MAIN LINE (LONG ISLAND RAIL ROAD)

The 'Main Line' is a rail line owned and operated by the Long Island Rail Road in the U.S. state of New York. It begins in Long Island City and runs directly across the middle of Long Island, terminating in Greenport approximately 95 miles (153 km) from its starting point. Along the way, the Main Line spawns five branches. These branches, in order from west to east, are:

★ Port Washington Branch (at Harold Interlocking in Sunnyside, Queens)

★ Hempstead Branch (at Queens Interlocking along the Queens/Nassau County border)

★ Oyster Bay Branch (at Nassau Interlocking in Mineola)

★ Port Jefferson Branch (at Divide Interlocking in Hicksville)

★ Central Branch (at Beth Interlocking at Bethpage)

Contents

Third Main Line track

History

Stations

Full list, including all former stations

References

Third Main Line track

In order to accommodate an expected increase in Long Island Rail Road ridership once the East Side Access project to Grand Central Terminal is completed and to expand local and reverse peak service, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority has proposed to build a third Main Line track from Bellerose to Mineola in its 2005-2009 capital program.^[1][2] The track would eventually be extended to Hicksville. Components of the project include purchasing properties in the track's right of way, eliminating grade crossings (in conjunction with NYSDOT), relocating existing stations, and reconfiguring Mineola Station. Fierce opposition for building a third track comes from the villages of Floral Park, New Hyde Park, and Garden City,^[3][4][5] which say the construction and the resulting increased train service will reduce the quality of life in their neighborhoods. However, these villages do support station improvements and the elimination of grade crossings.

History

The Main Line opened beyond Jamaica to Hicksville on March 1, 1837; shortly afterwards, the Panic of 1837 severely curtailed construction. It was extended to Farmingdale on October 15, 1841, Deer Park on March 14, 1842, Brentwood on June 24, Central Islip on July 14, and Yaphank on June 26, 1844. An opening excursion to Greenport was operated on July 27, 1844, and revenue service began over the full line on July 29.^[6][7][8][7]

Stations

Hempstead Branch trains split off after Queens Village, Oyster Bay Branch trains split off after Mineola, and Port Jefferson Branch trains split off after Hicksville. Montauk Branch trains that use the Main Line and Central Branch split off after Bethpage, but only stop at Mineola and Hicksville east of Jamaica.
Jamaica is 10.8 miles (17.4 km) from Penn Station.

Station/ location	Miles (kilometers) from Jamaica[10]	Notes
Long Island City
Hunterspoint Avenue
Woodside	5.9 (9.5)	Transfer to Port Washington Branch
Forest Hills	2.3 (3.7)
Kew Gardens	2.0 (3.2)
Jamaica	0.0 (0.0)
Hillside Facility		Employee-only station
Hollis 193rd Street and Woodhull Avenue, Hollis	2.6 (4.2)
Queens Village Springfield Boulevard and Amboy Lane, Queens Village	4.2 (6.8)
Floral Park Tulip Avenue and Atlantic Avenue, Floral Park	5.9 (9.5)	Transfer to Hempstead Branch
New Hyde Park New Hyde Park and 2nd Avenue, New Hyde Park	7.2 (11.6)
Merillon Avenue Nassau Boulevard and Merillon Avenue, New Hyde Park	8.3 (13.4)
Mineola Front Street and Mineola Boulevard, Mineola	9.5 (15.3)	Transfer to Oyster Bay Branch
Carle Place Cherry Lane and Atlantic Avenue, Carle Place	11.3 (18.2)
Westbury Union Avenue and Post Avenue Westbury	12.4 (20.0)
Hicksville Newbridge Road (Route 106) and West Barclay Street, Hicksville	15.8 (25.4)	Transfer to Port Jefferson Branch
Bethpage Stewart Avenue and Jackson Avenue, Bethpage	18.9 (30.4)
Farmingdale Off Secatogue Avenue, on Front Street and Atlantic Avenue, Farmingdale	21.2 (34.1)
Pinelawn Wellwood Avenue and Long Island Avenue, Pinelawn Memorial Park	23.4 (37.7)
Wyandanch Straight Path and Long Island Avenue, Wyandanch	25.7 (41.4)
Deer Park Pine Aire Drive and Long Island Avenue, Deer Park	29.4 (47.3)
Brentwood Brentwood Road and Suffolk Avenue, Brentwood	32.1 (51.7)
Central Islip Lowell Avenue and Suffolk Avenue,Central Islip	36.4 (58.6)
Ronkonkoma Hawkins Avenue and Johnson Avenue, Ronkonkoma	39.5 (63.6)
Medford Medford Avenue (New York State Route 112) and Long Island Avenue, Medford	45.1 (72.6)
Yaphank Yaphank Avenue and Park Street, Yaphank	49.6 (79.8)
Riverhead Osborne Avenue and Railroad Street, Riverhead	64.1 (103.2)
Mattituck Love Lane and Pike Street, Mattituck	73.4 (118.1)
Southold Youngs Avenue and Traveler Street, Southold	81.1 (130.5)
Greenport Wiggins Street and 4th Street, Greenport	85.3 (137.3)	Ferry to Shelter Island and New London, Connecticut

