, we climbed several flights of stairs to an outdoor platform (who even knew this was here??) and lo and behold, there it was! The S train! With real people on it! At least, they looked real. We climbed aboard, and inside it looked just like any other subway car. Orange-palette seats, steel poles, windows, etc. As the doors closed, they made that familiar ding-dong sound, and I began to believe. Needless to say, we reached our destination safe and sound. Thank you, S train! I'm sorry I ever doubted you. read more

MTA - Franklin Avenue Shuttle - Public Transportation Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

Franklin Ave Station, I saw a mother with a stroller and a toddler struggling to walk down the to the C train platform, the station is very oily and dirty, looks like water leak in certain areas. Pigeon droppings leaves a nasty stains, and it's unsanitary, MTA, by the way model owls, will keep those pigeons away, it actually works and saves money. This station seems like a major hub,it's a transit to the shuttle or S train, that takes you over to prospect park another Station. The Q and B trains (this station also needs a Major over haul.) on the way there was lots of garbage, broken down wood and trees, looks like it's never been clean, the graffiti art work looks great major clean up needed. I'm surprised because of so much wood and garbage, it doesn't catch on fire, simple cleaning its needed. MTA Pay attention. read more

See all

Slow as hell on the weekends. One of those things that you thought was a good idea at the time but turned out to be not all that good. I also hate how much of a pain it is to get an A/C from one direction to the other. You'll have to be committed to going to Manhattan or further into Brooklyn; no time to rush to the platform where the train is showing up. One good thing I can say about this one, though is that you will get phone reception in the Franklin Avenue subway station on the A/C platform. read more

A very very handy station as the junction of A, C, and S lines provides a very helpful relief in case of congestion in many other parts of Brooklyn. The inconvenient part is the transfer from S to C has a large detour if you miss the sign for Downtown vs Uptown. Area is alright. Station itself is normal MTA standard, that is to say, dirty but barely maintained & at least functional. Many entrances from many directions each lead to a very different portion of the station, but conversely, allow for personally convenient ingress/egress. Staffed booth and good lighting make it good. read more

Not many people see the value of this train and I admit, I didn't see it until recently. I live off the G "is for glacial" train and work in Prospect Heights. I also have to work on the south side of prospect park, off the B & Q line. Due to a recent injury that has kept me off my bike, the Franklin Avenue Shuttle makes it easy for me to transfer to a myriad of trains, A, C, 2, 3, 4, 5, B & Q, with relative ease and efficiency. This train is ideal for Brooklyn commuters transferring from one side of Brooklyn to the other. Just two cars long, two separate trains run in either direction. Intervals are about 10 minutes each way. There are only four stops, so there is little room for delay. Much better than the equivalent bus and it continues to run in the snow (unlike the bus). Riding the shuttle is also really pleasant, you get some nice elevated views of Crown Heights, Prospect Heights and Bed Stuy before going underground near Franklin Ave. The trench portion before the park can be really pretty in the fall. If they could find a way to connect the shuttle with the G, this would easily be the most valuable train in all of Brooklyn. read more

This train is close to my job and the area is ghetto to say the least.I took the shuttle quite some time ago and it was awful.Even the police presence doesn't help.I'd say avoid it if you can.Also pay attention to what is happening around you. Check the schedule or you might get a surprise. read more

MTA - Franklin Avenue Shuttle - Public Transportation Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

See all

Thank the gods for the Franklin Avenue Shuttle; there's almost no other way to get from the 2 train to the A--in Brooklyn, anyway. Public transportation can be convoluted and nightmarish--and the Franklin Avenue station is no exception--but I agree with a few other reviewers: a little two-car toy train on a short length of track, and you're there! I also didn't realize this was such an historic line--built in 1899. I've taken it usually on weekend evenings and didn't fear for my life. I love Brooklyn. read more

The Franklin Shuttle has got to be one of the best-kept secrets of the entire NYC transit system. Unless you're in a very particular part of Brooklyn and need to get to another very particular part of Brooklyn you may never even realize it exists. However, with it's tiny 2-car operation and it's mostly above ground service, combined with the fact that it goes to the Park, make for a charming little train. I love the fact that it runs diagonally above some great old housing stock in the Crown Heights/Bed Stuy vicinity. I also love the fact that this little stub of a subway line was slated for destruction, but the public outcry was enough to reahbilitate it rather than scrap it altogether. Legend has it that at one time you could continue on the Franklin all the way to Brighton Beach, a trip that now requires a transfer. In addition, the Shuttle used to be home to the least used and most decrepit station in the entire system; the now-dismantled Dean Street stop. read more

