Long Island Rail Road

The Long Island Rail Road or LIRR is a railroad that serves the length of Long Island, New York. It is the busiest commuter railroad in the United States, and the oldest railroad still operating under its original name. It is owned by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which has styled it MTA Long Island Rail Road. There is legislation pending in the New York State legislature that would allow the MTA to merge the LIRR with the Metro-North Commuter Railroad to form MTA Rail.http://www.mta.nyc.ny.us/capconstr/about.htm

Lines/branches

All branches (except Port Washington) pass through Jamaica Station. West of Jamaica, all lines share track. This track leading into the city is known as the "City Terminal Zone"

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Montauk Branch

"The Montauk" is the longest LIRR branch, extending 115 miles (185 km) east from Long Island City to Montauk, New York. It has heavy ridership and frequent service, especially in the summer, with travelers going out to The Hamptons and beaches. The Montauk Branch spawns only one branch, this being the West Hempstead Branch at Valley Stream.

Related Topics:
Montauk, New York - The Hamptons - West Hempstead Branch - Valley Stream

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The electrified portion of the Montauk Branch ends at Babylon Station. Some of the Montauk's diesel trains begin or end their runs at Babylon station, connecting to or from electric trains there. Other Montauk diesel trains operate into New York City, ending their runs either at Jamaica Station, Hunterspoint Avenue or Long Island City on the eastern side of the East River. Terminal stations in diesel territory, east of Babylon, include Patchogue and Speonk. The Montauk Branch is double tracked from Long Island City, all the way through Babylon, combining to a single line at Bayport. Most Montauk Branch diesel trains operate west to NYC via the Montauk Branch, though a handful of trains operate via the diesel-only Central Branch joining the Main Line east of Bethpage Station.

Related Topics:
Diesel - Jamaica Station - Long Island City - East River

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Looking back in time, the Montauk Branch was once connected to the Main Branch, via a branch which ran from Manorville (Main) to Eastport (Montauk). This branch was abandoned in 1949.

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Also, at one time, the Montauk Branch also ran from Bridgehampton, north into Sag Harbor. In early times, the 'Scoot' ran frequently between Greenport on the North Fork, 'around the horn' at the Manorville-Eastport line, and east to Sag Harbor. In their day, both of those villages were very busy, bustling ports. The tracks to Sag Harbor were removed from service in 1940.

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The Montauk Branch enjoys frequent service and has heavy ridership because it serves the suburban communities on Nassau County's and westernmost Suffolk County's south shore.

Related Topics:
Nassau County - Suffolk County

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The Montauk Branch is grade-separated on embankment or structure from Lynbrook Station to Babylon Station, the only LIRR branch east of New York City to have no road crossings at grade.

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Main Line

The Main Line begins in Long Island City and runs seemingly directly across the middle of Long Island before turning North and terminating in Greenport approximately 95 miles (153 km) from its starting point. Along the way the Mainline spawns 5 of the remaining 10 branches. These Branches, in order from west to east, are:

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• Port Washington (at Harold Interlocking in Sunnyside, Queens)
• Hempstead (at Queens Interlocking along the Queens/Nassau County border)
• Oyster Bay (at Nassau Interlocking in Mineola)
• Port Jefferson (at Divide Interlocking in Hicksville)
• Central (also known as Babylon Branch) (at Beth Interlocking just east of Bethpage Station)

The Main Line's electric service ends at Ronkonkoma. Several daily diesel trains connect with electric trains at Ronkonkoma, two in each direction extending to the end of the branch at Greenport.

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Port Jefferson Branch

This branch provides frequent electric service to Huntington, with some diesel service continuing to Port Jefferson. The heaviest traffic tends to be to the Stony Brook station where Stony Brook University is located. This line formerly extended to Wading River, and it was once planned for it to continue eastward and rejoin the Main Line at Riverhead, but the tracks past Port Jefferson were torn up in the 1930s and the right of way is now used for power lines. There are occasional plans to electrify this line past Huntington, at least to Northport, which will probably be undertaken in conjunction with the construction of a planned new yard for the branch.