Full list, including all former stations

Miles from LIC	Name	Opened	Closed
0.0	Long Island City earlier Hunter's Point	June 26, 1854	present
	Hunterspoint Avenue		present
	Woodside	1861	present
4.0[11]	Winfield	1865	1929
	Grand Street	1913	1925
	Rego Park	1928	1962
	Matawok	1922	1925
	Forest Hills	1906	present
	Hopedale	1875	by 1884
	Kew Gardens originally Maple Grove, then Kew	1879 1883 1910	1882 1909 present
	Westbridge earlier High Bridge	1916	1939
	Dunton	1897	1939
9.9	Jamaica	1836	present
	Union Hall Street earlier New York Avenue	ca. 1890	1976
	Canal Street	June 24, 1890	1899
10.9	Hillside earlier Rockaway Junction	June 24, 1890	July 1, 1966
	Hillside Facility
	Willow Tree	ca. 1837
11.9	Hollis	1885	present
12.8	Bellaire originally Flushing Avenue, then Brushville, then Interstate Park, then Brushville Road	March 1, 1837 1900	ca. 1871 1972
13.6	Queens Village originally Queens	1881	present
	Belmont Park	1905	present
14.5	Bellerose	1898	present (Hempstead Branch only)
15.3	Floral Park originally Plainfield, then Stewart Junction, then Hinsdale, then East Hinsdale	1870s	present
	New Hyde Park earlier Hyde Park	ca. 1837	present
	Merillon Avenue originally Clowesville, then Garden City	1874	present
	Mineola originally Hempstead, then Branch or Hempstead Branch	March 1, 1837	present
	Carle Place earlier Carll Place	May 1842[12]	present
	Westbury	March 1, 1837	present
	New Cassel	1875
	Hicksville	March 1, 1837Brooklyn Advocate, Long Island Rail Road, February 1837	present
	Grumman	1942
	Bethpage originally Jerusalem, then Central Park		present
	Farmingdale	October 15, 1841	present
	Republic	1940
	Pinelawn earlier Melville	1890s	present
	Wyandanch originally West Deer Park, then Wyandance	1875	present
	Deer Park	March 14, 1842[12][12]	present
	Edgewood	1892	1914
	Pineaire	1915	1986
	Pilgrim State Hospital		1978
	Thompson	June 1842[12]	1869
	Brentwood originally Modern Times	1870	present
	Suffolk	August 10, 1842[12]	1873
	Central Islip	1873	present
	Central Islip State Hospital
	Nichols Road
	Lakeland earlier Lake Road	1843	1883
	Ronkonkoma earlier Lake Ronkonkoma	1883	present
	Holbrook	1844	1962
	Holtsville earlier Waverly	1843	1998
	Medford	June 26, 1844[17]	present
	Bartlett's earlier Bellport	1852
	Fire Place	June 26, 1844
	Yaphank earlier Milleville	1844	present
	Carman's River	June 26, 1844
	Upton Road	1918	1922
	Camp Upton	1917	1922
	Wampmissic	by 1852
	Manorville originally St. George's Manor, then Manor	by 1845	ca. 1968
	Calverton originally Hulse Turnout, then Baiting Hollow	1852
	Riverhead	1844	present
	Aquebogue	1892	c. 1967
	Jamesport	1844	c. 1963
	Laurel	1901	1967
	Mattituck	by 1845	present
	Cutchogue	1844	1962
	Peconic earlier Hermitage	1844	ca. 1970
	Southold	1844	present
	Greenport	1844	present

References

1. Main Line Corridor Improvements EIS
2. Main Line Corridor Improvements Project brochure
3. Floral Park Mayor To Address LIRR Expansion Stephanie Mariel Petrellese
4. Residents: MTA/LIRR Needs to Get on Right Track Carisa Keane
5. Village Meets With LIRR On "Third Track" Project Stephanie Mariel Petrellese
6. , June 2004 Edition
7. , May 2004 Edition
8. , May 2004 Edition
9. , May 2004 Edition
10. Station pages linked from LIRR Map
11. Employee timetable, November 5, 1905
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.