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.
Key terminals
The LIRR has two major terminals and two minor terminals in New York City - The major terminals are located at Pennsylvania Station in Manhattan, and Flatbush Ave in Brooklyn. The minor terminals are at Hunterspoint Avenue and at Long Island City, both in Queens, New York.
There is also a major station and transfer point in Jamaica, Queens. Jamaica station encompasses eight tracks and six platforms, plus yard and bypass tracks. At Jamaica passengers can transfer between all western branches and all but one eastern branch. Transfer is also made for separate facilities for two different subway lines, many bus lines, and the AirTrain automated electric rail system to JFK International Airport.
There are eleven branches on the LIRR. The longest two being the Main Line and the Montauk which "give birth" to six of the remaining nine branches. The Main Line and Montauk Branch each extend to points a few miles short of the end of each of Long Island's "forks," long peninsulas separated by Shelter Island Sound. The line to the north fork, with limited service east of the prime commuter zone, is at Greenport and the line to the south fork, with both commuter service and extensive seasonal excursion traffic, is at Montauk.
There are six subsidiary branches terminating in Nassau County, New York, at Port Washington, Oyster Bay, Hempstead, West Hempstead, Long Beach and Far Rockaway. This latter terminal actually loops back to, and terminates in New York City, but the remainder of the branch is in Nassau. In addition to the two major branches, there is one subsidiary branch in Suffolk County, New York, to Port Jefferson.
History
The LIRR's history stretches back to 1832 and the Brooklyn and Jamaica RR Company, which built a ten mile stretch of track between Brooklyn and Jamaica. The Long Island Rail Road itself was founded in 1834, leasing the track laid down by the B&J and building its own.
The original plan was not as a local service to serve Long Island, but rather a quicker route from Boston to New York. Trains would run from Boston to Stonington, Connecticut, where the passengers would cross by ferry to Long Island. They would then ride on the LIRR to New York. The reason for this rather complicated plan was the then-considered impossible civil engineering job of building a railroad through southern Connecticut.
The LIRR thus built its original tracks running straight down the middle of the island, which was largely uninhabited at the time, rather than serving the existing Long Island communities. This route was chosen as the most direct way to travel to New York.
The Island-long route was completed in 1844 and at first was highly successful. However, in 1850 railroad tracks were built through the 'impassable' country of southern Connecticut, and a direct overland route from New York to Boston now existed. The LIRR's reason for existence was gone.
The only remaining business was to serve Long Island itself, something the railroad was not built to do. Efforts were made to build branches to the small Long Island communities. In 1850 only one such branch existed, but more were built, as well as a number of other railroad companies' branches.
The combination of the loss of the New York to Boston traffic and all the competing railroads made for harsh financial times for both the LIRR and the newer roads. In 1876, the LIRR was bought out by the owner of one of the competing roads, but the Long Island Rail Road name was used for the merged company. Even consolidation could not prevent another receivership in 1879, however.
The road was purchased by Austin Corbin in 1880 and further building took place. By 1900, the LIRR had reached the limits of its expansion. During this period the road was profitable.
In 1901 the Pennsylvania Railroad acquired the Long Island Rail Road and went about an extensive program of improvements. The PRR had long desired a terminal on Manhattan Island itself, instead of in Jersey City. The PRR built a grand station, Pennsylvania Station, with tracks oriented approximately east-west, and dug two sets of tunnels, one under the Hudson River to connect the new station with the Pennsylvania Railroad network, and another set under the East River to connect with the Long Island Rail Road.
Due to a fatal accident caused by decreased visibility from smoke and steam in the tunnels near Grand Central Terminal, New York City passed laws in 1910 forbidding the operation of steam-powered trains within city limits. Thus, an ambitious program of electrification was initiated, culminating in a large portion of the LIRR's network being electrified via a third rail direct current system. This electrification is still in use today.
After the Second World War, the LIRR became an increasing financial burden on the Pennsylvania Railroad, and eventually became bankrupt. It was purchased by the State of New York and is now a subsidiary of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).
Lines/branches
All branches (except Port Washington) pass through Jamaica. West of Jamaica, all lines share track. This track leading into the city is known as the "City Terminal Zone"
Montauk Branch
"The Montauk" is the longest LIRR branch, extending 115 miles east from Long Island City to Montauk, New York. It has heavy ridership and frequent service, especially in the summer, with travellers going out to The Hamptons and beaches. The Montauk Branch spawns only one branch, this being the West Hempstead Branch at Valley Stream.
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. 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.
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.
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 be so.
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 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:
- 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 (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.
Port Jefferson Branch
This branch provides frequent electric service to Huntington, with some diesel serice continuing to Port Jefferson. The heaviest traffic tends to be to the Stony Brook station where Stony Brook University is located.
Hempstead Branch
This branch is electric, and branches off the Main Line at Queens Village, in the borough of Queens, New York. It continues east to Hempstead through Garden City.
West Hempstead Branch
This electric branch spilts 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.
Atlantic Branch
The Atlantic Branch begins at the second major City Terminal, Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn and runs 16 miles 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.
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.
Long Beach Branch
This electric LIRR branch is born at Valley Interlocking in Valley Stream. It then heads south to Long Beach.
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 northwestern Queens past Shea Stadium and into the northwestern corner of Nassau County. It is electric and has heavy ridership and frequent service.
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.
Threatened abandonments
In addition to service cuts, several of the more lightly used branches have been threatened with abandonment in 2006. These are the Oyster Bay Branch, the Main Line between Ronkonkoma and Greenport, and the West Hempstead Branch. It is unlikely any of these branches will go; the threats are part of the political gamesmanship of New York transportation politics, usually intended to reduce opposition to a fare increase. All of the threatened have had considerable capital investment in recent years to "bring them up to a good state of repair." 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.
Freight Service
The Long Island Rail Road and other railroads that became part of the system have always had freight service, though this has diminished over the years, making the LIRR the only Class I Railroad in the U.S. with more passenger than freight service. The process of shedding freight service accelerated with the acquisition of the railroad by the State of New York.
In recent years there has been some appreciation of the need for better railroad freight service in New York City and on Long Island. Both areas are primarily served by trucking for freight haulage, an irony in a region with the most extensive rail transit service in the Americas.
Freight service is now operated on lease by the New York & Atlantic Railway, a short line railroad owned by the Anacostia & Pacific Company. It has its own equipment and crews, but uses the rail facilities of the LIRR. To the east, freight service operates to the ends of the West Hempstead, Port Jefferson and Montauk branches, and to Southold on the Mainline. On the western end it provides service on the surviving freight-only tracks of the LIRR: the Bay Ridge and Bushwick branches; the nearly freight-only "Lower Montauk"; and to connections with national railroads.
Long Island Rail Road Massacre
On December 7, 1993, Colin Ferguson, a New York City resident, boarded the 5:33 pm local train to Hicksville with a hidden weapon and the intent to murder anonymous passengers. He was convicted of shooting 25 LIRR passengers, 6 of whom died. This propelled Carolyn McCarthy (her husband was killed and son escaped with his life) to run for Congress on a gun control platform.