City Terminal Zone
City Terminal Zone | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Overview | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Status | Operational | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Owner | Long Island Rail Road | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Locale | Long Island, New York, United States | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Termini |
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Stations | 12 (11 passenger, 1 employees-only) 1 future station | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Service | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Type | Commuter rail | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
System | Long Island Rail Road | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Services | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Operator(s) | Long Island Rail Road | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Technical | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Electrification | Third rail, 750 V DC (electrified portions) | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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The City Terminal Zone is the set of Long Island Rail Road lines within New York City west of Jamaica station, except the Port Washington Branch.
Routes
[edit]Current routes
[edit]There are four routes that are part of the City Terminal Zone:[1]
- New York Penn Station (NYP) – Trains that, from Jamaica, travel west along the Main Line to Penn Station in Manhattan via the East River Tunnels.
- Grand Central Madison (GCM) – Trains that travel along the Main Line to Grand Central Madison via East Side Access, which includes the lower level of the 63rd Street Tunnel and a new tunnel under Park Avenue.[2] Due to clearance restrictions in the tunnel, the C3 bilevel cars cannot access the terminal.[2]
- Atlantic Terminal (AT) – Trains that travel along the Atlantic Branch to Brooklyn.
- Long Island City (LIC) – Trains that serve Hunterspoint Avenue and Long Island City in Queens. These trains also use the Main Line west of Jamaica, but typically skip Woodside, Forest Hills, and Kew Gardens. This route is served only during weekday rush hours in the peak direction (to Long Island City in the morning, from Long Island City in the afternoon).
Former routes
[edit]The City Terminal Zone formerly included the Lower Montauk Branch from Long Island City to Jamaica until passenger service on that route was discontinued in November 2012. This line formerly included Penny Bridge, Haberman, Fresh Pond, Glendale, and Richmond Hill stations until they were closed in March 1998.[3]
Stations
[edit]East of Jamaica, trains continue in Long Island on the Main Line (Hempstead, Oyster Bay, Port Jefferson, Ronkonkoma), Atlantic Branch (Far Rockaway and Long Beach), and Montauk Branch (West Hempstead, Babylon, Montauk).
The Atlantic Terminal, Nostrand Avenue, and East New York stations are primarily served by a shuttle running between Atlantic Terminal and Jamaica. These stations are also served by West Hempstead Branch trains, as well as a limited number of weekday peak trains from the Hempstead and Babylon branches. Other trains traveling east of Jamaica only run to Penn Station, Grand Central Madison, or Long Island City.[4][5]
Future stations
[edit]The MTA planned a new station in Sunnyside, Queens, once East Side Access was completed.[6][7] The MTA later proposed in their 20-year needs assessment for 2025 to 2044 that Sunnyside station serve both the LIRR and the Metro-North Railroad, with the latter providing service to Penn Station after Penn Station Access is completed.[8]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "City Terminal Zone Timetable" (PDF). New York: Metropolitan Transportation Authority. February 16, 2018. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
- ^ a b "Chapter 28: Comments and Responses on the Draft Environmental Impact Statement". East Side Access Environmental Impact Statement (PDF). New York: MTA Capital Construction. March 2001. Retrieved February 2, 2018.
- ^ Sengupta, Somini (March 15, 1998). "End of the Line for L.I.R.R.'s 10 Loneliest Stops". The New York Times. Retrieved August 16, 2020.
- ^ "LIRR full service begins Monday, 2/27, at Grand Central Madison; train schedules to change". ABC7 New York. February 27, 2023. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
- ^ Castillo, Alfonso A. (February 26, 2023). "East Side Access completed, LIRR riders get full service to Grand Central Madison Monday". Newsday. Retrieved February 27, 2023.
- ^ Kaufman, Maya (February 11, 2019). "Queens Officials Renew Call For Sunnyside LIRR Station". Queens, NY Patch. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
- ^ Kully, Sadef Ali (March 10, 2020). "Immediate Steps Seen for Sunnyside Development Plan". City Limits. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
- ^ "MTA's 2025-2044 20-Year Needs Assessment". Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Retrieved July 28, 2022.