Related Topics:
Huntington - Stony Brook University - Wading River - Riverhead - 1930s - Northport

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Hempstead Branch

This branch is electric, and branches off the Main Line at Floral Park, in the county of Nassau County, New York. It continues east to Hempstead through Garden City. This is what remains of what was called the Central branch, which once ran through to Bethpage, meeting up with the Main Line near the area where the current Central Branch cuts off towards Babylon. The former Central trackage ran through what is today Eisenhower Park, and portions of the trackage had still been in use up into the 1990s to carry freight into the Garden City and Uniondale areas, also known as Mitchell Field in the past. LIRR still uses a small portion of this line today, east of Hempstead, as a place to store equipment, and each year the Ringling Brothers,Barnum & Bailey Circus train uses this, the Garden City Secondary, to reach Nassau Coliseum.

Related Topics:
Floral Park - Nassau County, New York - Garden City

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West Hempstead Branch

This electric branch splits off from the Montauk Branch at Valley Stream to West Hempstead. A stop at St. Albans, in Queens, is shown on West Hempstead Branch customer timetables, but is actually on the Montauk Branch.

Related Topics:
Montauk Branch - Valley Stream

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Atlantic Branch

The Atlantic Branch begins at the second major City Terminal, Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn and runs 16 miles (26 km) through Kings, Queens and Nassau Counties and ends at Valley Interlocking in Valley Stream. The Flatbush Avenue station is undergoing a $93 Million facelift and will eventually be renamed Atlantic Avenue Terminal.

Related Topics:
Brooklyn - Valley Stream

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Far Rockaway Branch

This electric branch which begins in Nassau County at Valley Interlocking in Valley Stream proceeds east and actually ends in Queens. It has frequent service.

Related Topics:
Valley Stream - Queens

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Long Beach Branch

This electric LIRR branch is born at Valley Interlocking in Valley Stream. It then splits at Lynbrook, and heads south to Long Beach.

Related Topics:
Valley Stream - Lynbrook - Long Beach

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Port Washington Branch

This is the only LIRR branch which does not stop at or have connecting service in Jamaica. It splits off the Main Line at Woodside and runs through northeastern Queens past Shea Stadium and into the northwestern corner of Nassau County. It is electric and has heavy ridership and frequent service.

Related Topics:
Shea Stadium - Nassau County

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Oyster Bay Branch

Moderately used diesel branch extending from Nassau Interlocking (Mineola) to Oyster Bay. Stops at East Wlilliston, Albertson, Roslyn, Greenvale, Glen Head, Sea Cliff, Glen Street, Glen Cove, Locust Valley, Oyster Bay.

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Service cuts and improvements

In addition to service cuts, several of the more lightly used branches were threatened with abandonment in 2006. The threats included the Oyster Bay Branch, the Main Line between Ronkonkoma and Greenport, and the West Hempstead Branch and were intended to reduce opposition to a fare increase or encourage the state to provide more money, which it did. All of the threatened lines have had considerable capital investment in recent years to "bring them up to a good state of repair." The LIRR was originally chartered with the specific purpose of service to Greenport, and the land under the Main Line tracks would revert to heirs of the original owners if that service were abandoned. In addition, a large portion of the threatened Main Line east of Ronkonkoma has been slated for electrification by 2016 as part of LIRR forward planning.

Related Topics:
2006 - 2016

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The 2005-2009 capital program of the MTA provides for a third Main Line track from Bellerose to Mineola, with the intent of extending it to Hicksville, and a second track between Farmingdale and Ronkonkoma, and the resulting increase in the already crowded situation in Ronkonkoma is likely to increase pressure for service to be extended further east. The capital program also provides for a landfill in Yaphank, two stations past Ronkonkoma, to be capped and set aside for a future railroad purpose, which may involve extending electrification or building parking structures or a yard that is said to be needed for the Main Line without a site having been selected although they would prefer that it be past Ronkonkoma.

Related Topics:
2005 - 2009 - Mineola - Yaphank

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