138 Street–Grand Concourse  ​
Northbound station platform
Station statistics
Address	East 138th Street &Grand Concourse Bronx, New York
Borough	The Bronx
Locale	Mott Haven
Coordinates	40°48′47″N73°55′48″W / 40.81303°N 73.929963°W /40.81303; -73.929963
Division	A (IRT)[1]
Line	IRT Jerome Avenue Line
Services	4  (all except rush hours, peak direction) ​  5  (all except late nights)
Transit	NYCT Bus:Bx1,Bx33
Structure	Underground
Platforms	2side platforms
Tracks	3
Other information
Opened	July 17, 1918; 107 years ago (1918-07-17)
Former/other names	Mott Haven Avenue
Traffic
2024	817,671[2]  4.1%
Rank	326 out of 423[2]
Services Preceding station New York City Subway Following station 149th Street–Grand Concourse 4  towardWoodlawn 125th Street 4  ​5  viaFranklin Avenue–Medgar Evers College 149th Street–Grand Concourse 5  towardEastchester–Dyre Avenue Local
Location Show map of New York City Subway Show map of New York City Show map of New York
Track layout Legend to149th St–GC (Jerome) to149th St–GC (White Plains) to125th Street
Street map
Station service legend Symbol Description Stops all times except late nights Stops all times except rush hours in the peak direction

The138th Street–Grand Concourse station, also signed as138th Street–Mott Haven or simply asMott Haven on station signage, is a localstation on theIRT Jerome Avenue Line of theNew York City Subway, located at the T-intersection of East 138th Street and theGrand Concourse in theMott Haven neighborhood ofthe Bronx. It is served by the4 train at all times except during rush hours in the peak direction, and the5 train at all times except late nights.

The station opened on July 17, 1918, asMott Haven Avenue station, as a southbound extension of the Jerome Avenue Line into the Upper East Side extension of theIRT Lexington Avenue Line. As such, it is the newest station on the line. The segment north ofKingsbridge Road toWoodlawn opened three months earlier.^[3] The city government took over the IRT's operations on June 12, 1940.^[4][5] The station was built with tablets displaying "Mott Haven" and others displaying "138th Street–Mott Haven." The ones with "138th Street" were painted over with text reading "138th Street–Grand Concourse", but all were eventually covered with black plates reading "138 Street" in whiteStandard (Akzidenz-Grotesk) lettering.^[6] During the station's renovation in the late 2010s, most of the tablets were restored.

In 1956, theNew York City Transit Authority announced plans to addfluorescent lighting to the station. The fluorescent lights were installed along the edges of the station's platforms.^[7]

The walls of both platforms retain their original mosaic trim line with "MH" tablets on it – a relic of the station's former name. The platforms were extended at both ends in the 1950s; the design of these platform extensions are in contrast from the original portions, as they have a blue trim with "138TH ST" in white lettering. Blue i-beam columns run along both platforms at regular intervals with alternating ones having the standard black number plates in white lettering.^[6]

Until 1972, the station had a connection to theNew York Central Railroad's138th Street Station, which served trains on the railroad'sHarlem andHudson Divisions.^[8][9]

In 2011, the advocacy groupTransportation Alternatives took a poll of subway riders to vote for the smelliest subway station in the system, as part of its "rank the stank" contest. This station was ranked the smelliest of four nominated stations, receiving 35% of the votes.^[10]

From November 18, 2019, to March 30, 2020, the northbound platform was temporarily closed for renovations.^[11] From April 27, 2020, to July 27, 2020, the southbound platform was temporarily closed for renovations.^[12]

Ground	Street level	Exit/entrance
Mezzanine		Fare control, station agent
Platform level	Side platform
	Northbound local	← towardWoodlawn(149th Street–Grand Concourse) ← towardEastchester–Dyre Avenue orNereid Avenue(149th Street–Grand Concourse)
	Peak-direction express	← PM rush does not stop here ← AM rush does not stop here →
	Southbound local	→ towardCrown Heights–Utica Avenue (New Lots Avenue late nights)(125th Street) → → towardFlatbush Avenue–Brooklyn College weekdays,Bowling Green evenings/weekends(125th Street) →
	Side platform

The 138th Street–Grand Concourse station has twoside platforms and three tracks, and is one of only two on the IRT Jerome Avenue Line to be built underground.^[13] The 4 train skips this station during rush hours in the peak direction.^[14] It is the southernmost station on theIRT Jerome Avenue Line. To the south, the line crosses theHarlem River to the next stop, the125th Street station inEast Harlem,Manhattan. The three tracks merge into two and then merge with theIRT Pelham Line to form the four-trackIRT Lexington Avenue Line.^[13] To the north, the local tracks split into two: an inner set that continues north to the Jerome Avenue Line's149th Street–Grand Concourse station, and an outer set that descends to a lower level and makes a sharp turn to merge with theIRT White Plains Road Line directly west of that line's149th Street–Grand Concourse station. The 5 train uses these tracks during daytime hours.^[13]

Both platform walls have their original mosaic trim line with "MH" tablets on it, a relic of Mott Haven Avenue, the former name of the station. At either ends of the platform, where they were extended in the 1950s, the walls have a blue trim with "138TH ST" in white lettering. Blue i-beam columns run along both platforms at regular intervals with alternating ones having the standard black number plates in white lettering.

The station was built with tablets displaying "Mott Haven" and others displaying "138th Street–Mott Haven." The ones with "138th Street" were painted over with text reading "138th Street–Grand Concourse", but all were eventually covered with black plates reading "138 Street" in whiteStandard (Akzidenz-Grotesk) lettering.^[6] During the station's renovation in the late 2010s, most of the tablets were restored.

Until 1972, the station had a connection to the138th Street Station which served both theHarlem andHudson Divisions of theNew York Central Railroad.^[15][16]

This station has onemezzanine above the center of the platforms and tracks. Two staircases from each platform go up to a waiting area/crossover, where aturnstile bank provides access to and from the station. Outsidefare control, there is a token booth and two staircases going up to the northern corners of East 138th Street and the Grand Concourse. The mezzanine has its original "Uptown Trains" and "Downtown Trains" mosaic tablets and trim line.^[17]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to138th Street – Grand Concourse (IRT Jerome Avenue Line).

• nycsubway.org –IRT Woodlawn Line: 138th Street (Mott Haven)
• Station Reporter —4 Train
• Station Reporter —5 Train
• The Subway Nut —138th Street–Grand Concourse PicturesArchived January 5, 2018, at theWayback Machine
• 138th Street and Grand Concourse entrance from Google Maps Street View
• Platforms from Google Maps Street View

• IRT Jerome Avenue Line stations
• New York City Subway stations in the Bronx
• Railway stations in the United States opened in 1918
• 1918 establishments in New York City
• Mott Haven, Bronx

• Pages using gadget WikiMiniAtlas
• Articles with short description
• Short description matches Wikidata
• Use mdy dates from June 2017
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Coordinates on Wikidata
• Commons category link from Wikidata
• Webarchive template wayback links
• Pages using the Kartographer extension