121st Street (BMT Jamaica Line)

121st Street
New York City Subway rapid transit station
Facing southbound from a bench on the northbound platform in March 2012 at the 121st Street station.
Station statistics
Address	121st Street & Jamaica Avenue Queens, NY 11418
Borough	Queens
Locale	Richmond Hill
Coordinates	40°42′01″N 73°49′44″W / 40.700357°N 73.82894°W / 40.700357; -73.82894Coordinates: 40°42′01″N 73°49′44″W / 40.700357°N 73.82894°W / 40.700357; -73.82894
Division	B (BMT)
Line	BMT Jamaica Line
Services	J  (all except rush hours, peak direction)       Z  (rush hours, peak direction)
Transit connections	NYCT Bus: Q55, Q56 MTA Bus: Q10
Structure	Elevated
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Other information
Opened	July 3, 1918 (98 years ago) (1918-07-03)
Traffic
Passengers (2015)	788,674  2.9%
Rank	389 out of 422
Station succession
Next north	Sutphin Boulevard – Archer Avenue – JFK Airport: J  Z  Metropolitan Avenue (former Jamaica Line station; demolished)
Next south	111th Street: J  (Z  skips to 104th Street)
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction Stops rush hours in the peak direction only Stops all times
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York Show map of the US

121st Street is a skip-stop station on the elevated BMT Jamaica Line of the New York City Subway. Located at the intersection of 121st Street and Jamaica Avenue in Queens, it is served by the Z train during rush hours in the peak direction, and by the J train at all other times.

This elevated station was opened on July 3, 1918 by the Brooklyn Union Elevated Railroad, an affiliate of the Brooklyn Rapid Transit Company. The station has two tracks and two side platforms, with space for a center express track that was never added. This station has beige windscreens and green canopies.

This is the easternmost station on the Jamaica Line. East of here, trains go underground to the BMT Archer Avenue Line. During construction of the Archer Avenue Line, this station was the terminal for the Jamaica Avenue El from April 15, 1985, to December 10, 1988. The remainder of the el was replaced by Q49 bus service until the Archer Avenue Line opened up.

Construction on the ramps to Archer Avenue was completed in November 1987, but since the tunnels were not ready for service until 1988, a double crossover east (railroad north) of the station was installed while the ramps were used for storage. After reaching 121st Street, trains used the crossover to switch from the Jamaica-bound track to the Manhattan-bound one, where they would relay to the platform and begin service to Manhattan. The elevated structure between this station in the vicinity of 127th Street, and the now-demolished Metropolitan Avenue station was torn down to make way for the connecting ramps. The Manhattan-bound platform at this station is closed for renovation until Summer 2017.