There are very rarely service interruptions, but their definition of normal service is also kinda random, especially when trying to connect to/from the C. read more

MTA - Franklin Avenue Shuttle - Public Transportation Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

What's crazy is that I didn't even know about the Franklin Shuttle until I moved to the Clinton Hill/Bed-Stuy area two years ago. This train though small, is so necessary. I'm not going to say that it runs seamlessly and all the time, but it's always been there when I need it. Sometimes I'll wait a little longer than I'd like to, but it's NYC people. I'm pretty sure you live here, because of the subway system. S is a great way to get to parts of prospect park, and a way to get access to trains you otherwise would not. Coming back from the city late at night, it's nice to know that I have the shuttle to take me home if I can't find a direct route or transfer. Give it a shot if you're around, but be aware that the platforms are outside (cold during winters). read more

The train line is DANGEROUS. AVOID this TRAIN and its STATIONS especially during the HOURS of 2-5PM. I was on the train with my friends parents from Nigeria, and they said why do people act like this in public? People DONT act like this back home. LOLOLOL. read more

This is one of the few trains spinning the MTA's web that are very dependable. I used to live next door to this track, and could hear the train each time it passed, which was actually really helpful on weekday mornings as it allowed me to prepare for the day without having to check the clock since the train was like an alarm clock on a seven minute snooze. And since the trains on this local track run on schedule, I have found that I can finally rely on my iTrans iPhone app listing for this train to be accurate. read more

Runs frequently. Hallelujah! Unfortunately, it is pretty to' up (=unsightly) but the trip is short so who cares? Despite the short trip, you will still get hit up for cash. read more

The shuttle is a convenient way to get from downtown Brooklyn to points deeper into the borough without outside transferring. It's a little bit slow but if you must-do it. The Franklin Ave station has a foul odor in the summer though. read more

The Franklin Avenue Shuttle is cool. It is short, but a historic route. Opened in 1899! Connects with the Brighton Line at Prospect Park at the southern end and Franklin Avenue on the Fulton Street Line at the northern end. There are only 4 stations. Used to be 6. The 5th one was called "Consumers Park" which is about 1/3 of the way between Prospect Park and Botanic Garden when going towards Franklin Avenue. The current Botanic Garden station replaced Consumers Park station in 1924. Consumers Park has no platform, but you can guess where it is because there is a big space for it. Only the uptown side has evidence of the station. The other station was called "Dean Street which was closed in 1995 and demolished in 1999. The worst subway accident happened on this line in 1918. The Malbone Street wreck. Very interesting and historic line. read more

Without this train, I'd have to either drive to an A/C train station or I'd have to take a train into the City to transfer. This train saves me the headache. Although, I have to take 3 trains, its usually a 30 minute commute with only 2-3 stops on each train, which isn't bad at all. The Shuttle runs frequently - I've never waited for more than 10 minutes regardless of the time of my commute - and it's almost always has a uniformed Police Officer in the station, so I feel safe. read more

For the most part the shuttle is usually on time unless their is an incident or bad weather. This is a daily route for me and very convenient. read more

We refer to this as the sh*ttle because it is the worse mode of transportation in NYC. You can guarantee an additional 10 mins. at least to your travel time if you have to take this thing. And during the winter it would behoove you to just find another way to get to your destination. It stops on the tracks for 15-20, sometimes 30 minutes to "clear the tracks" even on non-snow days. I hate this thing!! Even though Brooklynites like to pretend Brooklyn's the eye of NYC, this reminds anyone that forgot that Brooklyn's just another outer borough. read more

So far, the Shuttle is pretty good. I have been taking it for years. It arrives on time and it does arrive rather quickly as well, which makes me miss it and have to wait another 10 minutes for the next one to come. Also, the train operator flirts with me quite often but I do appreciate the shuttle. I really do. read more

I love the Franklin Avenue Shuttle! It's a dinky little train, but it's the quickest way to get from Bed-Stuy/Crown Heights to areas south - Ditmas Park, Midwood, Coney Island. It runs frequently during rush hour, when they operate 2 trains, so it's never more than 2 stops away. Even during non-peak times, when there is only one train running, it just goes back and forth along its 4 stops, so it's never long in coming. I only wish they would extend it out to Lafayette and connect it to the G train too! read more

The shuttle gets packed full, but the ride is over before you know it so it isn't really an issue. I wish they would charge less, because it's strange that I have to pay the same price for taking this shuttle as riding a regular train all the way across Manhattan. read more

hardly runs. ghetto. gotta be on the alert om this train hide all cell phones ipods etc.